Quarter-End Pressure Hits Markets on All Fronts

Short Sellers Pile In

Wolfspeed remains the most extreme short in US mid-caps. Bears hold 129.9% of its free float short. Availability has hit zero — no shares left to borrow. The setup creates real squeeze risk for any trader holding puts. Lucid Group is similarly squeezed. Short interest sits at 39.2% of free float. Cost to borrow has surged to 77.9% APR. Frontier Airlines also drew heavy new shorts this week. SI jumped 8.6 points to 42.2% of free float. Restaurant Brands was the week's sharpest mover — short interest more than doubled in seven days, from 6.6% to 14.8%.

Earnings Season Kicks Off

Nike and Constellation Brands both report Monday. General Mills follows Tuesday. GIS carries the heaviest short pressure of the trio at 10% SI % FF. Margin trends and volume declines in packaged food are the main focus. Analysts lifted Micron Technology's consensus target to $1,410, with 38 Buy ratings and just one Sell. The railroad sector got a broad lift too. Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and CSX all saw upward target revisions in the same session.

Insider Moves Draw Attention

Two large filings stand out. ASTS CEO Abel Avellan sold $146.7M in AST SpaceMobile shares near recent highs. Nvidia director Mark Stevens filed $186M in separate sell transactions. On the buy side, John Malone picked up $7.8M in Liberty Latin America shares — a contrarian bet on a beaten-down name.

European Markets Under Pressure

Oil dropped back below pre-conflict levels as Gulf flows picked up. EasyJet is in talks with Castlelake after rejecting a £4.9 billion takeover offer. South Korea delayed plans for new single-stock options amid record volatility. Bitcoin fell below $60,000 as retail interest shifted toward AI-linked equities.