August Short Interest Swings Across Five Securities

Short interest trends in August were mixed across the securities covered. Short positions rose 225.8% for Metropolitan Bank & Trust, 158.3% for MFS Government Markets Fund and 130% for New Mountain Finance’s 8.25% notes due 2028, though the notes had only 0.3 days of trading volume needed to cover the reported short interest. By contrast, short interest fell 67.6% for the PIMCO Short Term Municipal Bond ETF and 50% for Paul Mueller Co., with just one Paul Mueller share reported short at month-end. The changes occurred alongside generally narrow trading ranges and low short-interest ratios, offering limited evidence by themselves of substantial market-wide bearish positioning.