Retail stocks getting the headlines for good & bad reasons

So far 2015 has been a good year for some major retailing stocks. Harvey Norman is +17% and JB Hi-Fi +25% in a year where the ASX200 is down 0.8%. The iconic David Jones was taken over back in 2014 while its main rival Myer has experienced a tough time recently falling under $1, a far cry from its $4.10 float price back in 2009! Yesterday the three retail stocks discussed below were amongst the largest movers on the Australian market, although some poetic licence has been used with Metcash as it’s a supermarket. The Short position report is led by two of these three stocks - 24% of Metcash's market cap. is short sold and 20% of Myer's; these are very big bets against these two companies! The third company below Dick Smith Holdings (DSH) is not far behind with 11% short sold as retail is clearly not a favoured place for professional investors. (VIEW LINK)