Short Interest

If you use Short Interest as part of your strategy, I draw your attention to a recent comment.

"If you're doing this sort of thing for a living, then you need more timely information. Here's a site that provides that for a nominal cost:

http://www.squeezetrigger.com

He also states that he does not how good the info is. I haven't done any digging but as far as I know the short interest for stocks is release twice per month by the NASDAQ exchange and I'm not sure about the NYSE. Therefore, I doubt the info is more timely than anywhere else, but it might be for other exchanges. If anyone knows, please share.

Weekly Nasdaq Scan

Keep an eye on these stocks as the week progresses. This scan includes the short interest ratio and the increase in shorts from the last reporting period. Short positions are reported bi-monthly, see the link on the right for more information, it takes you to the NASDAQ Short Interest page. As a stock reaches new highs the shorts will start to feel the pain and some are forced to cover for a variety of reason, including margin calls. This gives the upward move more fuel, try to ride the tide. Here is the spreadsheet for the Nasdaq SI Scan Aug 24 2008.

Compared to last week, there are allot fewer shorts that show up on this list, and the number of stocks that have increased in shorts are far less. Does that signal a turn around?

Short Interest and the Short Squeeze

The NASDAQ web site allows you to take a look at the short positions over the past year or so by semi monthly data. This data is posted twice a month and is also available on Yahoo. I download this into Amibroker, sort it, scan it, and out comes the short data. The filtering I do involves the positions of the moving averages. The 10 above the 20 above the 50. I'll look at each of these and buy on strength anticipating a break out with a tight stop in case the breakout fails.

Here is the data for the last part of July, the new number will be available in a few days. When the new numbers come out I'll post the scan again. I can also run the scan every weekend to see what stocks look like the might advance. If you don't know what a short squeeze is, Google it.

The thing to remember here is that the high short interest is not the only reason to get involved in the stock but it sure helps fuel it to new heights. This scan picks stocks that have momentum and are poised to advance. You can get the excel version by clicking the image.

"The Squeeze" - Part 2

Here is the code for "The Squeeze" for Amibroker.
I don't think system by itself works very well. It needs some work, possibly using it in conjunction with MACD would work, but I haven't done any work on it at this stage. Feel free to play with it, if you come up with some ideas please share.

The Squeeze

I have an indicator for Amibroker that is very similar to the TTM Squeeze over at tradethemarkets.com. You can go there and view the video for instructions on how to use it. I find it somewhat useful, but look at the chart below, it doesn't look like a long term indy. I think this would be OK to capture 20 pips or so, not sure as I haven't studied it enough. If any readers have used this please comment on your strategy.

I was also reading some posts over at forexproject.com on this.

Short Squeeze on the NASDAQ, what about the TSX?

I asked ShortSqueeze how he finds his selections, "it's a manual process", he says. So I automated it.

So, just for kicks, shits and giggles, I ran a scan to find the highest percent short interest and highest number of days to cover for stocks on the NASDAQ. You can view the Spreadsheet online.

The Fly is looking for squeeze plays in MCHX and CORS (and others), these two are high on the list.

Here is an interesting article on short interest for Canadian stocks. It basically concludes that highly shorted stocks are more likely to decrease in price for stocks listed on the the TSX. There is not much mention of short squeezes though. There is also no mention of inter-listed stocks, leaving this report with a fairly weak and lame conclusion. Needless to say, I have been unable to find a free source of short interest data for the TSX, other than the top 20 the exchange provides for download. The squeeze is probably a better play in a larger market like the NASDAQ, more participants, more emotion.