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☆ Betting against cruise ship and hotel stocks backfired and cost hedge funds more than $6 billion, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Joseph Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cruise ship stocks have been riding high, defying pessimistic market consensus on the industry. Three of the biggest cruise companies cost hedge funds almost $3 billion in bad bets, per a report. Of this, the three cruise ship companies account for almost $3 billion of the total mark-to-market losses, according to figures from S3 Partners seen by the outlet. Other large short positions in Airbnb and Booking.com have also backfired after those stocks jumped 70% and 44% year-to-date respectively. While cruise stocks still remain below their pre-pandemic valuations, the release of pent-up demand has been a boon to the sector.

Organizations: Service, Financial Times, S3 Partners, Royal, Tech, Nvidia, Tesla, Microsoft Locations: Wall, Silicon, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Airbnb

☆ Lincoln National's CRE exposure targeted by two hedge funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - Two hedge funds have placed bets that bonds issued by life insurance company Lincoln National Corp (LNC.N) will fall or that its default risk will increase, due to their concerns about the company's commercial real estate (CRE) exposure. Lincoln declined to provide comments on the hedge funds' positions and referred to previous remarks by its management. Fitch Ratings' senior director Jamie Tucker said in an email to Reuters the agency considers Lincoln's CRE exposure modestly below-average compared with the industry, while the quality is materially stronger. In April, Boaz Weinstein, founder of New York-based Saba, said in a post the firm was holding some of Lincoln's credit default swap (CDS), and had already sold some of it. loadingLincoln's CDS spread, a measure of credit risk, is 238 basis points, compared with 323 when Saba disclosed the position, meaning the perceived risk has declined.

Persons: Ellen Cooper, David Meneret, Lincoln, Fitch, Moody's, Jamie Tucker, Boaz Weinstein, Saba, Tracy Benguigui, Carolina Mandl, Megan Davies, Anna Driver Organizations: YORK, Lincoln National Corp, Saba Capital, Moody's, Reuters, New, CDS, Partners, Citizens Inc, Barclays, LNC, Thomson Locations: CRE, Hill, Lincoln, Saba, New York

☆ Lincoln National's commercial real-estate exposure targeted by two hedge funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Lincoln declined to provide comments on the hedge funds' positions and referred to previous remarks by its management. Fitch Ratings' senior director Jamie Tucker said in an email to Reuters the agency considers Lincoln's CRE exposure modestly below-average compared with the industry, while the quality is materially stronger. In April, Boaz Weinstein, founder of New York-based Saba, said in a post the firm was holding some of Lincoln's credit default swap (CDS), and had already sold some of it. loadingLincoln's CDS spread, a measure of credit risk, is 238 basis points, compared with 323 when Saba disclosed the position, meaning the perceived risk has declined. Among seven listed life insurers tracked by Barclays, Lincoln was the only one which ended the first quarter below its capital target.

☆ Post-it maker 3M is in danger of coming unstuck
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

There will be up to $1.5 billion of costs related to separating the health care business, 3M has said. Its interest cover, after backing out estimated operating income from health care, would fall to about 4 times from 11 times. And its net debt, using all these assumptions and excluding the health care division, would swell to nearly 5 times EBITDA from less than 2 times. Back out $2.5 billion from health care, as estimated by the Morgan Stanley team, and $1.5 billion of capital expenditure costs noted by Wolfe Research. For example, the water settlement, as drafted, only envisions $4.6 billion of outlays through 2025, and the rest over the ensuing 11 years.

