Among the most shorted stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, short sellers flocked to Petrobras between the December 15 and December 31 settlement dates, raising it into the top five. Short interest fell sharply in Advanced Micro Devices, Cemex and Vale, though only Cemex dropped out of the top five. All the five most shorted NYSE stocks had more than 100,000 shares short at the end of the year.

The number of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) shares short barely increased in the final two weeks of the month to more than 279.97 million. That was the highest level of short interest in the past year, and it represents 5.4% of the float. At the current average daily volume, it would take about 12 days to cover all short positions. During the period, it looked like AT&T would remain the top Dog of the Dow for this year, and shares rose more than 4% in the two-week period to December 31. They closed Monday at $33.49, in the same ballpark as at the first of the year. The 52-week trading range is $31.74 to $37.48.

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There was a more than 13% decrease in the short interest in Brazilian miner Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE), this during the period when it forecast iron ore prices would remain stable in 2015. That drop brought the number of shares short to more than 152.55 million, which was the lowest level of short interest since October. It would take about five days to cover all short positions. Shares closed Monday at $8.55, in a 52-week range of $6.82 to $15.59. They surged almost 19% during the two-week short-interest period, recovering much of the slump in the previous period.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) saw a more than 11% drop in short interest to more than 128.18 million shares by the end of the month. That totaled 20.5% of the company’s float, and it erased a much smaller gain in the previous period. However, the days to cover increased to about 12 from less than nine. Wells Fargo is optimistic about AMD’s turnaround. The stock’s price rose about 8% in the two-week period, compared to a less than 4% gain in the S&P 500. The stock has pulled back a bit since and closed Monday at $2.63, in a 52-week range of $2.35 to $4.80.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), better known as Petrobras, saw the number of its shares short jump by almost 13.5 million from mid-month to around 104.41 million by the end of the year. That was a gain of almost 15% and represents 2.8% of the total float. It would take about three days to cover all short positions. The petro-giant continued to face issues related to its third-quarter financial statements as the year ticked down. Shares ended the two-week short interest period more than 16% higher but pulled back afterward. They closed Monday at $6.57, in a 52-week range of $5.79 to $20.94.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.’s (NYSE: JCP) short interest slipped just a bit to around 103.70 million as the holiday shopping season drew to a close. That was 34.6% of the float, and still within a million shares of the recent peak back in November. The days to cover rose from less than six to about eight. Holiday sales appeared to have been better than many had feared. Though the struggling retailer’s share price ended the two-week period marginally higher than where it began, they have surged more than 25% since. Shares closed Monday at $8.10, in a 52-week range of $4.90 to $11.30.

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Rounding out the top 10 are Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Cemex SAB de C.V. (NYSE: CX), Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F). Among these stocks, all but Cemex saw double-digit percentage increases in short interest during the period.

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