The PowerShares Dynamic Biotechnology & Genome Portfolio (NYSEArca: PBE), the ETF with the largest weight to Idenix, is up 8.5% today on above average volume, bringing that fund’s one-month gain to almost 14%.
The cases of IBB and XBI are important because both ETFs are heavily shorted. Only four ETFs are more heavily shorted than XBU. More than 8.2 million shares of IBB are sold short, an amount that would take almost six trading days to cover, according to Nasdaq data.
It is safe to say the shorts that eagerly piled into IBB and XBI and are sticking with that trade are feeling some pain these days.
While shorts are getting crimped by the biotech rebound, some long investors appear skittish about sticking or rejoining the biotech party. Since the start of the second quarter, of the five major biotech ETFs, only the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSEArca: FBT) has seen inflows while a combined $406.7 million has been pulled from the four other ETFs.
iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF
