Stocks & Equities

The Most Shorted ETFs Amid The Coronavirus Market Crash

Posted by Wayne Duggan

on Wednesday, 18 March 2020 10:07

The month of March has been brutal so far for investors, but short sellers are making a killing off on the volatility caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

There is currently $154 billion in aggregate ETF short interest, 90% of which is in U.S. domestic ETFs, according to S3 Partners. S3 analyst Ihor Dusaniwsky said Tuesday there are 216 U.S. ETFs with short interest of at least $25 million.

Most Shorted ETFs

By far the most heavily shorted ETF is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. The SPY ETF tracks the S&P 500 and represents a simple bet against the U.S. stock market and/or a hedge against long positions in U.S. stocks. Here are the top four most shorted U.S. ETFs, according to S3: CLICK for complete article

Even The Fed Can’t Save Markets Now

Posted by Richard Mills

on Tuesday, 17 March 2020 9:59

After multiple sessions of panic selling, the markets caught an up-draft after US President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus, thus freeing up $50 billion in federal aid to help contain the rapid spread of the pandemic.

As stocks accelerated gains in the final hours of trading, posting the biggest one-day lift since the financial crisis, USA Today reported traders and analysts saying that Trump’s remarks removed some of the uncertainty hanging over financial markets.

“The change in tone shows that the Trump administration is taking this more seriously now,” said a senior portfolio manager at Atlanta-based GLOBALT Investments. “This still isn’t over by any stretch, but it’s a better sign.”

Too right. Even with Friday’s rally, the S&P was down 8.8% for the week and all the gains US stocks accrued in 2019 have been wiped out. All three indices are now in a bear market, defined as a drop of at least 20% from all-time highs…CLICK for complete article

The Pandemic Economy: Which Stocks are Weathering the Storm?

Posted by Jeff Desjardins, The Visual Capitalist

on Friday, 13 March 2020 13:28

When markets get wacky, even the best companies can’t avoid the maelstrom.

Investors were already tiptoeing on broken glass, knowing that the longest U.S. stock market bull run in history was getting long in the tooth.

Then, when the market foresaw the potential damage that could be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it quickly created a vortex that would suck almost everything into…Click for full article.

Deja Vu? The S&P 500 Is ‘Eerily Tracking’ October 2008

Posted by Wayne Duggan, Benzinga

on Thursday, 12 March 2020 11:17

Investors haven’t seen a stock market sell-off like the one they’re seeing this week since 2008. According to DataTrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas, the 2008 market drop started off almost exactly like things have played out on Wall Street this week.

On Thursday, Colas drew a direct comparison between this week’s extreme market volatility and the volatility that started on Sept. 29, 2008. Colas said that date was the day the financial crisis sell-off transitioned from “worried” to “frantic,” sending the S&P 500 down…Click for full article.

The Collapse of Pot Stocks: Refreshingly, Not COVID-19’s Fault

Posted by Wolf Richter, Wolf Street

on Wednesday, 11 March 2020 12:07

Hard to feel sorry for victims of these hilariously obvious pump-and-dump schemes, but they sure got their pockets cleaned out.

There are plenty of questions surrounding cannabis – including whether or not it should be legal, and how it should be regulated and taxed. But there is no question surrounding “cannabis stocks”: They’re phenomenal pump-and-dump operations. And now is the dump-phase.

These are companies with barely any sales, generating huge losses. They were hyped endlessly by vocal promoters and by Wall Street which got rich off the IPO fees. The media oohed and aahed over the meteoric rise of their stocks and their market capitalization which skyrocketed into the many…click for full article.