The six most shorted DOW stocks

It requires a certain type of character and courage to short blue-chip stocks - companies in the Dow Jones Industrials index. Sellers are betting that these companies will fail at one point or at least their shares will depreciate to a certain extent. On top of that, they also pay a dividend so they can short the stock.

So it's a little surprising that between May 15th and May 30th, only 3 of all 30 DOW shares were shortsighted. Or in other words: shares totaling 50 million units, and only six of all companies have suffered a 30 million share shortcut.

Yet, the bullish market is already "aging", approaching 10 years. It is not surprising to see suspicion of an approaching recession on the surface, against the backdrop of the prospect of declining interest rates and the endless commercial war. That's what makes investors wonder what the bear's expectations are for blue-chip stocks - some of the biggest names on Wall Street.

May 31 was the settlement date when the most recent report on market participants' positions came out. Sellers still prefer to short-share Pfizer, Intel and Apple shares.

Pfizer

Shares shorted: 60 million

Change from previous period: 4.30%

Intel

Shares shorted: 53.12 million

Change from previous period: -6.39%

Apple

Shares shorted: 51.26 million

Change from previous period: 3.44%

This includes the shares of: Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Exxon Mobil. Of these three, the number of Exxon's short-listed shares has declined. Below is the entire list of the most short-listed shares of the entire DOW index.

Photo: Flickr

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