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)
, 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)
, which has a short ratio of 11.1,
Ultra Petroleum
(UPL)
, with a 2.2 ratio, and
MEMC Electronic Materials
(WFR)
with a 1.5 ratio.
Another stock with significant short interest is
Central European Media Enterprises
(CETV) - Get Report
, 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
. Also in the portfolio are
Mechel OAO
(MTL) - Get Report
with a 0.4 short ratio, and
WimmBillDann Foods OJSC
(WBD)
with a 1.8 short ratio.
Entravision Communications
(EVC) - Get Report
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 $100 million of common stock that was previously authorized a couple years ago. The stock has a forward P/E of 26.
Entravision is in the Stockpickr portfolio called
Insider Purchases and Buybacks XLVIII
. The portfolio also lists
SkillSoft
(SKIL)
, with a 4.4 short ratio;
DealerTrack Holdings
(TRAK)
, with a 6.0 ratio; and
Zale Corp.
(ZLC)
, with an 11.4 ratio. To see the entire list of the
Top Entertainment Short-Squeeze Plays
, go to Stockpickr.com.
At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no positions in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.
James Altucher is president of
LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He is also a weekly columnist for the
Financial Times
and the author of
Trade Like a Hedge Fund
,
Trade Like Warren Buffett
and
SuperCa$h
. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback;
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