US Market News

Friday September 25, 02:00 AM
Short Stocks: Bets against E*Trade, BofA ease in early Sept.

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Short interest in U.S. stocks fell in early September, the Nasdaq (NASDAQ: news) and New York Stock Exchange said on Thursday, suggesting a decrease in bearish

sentiment among equities investors. The following list shows stocks that saw increased or decreased interest from short sellers, who bet that a certain stock's price will fall, and recent news events for those stocks. The data reflect short trades with a settlement date of Sept. 15. For full story please see. For factboxes see and. BANK OF AMERICA (NYSE: IKJ - news) Short interest in the company fell 18 percent. Many of the biggest hedge funds increased investments in U.S. financial institutions in the second quarter quarter, betting on a rally in a sector that had been associated with the biggest risks over the past year. Quarterly data showed Bank of America topped a list of biggest purchases by 30 top hedge funds in the previous quarter. E*TRADE FINANCIAL CORP Short interest in the company fell 78 percent. Hedge fund firm Citadel Investment Group LLC reversed course on Aug. 31, canceling plans to cut its stake in online brokerage E*Trade by about 10 percent. News that E*Trade's largest stock and bond holder would not sell 120 million shares into the market over the next three months sent E*Trade stock surging.. BARRICK GOLD Short interest in the company rose 108 percent. The world's top gold miner announced on Sept. 8 an equity sale of at least $3 billion, only to boost it to at least $3.5 billion, or as much as $4 billion the following day. For details see. BAKER HUGHES INC BJ SERVICES CO (NYSE: BJS - news) Short interest in Baker Hughes rose 172 percent while it fell 47 percent in BJ Services. Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc said on Aug. 31 it would buy BJ Services Co for $4.8 billion. . ELECTRONIC ARTS (NASDAQ: ERTS - news) Short interest in the company rose 35 percent. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) and Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) Research downgraded the video game publisher during the second week of September. Goldman removed the company from its Americas buy list while BofA-Merrill downgraded the shares to 'neutral,' on lower-than-expected title sales. (Editing by Carol Bishopric) Keywords: MARKETS SHORTSTOCKS/