NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Short interest on the New York Stock Exchange
rose 0.8 percent in late March, the exchange said on Friday, hitting a fresh
all-time high and indicating a slight increase in bearish sentiment in the
stock market. For story please see [ID:nN04457455].

Below are the five NYSE stocks that experienced the largest increases and
decreases in their short positions from mid-March to late March, according to
information released by the exchange.

The five companies with the largest overall short positions are also
listed.

The latest data is as of March 31, while the previous period's data is as
of March 14.
Company March 31 March 14 Net Change Pct Change
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FIVE BIGGEST INCREASES:
Lehman Bros. PJ (LEH_pj.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 557,152,799 783,851 556,368,948 7,0978.9
Coeur d'Alene (CDE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 60,226,768 45,808,686 14,418,082 31.5
General Electric (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 57,930,098 44,893,178 13,036,920 29.0
Thornburg Mortgage (TMA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 35,995,283 25,765,935 10,229,348 39.7
Lehman Bros (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 56,673,702 46,563,816 10,109,886 21.7
FIVE BIGGEST DECREASES:
Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 63,180,006 77,971,788 -14,791,782 -19.0
Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 45,525,969 59,343,023 -13,817,054 -23.3
News Corporation (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 19,639,416 33,375,697 -13,736,281 -41.2
Countrywide CFC.N 97,984,142 111,527,150 -13,543,008 -12.1
Boston Scientific (BSX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 46,315,687 58,823,044 -12,507,357 -21.3
FIVE BIGGEST POSITIONS:
Lehman Bros PJ (LEH_pj.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 557,152,799 783,851 556,368,948 7,0978.9
Ford Motor (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 244,615,797 248,886,793 -4,270,996 -1.7
Washington Mutual (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 162,881,480 168,771,792 -5,890,312 -3.5
Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 127,794,737 125,555,098 2,239,639 1.8
Wells Fargo (WFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 119,448,401 117,451,680 1,996,721 1.7
Source: NYSE data as of March 31, Reuters Estimates
(Reporting by Emily Chasan, editing by Richard Chang)