Short Stocks: Bets build against tech, video games
NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - Short interest fell in mid-April on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, the exchanges said on Friday in their twice-monthly reports, suggesting a decrease in bearish sentiment in the stock market.
On Nasdaq, short interest fell 4.8 percent, while on the NYSE, it fell 2.9 percent for the first time since mid-December 2008.
The following list shows stocks that saw increased interest from short sellers, who bet that a certain stock's price will fall, and key recent news events for those stocks. The data reflect short trades with a settlement date of April 15, 2009. For full story please see [ID:nnN24452368]
BROCADE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS INC (BRCD.O)
Short interest rose 76 percent in the company.
Brocade CEO Michael Klayko told Reuters in an interview April 13 that rival Cisco Systems Inc's (CSCO.O) expansion into the data center market will likely alienate its vendor partners and bring more business to Brocade. [ID:nN13381731]
About 16.7 million of the company's shares were held short, or 4.4 percent of its total shares outstanding.
FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SERVICES (FIS.N)
Short interest rose 123.38 percent in the company.
FIS agreed on April 1 to buy Metavante Technologies Inc MV.N for about $2.94 billion, to create the world's largest provider of integrated payment and financial processing services. [ID:nBNG312868]
About 8 million of the company's shares were held short, or 4.2 percent of its total shares outstanding.
GAMESTOP CORP (GME.N)
Short interest rose 24.9 percent in the company.
U.S. video games sales fell 17 percent in March, according to a report released in April by research group NPD. [ID:nN17313367]
About 12.9 million of the company's shares were held short, or 7.8 percent of its total shares outstanding.
NETEASE (NTES.O)
Short interest rose 81 percent in the company.
Chinese business publication JLM Pacific Epoch reported on April 15 that NetEase would announce a license to host Activision Blizzard's (ATVI.O) popular video game World of Warcraft. [ID:nBNG390857]
About 4.4 million of the company's shares were held short, or 3.6 percent of its total shares outstanding.
GT SOLAR COMPANY INC (SOLR.O)
Short interest rose 107.9 percent in the company.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut global clean technology stocks on April 6. [ID:nWNAB1143]
About 3.5 million of the company's shares were held short, or 2.5 percent of its total shares outstanding.
SUNCOR ENERGY INC (SU.TO)
Short interest rose 20 percent in the company.
The refining and gas retail business got U.S. approval for its takeover of Petro-Canada PCA.TO on April 15. [ID:nN15502897]
About 31.3 million of the company's shares were held short, or 3.3 percent of its total shares outstanding.
THE GAP INC (GPS.N)
Short interest rose 20.5 percent in the company.
The clothing retailer announced on April 9 that March same-store sales had fallen 8 percent. [ID:nBNG460146]
About 20.8 million of the company's shares were held short, or 3 percent of its total shares outstanding.
LIBERTY MEDIA CORP (LINTA.O)
Short interest rose 32.3 percent in the company.
Shares of Liberty Media fell April 7 after the company said it used about $503 million in cash to pay off debt. [ID:nN07476589]
About 4.3 million of the company's shares were held short, or 0.1 percent of its total shares outstanding. (Reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Richard Chang)
