eResearch | Hedge funds are becoming aggressive with short selling stocks as global uncertainties occur such as China’s Yuan currency falling in price and U.S. President Donald Trump announcing additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
Opportunities are seen in shorting the technology sector as software companies with higher beta are at increased risk with global uncertainties and bank stocks are criticized that they are not in a position to be able to support the management of the nation’s mortgages.
Investors added a total of US$1.7 billion to short-selling positions on August 5th and 6th, according to Ihor Dusaniswky, S3 Partners’ head of predictive analytics.
Below are the top 6 shorted companies as of July 31, 2019 on the TSX, TSXV, CSE, S&P 500, DJIA, and NASDAQ 100.
| TSX (CAD) | Ticker | Stock Price | Market Cap. (M) | Shorted Shares (M) | O/S Shares (M) |
| Enbridge Inc. | TSX:ENB | $44.88 | $90,830 | 50.4 | 2,023.8 |
| Toronton-Dominion Bank | TSX:TD | $75.08 | $137,350 | 49.7 | 1,828.7 |
| Bank of Nova Scotia | TSX:BNS | $69.53 | $84,980 | 35.9 | 1,220.4 |
| TC Energy Corporation | TSX:TRP | $63.58 | $59,020 | 34.1 | 928.8 |
| Athabasca Oil Corporation | TSX:ATH | $0.62 | $324 | 33.9 | 523.2 |
| Aurora Cannabis Inc. | TSX:ACB | $8.78 | $8,930 | 31.6 | 1,017.4 |
| TSXV (CAD) | Ticker | Stock Price | Market Cap. (M) | Shorted Shares (M) | O/S Shares (M)v |
| Victoria Gold Corp. | TSXV:VIT | $0.44 | $363 | 70.3 | 858.4 |
| Theralase Technologies | TSXV:TLT | $0.26 | $38 | 4.2 | 146.8 |
| Auxly Cannabis Group | TSXV:XLY | $1.03 | $605 | 3.3 | 606.7 |
| The Flowr Corporation | TSXV:FLWR | $4.05 | $212 | 3.1 | 89.4 |
| Pharmacielo Ltd. | TSXV:PCLO | $5.78 | $362 | 2.9 | 96.8 |
| Emerald Health | TSXV:EMH | $2.05 | $299 | 2.4 | 150.6 |
| CSE (CAD) | Ticker | Stock Price | Market Cap. (M) | Shorted Shares (M) | O/S Shares (M) |
| Golden Leaf Holdings | CSE:GLH | $0.06 | $35 | 14.3 | 597.1 |
| Harvest Health & Rec. | CSE:HARV | $6.99 | $436 | 3.5 | 305.9 |
| Agraglora Organics | CSE:AGRA | $0.30 | $260 | 3.4 | 851.1 |
| Green Growth Brands | CSE:GGB | $2.15 | $358 | 2.8 | 164.3 |
| Flower One Holdings | CSE:FONE | $2.45 | $422 | 1.6 | 181.0 |
| Curaleaf Holdings | CSE:CURA | $9.49 | $3,260 | 1.4 | 475.0 |
| S&P 500 (USD) | Ticker | Stock Price | Market Cap. (M) | Shorted Shares (M) | O/S Shares (M) |
| Ford Motor Company | NYSE:F | $9.56 | $38,030 | 122 | 3,989.8 |
| Advanced Micro Devices | Nasdaq:AMD | $33.92 | $36,820 | 116 | 1,085.5 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | NYSE:BMY | $47.29 | $77,360 | 111 | 1,635.8 |
| Centurylink. Inc | NYSE:CTL | $10.70 | $11,670 | 103 | 1,090.3 |
| AT&T, Inc. | NYSE:T | $34.54 | $252,390 | 102 | 7,307.0 |
| General Electric | NYSE:GE | $9.49 | $86,820 | 94 | 8727.1 |
| DJIA (USD) | Ticker | Stock Price | Market Cap. (M) | Shorted Shares (M) | O/S Shares (M) |
| Intel | Nasdaq:INTC | $47.17 | $208,960 | 61.1 | 4,477.0 |
| Pfizer, Inc | NYSE:PFE | $36.87 | $204,990 | 57.7 | 5,559.9 |
| Microsoft | Nasdaq:MSFT | $138.89 | $1,060,000 | 49.7 | 7,635.4 |
| Apple, Inc. | Nasdaq:AAPL | $203.43 | $919,340 | 42.4 | 4,519.2 |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. | Nasdaq:CSCO | $53.16 | $227,560 | 39.9 | 4,280.7 |
| Exxon Mobil | NYSE:XOM | $7,238.00 | $306,250 | 35.6 | 4,231.1 |
| NASDAQ 100 (USD) | Ticker | Stock Price | Market Cap. (M) | Shorted Shares(M) | O/S Shares (M) |
| Sirius XM Holdings | Nasdaq:SIRI | $6.17 | $27,460 | 195.6 | 4,449.8 |
| Advanced Micro Devices | Nasdaq:AMD | $33.92 | $36,820 | 116.3 | 1,085.5 |
| Comcast Corporation | Nasdaq:CMCS.A | $42.66 | $193,890 | 74.7 | 4,545.0 |
| INTEL | Nasdaq:INTC | $47.17 | $208,960 | 61.1 | 4,477.0 |
| JD.com, Inc. | Nasdaq:JD | $27.54 | $40,040 | 57.1 | 1,458.2 |
| Fiserv, Inc. | Nasdaq:FISV | $105.43 | $71,640 | 53.1 | 679.5 |
Even though investors are apprehensive about global trade uncertainties and a possible recession, all indexes have reached all time highs in 2019: the S&P 500 hit an all time high of 3,013.77 on July 12 ; the NASAQ hit an all time high of 8,321.50 on July 24; the DJIA hit an all time high of 27,000 on July 11.
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