Luc, Not on the NYSE. On NASDAQ, in absolute terms, yes, but not when divided by average volume. As a % of average volume, it's lower than at any time in 1999 or 2000 (I can't get records for '98). What I also found on the website is that the # of Nasdaq securities peaked in 1996, and has declined by about 27% since then. The number of NYSE securities peaked in 1998.
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The Nasdaq Stock Market Announces Open Short-Interest Positions in Nasdaq Stocks For February 2000
Washington, DC?As of mid-February, short interest in 3,737 Nasdaq National Market© securities totaled 2,557,730,380 compared with 2,358,372,678 shares in 3,755 National Market issues for the month of January.
The February short interest represents 1.65 days? average daily Nasdaq National Market share volume for the reporting period, compared with 1.79 days in January. Short interest in 944 securities on The Nasdaq SmallCap MarketSM totaled 61,205,848 shares for February, compared with 56,581,696 shares in 932 securities for the month of January. This represents 0.45 day?s average daily volume compared with last month?s average daily volume of 0.48 days.
In summary, short interest in all 4,681 Nasdaq© securities totaled 2,618,936,228 shares for February, compared with 4,687 issues and 2,414,954,374 shares in January. This is 1.56 days? average daily volume, compared with last month?s average of 1.69 days.
The open short-interest positions reported for each Nasdaq security reflect the total number of shares sold short by all broker/dealers regardless of their exchange affiliations. A short sale is generally understood to mean the sale of a security that the seller does not own or any sale that is consummated by the delivery of a security borrowed by, or for the account of, the seller.
The monthly Nasdaq short-interest figures are current as of the 13th of the month and are released to the media after the market close on the seventh business day following that date. The figures this month include all short-interest positions reported January 16 through February 10 and settled as of February 15, 2000.
The total Nasdaq short positions for the preceding 13 months and current month follow:
Settlement Date Total Short Interest Number of Securities
January 15, 1999 1,865,489,495 4,975
February 15, 1999 1,809,202,517 4,936
March 15, 1999 1,826,039,759 4,840
April 15, 1999 1,883,120,604 4,765
May 14, 1999 1,871,863,246 4,843
June 14, 1999 1,903,850,289 4,771
July 15, 1999 1,987,498,609 4,822
August 13, 1999 2,010,973,791 4,798
September 15, 1999 2,169,435,046 4,747
October 15, 1999 2,281,748,483 4,725
November 15, 1999 2,314,493,982 4,728
December 15, 1999 2,363,795,218 4,688
January 14, 2000 2,414,954,374 4,687
February 15, 2000 2,618,936,228 4,681
Visit the Web site at nasdaqnews.com.
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