Shorts, Sellers, and a Busy Earnings Week

Macro Backdrop

Oil is back in focus. Crude touched a three-month low after Trump signalled a US-Iran deal is close. Gold sank to a six-month low too. Speculative investors are exiting bullion. Stocks and government bonds gained on hopes the energy shock will ease. European defence shares reversed earlier gains on funding concerns.

Bears Press Their Bets

Short sellers moved aggressively into AI chips and consumer brands this week. CBRS saw short interest leap from 6.3% to 25.6% of free float in seven days. Bears are questioning the $7.4B Cerebras valuation. BIRK shorts rose to 30.2% of free float. Cost to borrow hit 16.3%. Rental car names stay under fire. CAR sits at 45.8% SI % FF and HTZ at 44.5%. Fleet cost pressure keeps both firmly in the crosshairs.

Smart Money Exits

Silver Lake Group filed to disclose a $389 million sale of DELL shares last week. The private equity firm sold at $420–435 per share. At LQDA, three board-level insiders collectively sold over $32 million. The biotech cluster exit is worth watching.

Options and Earnings Watch

Put flow is heavy heading into this week's June 18 expiry. CRWD shows the most active options chain, with deep out-of-the-money puts dominating. KMX and KR are the headline earnings names. PGR drops May results Wednesday. Across the Atlantic, UK water utility PNN reports full-year results Tuesday.

Analyst Moves

Analysts backed restaurants and flagged caution on biotech. DRI target edged up to $226. BIIB target slipped further, with 21 sell ratings against just one buy. GILD bucked the trend with a modest target upgrade.