Data Explorers reveals top 15 shorts of 2011
28 December 2011 London
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MF Global tops the list of shorted stocks in a look back at a year of market turmoil and underperformance.
Stock pickers have had a tough year - the equity hedge index has dropped over 19 per cent on the back of an unsupportive macroeconomic environment and political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic. Short sellers, on the other hand, have managed to stay on top of it and consistently identify shares which underperform, notes Data Explorers.
By analysing securities lending flow data, the research firm found that Asian, European and North American stocks were split evenly among the 15 top shorts, with five in the list from each region, however North America and Europe dominated the top half.
After MF Global, Thomas Cook took the second slot. The troubled airline hit a 52-week high in short interest in April and returns ultimately tumbled 91 per cent since. Sino-Forest, which was targeted by Muddy Waters for alleged accounting inconsistencies, saw a 79 per cent drop in returns since hitting its 52-week high in May. And in another accounting scandal-hit company, Olympus snuck in at the bottom of the list after tumbling 57 per cent since hitting a short interest peak for the year in July.
In order, the top 15 shorts are: MF Global, Thomas Cook, Banca Popolare Di Milano Scarl, AMR Corp, Pandora, Sino-Forest, Banco Comercial Portugues, Energy Resources of Australia, Human Genome Sciences, Eastman Kodak, Banco de Valencia, Chaoda Modern Agriculture, China High Speed Transmission, Peak Sport Products and Olympus.
"Whilst short sellers have profited from falling equity markets in the last year, our data shows that they were able to consistently identify shares which not only see price decreases, but fall more than market average. It will be interesting to see if short sellers are able to continue this performance in the year ahead," wrote Data Explorers.
Stock pickers have had a tough year - the equity hedge index has dropped over 19 per cent on the back of an unsupportive macroeconomic environment and political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic. Short sellers, on the other hand, have managed to stay on top of it and consistently identify shares which underperform, notes Data Explorers.
By analysing securities lending flow data, the research firm found that Asian, European and North American stocks were split evenly among the 15 top shorts, with five in the list from each region, however North America and Europe dominated the top half.
After MF Global, Thomas Cook took the second slot. The troubled airline hit a 52-week high in short interest in April and returns ultimately tumbled 91 per cent since. Sino-Forest, which was targeted by Muddy Waters for alleged accounting inconsistencies, saw a 79 per cent drop in returns since hitting its 52-week high in May. And in another accounting scandal-hit company, Olympus snuck in at the bottom of the list after tumbling 57 per cent since hitting a short interest peak for the year in July.
In order, the top 15 shorts are: MF Global, Thomas Cook, Banca Popolare Di Milano Scarl, AMR Corp, Pandora, Sino-Forest, Banco Comercial Portugues, Energy Resources of Australia, Human Genome Sciences, Eastman Kodak, Banco de Valencia, Chaoda Modern Agriculture, China High Speed Transmission, Peak Sport Products and Olympus.
"Whilst short sellers have profited from falling equity markets in the last year, our data shows that they were able to consistently identify shares which not only see price decreases, but fall more than market average. It will be interesting to see if short sellers are able to continue this performance in the year ahead," wrote Data Explorers.
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