Short Sellers Flee Tech Stocks (MSFT)(CSCO)(ORCL)(JNPR)

The sharp rally in technology stocks over the past two weeks has pushed short sellers out of the market.

The short interest in Microsoft (MFST) fell 29% in the period ending May 15 to 56.5 million shares. Shares sold short in Cisco (CSCO) dropped 26% to 50.1 million. The short interest in Oracle (ORCL) plunged 26% to 37.4 million. Shares short in Juniper (JNPR) dropped 18% to 43.2 million.

Short sellers did not put consistent bets on the banking industry. Shares sold short in Citigroup (C) were flat at 1.28 billion. The short interest in Bank of America (BAC) rose 12% to 198.3million. Shares short in Wells Fargo (WFC) fell 28% to 121.7 million. The short interest in JPMorgan (JPM) was flat at 57.8 million shares.

Short sellers turned against the wireless phone equipment sector. Shares sold short in Motorola (MOT) were up 22% to 67.8 million. The short interest in Nokia (NOK) was up 34% to 26.3 million shares and the short interest in Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) rose 45% to 16,1 million.

Other notable changes in short interest included a 11% increase in shares short in Ford (F) to 138.1 million, a 20% increase in the short interest in Yahoo! (YHOO) to 51.8 million shares, a 41% increase in shares sold short in DryShips (DRYS) to 12.5 million, and a 29% drop in the short interest in Dendreon (DNDN) to 8.9 million shares.

Sources: NYSE and NASDAQ

Douglas A. McIntyre