Persons: Mike Roman, Roman, Sackler, Johnson, Aearo, ”, Morgan Stanley, Smith, Nephew, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Streisand Neto Organizations: YORK, Reuters, U.S . Environmental, Purdue Pharma’s, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, Bayer, Monsanto, Aearo Technologies, Partners, Honeywell International, Siemens, 3M, Refinitiv, Reuters Graphics, Wolfe Research, Thomson Locations: . Oregon, Republic, Corning

☆ A monster rally in just 3 stocks has caused short sellers to lose $30 billion so far this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The strong rally in stocks this year has sparked big losses for short sellers, according to S3 Partners. These are the three stocks that sparked $30 billion in losses for short sellers, according to S3. In total, short sellers have seen $122.1 billion in mark-to-market losses in the first six months of the year, and just three stocks drove a total loss of $30 billion. These are the top 10 stocks that have driven the biggest losses for short sellers so far this year, according to S3 Partners. TeslaTesla launched its insurance product in 2019 Getty ImagesTicker: TSLAShort seller losses: $13.0 billionYear-to-date performance: 126.5%

Persons: —, Ihor Dusaniwsky, Dusaniwsky, it's, Lisa Su Steve Marcus, Microsoft Justin Sullivan, Nvidia Jensen Huang, Las Vegas Rick Wilking, Tesla Tesla Organizations: S3 Partners, Service, Partners Research, Partners, Nasdaq, Reuters, Broadcom Reuters, Palo Alto, Microsoft, Apple Apple, Nvidia, CES Locations: Las Vegas

☆ Central banks around the world just made borrowing costs more expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The central banks of the UK, Turkey, Norway, and Switzerland all raised interest rates yesterday. The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Let's start with the Bank of England's decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points and bring borrowing costs to 5%. Turkey's central bank, meanwhile, raised interest rates by 650 basis points to 15%, which was somehow less than markets expected. Just to cover our bases: Norway's central bank raised its core lending rate by half a percentage point, and Switzerland's policymakers hiked its benchmark rate by a quarter point.

Persons: Phil Rosen, Powell, Myron Jobson, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Spencer Platt, Jerome Powell's, Goldman Sachs, David Rosenberg, it's, Warren Buffett, Jason Ma, Nathan Rennolds Organizations: Bank of England, Bank of, Interactive, New York Stock Exchange, U.S . House, Dow, Getty, Apogee Enterprises, Homeowners, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, S3 Partners, BMO Capital Markets, Berkshire Hathaway, Gates Foundation Locations: Manhattan, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, Maremagnum, Turkey's, New York City, U.S, New York, Los Angeles, London

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJune 16 (Reuters) - U.S. electric-vehicle startups were set for massive weekly gains on Friday after a searing rally in their shares over the past few sessions nearly doubled the value of companies such as Nikola (NKLA.O). Other big gainers such as Nikola and Workhorse Group (WKHS.O) have short interests of 21.7% and 23.9%, respectively. Reuters GraphicsUsed-car retailer Carvana (CVNA.N), another highly shorted stock, has also posted strong gains that have pushed up its value by nearly $1.38 billion this week. "Carvana probably kick-started this, it is up more than 100% in a couple of weeks on a short squeeze. Nikola and Lordstown have drawn a flurry of bullish options activity in recent days as traders place bets on further gains.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Nikola, Dennis Dick, Carvana, Tesla, Lordstown, Aditya Soni, Akash Sriram, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: REUTERS, Lordstown, S3 Partners, Reuters, Triple, EV, U.S, Nasdaq, Thomson Locations: Morgan, Bengaluru, New York

During the streak, Tesla shares rose by more than 40%, boosting its market value to roughly $814 billion. The rally was kicked off by news of the adoption of Tesla's charging system by legacy U.S. automakers Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N). Wedbush compared Tesla's share gains to Amazon, which for years defied many investor expectations that its stock would eventually fall. Tesla shares slumped in 2022, losing 65% of their value, and helping the shorts make a mint. The 13-day rally cost short sellers more than $7 billion in mark-to-market losses, taking year-to-date losses to nearly $12.7 billion, according to S3 Partners.

