Short sellers are moving fast this week. Wolfspeed has become the standout semiconductor bear target. Short interest hit 85% of free float — up 6.9 points week-on-week. The stock has lost nearly 49% in three months. Replimune saw short interest jump 10 points to 37.8% of free float. Biotech bears are clearly active. On the fringe, Beyond Meat sits at an extraordinary 880% of free float. Cost to borrow hit 90% with zero shares left to borrow.
Bill Gates filed over $100M in purchases of Republic Services this week. Three separate buys hit on August 10–11 at roughly $215 per share. That is a rare high-profile bet on waste management. On the sell side, a board-linked fund exited $123.5M of Twilio on August 12. Illumina board member Keith Meister filed $70M in sales over two days. Tech insiders are clearly reducing exposure at current levels.
Bullish options flow is tilting toward semiconductors and retail. Micron leads positive bets — up 240% year-to-date with analysts seeing 54% further upside. Intel is also drawing heavy call interest after a 178% year-to-date gain. On retail, Target options traders are positioning for earnings season. Home Depot reports Tuesday, August 18. Results will be a key read on the US consumer.
A broad sweep of rating removals hit US utilities today. WEC, Ameren, CenterPoint, CMS Energy, DTE Energy, and others lost coverage simultaneously — a sign of a major bank reshuffling its sector team. Fair Isaac was the week's standout upside call, with the analyst consensus target rising to $1,476.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
