It is usually an interesting read to see what is going on in overall NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ short selling. Today we looked over various short interest reports based upon November 15, 2007, on the NYSE, which is fresh data for U.S. traders because of the Thanksgiving holiday. The total NYSE Short Interest went up from 11.932 billion shares on October 31 up to 12.387 billion shares as of November 15. This is the second increase in a row but within recent month data.

Below is a summary of some key NYSE short interest changes:

Stock	(Ticker)	11/15/2007	10/31/2007	%Change
Corning	(NYSE: GLW)	12,678,622	16,112,839	-21.31%
EMC 	(NYSE: EMC)	50,028,872	61,281,674	-18.36%  
VMware	(NYSE: VMW)	11,681,831	10,440,110	+11.89%

There were also many key net share changes in short interest, and here are a few of the key names:

Stock		(Ticker)	11/15/2007	10/31/2007	Net Change
CVS Caremark 	(NYSE: CVS)	67,661,461	37,871,140	+29,790,321
Mirant Corp 	(NYSE: MIR)	50,241,294   	23,796,710   	+26,444,584
Qwest Comm. 	(NYSE: Q) 	66,747,528   	82,000,170   	-15,252,642
General Electric(NYSE: GE) 	61,608,091   	66,708,279   	-5,100,188

Out of financials, Countrywide Financial NYSE:CFC) led the charge with more than 112 million shares. Here are some expanded short interest notes:

• Financial and general
• Key decreases in NYSE short interest
• Key increases on NYSE short interest

MOST NOTEWORTHY: GPC Biotech, Akamai, Qwest, Shutterfly and LDK Solar were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• GPC Biotech (NASDAQ: GPCB) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman, to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank and to Underweight from Overweight at Lehman after the company's phase III trial of satraplatin to treat prostate cancer did not meet its primary endpoint.
  
• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) to Hold from Buy on valuation following the recent rally as they believe concerns around slowing growth, margins and capital efficiency will limit upside.
  
• Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) was downgraded to Sector Performer from Outperformer at CIBC and to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan following the company's disappointing Q3 results.
  
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Shutterfly (NASDAQ: SFLY) following the better-than-expected Q3 results due to valuation.
  
• Piper downgraded shares of LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) to Market Perform from Outperform, as they expect higher blended poly cost for the company due to tightening scrap poly supply and increased competition.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
  
• UBS downgraded Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• Merrill downgraded CommScope (NYSE: CTV) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Under Armour (NYSE: UA) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.
  
• RBC Capital downgraded Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC) to Sector Perform from Outperform.

Before the bell: Investors unsure before the Fed; Stock futures lower

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) narrowed its third-quarter loss to $120.1 million and recorded a surge of 524,938 in new subscribers ahead of its planned merger with larger rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR). Sirius reported a loss of 8 cents per share, in line with expectations. Revenue rose 45% to $241.8 million, but fell short of Wall Street's expectation of $244.3 million. SIRI shares are up 2.5% in premarket trading to $3.70.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) - Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, explained yesterday why he didn't renew his contract with Apple's iTunes, saying last year's revenue from the digital model was just $15 million.
Apple also announced today it sold or delivered over 2 million copies of its Mac OS X Leopard released on Friday, far outpacing the first weekend sales of Mac OS X Tiger.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) shares are up 0.8% this morning in premarket action after the company announced yesterday its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $7 billion in common stock. The new plan follows a $3 billion buyback approved by the board in August 2006, which is nearing completion.

Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) shares are tumbling over 13.5% in premarket trading after the company reported third quarter earnings this morning and cut its 2007 outlook. If the company expected $1.9-2.0 earnings per shares for the year, it now expects $1.7-1.8 EPS. The reason - weak performance of several of the brands. As it is, profit in its third quarter dropped 65% due to hefty charges and a drop in sales in the company's partnered brands division. Excluding charges the company earned 63 cents per share, below analysts' estimates of 68 cents per share. Revenue fell 4% to $1.26 billion. Analysts predicted sales of $1.33 billion.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) shares are up 2.2% in premarket trading after the telco reported third-quarter earnings yesterday that were largely in line with expectations, reflecting steady growth in its wireless operations and a slow decline in its wired telephone business. Verizon earned, excluding one-time charges, 63 cents per share compared to 53 cents a year ago period. These were inline with estimates. Revenue came to $23.8 billion, up 5.8%, slightly beating the $23.7 billion expected.