Persons: Tesla, Chavi Mehta, Aditya Soni, David Gaffen, Maju Samuel Organizations: Toyota, U.S, Ford, General Motors, America, Wall Street, Wedbush Securities, Amazon.com, GM, S3 Partners, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Tesla short sellers down $6.08 bln in stock's 11-session winning streak -S3 Partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 9 (Reuters) - Traders who have sold Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) shares short have lost about $6.08 billion on a mark-to-market basis during the electric car maker's current winning streak, according to the latest data from S3 Partners. And Tesla is the largest short in the world, according the S3's head of predictive analytics Ihor Dusaniwsky, who says $22.43 billion worth of Tesla shares have been sold short. Traders have shorted 15.3 million new Tesla shares, worth $3.6 billion, in 2023. And in the past thirty days bearish bets expanded further, with 1.3 million more shares worth $303 million, sold short, representing a roughly 1.4% increase even as Tesla's stock price rose 39%, Dusaniwsky said. Tesla shares on Friday traded up 4.4% at $245.08 after earlier hitting its highest level since early October.

Persons: Tesla, Dusaniwsky, Sinéad Carew, Lance Tupper, Chris Reese, Chizu Organizations: Traders, Tesla Inc, S3 Partners, Investors, Thomson

☆ Carvana short sellers suffer $1 billion loss after the used-car dealer's stock surged more than 400% this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Carvana short-sellers have suffered losses of more than $1 billion this year, according to Bloomberg. That's after the company's stock surged 56% on Thursday alone on the back of improved second-quarter results. The used-car dealer's shares have jumped over 400% this year thanks to its successful cost-cutting measures. Carvana said it expects total gross profit per unit to hit above $6,000 in the second quarter of 2023. The company's stock traded up 4.75% at $25.38 at last check on Friday.

Persons: —, Carvana, Ernie Garcia Organizations: Bloomberg, That's, Service, Partners Locations: Arizona

☆ Semi shorts down $18 billion in mark-to-market losses in 2023, S3 Partners says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - Short sellers in U.S. shares related to the semiconductor industry are down $18.31 billion in mark-to-market losses for the year to date, including $7.2 billion in losses since last week's rally in Nvidia's stock (NVDA.O), according to financial data firm S3 Partners. The PHLX semiconductor sector index (.SOX) gained roughly 15% in May and hit an over one-year high. "The Semiconductor sectors have been an investing desert for short sellers," S3 Partners analysts wrote in the report this week. In addition, S3 cited Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL.O), Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O) and Ambarella Inc (AMBA.O) among stocks prone to a short squeeze. "We expect short covering in these stocks as short sellers look to trim their exposure and limit future mark-to-market losses if these stocks continue to rally," S3 analysts said.

Persons: Caroline Valetkevitch, Lance Tupper, Will Dunham Organizations: YORK, Partners, SOX, Semiconductor, Nvidia, Devices, Marvell Technology Inc, Broadcom Inc, Ambarella Inc, Thomson

☆ WeWork short-sellers have made $440 million in profits as shares have plunged 96% in a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

WeWork short-sellers have made a hefty $440 million in profits over the past year. The big gains come on the back of a 96% plunge in the real-estate company's stock in the past 12 months. The abrupt departure of CEO Sandeep Mathrani has also weighed heavily on WeWork's share price. Short-sellers raked in paper profits of about $440 million for the year through Wednesday's close, S3 Partners data shows, cited by Bloomberg. The hefty gains for traders come on the back of a 96% plunge in WeWork's share prices over the past 12 months.

☆ Premarket stocks: This is how the banking crisis ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —US regional bank stocks look set to rebound Friday but are still down sharply this week, accentuating fears that federal regulators have not yet contained a crisis in the sector that could shake the financial system. Breaking it down: Wall Street is on the hunt for any signs of vulnerability in the banking system after the high-profile demise of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank in a matter of weeks. While authorities stepped in to protect depositors at those banks, investors were left with stocks that were suddenly worthless. “I believe it really only ends after we get some type of government intervention,” Michaud told me. The value of short positions in regional bank stocks reached $15.1 billion in mid-April, up from about $13.7 billion one year ago, according to data from S3 Partners.

