Short Interest Wanes in Active Stocks (GE, NOK, BAC, VZ, ANR, MCD, AAPL, BBRY, MSFT, DELL, GMCR, CSCO)

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) short interest fell 9.2% to 78.92 million shares. About 0.8% of GE’s float is now short.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) saw short interest fall by 8.6% to 298.69 million shares, about 8.6% of the company’s total float.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) short interest rose 0.6% to 156.73 million shares, which represents 1.5% of the company’s float.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) saw a 5.5% drop in short interest to 57.64 million shares, which represents about 2% of the firm’s float.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) showed a drop of 1.4% in short interest to 27.86 million shares, about 12.8% of Alpha’s float.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) showed a drop of 16.1% in short interest to 11.31 million shares, which is about 1.1% of the company’s float.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw a short interest fall by 2.4% to 20.01 million shares, or 2.1% of the company’s float.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) saw short interest rise by 0.5% to 155.7 million shares, or 31.5% of the total float. Short interest continues to be reported under the company’s previous name, Research in Motion Ltd., but the stock symbol has been changed to BBRY.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) posted a 0.2% rise in short interest to 107.98 million shares, about 1.4% of Microsoft’s float.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) short interest declined by 23% to 29.62 million shares. or about 2% of the company’s float.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) saw short interest increase by 1.2% to 34.4 million shares, or 28.3% of the company’s float.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) saw short interest drop by 12.9% to 53.87 million shares, or about 1% of the company’s float.

Where the previous report showed a 30% jump in short interest in Dell Inc., the latest report shows a decline of more than 20%. The stock continues to trade higher than the buyout bid offered by Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners, and the shorts have bailed out, probably believing that a firm — and better — offer will be forthcoming and that shares will rise.

Short interest in BlackBerry only rose a fraction of a point after a much larger jump following the company’s U.S. launch of its new smartphone. McDonald’s saw a large drop in short interest, probably on the woes faces competitor Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) in China. McDonald’s exposure in China is not as large as Yum!’s and the Golden Arches may be able to contain the damage.