Qwest Communications Inc. (NYSE: Q) shares are down over 4.6% in premarket trading following its earnings report this morning. That's despite third-quarter profit jumpimg. For the period, Qwest earned $2.07 billion, or $1.08 per share, which included a $2.15 billion tax benefit. Operating revenue declined slightly year over year to $3.43 billion from $3.49 billion. Analyst had expected revenue of $3.49 billion.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) shares are up over 1.1% in premarket trading after UBS upgraded the shares from Sell to Buy. UBS also upped the target price from $24 to $48.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: BEA Systems, Nokia, Medco Health, Quest Diagnostics and PetSmart were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded shares of BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) to Hold from Buy on valuation following the $17/share offer by Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) as they think a public bidding war for the company is unlikely.
  
• ABN Amro downgraded shares of Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) to Hold from Buy on valuation and believes above consensus Q3 results are already priced into shares.
  
• Wachovia downgraded Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) to Market Perform from Outperform on valuation.
  
• The firm also downgraded Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) to Market Perform from Outperform, as they believe the prospects from stabilizing volumes and cost savings are reflected in valuation and Street estimates.
  
• Credit Suisse downgraded shares of PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) to Neutral from Outperform citing aggressive pricing at Petco, accelerating growth initiatives, limited visibility around expense management, and lack of consistent results.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ: MEOH) was downgraded to Sector Underperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC.
  
• Rochdale downgraded Heico Corporation (NYSE: HEI) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded BankUnited Financial Corp (NASDAQ: BKUNA) to Neutral from Outperform and removed Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) from its Focus List.
  
• Goldman removed MetLife (NYSE: MET) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Coldwater Creek (NASDAQ: CWTR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Standford and at Stifel.

While investors are focusing on the ensuing battle between AT&T (NYSE: T) and the big cable companies over providing voice, video and data to the home, many might need to be reminded that the telco giants have a massive enterprise business that is ripe to benefit from improved pricing.

Remember there are few companies that can provide high-level enterprise service on a nationwide basis -- AT&T and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) are pretty much it. You would be hard pressed to name another. Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) has not said much about what it wants to do with its fiber network and although Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT) is picking up its business, it will not be enough to threaten the positions of the two behemoths.

AT&T and Verizon's stock performance, while doing well recently, has been held back by investors wondering where the revenue growth is. Now it appears that growth might be ready to return. Jim Crowe, Level 3's CEO, said a few months back that one issue the industry no longer has is pricing, a big change from a few years ago.

Verizon and AT&T have been written about more positively over the past few days, as Bear Stearns and Citigroup are both recommending the stocks. Sometimes the best stocks are in the most obvious places. AT&T and Verizon are two large companies that are worth looking at again.

The short interest for the NYSE is out for the second half of September. The NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) actually showed a small increase in the total shares short on the NYSE: the September 28 settlement short interest was 11,878,834,897, above the 11,841,051,529 reading of September 14, 2007. This represents 3.1% of the total shares outstanding.

The raw truth is that this is actually a very small gain of only just over 37,000,000 shares. But it follows what was a large drop from mid-August to mid September as mid-August was in the midst of the market malaise with 12,466,511,521 shares listed as being short. Just at the end of last month I had noted that short selling Internet stocks showed mixed results. There had previously been a large drop in major banking stock short interest, but we also showed how housing and retail stocks had been under short selling pressure.

You can see the full list of the September 28 settlement date short stocks at the site, but here are the top 10 (with short interest):

• iShares Russel 2000 Index (NYSE: IWM) 258,152,676
• Ford Motor (NYSE: F) 177,621,324
• Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) 84,338,020
• Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) 76,350,102
• Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) 76,100,928
• General Electric (NYSE: GE) 65,851,636
• Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) 64,874,719
• Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) 62,259,216
• Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) 57,387,316
• General Motors (NYSE: GM) 56,515,532

Firms in the communications sphere seem to be constantly readjusting themselves, to find the most successful balance between size and efficiency. The most recent move involves an Englewood, Colorado outfit that is leaning toward a spin-off. There is also talk that the company may be an acquisition target.

EchoStar Communications (NASDAQ: DISH) offers satellite digital television to customers in the United States. The firm's DISH Network delivers programming to more than 13 million subscribers and subsidiary EchoStar Technologies provides dishes, set-top boxes and other digital equipment to both the DISH Network and others. EchoStar has formed alliances with Internet service providers and voice communications companies to offer combined services. Among those partners are EarthLink (NASDAQ: ELNK), Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S).

