The Trump rally continued this month, with the markets hitting new all-time highs as investors anticipate a strengthening economy under the new administration. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq, short sellers continued to take a wait and see approach. Overall, moves in those stocks were mixed and mild between the November 30 and December 15 settlement dates.

The stand out in that time was a nearly 22% plunge in the number of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares short. The iPhone maker dropped out of the list of the top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks.

Note that only three Nasdaq stocks had more than 100 million shares short by the end of the most recent period. In fact, the top two remain very far ahead of the pack.

Sirius XM

The more than 275.09 million Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short by the middle of December was more than 3% lower than on the previous settlement date, which was the highest level of short interest in the past year. Some 16.6% of the company’s float was sold short most recently. The days to cover dropped from more than 10 to less than eight as the average daily trading volume picked up again.

Pandora Media reportedly is courting Sirius for a buyout. Sirius shares ended the two-week period less than 2% lower, though they were down nearly 6% at one point. The Nasdaq was up more than 2% between the settlement dates. The stock is currently trading around 18% higher than six months ago. It closed Tuesday at $4.52, in a 52-week trading range of $3.29 to $4.65.

Frontier Communications

After shrinking by less than 8% in the previous period, the number of shares short in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) recovered almost 4% to more than 237.83 million. That was 20.5% of the telecom’s float, as well as the eighth consecutive period with more than 200 million shares short. The days to cover declined to more than 11 from around 15 as the average daily volume increased.

Frontier’s integration with Verizon’s wireline properties continues. In the initial weeks of the month, short sellers watched the shares fall more than 6% but more than recover, before finally settling down more than 4% again. The stock has retreated more since then and closed most recently at $3.42. Shares have changed hands between $3.10 and $5.85 apiece in the past year.

MannKind

MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at almost 106.22 million shares on December 15, was about 1% higher than on the prior settlement date. It was the greatest number of shares short since last March, as well as 33.0% of the total float. Here too the daily average volume grew during the period, sending the days to cover down to more than 26 from around 41.

MannKind is one of the companies looking to develop an alternative to the EpiPen. Shares ended the two weeks more than 28% higher, most of that gain coming early in the month. The stock is still more than 42% lower than six months ago to $0.68. The 52-week low hit in November is $0.41, and the 52-week high of $2.24 was seen back in March.

AMD

By the middle of month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had almost 82.81 million shares short. That was barely up from around 82.41 million on the previous settlement date, which was the lowest level of short interest since September. Most recently 10.6% of the company’s float was short. At the latest average daily volume, it still would take less than two days to cover all short positions.

During the period, Merrill Lynch admitted it was late to the AMD party, and the mid-month share price was almost 22% higher than on the previous settlement date. The stock reached a new 52-week high of $12.08 on Tuesday, which is more than 135% higher than six months ago. The 52-week low is $1.75.

Intel

Nearly 78.62 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date. Short interest grew more than 1% during the period to total 1.7% of the company’s float. Note that the number of shares short has topped 80 million only once since May. As of the middle of December, it would take less than four days to cover all short positions.

The stock looks like a dark horse to be one of the 2017 Dogs of the Dow, and its share price ended the two weeks up about 6% from on the previous settlement date. It now is nearly 19% higher than six months ago, and the stock closed at $37.07 on Tuesday. Shares have changed hands between $27.68 and $38.36 per share in the past 52 weeks.

NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corp.’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) short interest of around 771.43 million shares, as of the most recent settlement date, was up about 1% from the previous period. That was 14.0% of the total float. The daily average volume increased in early December, and by the middle of the month, the days to cover had slipped to less than five.

Rising cloud capital expenditures are seen as a boon to the likes of NVIDIA. The stock hit a new 52-week high of $117.32 per share on Tuesday, well up from the 52-week low of $24.75. The share price ended the two-week short-interest period about 7% higher, though it was down nearly 5% early on.

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And Others

Rounding out the top 10 were Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK), Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). The only short gainer was Microsoft, which rose up to claim Apple’s place in the number 10 spot.

Along with Apple, BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) continued to linger just outside the top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks as well.

Be sure to also check out our review of the most shorted stocks on the NYSE in December.

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