Major Short Interest Changes in Low-Priced Cult Stocks (ALU, GNW, GRPN, MU, MTG, NOK, RSH, SIRI, ZNGA)

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By Jon C. Ogg Published
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The short interest in the actively traded low-priced stocks saw some significant changes at the end of February. We compared the February 28 settlement date to the February 15 settlement date and added in additional color if applicable.

Here we look at the following active cult low-priced stocks with their short interest reports: Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU), Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) and Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA).

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) saw its short interest move up to 14.355 million shares from 13.562 million shares. The change remains static on a days-to-cover ratio of 1.0.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) was a low-priced stock only until the Barron’s tout this weekend. Its short interest rose by 6.5% to 14.694 million shares short at the end of February. That is still the highest short interest since the end of last November.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) saw a real drop in its short interest as investors must have anticipated a management change or some sort of change. That fell to 27.514 million from 31.921 million shares.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) saw its short interest lift to the highest reading in a year, with a gain of close to 10% in shares short to 73.234 million shares from 66.131 million shares.

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) saw its short interest remain mostly flay, but this was before the big move and capitalization. The Feb. 28 short interest was 29.356 million shares, versus 29.136 million shares short in the previous period. That days to cover was only about half of the prior reading though, and that was down to 2.979 days.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) saw its short interest tick up by about 2% 337.98 million shares, versus 330.97 million shares.

RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) had very little change in its short interest, but it did tick higher to 33.76 million shares short versus 32.56 million shares short.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) saw a higher reading in short selling but not a major increase. Short interest rose to 414.016 million shares short from 406.288 million.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) saw only a small gain in its short interest to 26.137 million shares short at the end of February, from 25.944 million shares short in mid-February. While only a small gain, this was the largest short interest since last July.

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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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