S&P 500 Short Sales Hit 2 1/2-Month High Amid Health-Care Bets

[Joanne98]

July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bets against the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose to the highest since April last month as investors shorted more shares of health-care, technology and financial companies, including Pfizer Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Bank of America Corp.

Short interest on the S&P 500 increased to 10.01 billion shares as of June 30, a gain of 2.4 percent from two weeks earlier, according to data compiled by U.S. exchanges and Bloomberg yesterday. That’s the most stock sold short since April 15. Wagers against health-care shares rose 8.1 percent, the most among 10 industries, to 962.8 million.

Traders have increased wagers that stocks will decline as economic data dashes hopes that the recession is easing. Reports in the past month have shown home sales trailed estimates while consumer confidence plunged. The S&P 500 has retreated 7.1 percent since reaching a seven-month high on June 12.

“There’s just a lot of bearishness,” said James Paulsen, who helps oversee $375 billion as chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. “It reflects the brutal recession we’re in. There’s a dominance of doubt and short interest is just a reflection of that.”

U.S. stocks fell for a fourth week, the longest decline since March, after the Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment dropped more than economists estimated. The economy shrank 5.5 percent in the first quarter and 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, the worst six months since 1958, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=a2p0Uy4smWSA

[Po_d Mainiac]

1. He should have mentioned

How the recent run-up has been based on ignorant data interpretation, and glossed over economic reports. :wtf:

[madrchsod]

2. untill the banking and trading rules are changed the economy will never recover

i think that is their plan...