Short sellers are often interesting to watch, particularly in periods of market fluctuations. 24/7 Wall St. has decided to track some of the top increases in the short interest of NYSE stocks from the period of January 31, 2014, versus the prior reporting period of January 15, 2014.

We have tracked the percentage change and share change of most big short interest gains. Also included is a note on days to cover or the percentage of each stock’s float, as well as color on each position.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) saw the largest short interest increase of the NYSE common stocks. The January 31 short interest rose to 37,822,319 from 21,999,905 shares as of January 15. This gain of more than 15.8 million shares is a whopping 71.9% jump in the short interest. It is also 6% of the DJIA stock’s float. Where this gets real interesting is that the business has not really turned around at all. The huge buyback of stock is a different story — shares are now close to a 52-week high. You can assume short covering played a real role here.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) saw its January 31 short interest rise to 102,585,888 million shares, up 16.5% from the 88,069,721 shares short in mid-January. This may simply be a move around it not falling as much as AT&T. This also represents five days to cover. Verizon is the second highest DJIA yield at 4.5%, so just remember that people who bet against Verizon are also short that dividend payment.

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) appears to have seen its short interest jump a whopping 836% to 14,739,373 shares. Before getting off the reservation and too concerned, this merely reflects a stock split. At $76.47, the 52-week range is $50.74 to $84.75, and the consensus price target from analysts is $89.59. Other than the split, there is just very little color needed here.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) is one that is full of irony. It would have been the best performing DJIA stock had it not been booted from the index. Many investors just do not believe in aluminum’s recovery, nor do they believe in Alcoa’s real turnaround. The January 31 short interest came in at 130,814,541 shares, up 10% from the January 15 short interest of 118,672,543 shares. It seems hard to imagine, but more than 12% of Alcoa’s float is now short.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) saw its January 31 short interest rise up to 118,443,854 million shares, versus a short interest of 108,754,499 shares as of January 15. This gain of 9,689,355 shares represents an 8.9% increase, but it is a whopping 39.3% of the J.C. Penney float. It is also four days to cover. Some investors seem convinced that J.C. Penney is headed for the trash heap, and even after recovering more than 20% from its low it is still a mere $6 stock.

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