Investors Were Furiously Closing Their Shorts In These Tickers Ahead of the Election

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) is a low-cost U.S air carrier with a market value of $6.8 billion. The airline’s stock saw a sharp decline of 40% in its short interest in the second-half of October, but short interest jumped by 32.6% in the first-half of November to cover 3.5% of the float. The number of shares sold by short sellers stands at 11.24 million as of November 15. The company reported a 6.5% year-over-year growth in consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPM) during October. By the end of the third quarter, 32 funds that we track held JBLU shares worth $486.89 million.

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) is a small-cap restaurant company whose shares experienced sharp short covering in the second-half of October. The short interest ratio declined by 39% during that time, with days to cover falling to just 1.7 days. In the following half-month, short interest jumped by 13%, while days to cover moved up to 4. Overall, 6.6% of the float is sold short as of November 15. The company owns and operates over 170 restaurants located in over 20 states. The main brands owned by the company are BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, BJ’s Pizza & Grill, and BJ’s Grill. The company reported poor third-quarter results, with earnings falling by 23% from a year earlier due to lower operating margins. 11 out of the 16 analysts covering the stock have it rated ‘Hold’, while only 3 analysts think it is worthy of a ‘Buy’ rating. 20 funds in our database held 23% of the company’s float as of September 30.

Lastly is the Vanguard MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEARCA:VEA) provides exposure to equity markets in Europe and the Pacific region to its investors. The ETF has a portfolio of more than 1,100 stocks from 21 countries, with about 22% of its portfolio funds being allocated to Japan, while the U.K is the next-largest region with 17% allocation. Amongst sectors, Financials is the ETF’s biggest sector, followed by Industrials and Consumer Cyclicals. The most remarkable thing about the ETF is its very low expense ratio of just 0.09%, making it an excellent vehicle to gain exposure to non-U.S developed markets in Europe and Asia. The ETF saw a very sharp fall in its short interest in the last half of October, falling by 57% as short sellers rushed to cover their positions. However, short interest surged by 94.2% in the first-half of November, as Trump’s Presidential victory clearly spooked investors when it comes to foreign equities. At the end of the third quarter, eight hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey owned more than $65 million worth of the ETF’s shares.

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