☆ Short sellers haven't profited a lot from Hindenburg Research's salvo against Carl Icahn's investment firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Zinya Salfiti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Short sellers haven't profited significantly from Hindenburg Research's recent report against Icahn Enterprises. That's because Wall Street investors remain hesitant to place bets against the billionaire owner Carl Icahn, Bloomberg reported. Short sellers have made just $9 million in mark-to-market profit, per S3 Partners data. Hindenburg also alleged that the company is "using money taken in from new investors to pay out dividends to old investors." The short seller's report on Gautam Adani's company shaved tens of billions off of its market cap and dealt a huge blow to the billionaire's net worth.

☆ Nvidia short interest down 18% YTD, while stock up 91%-S3 Partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - Short interest in Nvidia Corp. (NVDA.O) is down by 7.04 million shares, or 18%, for the year to date, while the stock is up about 91% so far this year, according to S3 Partners. Short interest is currently 1.32% of the float, the lowest level since October 2022, the firm wrote Wednesday. 1 losing equity short so far in 2023, followed by Apple (AAPL.O) and Tesla (TSLA.O), it noted. Investors who sell securities 'short' borrow shares and then sell them, expecting the stock to fall so they can buy the shares back at the lower price, return them to the lender and pocket the difference. Reporting by Caroline ValetkevitchOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Profit for Tesla short sellers rises in April -S3 Partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Caroline Valetkevitch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Tesla Inc FollowApple Inc FollowNEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) short sellers have $2.16 billion in mark-to-market profits for April so far, but shorts remain down $5.52 billion for the year so far in mark-to-market losses, S3 Partners wrote in a research note on Wednesday ahead of the automaker's quarterly results due after the closing bell. The electric car company's shares were down about 1% on Wednesday ahead of its quarterly results. Investors are focused on margins after Tesla cut U.S. prices on its electric cars for the sixth time this year. "Recent TSLA short covering may be an indication that some short sellers think that TSLA's profit margins will stay in the 20% range, and trimmed their exposure to lock in some of April's mark-to-market profits in the anticipation of a stock price rally," S3 Partners analysts wrote in the note. 2 spot in the U.S. most-shorted list, behind Apple Inc (AAPL.O), with Tesla's short interest at $15.42 billion, and 83.65 million shares shorted.

☆ Solid first-quarter stock performance fueled 8.7% short interest jump -S3
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - The solid first-quarter stock market performance helped prompt an 8.7% rise in short interest in U.S. and Canadian equities markets, according to a note from S3 Partners Research released on Friday. Short interest in U.S. and Canada markets increased by $77.9 billion, or 8.7%, to $977 billion in the first quarter of 2023, S3 Partners data showed. Technology (.SPLRCT), consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and industrials (.SPLRCI) reported the largest quarterly increases in short exposure, while short positions in energy (.SPNY) and utilities (.SPLRCU) fell the most, wrote Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of Predictive Analytics at S3. Year-to-date, tech shares have surged 19.9%, consumer discretionary has advanced 13.6% and industrials have gained 2.0%. Short interest exposure is concentrated in technology (.SPLRCT), consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and financials, which together account for about 47% of the total $976.84 billion in short interest at the end of the quarter, according Reuters analysis of the data.

☆ Analysis: Heroes or villains: Short sellers' role in the U.S. bank crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Lawrence Delevingne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

How much short sellers contributed to the downward spiral reprises the debate about whether so-called shorts are market watchdogs or opportunistic investors who profit from others’ misery. In the case of the banking crisis, a review of data and interviews with short sellers and their critics show, the answer may be both. Some high profile short sellers were later celebrated as making prophetic calls about the U.S. housing market. Even so, interviews and public postings show at least some short sellers had placed bets against regional banks well before the crisis hit. SHORT POSITIONSSuch early short sellers, however, were in the small minority.

☆ The dollar's dominance on the world stage isn't going away. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The move makes sense, given Russia's growing status as a pariah state, but it also highlights a push to unseat the dollar as a dominant force in global trade. But to strategists at the Carson Group, a scenario where the dollar isn't the world's primary reserve currency simply isn't in the cards in the near future. Are you convinced that the dollar won't lose its status as a dominant global reserve currency? Some companies in this batch of oil stocks have upsides of up to 180%, according to strategists at Bank of America. An expert from the World Gold Council pointed out that history says gold performs well in a recession.

