Among Actively Traded Stock Market Shares, Short Interest Wanes

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) short interest fell 9.7% to 83.37 million shares. About 0.8% of GE’s float is now short.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) saw short interest rise 8% to 222.34 million shares, about 5.9% of the company’s total float.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) short interest fell 14.9% to 138.59 million shares, which represents 1.53% of the company’s float.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) saw a 3.9% drop in short interest to 48.83 million shares, which represents about 1.7% of the firm’s float.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) showed a rise of 0.5% in short interest, to 39.91 million shares, or about 18.3% of Alpha’s float.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) showed a drop of 0.8% in short interest to 9.54 million shares, about 1% of the company’s float.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw short interest fall 7.3% to 24.07 million shares, or 2.6% of the company’s float.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) saw short interest rise by 0.4% to 171.31 million shares, or 34.7% of the total float. Short interest continues to be reported under the company’s previous name, Research In Motion, but the stock symbol has been changed to BBRY.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) posted an 8.2% increase in short interest to 102.8 million shares, about 1.4% of Microsoft’s float.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) short interest declined by 1.7% to 24.55 million shares. or about 1.7% of the company’s float.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) saw short interest decrease by 8.2% to 27.46 million shares, or 22.5% of the company’s float.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) saw short interest rise by 1.2% to 54.74 million shares, or about 1% of the company’s float.

As the duel for Dell winds its way toward a conclusion, short interest in the company has dropped by about two-thirds from a recent high in late November 2012. Investors appear to believe that Michael Dell and his partners will succeed in their bid to take the company private for $13.65 a share.

Both Nokia and BlackBerry saw a rise in short interest, while shorts have abandoned Apple. At the end of April, nearly 42 million Apple shares were held short. The number has dropped by more than 40% in just one month. And that was before this week’s Apple pep rally — er, Worldwide Developer Conference.