Short Sellers Abandon Weak Stocks, Bet On Market Recovery

Short sellers aggressively sold off  shares of companies which have lost value over the last month, perhaps on the chance that a rising market will life all ships.

For the period ending September 20, the short interest in Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) fell 18% to 68 million shares. Shares sold short in GE (NYSE: GE), which will announce earnings shortly, fell 17% to 64.8 million. The short interest in Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), which has been pounded since its recent share offering, was off 28% to 16.7 million.

Shares short in American Express (NYSE: AXP), which is locked in an antitrust fight with the government, dropped by 35% to 11.9 million. Shares short in Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S), the troubled cellular company, dropped 9% to 87.9 million.

The short interest in Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) which has struggled with product problems and debt since it bought Guidant, fell 9% to 51.6 million. The short interest in beleaguered tech giant Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) dropped 12% to 21.6 million.

The short interest in back-from-the-grave satellite radio company Sirius XM fell 8% to 176.9 million, although the short interest is still among the highest of any public company. Shares short in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which has been heavily criticized for its  mobile strategy, fell 11% to 76.7 million. The short interest in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), which recently revised down its revenue forecast due to slow PC sales, fell 8% to 63.4 million. The short interest in Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), whose prospects many on Wall St think have peaked, fell 14% to 16.2 million.

Data from NYSE and NASDAQ

Douglas A. McIntyre