The most recent short interest data has been released for the 08/31/2016 settlement date, and we here at Dividend Channel like to sift through this fresh data and order the underlying components of the S&P 500 by "days to cover." There are a number of ways to look at short data, for example the total number of shares short; but one metric that we find particularly useful is the "days to cover" metric because it considers both the total shares short and the average daily volume of shares typically traded. The number of shares short is then compared to the average daily volume, in order to calculate the total number of trading days it would take to close out all of the open short positions if every share traded represented a short position being closed.
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Top 25 S.A.F.E. Dividend Stocks »
In our new rank based on the most recent short interest data, CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) has taken over the position of #20 most shorted S&P 500 component, from Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) which is now in the #161 spot.
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