Short Interest Rose Again; Freddie & Fannie Drop 50%; Structural Shifts/Changes in Media, Commodities

MWF (Friday) Briefing:

It's turning into a short seller's dream. The NYSE and NASDAQ released short interest statistics for the month ending in June.  On the NYSE, short interest rose to another record high, up 2.67% to 18.125 billion shares.  For the S&P 500, short interest as a percentage of float for the average stock rose from 5.8% to 6.0% of float.  The structural shift to digitization of media and the proliferation of the blogosphere is hurting traditional media's business model.

• A weakening economy and the transition to digital media pose significant challenges to consumer magazines, but their outlook is better than for newspapers, and stronger players may benefit from consolidation of stronger brands.  Research Recap

• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock opened nearly 50 percent lower on worries the company will suffer larger losses and default on debt.NYT

• Terrence Duffy, Executive Chairman of the CME stated in his Congressional testimony "CME Group is concerned about suggestions to arbitrarily raise margins, which are established for each individual product based primarily on market volatility," Duffy said... Such changes, as many economists and market participants have pointed out, could actually force commercial interests and hedgers away from transparent markets and into more opaque over-the-counter products."