Short Sellers Mass Exit in High-Priced Leaders (AMZN, AAPL, BIDU, BRK-B, FFIV, GS, GOOG, IBM, MA, NFLX, POT, PCLN, CRM, VMW, WYNN)

The short sellers ran for cover yet again when it comes to the actively traded high-priced market leaders.  There was hardly an exception.  December 15 settlement date for the short interest was significantly lower in these names from the November 30 settlement date.  Our list includes Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B), F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT), priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN), Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM), Vmware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), and Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN).

We have broken these names out individually in an alphabetic list, showing the decrease (or the small gains) and a short interest share count as of December 15 settlement date versus the November 30 settlement date.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) saw a 9.2% decrease after having seen a near-15% decrease in the report two weeks ago.  The short interest fell to 8.591 million shares from 9.464 million at the end of November.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw another drop of 6.9% after a prior drop of 3.2% at the last report.  The mid-December short interest was 8.165 million shares versus 8.767 million shares at the end of November and versus more than 9 million shares a month ago.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) saw a drop of 2.2% to 7.986 million shares and that was after a prior drop of about 4.5% at the last report.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) saw a large drop at -12.8% to 16.182 million shares and that was after a drop of 8.2% two weeks ago.  This is considerable if you consider the short interest was north of 20 million shares short in mid-November.

F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) saws a large drop of -11.4% to 4.254 million shares after a small drop of 1.1% just two weeks ago.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) saw a drop of about 2.7% to 5.9 million shares, a small drop after a big drop of 12% at the end of November.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) saw a drop of 3.2% in its short interest to 3.66 million shares, but that was after the short interest fell a sharp 18.4% drop seen at the end of November.  There were 4.63 million shares in the mid-November period, so the drop was considerable.

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) saw a drop of 9.6% to 16.299 million shares.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) was one of the few short interest gainers, which you might have expected since the interchange fees became more harsh… The short interest rose by 3.2% to 1.873 million shares but that is on the heels of a prior drop of 21.3% in its short interest.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had previously seen a gain but the new short interest showed a drop of 8.1% to 10.226 million shares.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) saw another double-digit percentage drop and the short interest fell by 12.3% to 4.946 million shares after having been 6.577 million just a month ago.

Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) saw a double-digit percentage drop in the short interest.  The shares short fell by 11.5% to 3.044 million shares.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) saw a double-digit drop in the short interest after having seen a gain two weeks earlier.  The short interest fell by 11.9% to 10.08 million shares.

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) saw a drop of 7.7% to 5.558 million shares.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) had previously seen a 7.5% drop in its short interest but the newest data showed yet another larger drop with 17.1% fewer shares short with a new reading of only 4.779 million shares short. Its short interest was 6.233 million shares short in mid-November.

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JON C. OGG