Short-Squeeze Stocks of the Week

Entertainment and media stocks have continued to drop in price, yet earnings expectations have continued to rise, offering opportunities for a short-squeeze play in the area of broadcasting and cable television. A short squeeze takes place when short sellers quickly cover their positions on positive news, driving the price of the stock up sharply. The ratio for measuring short-squeeze plays is the short ratio, which is the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their position based on recent average daily volume.

Stockpickr has come up with a list of the Top Entertainment Short Squeeze Plays.

One of the most heavily shorted entertainment-related stocks is LIN TV(TVL Quote), which has a short ratio of 17.8. The television and digital media company operates 29 television stations, and it reported a year-end quarter increase in net income of 168% on a 15% dip in revenue. Its next earnings call is scheduled for May 8. The stock has a PE of 10 and a PEG of 2.65.

LIN is also part of the Stockpickr portfolio called Barron's Roundtable Stock Picks For 2008, which includes a roundtable of Art Samberg, chairman and CEO, Pequot Capital Management; Meryl Witmer, general partner, Eagle Capital Partners; Mario Gabelli, chairman, Gamco Investors; and Fred Hickey, editor, The High-Tech Strategist.

LIN was discussed by Gabelli who thinks it looks favorable. The Roundtable also recommends The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company(GAP Quote), which has a short ratio of 11.1, Ultra Petroleum(UPL Quote), with a 2.2 ratio, and MEMC Electronic Materials(WFR Quote) with a 1.5 ratio.

Another stock with significant short interest is Central European Media Enterprises (CETV Quote), the Eastern European commercial television company, which has a short ratio of 11.2. The company has operations in Croatia; Romania; the Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Ukraine and the Czech Republic. The stock has a PE of 43.

Central European Media also appears in the Stockpickr portfolio called Cramer's Russian Stock Picks. Also in the portfolio are Mechel OAO(MTL Quote) with a 0.4 short ratio, and WimmBillDann Foods OJSC(WBD Quote) with a 1.8 short ratio.

Entravision Communications(EVC Quote) is another stock with a high short interest, carrying a short ratio of 9.4. The company just approved the repurchase of $100 million of their common stock, in addition to the repurchase of $100 million of common stock that was previously authorized a couple years ago. The stock has a forward P/E of 26.

Entravision is in the Stockpickr portfolio called Insider Purchases and Buybacks XLVIII. The portfolio also lists SkillSoft(SKIL Quote), with a 4.4 short ratio; DealerTrack Holdings(TRAK Quote), with a 6.0 ratio; and Zale Corp.(ZLC Quote), with an 11.4 ratio. To see the entire list of the Top Entertainment Short-Squeeze Plays, go to Stockpickr.com.