August 1: Shorts Pile In, Earnings Season Heats Up

Bears Take Aim at Distressed Names

Short sellers pushed hard into several names today. CHWY now has 82.4% of its free float sold short. HTZ sits even higher at 84.6%. Both stocks are drawing heavy Reddit attention. A squeeze risk is rising fast. SOC saw the biggest weekly move — short interest jumped 11 points to 43.7% of free float. Borrowing shares is nearly impossible there. GRPN is up 96% in three months yet shorts keep pressing, with SI % FF now at 74.3%. Options flow backs the bearish thesis. SNDK — up 412% year-to-date — tops the negative bets table. MU draws heavy options volume on both sides ahead of earnings, a sign of high tension.

Earnings Week in Focus

A major earnings week begins today. MAR reports this morning on travel demand. AMGN and BKNG report Tuesday after the close. Booking at $150bn market cap will give the clearest read on global travel spending. REGN drew fresh analyst upgrades today. Its average target climbed to $833.54. Nine of 17 analysts rate it a Buy.

Enbridge Takes a Legal Hit

Michigan's Supreme Court rejected a pipeline permit for ENB under the Great Lakes today. The ruling blocks a key segment of the Line 5 pipeline. This is a material legal setback for the Canadian energy giant and could weigh on its US operations.

Insider Watch

Charles Schwab sold nearly $20M in SCHW shares between July 24–29. His daughter filed a $2.4M sale on July 28. That cluster of family selling in a stock that has run hard this year is worth watching closely.