Big Changes in Short Interest Trends of High-Priced NASDAQ Favorites (AMZN, AAPL, BIDU, FFIV, FSLR, GOOG, NFLX, PCLN, QCOM, WYNN)

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By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
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The May 13 , 2011 short interest data is now out and there were some significant changes in many of NASDAQ’s high-priced leaders.  Some short selling went up and some went way down.  We have tracked the short interest in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN), QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), and Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN).  We compared to the short interest of May 13 to April 29 and we have added in color on each one as far as general short-selling trends and past short interest reports.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) saw a large gain in short selling as the May 13 settlement date showed 10.163 million shares in the short interest versus the April 29 settlement date of 7.717 million shares short.  This was the highest reading since last November. 

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw a drop to 11.666 million shares at the May 13 date versus 13,349,219 shares as of April 29.  The prior reading was the highest short interest going back a full year, but now this is back to what has been normal in 2011. 

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) picked back up in short selling… May 13 saw 6.364 million shares versus the April 29 reading of 5.893 million shares.  This is the highest reading since mid-February. 

F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) saw another drop as the May 13 settlement date showed 2.826 million shares short versus 3.069 million shares at the April 29 settlement date.  The short selling activity in F5 is actually again at the lowest reading going back one year. 

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) saw an increase in short selling on the May 13 settlement date to almost 17.5 million shares versus the April 29 settlement date of 15.635 million shares in the short interest.  This was actually a high going back for a full year now.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) saw yet another rise in the short interest.  May 13 had 4.327 million shares in the short interest versus a reading of 3.969 million shares short as of April 29.  The short interest in Google is yet again the highest reading since mid-November.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) saw a slight gain in short selling to 10.749 million shares in the short interest versus 10,413,424 shares short as of April 29.  This was the second gain but the short selling remains without a pattern if you go back in time when it was higher. 

Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) saw another drop in shorting as the May 13 settlement date was 3.67 million shares.  That was 4.03 million shares short at April 29 versus the April 15 reading of 4.193 million shares in the short interest. 

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) saw a large drop to 16.139 million shares as of May 13 versus 21.99 million as of April 29.  This is actually the lowest short interest going back a whole year. 

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) saw yet another gain in the short interest, but it was a small gain on the surface.  Its May 13 settlement date short interest was 3.31 million shares versus the April 29 reading of 3.269 million shares short.  While the gain was small, this was the highest reading since the end of January. 

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JON C. OGG

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About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

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