29 Stocks That Traders Are Shorting Like Crazy

The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high on Friday.

While some think stocks could head higher, many believe we're overdue for a decent sized sell-off.

And that brings us to our latest list of the most heavily shorted stocks. It has a good mix of just about every sector you can think of — retail, semiconductors, energy, manufacturing and homebuilders.

The names themselves will probably seem familiar — a clothing chain that just can't catch a break, a video game seller outlet everyone loves to hate, and a mining group we're pretty sure has been on every single one of these lists.

One thing we should make clear: The stocks in this list are also vulnerable to short-squeezes, or sudden spikes in their price.

We ranked the stock by short interest as a percentage of floating shares.

Best Buy

Wikimedia Commons

Ticker: BBY

Short interest: 10.26% float

YTD Return: 165.03%

Sector: Retail

Comment: Best Buy continues to suffer from poor margins and weak cash flow.

Data from Bloomberg

Mylan Inc.

Carsten Koall/Getty Images

Ticker: MYL

Short interest: 10.27% float

YTD Return: 31.41%

Sector: Pharma

Comment: Mylan recently lowered 2013 revenue forecasts on Indian and Japanese currency weakness.

Data from Bloomberg

Salesforce.com

REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

Ticker: CRM

Short interest: 10.29% float

YTD Return: 6.37%

Sector: Business management

Comment: Salesforce is coming under pressure from Google's inroads into its services including email marketing, Fool.com's Jordan Wathen said.

Data from Bloomberg

Quest Diagnostics

Quest/Facebook

Ticker: DGX

Short interest: 10.47% float

YTD Return: -0.09%

Sector: Life sciences

Comment: Quest recently recorded its third-straight profit miss on Medicare cuts. Q2 income declined -12.8% YOY to $152.7 million.

Data from Bloomberg

Garmin

iTunes

Ticker: GRMN

Short interest: 10.57% float

YTD Return: -5.53%

Sector: Retail

Comment: Garmin's recent earnings fell 22% to $0.76/share, and sales were off 3% YOY to $696,563 on weakness in the personal navigation device market.

Data from Bloomberg

Microchip Technology Inc

Wikimedia Commons

Ticker: MCHP

Short interest: 10.74% float

YTD Return: 22.9%

Sector:Semiconductors

Comment: Microchip shares spent two years unable to get back to $40 a share, and only just broke through the mark.

Data from Bloomberg

NetApp

Facebook

Facebook's Luleå, Sweden, data center

Ticker: X

Short interest: 30.12% float

YTD Return: -32.64%

Sector: Manufacturing

Comment: U.S. Steel has posted five losses in its last seven quarters.

Data from Bloomberg

Diamond Offshore Drilling

REUTERS/Victor Ruiz Garcia

Ticker: DO

Short interest: 11.35% float

YTD Return: -2.61%

Sector: Energy

Comment: Diamond's Q2 revenues declined 4.2% YOY to $760 million, and the company also says it's suffering from higher costs.

Data from Bloomberg

Chesapeake

REUTERS/Steve Sisney

Ticker: CHK

Short interest: 11.49% float

YTD Return: 50.3%

Sector: Energy

Comment:Chesapeake net income fell 51% YOY to $457 million on weaker natural gas liquids prices.

Data from Bloomberg

Teradyne

Wikimedia

Ticker: TER

Short interest: 12.99% float

YTD Return: -5.03%

Sector: Electronics

Comment: Teradyne has struggled to generate strong free cash flow, Fool.com says. Q2 revenue fell YOY 22% to $429 million.

Data from Bloomberg

DR Horton

Reuters/Chris Keane

Ticker: DHI

Short interest: 13.07% float

YTD Return: -0.05%

Sector: Homebuilding

Comment: DR Horton income fell 81% in Q2 to $146 million on "lower-than-projected orders and deliveries."

Data from Bloomberg

VeriSign

Daniel Goodman / Business Insider

Ticker: VRSN

Short interest: 13.27% float

YTD Return: 21.51%

Sector: Internet services 

Comment: Verisign's domain registration renewals declined on Europe weakness nad changes in Google algorithms.

Data from Bloomberg

Windstream

Joseph A. Carr, Wikimedia Commons

Ticker: WIN

Short interest: 13.38% float

YTD Return: -2.39%

Sector: Telecom 

Comment: Windstream's stock has declined more than 40% since reaching highs of about $14 in 2010.

