Americas
Where shorts get it wrong
Amid a return to growth in the U.S. and strong corporate earnings, there is reduced appetite from investors to go short. Despite being one of the two most shorted sectors, we see shorts have covered positions most in Telecommunications, but at the individual stock level they have dramatically reversed their bets against online travel retailers.
Stocks covered include: Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), Tripadvisor Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP), Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ:PCLN), Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE:HP), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Shorts immune to challenges faced by global Software firms
Against a backdrop of weak demand for software services in Europe, global providers have been required to invest heavily in new infrastructure to support the move to cloud computing. Despite these headwinds, short sellers have been quiet but there are some notable exceptions.
Pharma attracts investors; short interest rises
The challenge facing much of the Pharma industry is delivering growth, while investors have become increasingly reliant on generous cash distribution policies through dividends or share buybacks. Short interest is ticking upwards, yet institutional investors are staying put.
Stocks covered include: GlaxoSmithKline Plc (LON:GSK), AstraZeneca Plc (LON:AZN), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOR), Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRX), ViroPharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM), Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc (NASDAQ:JAZZ), VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS)
Most shorted ahead of earnings this week
We look at the companies in North America, Europe and Asia announcing earnings this week that have seen the most interesting short interest flow in the month ahead of results.
Effects of LTRO on securities lending and record fees
Overall revenue from securities lending is rising despite cash re-investment income being hard to come by especially in Europe where banks are awash with cash after borrowing a total of EUR 1.1 trillion via the European Central Bank’s LTRO facility. Another feature of our times is various challenges to the industry structure brought about by political and regulatory change. These and other macro themes will be debated at our upcoming New York Forum on May 22nd.
Most shorted shares ahead of earnings
The U.S. earnings seasons got off to a good start with better than expected results from Alcoa and Google. We run the rule over U.S., European and Asian stocks announcing earnings this week that have seen the greatest amount of short selling in the run-up to the results.
Biotech targeted by short sellers
Investing in Biotech is not for the faint hearted, as only a few ideas progress past rigorous testing to become the blockbuster drugs Big Pharma thrives on. Short interest across the larger names in the sector has risen sharply this year, yet institutional investors remain faithful.
Stocks covered include: Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOR), Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN), Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN), Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ:HGSI), Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPPI), Amarin Corporation plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:AMRN).
Most shorted stocks ahead of earnings
Equity lending income focuses on 100 names
U.S. equity securities lending income centers around a small number of heavily borrowed names; we look at the type of companies borrowed and the fees charged for these loans.
Looking at U.S. shares with large balances on loan, we see that they tend to be large cap shares with massive availability and despite the huge value of stock on loan the fees charged can never be high due to over-supply. Meanwhile, a very small number of stocks account for almost half of overall revenue.
Most shorted stocks reporting earnings
European and Asian stocks dominate the list of companies announcing earnings this week although some U.S. stocks are still to update the markets. We highlight the names reporting earnings seeing the highest levels of short interest.