After a rough fourth quarter, with a particularly brutal December, things seemed to be looking up for stock investors in the new year, even with the bull market nearing 10 years old and economic numbers somewhat shaky. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange between the January 15 and January 31 settlement dates, those sellers were shifting priorities, as moves were mixed but some swings quite sizable.

Among stocks at the top of the list, Bank of America and General Electric led the decliners with double-digit percentage downswings. On the other hand, short sellers moved on Ford and CenturyLink in a big way.

Note that all the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks had readings of more than 100 million shares as of the most recent settlement date.

Chesapeake Energy
> Shares short: More than 236.98 million
> Change from prior period: +6.4%
> Percentage of float: 26.5

After two consecutive surges in the number of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: CHK) shares short, this further gain kept this oil and gas company in its spot at the top of the list. This was the greatest level of short interest in the past year. At the posted daily average trading volume on the latest settlement date, it would take about six days to cover all the short positions.

Natural gas inventories helped reverse the year-to-date uptrend in Chesapeake shares during the short interest period. The share price rose almost 6% but ended those two weeks with a gain of only about 1%. The S&P 500 saw a gain of more than 4% between the settlement dates.

The stock has retreated since the end of January, and it ended Monday at $2.40 a share. That still is around 10% higher year to date. Chesapeake Energy shares have changed hands as high as $5.60 apiece and as low as $1.71 each over the past year.

Snap
> Shares short: More than 144.97 million
> Change from prior period: +4.1%
> Percentage of float: 25.2

Another modest gain in the number of its shares short was enough to lift Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) into second place on the list. And this was the highest level of social media and camera company’s short interest in at least a year. At the end-of-month daily average trading volume, it would take about six days for investors to cover all short positions.

The stock received an analyst upgrade in wake of news of the retirement of its chief financial officer. The shares ended the latest settlement period more than 3% higher, but this was after being down nearly 13% around the time of that management change announcement.

The shares were last seen trading at $8.99 apiece. That compares to the 52-week low of $4.82 reached back in December. The 52-week high, seen about a year ago, was $21.22 a share. The stock now is up about 58% since the start of the year.

General Electric
> Shares short: More than 117.19 million
> Change from prior period: −22.5%
> Percentage of float: 1.4

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) dropped to third place, by just one spot despite the plunge in the number of its short shares in the latter two weeks of last month. Note that this was the lowest level of short interest since last September. The daily average trading volume shrank somewhat during the latest period, but the days to cover remained at less than one.

GE posted disappointing quarterly results at the end of the month. Yet, the shares ended the two weeks more than 15% higher, with most of that gain coming after the release of the earnings report. In the latter two weeks of last month, the Dow Jones industrial average rose almost 5%.

GE’s shares were last seen trading at $10.03, which is up from a multiyear low of $6.66 reached in the first half of December. The 52-week high, seen last spring, was $15.59 a share. The stock has gained more than 26% since the beginning of 2019.

J.C. Penney
> Shares short: More than 114.60 million
> Change from prior period: −4.5%
> Percentage of float: 38.1

That was the lowest number of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) shares short since last March. It would take about 20 days for sellers to cover their short positions after the latest daily average trading volume was cut nearly in half. Note that this stock had topped the most shorted NYSE stocks list back in November.

The question now is whether this struggling retailer can avoid going the way that rival Sears has done. J.C. Penney’s share price ended those two weeks marginally lower, having recovered from about a 9% decline during the interval. That recovery has not stuck, though.

The stock pulled back more than 6% in the past week and closed most recently at $1.26 a share. That is still more than 11% higher year to date. The 52-week low, which was seen late last year, was $0.92, while the 52-week high of $4.75 was reached almost a year ago.

Bank of America
> Shares short: More than 113.61 million
> Change from prior period: −14.2%
> Percentage of float: 1.2

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) drops one spot down the most shorted NYSE stock list for the third period in a row. The latest reading was the smallest number of shares short since last July. After a notable increase in the daily average volume during the most recent period, it would take about one day to cover all short positions.

This North Carolina-based financial giant posted fourth-quarter results last month that were better than some of its peers. Short sellers watched its share price increase more than 13% but end up with a gain of less than 9% by the latest settlement date. The stock rose a bit more immediately after.

However, the stock closed most recently at $28.41 a share, after retreating marginally in the past week. The shares have changed hands between $22.66 and $33.05 apiece in the past 52 weeks, with that low posted back on Christmas Eve.

Alibaba
> Shares short: More than 112.70 million
> Change from prior period: −3.3%
> Percentage of float: 4.4

This was a retreat from the greatest level of short interest at Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) since last August in the previous period. And it ended three consecutive periods in which the daily average volume had decreased. So as of the end of January, it would take about six days for short sellers to cover their positions.

Strong cloud computing revenue growth helped the most recent quarterly results from this Chinese e-commerce giant. The share price ended the final two weeks of January more than 7% higher, boosted late on the period by the earnings report.

The stock closed Friday’s trading at $167.45 a share. That is over 22% higher than at the beginning of the year. The 52-week low of $129.77 was seen during the Christmas Eve sell-off, and the 52-week high of $211.70 was from last June.

And the Rest

Rounding out the top 10 were Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD), Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL). Each of these saw a gain in the number of its shares short, led by the double-digit percentage increases at Encana (the second in a row) and Ford that lifted them into the top 10 most shorted NYSE stocks as of the latest settlement date.

Lingering along with them outside the spotlight of the top 10 were Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT), Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET).

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