☆ The Nasdaq 100 just entered a fresh bull market - and a top analyst says tech names look like the new safety trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those rate forecasts have bolstered tech names, and mega-caps like Apple and Microsoft have pulled the Nasdaq higher. "While it sounds like Twilight Zone comment to many investors, tech stocks have become the new safety trade with Big Tech names a major beneficiary of this dynamic," Ives, a managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush, wrote in a note. "And these tech stocks have been under owned and still remain in that camp in our opinion." Short sellers generated paper profit of $14 billion betting against bank stocks over the last month. Shorting bank names in March produced a "wide swath of profitable trades that returned +17.2% in less than a month," S3 Partners said.

☆ Short sellers generated paper profit of $14 billion betting against bank stocks in March amid SVB chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Short sellers betting against bank stocks logged $14.3 billion in paper profit in March, said S3 Partners. Chaos around SVB, Signature Bank and Credit Suisse spurred a 11.4% rise in new short selling in global bank stocks. But short sellers are also facing a squeeze as prices in bank stocks come off lower levels hit this month. Stripping out SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank, those selling bank stocks short were down 4.5% since March 23, handing back $587 million of their profit made this month. "If this upward price trend continues in the rest of the regional banks, we should see short covering as short sellers rush to realize some of their mark-to-market profits," said Dusaniwsky.

One hedge fund manager described trades in the financial sector as being "all over the map", with nobody agreeing on anything. Some breathed a sigh of relief that a competitor stepped in with a rescue offer for Credit Suisse. Others worried that the $3.2 billion UBS will pay is far less than the $9.5 billion Credit Suisse was valued at on Friday, and one investor said the market may not consider this to be a positive. loadingLater, short seller Jim Chanos tweeted his shock that $17 billion of Credit Suisse bonds would be wiped out, asking "What are the Swiss doing here…?!" There was also little agreement on how investors would be positioning themselves in smaller U.S. banks, including First Republic.

☆ Short sellers are doubling down on these European banks — and Credit Suisse isn't their top target
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Short-sellers are sitting on nearly $2 billion in profit from bets against the European banking sector this month so far. The worries heightened in Europe on Wednesday as Credit Suisse shares fell by 24% — its biggest daily loss. However, data shows that Credit Suisse — Switzerland's second-largest lender — doesn't even make the list of the top five most-shorted European Banks. BNP Paribas remains the biggest target for short-sellers, with $3.1 billion in total wagers expecting shares to fall. The following table shows the European lenders that saw the largest increase in shorts over the past 30 days.

☆ First Republic Bank tumbles, drags down shares of other regional lenders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 16 (Reuters) - First Republic Bank (FRC.N) fell about 30% on Thursday, leading shares of other regional lenders lower, as fears of a banking crisis loomed large. "Short sellers are attacking banks they think are weak, unfortunately First Republic has not done a very good job of pushing back. The regional banking sector has been reeling from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on worries that nervous customers may rush to withdraw their deposits, potentially triggering a liquidity crisis. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that First Republic was weighing options to shore up its liquidity and that larger rivals might show interest in taking over the bank. "So when you're looking at regional banks, this net interest margin situation is much more damning."

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File PhotoLONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Investment managers Bridgewater Associates, Millennium Management and Marshall Wace added to short positions on European banking shares after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sparked contagion fears across global banks, according to data from Breakout Point. Short sellers had amassed bearish positions worth more than $15.7 billion against European banks by Tuesday, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Millennium Management, Citadel, Wellington Management, Capital Fund Management, Odey Asset Management and Marshall Wace declined to comment. Marshall Wace held the largest disclosed number of short positions against banks, public filings from Austria, Italy, Sweden, Britain, Spain and Poland analysed by Breakout Point showed. Its shares were up 18% at 1602 GMT, in a broader European banking index (.SX7P) up 1.4%In the week to Wednesday, some 120 billion euros had been wiped off the value of European bank shares.

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