The short sellers had been exiting the high-priced market leaders for some time, but as of the January 14, 2011 settlement date we saw many issues showing an increase in the short selling activity.  Many of these are still at the lowest readings in a year and are a fraction of the 2010 peak levels, but the short sellers seem to be getting some enthusiasm again.  Our list includes Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), 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, showing the gain or decrease and a short interest share count as of the January 14, 2011 settlement date versus the December 31, 2010 settlement date, plus we have shown other short interest data for historical comparison.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) saw a decrease to 8,657,467 shares short as of January 14 settlement after a brief uptick before…. This will make today’s earnings no different as the short interest is light.  At September 30, Amazon’s short interest was over 16 million shares.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) again saw yet another drop at the January 14 settlement date to 6,664,008 shares in the short interest.  This was more than 9 million shares as recently as mid-November and the short is the lowest in months and months and is now only one-third of what it had been in February 2010.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) saw a rather large gain here to more than 8.889 million shares short as of January 14 versus four straight drops and versus 7.82 million shares at the end of December.

F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) showed an increase in short selling to 4.665 million shares in the short interest as of January 14 after four straight decreases.  It seems these shorts won out considering the drop last week.  This is still almost double the short interest of a year ago.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) saw a rather large drop of 18% to 4.53 million shares short at the January 14 settlement date versus 5.563 million shares on the December 31 settlement date.  That marks four decreases in a row.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) had seen five straight drops in the short interest but this January 14 report showed a slight increase to 3.282 million shares in the short interest versus 3.136 million shares shirt as of December 31 settlement and what had been the lowest reading in a year.

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) saw a drop by 5% in the January 14 settlement date’s short interest to 12,808,790 shares versus 13.558 million shares short at the end of December.  This was the fourth drop in a row and is down from over 18 million shares at the end of November.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) saw a large drop of 16% in its short interest as of January 14 to 1.547 million shares versus 1.547 million shares at the end of December.  This marks the smallest short interest in a year.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) saw its second gain in the short interest as of January 14 settlement.  The new count is 11.225 million shares in the short interest versus 10.818 million shares at the December 31 date.  That is probably hurting today after earnings.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) saw a monster rise in the short interest in January.  As of January 14 settlement date, its short interest grew a whopping 36% to 5.533 million shares versus 4,059,704 shares at December 31.  The prior reading was the lowest short interest in a year.

Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) saw a double-digit percentage gain to 3.482 million shares in the short interest at the January 14 settlement date and that gets it back to levels not seen since November.  The December 31 level was 2.956 million shares in the short interest.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) saw a gain of more than 7% at the January 14 settlement date to 9,875,427  shares short after having seen large drops before.  The short interest was 9.211 million shares as of December 31 versus 10.08 million shares as of December 15.  This is still under that 10 million shares short hurdle that had been in place since August.

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) saw a slight increase in its short interest to 5,313,565 shares short as of January 14 settlement date after having seen six straight drops.  The December 31 short interest was 5.122 million shares short and that had been the lowest reading in 2010.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) saw yet another decrease in its short interest to 4.38 million shares short as of January 14 settlement.  This was 4.399 million shares on the December 31 and 4.779 million shares short in mid-December, making this again the lowest short interest at Wynn in a year.

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JON C. OGG

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