General Electric saw its short interest drop sharply again between the November 30 and December 15 settlement dates. GE was the only one among the most shorted stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange to see a decline. Alcoa led the upward trend, with a double-digit percentage bump that lifted it into the top six.

Note that the six most shorted NYSE stocks all had more than 130,000 shares short at the end of the most recent settlement period.

Short interest in Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) has grown for three consecutive periods, gaining more than 4% in early December to more than 246.28 million. That was 37.5% of the company’s float, and the days to cover fell to less than 10 as the daily average volume hit a three-month high. In the period, Chesapeake shares hit new 52-week lows. Short sellers watched the stock fall almost 29% between the settlement dates, while the S&P 500 was down a little more than 2%. Shares closed most recently at $4.45, up from a recent multiyear low of $3.56. The 52-week high of $21.49 was seen last February.

Sprint Corp.’s (NYSE: S) short interest grew more than 5% in the first weeks of the month, on top of about an 8% gain in the previous period. The most recent reading of around 213.63 million was 34.3% of the float, as well as the greatest number of shares short in at least a year. The days to cover rose to more than 11 for the first time this year. Sprint made some management changes in December, and the share price ended the two-week period more than 6% lower, despite considerable volatility in that time. The stock has risen about 11% since then and ended last week at $3.81, in a 52-week trading range of $3.10 to $5.45.
The fourth period of rising short interest brought the number of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) shares short to around 209.80 million, the second period in a row with a reading above 200 million. At the most recent average daily volume, it would take more than nine days to cover all short positions. Moody’s recently downgraded Vale’s debt, and the miner’s shares fell nearly 10% but ended the short-interest period only fractionally lower. The stock closed most recently at $3.30, in a 52-week trading range of $2.99 to $9.14.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), better known as Petrobras, saw the number of its shares short grow by more than 2 million in the two weeks to more than 177.64 million. That was again the highest level of short interest in the past year. The days to cover slipped to less than six as the average daily volume grew. Moody’s also downgraded Petrobras in December. Its shares soared nearly 10% in the first two weeks of the month, yet ended the period down more than 3%. They closed most recently at $4.53, down about 38% year to date. The 52-week high of $10.55 occurred last May, while the $3.72 low was seen at the end of September.

After plunging more than 36% in the previous period, the short interest in General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) fell 36% or so more between the most recent settlement dates to almost 159.27 million shares. That was 1.6% of GE’s float, and it would take less than three days to cover all short positions. The mid-November peak was more than 397 million shares short. GE was one of the best-performing Dow stocks of 2015. Yet the share price rose about 2% but then surrendered that gain during the two-week period. Shares closed most recently at $30.83, down less than half a buck from the recent 52-week high. The $19.37 52-week low happened during the market swoon back in August.

An almost 13% surge brought Alcoa Inc.’s (NYSE: AA) number of shares short to more than 130.87 million at the end of the two-week period. That was the highest level of short interest in at least a year, and it was some 10.2% of the total float. The days to cover remained a bit more than one. Alcoa still plans to split itself into two companies. The share price ended the two weeks down about as much as the S&P 500, though it was down about 9% at one point. The stock popped more than 9% last week in anticipation of the upcoming split. Shares closed at $10.12, and they have traded between $7.81 and $17.10 in the past 52 weeks.

Rounding out the top 10 were SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP).

Note that AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), one-time king of the most shorted NYSE stocks, is now out of the top 10. In the meantime, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) are rising fast and could be vying for a spot in the top 10.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.