2/25/98 Dow Jones News Serv. 22:01:00
Dow Jones News Service-Wall Street Journal Stories
Copyright (c) 1998, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Wednesday, February 25, 1998
WSJ: Short Interest In Nasdaq Issues Sets a Record
By Deborah Lohse
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK -- Short interest rose 2.6% in the latest month on the Nasdaq Stock
Market to a record.
The total, which includes Nasdaq small-capitalization and large-
capitalization stocks, rose to 1,820,425,083 shares on Feb. 13 from
1,774,110,126 shares in mid-January, according to Nasdaq.
On the Nasdaq SmallCap Market, which is made up of the 1,357 smaller-cap
stocks, short interest fell 1.2%. It rose 2.7% for the 4,126 larger-cap stocks
on the Nasdaq National Market.
Traders who sell securities "short" borrow shares and then sell them, betting
they can profit by buying the stock back later at lower prices. Short interest
is the number of shares that haven't been repurchased for return to lenders. As
such, it is often taken as an indicator of the degree of negative sentiment
among investors in the stocks. Investors may rely on short selling for other
purposes, including as a hedging strategy related to corporate mergers and
acquisitions, for convertible securities and options, and for tax purposes.
The Nasdaq National Market's short-interest ratio fell to 2.63 days from 2.84
days in the previous month. The short-interest ratio for the smaller stocks
rose to 0.82 from 0.78. The ratio is the number of trading days that would be
required to close out the short positions through share purchases and is
considered a measure of trading sentiment.
The following companies had the largest decreases in short interest: Apple
Computer Inc., down 7,401,210 shares to 12,030,788 shares; Ascend
Communications Inc., down 4,841,510 shares to 8,263,151, and ICG Communication
Inc., down 3,865,284 shares to 2,453,196.
These companies had the largest increases in short interest: Intel Corp., up
10,543,415 to 46,044,805; WorldCom Inc., up 7,167,908 to 71,140,534, and Oracle
Corp., up 5,887,659 to 20,629,680.
Among companies with the largest short-interest positions: Tele-
Communications Inc., Series A Tci Group, was down 991,446 to 28,793,961; Nextel
Communications Inc. was up 25,736 to 22,402,089; Microsoft Corp. was up
4,298,238 to 21,344,609; and Dell Computer Corp. was down 1,439,213 to
21,178,604.
The following table shows the Nasdaq issues in which a short-interest
position of at least 225,000 shares existed in mid-February or in which the
short position had changed by at least 100,000 shares since mid-January.
Largest Short Positions
Rank Feb. 15 Jan. 15 Change
1 WorldCom 71,140,534 63,972,626 7,167,908
2 Intel 46,044,805 35,501,390 10,543,415
3 Tele Comm A TCI 28,793,961 29,785,407 - 991,446
4 Nextel Comm A 22,402,089 22,376,353 25,736
5 Microsoft 21,344,609 17,046,371 4,298,238
6 Dell Computer 21,178,604 22,617,817 - 1,439,213
7 Oracle Corp 20,629,680 14,742,021 5,887,659
8 Cisco Sys 18,053,150 16,270,194 1,782,956
9 Boston Chicken 17,307,749 16,409,262 898,487
10 Sun Microsys 15,483,414 14,709,771 773,643
11 Informix 15,200,960 9,536,679 5,664,281
12 Tel-Save Hldgs 14,810,936 12,721,186 2,089,750
13 Applied Materials 13,982,684 17,326,797 - 3,344,113
14 Xylan 12,545,556 10,873,294 1,672,262
15 Qualcomm 12,259,730 10,388,737 1,870,993
Largest Changes
Rank Feb. 15 Jan. 15 Change
1 Intel 46,044,805 35,501,390 10,543,415
2 WorldCom 71,140,534 63,972,626 7,167,908
3 Oracle Corp 20,629,680 14,742,021 5,887,659
4 Informix 15,200,960 9,536,679 5,664,281
5 Geotek Comm 10,790,714 6,021,266 4,769,448
6 Microsoft 21,344,609 17,046,371 4,298,238
7 Chancellor Media 9,541,122 5,997,949 3,543,173
1 Apple Computer 12,030,788 19,431,998 - 7,401,210
2 Ascend Comm 8,263,151 13,104,661 - 4,841,510
3 ICG Communication 2,453,196 6,318,480 - 3,865,284
4 Applied Materials 13,982,684 17,326,797 - 3,344,113
5 Comverse Tech 864,452 2,687,618 - 1,823,166
6 Quantum Cp 12,181,135 13,830,689 - 1,649,554
7 Dell Computer 21,178,604 22,617,817 - 1,439,213
Largest Short Interest Ratios
The short interest ratio is the number of days it would take to cover the
short interest if trading continued at the average daily volume for the month.
