Naked-Shorts Ban Lifts Open Text Shares

SAN FRANCISCO -- Short-sellers scrambling to cover their positions in Open Text(OTEX Quote) may have lifted that stock in trading Thursday.

Shares in the Waterloo, Ont. business-software developer rose by $4.77, or 16.5%, to $33.61 at one point, before falling back to $32.01, up 11%, in recent trading.

In the absence of any other news on the company, Benchmark analyst Mark Schappel attributed the move to the Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule against "naked" short-selling, which took effect Thursday. "What you're seeing today is because of the new short-selling rule."

"We think the stock is benefiting from the SEC's emergency order protecting investors against naked short-selling," he also wrote in a note. Benchmark does not make a market in shares of Open Text. ...