Stock of the day: Ford

Bloomberg Business Week noted that Credit Suisse has upgraded Ford (NYSE: F), citing that the automaker has a stronger balance sheet today than it did a year ago and despite a strong run in its share price in the last half of 2010, the stock is only up about 11 percent since April of last year.

Shorts covered positions sharply from 13.5% of total shares outstanding on loan to 7% at the end of November last year when the company redeemed some convertible bonds. Short interest then declined further to 4% on March 18, although it has rallied slightly since then, to stand at 4.75% of total shares. Long only investors who lend bought aggressively, increasing their stake to 740 million shares. Since January they sold 100 million shares, although some recent buying coincided with short interest gaining momentum towards the end of March, leaving their holdings at 700 million shares or 21.5% of total shares outstanding on loan.