Shorts Taking Covers

"The biggest bears in U.S. stocks are losing their conviction after the steepest decline in the S&P 500 since the Great Depression. The number of shares borrowed and sold short on the New York Stock Exchange fell 28 percent last month from the peak in July. Companies in the S&P 500 trade at the lowest multiples of earnings in 18 years."

(Bloomberg, Adria Cimino, February 9, 2009)