Data from Bloomberg

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor

Ticker: TRIP

Short interest: 14.25% float

YTD Return: 71.63%

Sector: E-commerce

Comment: TripAdvisor's hedge fund bulls declined 15% in Q2 to 41. 

Data from Bloomberg

Netflix

Stephen Chernin/Reuters

Ticker: NFLX

Short interest: 14.35% float

YTD Return: 167.56%

Sector: Media

Comment: Netflix must increase its subscriber base to support its current value, according to Gabelli & Co. 

Data from Bloomberg

Advanced Micro Devices

AP

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Ticker: AMD

Short interest: 15.42% float

YTD Return: 50.20%

Sector: Semiconductors

Comment: Advanced Micro Devices recently saw downgrades from Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. The stock has declined about -5% over the past year.

Data from Bloomberg

Joy Global

Joy Global

Ticker: JOY

Short interest: 15.44% float

YTD Return: -23.52%

Sector: Mining

Comment: Joy was recently downgraded by Goldman Sachs on slowing capex.

Data from Bloomberg

First Solar

Business Insider/Dina Spector

Ticker: FSLR

Short interest: 15.63% float

YTD Return: 47.86%

Sector: Energy

Comment: First Solar was recently downgraded by Raymond James on broader "irrational exuberance" in the market.

Data from Bloomberg

Dun & Bradstreet

Dun and Bradstreet

Ticker: DNB

Short interest: 15.67% float

YTD Return: 36.46%

Sector: Research

Comment: Dun & Bradstreet's credit rating was recently cut to BBB by S&P, citing problems.

Data from Bloomberg

IntercontinentalExchange

Wikimedia Commons

Ticker: ICE

Short interest: 15.88% float

YTD Return: 50.85%

Sector: Futures exchange

Comment: ICE's Q1 income fell 8% to 135.4 million on rising expenses and falling revenue from fees.

Data from Bloomberg

Hasbro

Pop Culture Geek / Flickr

Ticker: HAS

Short interest: 16.47% float

YTD Return: 31.18%

Sector: Consumer products

Comment: Hasbro Q2 net income fell 16% to $36.5 million on weak sales.

Data from Bloomberg

Lennar

Getty Images/Joe Readle

Ticker: LEN

Short interest: 17.36% float

YTD Return: -12.96%

Sector: Homebuilding

Comment: Lennar recently warned on rising mortgage rates.

Data from Bloomberg

Safeway

REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Ticker: SWY

Short interest: 19.83% float

YTD Return: 38.15%

Sector: Retail

Comment: Safeway shares recently saw a 10-year-low drop in price after the company reported lower same-store sales. 

Data from Bloomberg

GameStop

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Ticker: GME

Short interest: 24.35% float

YTD Return: 96.38%

Sector: Retail

Comment: GameStop recently reported a 30.6% decline in new hardware sales and a 7.5% decline in pre-owned sales.

Data from Bloomberg

Frontier Communications

maxwell GS via Flickr

Ticker: FTR

Short interest: 24.44% float

YTD Return: 2.98%

Sector: Telecom

Comment: Frontier's long-term debt to equity ratio stands at 203% of stockholder’s equity, which Fool.com calls "astounding." 

Data from Bloomberg

JC Penney

JC Penney

Ticker: JCP

Short interest: 26.15% float

YTD Return: -31.48%

Sector: Retail

Comment: JCP recently denied a CIT report it was "having credit problems again."  

Data from Bloomberg

US Steel

en.wikipedia.org

Ticker: X

Short interest: 30.12% float

YTD Return: -32.64%

Sector: Manufacturing

Comment: U.S. Steel has posted five losses in its last seven quarters.

Data from Bloomberg

Pitney Bowes

Wikimedia

Ticker: PBI

Short interest: 30.12% float

YTD Return: 61.82%

Sector: Business services

Comment: Pitney Bowes just slashed its Q2 dividend 50% to 18.75 cents. 

Data from Bloomberg

Cliffs Natural Resources

Reuters /Siphiwe Sibeko

Ticker: CLF

Short interest: 30.12% float

YTD Return: -46.97%

Sector: Business services

Comment: Cliffs profits just declined 43% to $146 million.

Data from Bloomberg

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