COMING UP SHORTCOMING UP SHORTAre recent down days in the market a sign the rally is losing steam? Since the Mar. 9 low of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, there's been a spike in so-called short interest, a sign investors are betting stocks are due for a fall. The short interest ratio--the number of shares borrowed and sold short, divided by a stock's average daily trading volume--for S&P 500 stocks is currently 3.0, up from a Feb. 27 low of 2.3. Typically, the higher the ratio, the more gloomy the outlook, since a larger percentage of shares that are actively traded has been shorted. Consumer discretionary companies, including those in the auto and manufacturing industries manufacturing industries npl → industrias fpl manufactureras manufacturing industries npl → industries fpl de transformation , have an average ratio of 3.9 now, the highest among all sectors. Five S&P 500 companies have ratios of more than 10.0: Harley-Davidson, CenturyTel, Fastenal, Quest Diagnostics Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a United States corporation which provides clinical laboratory services . The company also has a business presence in England and Mexico. Quest Diagnostics is a member of the Fortune 500 and the S&P 500. , and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Co. On the flip side Flip side In the context of general equities, opposite side to a proposition or position (buy, if sell is the proposition and vice versa). , battered financials boast some of the lowest ratios, with Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. and Regions Financial boasting ratios at less than 0.5. 
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