For the period that ended on November 13, the five NYSE companies with the largest short positions were General Electric (NYSE: GE), Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), Vale S A (NYSE: VALE), Sprint (NYSE: S), and Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras (NYSE: PBR). Several of these public corporations are troubled.
GE is in the midst of a turnaround, which may end a decade of poor results. Short interest in the conglomerate rose 82% to 397 million.
Short interest in Chesapeake Energy rose 4% to 228 million. The oil and gas company expects the value of its assets to fall with the drop in energy prices.
Vale, one of the world’s largest miners, has also suffered from a drop in the value of its assets as prices for metals continues to fall.
Sprint has dropped to fourth place in the wireless carrier business, behind aggressive T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS), and much larger AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ). Its controlling shareholder SoftBank has needed to dump more money into the company in the hope it can remain competitive.
Petrobas, the largest Brazilian oil company, has been hurt by a drop in oil prices and a string of management-related scandals.
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