The stock popped last week, on good news for the firm and a subsequent rumor. The first jump was on Tuesday, when the Board decided to pursue a possible separation of its businesses into two distinct publicly traded companies. EchoStar's consumer pay-TV business would continue to operate as the DISH Network and most of the firm's other technology assets would be spun-off. Shareholders would receive pro rata ownership interests in each of the new entities. Then, on Thursday, the brokerage community renewed speculation that DISH might be acquired by AT&T (NYSE: T). Oppenheimer seemed to think the move was reasonably certain. Kaufman Brothers later viewed such a transaction as possible.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Websence (WBSN), RF Micro Devices (RFMD), Fiserv (FISV), Qwest (Q), and OSI Pharma (OSIP) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Websence (NASDAQ: WBSN) to Overweight from Underweight ahead of the renewal period starting in the December quarter and expects this momentum to drive shares higher.

• RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup, who said the Sirenza Microdevices (SMDI) deal gives the company its first real prospect for gross margin expansion in years.

• Matrix USA upgraded Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) to Buy from Sell, and expects the company to benefit from the Checkfree (CKFR) acquisition.

• Lehman upgraded shares of Qwest (NYSE: Q) to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing the hiring of industry veteran Ed Mueller as CEO. The firm believes the new CEO removes an overhang and could lead to a change in strategic direction and significantly increase capital spending.

• JP Morgan upgraded OSI Pharma (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Overweight from Underweight based on valuation and upcoming catalysts for Tarceva that should be seen in the next year...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• UBS upgraded Allstate (NYSE: ALL) to Neutral from Sell.

• ThinkEquity raised Hansen Medical (NASDAQ: HNSN) to Buy from Accumulate.

• Stanford upgraded Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) to Buy from Hold.

• FTN Midwest upgraded shares of Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) to Neutral from Sell.

• Hambrecht upgraded NetGear (NASDAQ: NTGR) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

The poster-child stocks for the last boom-bust period, the tech and telecom sector, might be the sector to hide in during the recent market volatility. Unlike the late 1990s, when telecom was loaded with debt and tech companies sold for sky-high valuations of 50 to 100x earnings, this time around things are different.

Most telecom stocks have very low debt to EBITDA levels, and many of the start ups that were able to survive went through bankruptcy or, if avoided it, were able to recapitalize their balance sheets.

Another point, this industry is substantially less competitive then it was back then. In terms of national service providers, AT&T Inc (NYSE: T), Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ), Level 3 Communications Inc (NASDAQ: LVLT) and Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) remain. Qwest Communications International Inc (NYSE: Q) is getting itself ready for a sale and has been less aggressive in the national market. Level 3 has purchased many of the start-ups during the past few years, playing the role of industry consolidator.

The two huge service providers, Verizon and AT&T, might look particularly attractive. During Level 3's recent conference call, Jim Crowe said their problem is handling the new business, pricing is no longer an issue in the industry. If this is the case, that means Verizon and AT&T are going to make a lot of money.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: British Airways (BAIRY), Symantec (SYMC), OfficeMax (OMX), Qwest (Q) and Metlife (MET) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• ABN Amro upgraded British Airways (OTC: BAIRY) to Hold from Sell on valuation.

• Friedman Billings believes Symantec's (NASDAQ: SYMC) fundamentals are about to show significant improvement over the next year and upgraded shares to Outperform from Market Perform.

• JP Morgan raised OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) shares to Overweight from Neutral on valuation.

• Qwest (NYSE: Q) was upgraded to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer, expecting revenue growth to be driven by the improving enterprise business. JP Morgan added Qwest to its Focus List.
  

• Metlife (NYSE: MET) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill, based on valuation...
  

OTHER UPGRADES:

• ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at Pacific Crest.

• Penn West (NYSE: PWE) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.

• Friedman Billings upgraded Cubic (AMEX: CUB) to Market Perform from Underperform.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Jones Apparel (NYSE: JNY) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

• Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was raised to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

AT&T Inc.'s (NYSE: T) new CEO is downplaying the chance that he would try to buy one of the big European telecom companies like BT (NYSE: BT), France Telecom (NYSE: FTE), or Vodafone (NYSE: VOD). He says his company's plan is to service big multinational customers through his companies' existing overseas services.

But, maybe AT&T is just being coy. In the U.S., it faces rising competition from cable. Its landline businesses are under siege by VoIP. Its fiber initiative to take customers from cable companies by offering voice, TV and broadband may work, but the competition will do almost anything to defend its turf. And, cable already has most of the "triple play" customers. AT&T will have to take them away.