Feb. 13 Avg Dly Days to
Short Int Vol-a Cover
1 Ohio Casualty 2,380,719 48,228 49
2 WFS Financial 1,509,149 33,601 45
3 Hummingbd Comm 2,849,755 80,087 36
4 Youth Svcs Intl 1,807,967 52,288 35
5 Software Spectrum 727,568 22,082 33
6 Ultralife Batterie 698,362 22,755 31
7 First Colorado 810,802 27,435 30
8 Littelfuse 2,148,095 75,016 29
9 Turbochef 608,424 23,959 25
10 Aphton 547,845 22,246 25
11 Miravant Med 1,861,788 76,266 24
12 Microware Sys 475,252 20,079 24
13 Interneuron Pharm 3,313,196 148,485 22
14 Multicanal Adr 587,556 27,180 22
15 Hot Topic 464,202 21,484 22
16 Atlantic Coast Air 2,216,877 102,617 22
17 Northfield Labs 931,464 44,082 21
18 J Baker 725,118 35,053 21
19 Dreyers Grand Ice 414,705 20,177 21
20 HFNC Financial 593,915 29,449 20
21 Walbro 547,811 27,221 20
22 Gargoyles 421,487 21,192 20
23 Epitope 1,218,412 61,591 20
24 Northland Cranb A 2,657,139 134,811 20
25 Presstek 4,951,622 252,709 20
26 Golden Books Fam 2,211,058 112,954 20
27 Nexstar Pharm 2,635,927 138,321 19
a-Includes securities with average daily volume of 20,000 shares or more. n-
The largest percentage increase and decrease sections are limited to issues
with previously established short positions in both months.
Largest % Increases
Rank Feb. 13 Jan. 15 %
NYSE
1 Preview Travel 189,746 20 948,630.0
2 Raytel Medical 710,151 5,912 11,912.0
3 Datatec Sys 195,478 3,045 6,319.6
4 First Midw Bcp Il 154,676 2,891 5,250.3
5 Buttrey Food & Dr 105,127 2,008 5,135.4
6 Thermo Tech Techl 222,590 5,242 4,146.3
7 Euronet Svcs 150,108 4,081 3,578.2
8 Advanced Enviro A 298,603 11,214 2,562.8
9 First Amern Rail 123,516 5,483 2,152.7
10 Avatar Hldgs 373,254 21,165 1,663.5
11 Response USA 297,755 18,280 1,528.9
12 Earth Sciences 312,870 21,196 1,376.1
13 Connect Inc 393,831 32,327 1,118.3
14 Geron 767,811 72,992 951.9
15 Metromedia Fiber 394,083 39,037 909.5
Largest % Decreases
Rank Feb. 13 Jan. 15 %
1 Commnet Cellular 200 163,926 - 99.9
2 Texas Regional Cl 1,180 335,652 - 99.6
3 Trillion Res Ltd 1,442 376,211 - 99.6
4 Connetics 1,365 258,440 - 99.5
5 Industrial Hldg wt 1,779 228,440 - 99.2
6 Hybrid Networks 1,215 143,800 - 99.2
7 Kaman A 4,451 353,547 - 98.7
8 Dura Auto Systems 1,837 116,672 - 98.4
9 Comm Med Trans 2,412 148,300 - 98.4
10 Brassie Golf 2,601 103,911 - 97.5
11 Free St Cons Gld A 10,439 268,877 - 96.1
12 Brookdale Living 17,657 315,507 - 94.4
13 ACTV 9,105 112,538 - 91.9
14 Swissray Intl 12,320 147,394 - 91.6
15 Akzo Nobel Adr 16,704 150,965 - 88.9
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