Short sellers continue to hold huge positions not only in troubled companies like Alcoa and J.C. Penney, but also in blue chips like AT&T and General Electric. As of March 31, the most recent settlement date, the nine most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange all had short positions of more than 70 million shares.

The number of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short increased by almost 9 million in the period to 208.06 million. That was the highest level of short interest in the past year and represents 4.0% of the float. It would take more than five days to cover all short positions. Bargain hunters moved on AT&T during the period.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) had a 1.5% gain in short interest to 117.99 million shares by the end of the month. That totaled 19.1% of the company’s float, and the days to cover rose from five to six. AMD seemed set to benefit from a price war between the new gaming consoles.

The short interest in Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) dropped 6.6% from the previous period but still came to more than 111.57 million shares. That was just 1.1% of the bank’s float, and it would take a little more than a day to cover all short positions. Bank of America passed the Federal Reserve stress test in March.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) short interest dwindled from 119.92 million shares to the 110.16 million at the end of March. That was the lowest number of shares short since January, but it was still 36.4% of the float. Note that the days to cover jumped from more than three to around six. J.C. Penney is one of the retailers closing the most stores.

Brazilian iron ore producer Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) saw an 8.7% decline to more than 103.21 million shares short. That was the second highest level of short interest year to date. And it was 3.2% of the total float. The days to cover was more than five in the period.

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Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), which just offered up a mixed earnings report, saw an 8.7% decline in its short interest as well. That was to around 79.28 million shares, or 7.4% of the total float. The number of shares short has been declining since the beginning of the year. It would take about three days to close out all short positions.

The number of Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) shares short increased by around 4.8 million from a year-to-date low in the previous period to almost 78.59 million. It would take more than five days to cover all short positions.

The short interest in General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) fell 6.5% during the period to total more than 70.75 million shares. That was less than 1% of the total float, and the days to cover was about two. GE announced a new jet-engine plant in Indiana during the period.

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