FIS hot stocks: 8 February
22 February 2016 London
Image: Shutterstock
ArcelorMittal, Wayfair and Daihatsu Motor all took top spots for each region in the FIS Astec Analytics hot stocks list for the week beginning 8 February.
ArcelorMittal was the top pick for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) after coming second the week before.
Astec put this down to dividend season boosting European equities, which was the case for the Luxembourgish steel manufacturer, whose shares out on loan broke through the 160 million mark for the past two weeks.
In contrast, balances outside of the dividend peaks fluctuated around 50 to 70 million shares on-loan.
With share prices currently down 69 percent over the past 12 months, short sellers have gained between 50 cents and €8 per share, depending on when the positions were taken, according to Astec.
For the Americas, online retailer Wayfair caught the attention of short sellers. Solid sales figures drove share prices up by two-thirds over the past 12 months and it finished the week trading at just under $36, up from around $21 a year ago.
The shares hit a peak of $53.58 last August, dipping up and down between $32 and $50 several times between now and the peak.
Short interest began to rise last May, doubling to a 12-month peak in October 2015. The borrow volume has fallen since October but remains more than 50 percent above its 12-month low.
The proportion of shares available that have actually been borrowed hit 100 percent last September and has largely remained there ever since.
Such intense demand has pushed borrowing costs very high, and were it not for the net fall in the share price, a short squeeze may well have been the order of the day, according to Astec.
In the Asia Pacific, Daihatsu Motor moved from second to first place as shorting interest grew by around 50 percent over the past three weeks.
The attention was driven by market speculation on whether Toyota would buy-out the remaining shares in the company.
Ahead of the most recent gain in short interest, share price jumped from CNY 1,399 ($214.6) to CNY 1,977 ($303.3). Since then, almost all that gain disappeared as the shares fell back quickly to CNY 1,521 ($233.3).
ArcelorMittal was the top pick for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) after coming second the week before.
Astec put this down to dividend season boosting European equities, which was the case for the Luxembourgish steel manufacturer, whose shares out on loan broke through the 160 million mark for the past two weeks.
In contrast, balances outside of the dividend peaks fluctuated around 50 to 70 million shares on-loan.
With share prices currently down 69 percent over the past 12 months, short sellers have gained between 50 cents and €8 per share, depending on when the positions were taken, according to Astec.
For the Americas, online retailer Wayfair caught the attention of short sellers. Solid sales figures drove share prices up by two-thirds over the past 12 months and it finished the week trading at just under $36, up from around $21 a year ago.
The shares hit a peak of $53.58 last August, dipping up and down between $32 and $50 several times between now and the peak.
Short interest began to rise last May, doubling to a 12-month peak in October 2015. The borrow volume has fallen since October but remains more than 50 percent above its 12-month low.
The proportion of shares available that have actually been borrowed hit 100 percent last September and has largely remained there ever since.
Such intense demand has pushed borrowing costs very high, and were it not for the net fall in the share price, a short squeeze may well have been the order of the day, according to Astec.
In the Asia Pacific, Daihatsu Motor moved from second to first place as shorting interest grew by around 50 percent over the past three weeks.
The attention was driven by market speculation on whether Toyota would buy-out the remaining shares in the company.
Ahead of the most recent gain in short interest, share price jumped from CNY 1,399 ($214.6) to CNY 1,977 ($303.3). Since then, almost all that gain disappeared as the shares fell back quickly to CNY 1,521 ($233.3).
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