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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric Yang who wrote (16102)	7/30/1998 7:41:00 PM
From: Alomex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213182

Here's a wild guess: The number of shares short was steadily declining since December, but it jumped back up in May when AAPL reached $30. As it has been discussed here, one of the strategies from option holders to reduce their risk exposure was to short a part of their position when AAPL hit $30 or so. So what if in fact the underlying number of shorts has been in steady decline and if it weren't for these option holders the short position would be in fact 10 million as opposed to the current 13 million with a small crest around 17 million in May? Comments?

To: Eric Yang who wrote (16102)	7/30/1998 7:44:00 PM
From: Phillip C. Lee	Respond to of 213182

Eric, Since it was cut on July 14th and the stock went up since then, so my estimate on shorts right now may be reduced another few percentages. As far as I am concerned, at the current level of stock price with expected good sales volume for iMac, it's really difficult for shorts to feel confortable. However, there should be chances in the short term for them to buy back either cheaper or more expensive. The fact of the matter is that Apple's stock seems very stable from now on and hence there's rare opportunity for shorts to reduce much loss or gain more. Most of investors may have thought internet stocks are best candidates to short, but they kept moving up and those who shorted kept losing money. Therefore, it's very difficult to speculate at this point on Apple's stock. Hmmm, I wouldn't bet on shorting Apple unless it shoots up to $50 within a month on which the probability of winning will be significantly higher. Phil