The NASDAQ Stock Market Announces Open Short-Interest Positions In NASDAQ Stocks For October 2004
New York, NY —As of mid-October, short interest in 2,770 NASDAQ National Market® securities totaled 4,998,591,085 shares compared with 5,115,514,363 shares in 2,752 National Market issues for the month of September.
The October short interest represents 3.29 days’ average daily NASDAQ National Market share volume for the reporting period, compared with 3.88 days in September. Short interest in 643 securities on The NASDAQ SmallCap MarketSM totaled 132,081,945 shares for October, compared with 132,885,622 shares in 646 securities for the month of September. This represents 2.05 days average daily volume, compared with last month’s figure of 2.70 days.
In summary, short interest in all 3,413 NASDAQ® securities totaled 5,130,673,030 shares for October, compared with 3,398 issues and 5,248,399,985 shares in September. This is 3.24 days’ average daily volume, compared with last month’s average of 3.84 days.
The open short interest positions reported for each NASDAQ security reflect the total number of shares sold short by all broker/dealers regardless of their exchange affiliations. A short sale is generally understood to mean the sale of a security that the seller does not own or any sale that is consummated by the delivery of a security borrowed by or for the account of the seller.
The monthly NASDAQ short interest figures are current as of the 15th of the month and are released to the media after the market close on the seventh business day following that date. The figures this month include all short-interest positions reported September 10 through October 12 and settled as of October 15, 2004.
The total NASDAQ short positions for the preceding 13 months and current month follow:
| Settlement Date | Total Short Interest | Number of Securities |
| October 15, 2003 | 4,584,107,664 | 3,474 |
| November 14, 2003 | 4,563,123,033 | 3,456 |
| December 15, 2003 | 4,713,016,555 | 3,440 |
| January 15, 2003 | 4,687,305,136 | 3,454 |
| February 13, 2004 | 4,593,580,829 | 3,463 |
| March 15, 2004 | 4,855,579,913 | 3,443 |
| April 15, 2004 | 4,993,345,137 | 3,443 |
| May 14, 2004 | 4,958,452,082 | 3,416 |
| June 15, 2004 | 5,170,987,973 | 3,430 |
| July 15, 2004 | 5,109,696,729 | 3,405 |
| August 13, 2004 | 5,157,706,325 | 3,400 |
| September 15, 2004 | 5,248,399,985 | 3,398 |
| October 15, 2004 | 5,130,673,030 | 3,413 |
For more information on NASDAQ Short-Interest positions, visit the www.nasdaqtrader.com Web site.
Media Contact:
Wayne Lee
301.978.4875