January 23, 1998
Uncovered Short Sales Fall
EW YORK -- Open positions of short sales declined in the most
recent period on both the New York Stock Exchange and the
American Stock Exchange.
Open short positions declined 2.5 percent on the Big Board from a
record 3.67 billion shares to 3.58 billion shares.
On the smaller American Stock Exchange, the decline was much sharper,
with open short positions falling 10.6 percent from 189,131,890 to
171,012,058. Short positions on the American exchange also declined a
month ago, down 1.8 percent.
A short position is created when an investor sells shares that have been
borrowed from the owner. If the share price falls the investor can profit
by buying new shares at a lower price to replace the ones that were
borrowed.
While a decrease in short positions may indicate more bullish views on
prices, the volume of short positions can also be affected by complex
trading strategies involving options, futures and other stock-related
derivatives.
Both stock exchanges reported positions as of Jan. 12.
The largest decreases in short positions were RJR Nabisco Holdings,
Hasbro and Nationsbank. The largest increases were in Micron
Technology, Green Tree Financial, and Eastman Kodak.
MU went from 36 mill shares to 43 mill shares!!! And we wonder why it does the things it does??? yikes!
They are #1 in the short rankings/ |