In its cellular business, AT&T Wireless will almost certainly get a boost from the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, but the U.S. market for cellular service is maturing. AT&T and Verizon wireless both have over 60 million subscribers and Sprint (NYSE: S) has over 50 million.

AT&T has come close to rebuilding the old phone company before it was broken up by the government. It does not own the northeast region of the U.S., which is controlled by Verizon (NYSE: VZ) or the central US where Qwest (NYSE: Q) makes its home. But competing in its home market has to be less and less attractive to AT&T. Growth in cellular can only make up for landline losses for so long.

Faster growing markets overseas may be more alluring than AT&T is letting on.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

The CEO of Qwest (NYSE: Q), Dick Notebaert, resigned this week. He's only 59 years old and came to the company when it was at death's door (about five years ago). But with lots of cost cutting and re-engineering, he was able to post a nine-fold increase in the stock price.

Although, the new CEO of Qwest will need to deal with a lot of big issues. For example, there is competition from cable operators like Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA). There may also be a need to build out a video network – which AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have spent billions on.

To get more insight on the matter, I interviewed Umesh Ramakrishnan, who is the Vice Chairman CTPartners (an executive search firm).

What does Qwest need for its next CEO?

Tonight Jim Cramer talked about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Qwest Communications Intl. (NYSE: Q).

What is interesting is that Cramer came out on Apple and said the reason for the drop today on the programming concern is something he feels is wrong and you can buy that weakness. About Qwest Communications, Jim Cramer said this is very odd and out of the ordinary and was not expected. He even replayed an interview tape where Notebart, the retiring CEO of Qwest, said he was staying.

Buying Apple on pullbacks has worked for the last few years in the stock, but we still have a couple weeks before the iPhone release and ship date. This means that unless this is the true exception to the rule that we'll end up seeing some large profit-taking immediately before and during the news cycle. There's always a shot it could be different this time, after all it is Apple we are talking about. This change of his stance was also a bit different than what he gave on a prior pre-iPhone strategy. In all fairness, this is one of his "New Four Horsemen of Tech."

Notebart just told Cramer last month that he was NOT retiring and that is a concern for me, too. Out of personal experience, when a loved CEO leaves, it is often hard to replace him. When it is a loved CEO that just earlier said he wasn't leaving the company, then you have to worry about something sinister. Even if nothing bad is on the horizon in the case of Qwest, the statistics usually work out to "not be in" on strange developments such as this.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Qwest (NYSE: Q) is down nearly 6.6% on heavy volume today on the unexplained news that its CEO of five years, Richard Notebaert, is leaving. He want to spend more time with his family. Maybe.

Notebaert says he will stay until the board finds a replacement, but it does not appear that he will be very active in that process. Reuters rightly credits the CEO "with leading the U.S. phone company toward recovery from losses and massive debt." The previous CEO, Joe Nacchio, left in disgrace and has spent most of his time since his departure fighting federal charges.

Qwest has several problems, but these have not kept the stock from moving up 150% over the last five years. The company does not have a big revenue and cash flow engine in the cellular space the way AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) do. It is also in no position to build out a huge fiber-to-the-home deployment to compete with cable companies for TV subscriptions.

Qwest has, in essence, fought its competition with one hand tied behind its back, and it has done a good job. Perhaps the board will want to sell the company while it is still ahead. Perhaps the CEO objected.

Maybe he just got tired. We may never know.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

A few months after being shunned a bit by the federal government's $20 billion "Networx" telecom contract for international communications, Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) has won at least some pieces of the deal after all. Sprint Solutions, a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel, has landed a part of the contract (unspecified amount) along with telecom providers AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) and Qwest Government Services. All companies will be participating in the providing of internet, voice and wireless services to 135 federal agencies, according to the General Services Administration (GSA).

Let's examine the contract a little more carefully. This GSA contract does not give any one company any specific portion of business, but gives each only the capability to compete for business under the $20 billion contractual services umbrella. Will some spirited bidding be going on here soon? Sure it will.

Now that Sprint has been included into the "Networx" contract for future bidding purposes, it may be a competitive disadvantage to other telecom players like AT&T, Verizon Communications and and Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q). All the others have been included in the "Network Universal" contract back from March of this year, but which Sprint was excluded from.

With AT&T and Qwest having been included in both contracts, these companies will most likely be able to bid less and win more business than Sprint will be able to afford and provide. That's just a guess, but I'm thinking Sprint will be very selective about what it bids for under this new contract.