Short sellers' bets rose against S&P 500 financial stocks in September

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Khanchit Khirisutchalual

Average short interest across S&P 500 financial (NYSEARCA:XLF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLF]) stocks rose at the end of September, after 1-basis-point drop in August.

The short interest rose to 2.04% in September from 2.01% in August, with the number of short interest shares in S&P 500 financials sector rose to 999.22M shares, up from 986.12M in August.

The August short interest has been revised to 2.01% from 1.98% due to inclusion of Robinhood (HOOD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HOOD]) and exclusion of MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MKTX]) in S&P 500 Financials index.

The S&P 500 financial index (SP500-40 [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SP500-40]) was up 0.04% in the last month, trailing the 3.53% gain recorded by S&P 500.
Short interest, which could be an indicator of pessimism, calculates the number of shares sold against the company float. (Short Interest % = Number of Shares Sold Short ÷ Stock Float).

MOST SHORTED STOCKS:

Erie Indemnity Company (ERIE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ERIE]) - 8.02% vs. 7.32% last month.

Apollo Global Management (APO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/APO]) - 7.50% vs 7.41%.

Franklin Resources (BEN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BEN]) - 7.22% vs 6.37%.

Robinhood Markets (HOOD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HOOD]) - 7.09% vs 3.91%.

Coinbase Global (COIN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COIN]) - 6.48% vs 5.74%.

LEAST SHORTED STOCKS:

Chubb (CB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CB]) – 0.66% vs 0.84%.

Mastercard (MA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MA]) – 0.68% vs 0.72% last month.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BRK.B]) - 0.94% vs 0.98%.

Aon (AON [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AON]) - 0.99% vs 0.88%.

JPMorgan (JPM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/JPM]) - 0.99% vs 0.97%.

Short Interest as per industry:

[Source: Seeking Alpha]
Source: Seeking Alpha

Capital Market was the most shorted industry, with a short interest of 2.58%, followed by financial services with a short interest of 2.28%.

Insurance was the least shorted industry at 1.63% against 1.57% in the prior month.

MORE ON THE FINANCIAL SELECT SECTOR SPDR® FUND ETF

* Robinhood, Invesco among top S&P 500 financial movers in Q3 [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4501167-robinhood-invesco-among-top-sp-500-financial-movers-in-q3]
* Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on The Financial Select Sector SPDR® Fund ETF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLF/ratings/quant-ratings]
* XLF: Financials Appear Primed For More Record Highs (Rating Upgrade) [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4824656-xlf-financials-appear-primed-for-more-record-highs-rating-upgrade]
* XLF: An Attractive Blend Of Financial Stocks And A Low Cost [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4800945-xlf-an-attractive-blend-of-financial-stocks-and-a-low-cost]
* JPMorgan's top financial sector short ideas going into Q4 [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4502735-jpmorgans-top-financial-sector-short-ideas-going-into-q4]