RE: 18.22% of RIMM shares shorted. EOM Of all the times to short RIM - this is not it. Really makes you wonder WHO is short at this point. We had massive turnover a few weeks ago. One would have thought that the intelligent, pro shorts would have covered. Guess not? Can a number this large mainly be comprised of retail shorts? Very doubtful.
Unless you believe that the phones we've been seeing pictures of, the phones that RIM is giving to carriers to certify, the phones that reviewers and special groups (like govt) have been able to play with, the phones that developers are writing and porting code on....is all just a mirage and that they will not be released in first quarter 2013??? Very bad bet. The phones are ready, kids. They will keep polishing and working on bugs, etc., but they are ready to rock and roll. The lion's share of the work has been done.
If you're a short, the smart move would have been to close before earnings (low $6's) and then to wait patiently for a decent BB10 pop. THEN...if you still think it's a short, you short it again from much higher levels. Why short it here? I wouldn't short it until middle of next year at the earliest. Wait till BB10 UPGRADE revenues pass through their financials. At this point, there is very limited downside and very substantial upside. Bad proposition for shorts. OK, the next few months won't likely see anything significant happen, we are in a bit of a lull period, but as we get closer to BB10's release (3 months?), I don't see the stock weakening too much. In fact, each day, we've been seeing a lot of buying power coming into the stock each time it sells off a bit. For example, Tuesday's ramp from $7.50 to $7.90.
I think that a lot of shorts who are sitting on large profits want to wait until early 2013 to close in order to defer capital gain taxes. Penny wise, pound foolish?