Short sellers may have taken a bath in companies such as Citigroup (C) and GE (GE), but they increased investments in many companies to record levels.
At the end of February, shares sold short in Citi rose 11% to 203 million and shares short in GE were up 10% to 183 million. Shorts wisely decreased positions in most big financial firms. At JP Morgan (JPM) shares short fell 19% to 49 million. Shares short in MetLife (MET) dropped 56% to 8 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (WFC) dropped 7% to 116 million. Shares short in Goldman Sachs fell 17% t0 14 million.
Short interest in several large retailers also fell. Shares short in Target (TGT) were down 23% to 31 million. Shares sold short in Home Depot (HD) dropped 5% to 60 million. At Wal-Mart (WMT) shares sold short were down 8% to 38 million.
Short sellers also lightened positions in big tech companies. Shares short in IBM (IBM) fell 16% to 15 million Shares sold short in Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) dropped 9% to 28 million. The short interest in Intel (INTC) was down 12% to 94 million. Shares short in Cisco (CSCO) were off 10% to 57 million. The short interest in Dell (DELL) was down 37% to 32 million. Shares short in Microsoft (MSFT) were down 5% to 87 million
Douglas A. McIntyre
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