Short Interest Data Not Telling The Whole Story (UMC, M, C, SNV, ALU, WNR, LIZ, EEE, MBI)

The headlines this morning are that short interest rose a tiny bit on the NYSE and fell on NASDAQ. However, after looking closer into the numbers a different story is being told for the most recent release and several of the past releases.

In terms of the Top 50 NYSE Jumps In Shorts, a couple stocks stand out. First United Microelectronics (NYSE: UMC) a large semiconductor company out of Taiwan saw a rather hefty increase in short interest with a jump of 10,193,708 shares and the short ratio moves to 10.03. Recently, they raised estimates. Shorts continue to pile into Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) as short interest rose 4,664,144 and the short ratio is at 3.13.  A tendency remains for shorts to add to stocks with prices under $5 and include such tickers as Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR), Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), Evergreen Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EEE) and MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI).

There is a mix in the overall short interest data from exchange to exchange.

Short interest numbers for the NYSE were reported after the close yesterday for the period ended settlement date November 30th and rose to 13,202,567,761 from 13,173,105,311 which is a revised number. Each new period the NYSE revises the prior number. Our calculation shows an increase of 29,462,450 or 0.22%. There were 1,714 issues increasing on an absolute basis and 1,109 issues decreased.

Short interest for NASDAQ are reported for the period of settlement date November 30th and fell to 6,452,841,088 from 6,495,260,406 for a decrease of 42,419,318 or -0,65%. There were1,714 issues increasing on an absolute basis  and 1,109 issues decreased.  Over the last three releases, we have seen more stocks with shorts increasing to both NYSE and NASDAQ names. Could the shorts be positioning for 2010 with no respect to the traditional Santa Claus Rally and January Effect?

For a complete review of the top increases and decreases in short interest we would direct you to the area at Good Morning Wall St.

Geoffrey A. Garbacz, GoodMorningWallSt.com