5 More Stocks Under Attack

Everyone loves a winner. It's reasonable to assume, then, that everyone hates a loser. Yet with investing, that's not always the case.

Contrarian investors love to pick through stocks that others have cast away. Value investors are the garbage-divers of the marketplace. Conversely, when stocks have a big run-up, some investors like to bet against them. They're called short sellers, and they bet that a stock is primed for a fall.

What goes up must come down
Here's a list of stocks on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange that reported the biggest increase in their short positions in April. We then turn to the collective intelligence of the Motley Fool CAPS community to learn which of these stocks -- if any -- Foolish investors think have the power to make short work of short sellers.

Of course, this isn't a list of stocks to buy -- or short! Maybe these stocks have some serious problems that warrant the high short interest. Maybe not. What do you think? Will they be squeezed?

Tapping the CAPS advantage
Over on CAPS, more than 28,000 investors like you are looking over these same stocks. Some they like, some they don't, and they all vote on how they feel about them. Sometimes, though, the lists of stocks that Foolish CAPS players like cross swords with those that short sellers don't.

Fools think slightly better of this bunch than usual, although semiconductor component manufacturer ON Semiconductor is one has powered up investors. Perhaps short sellers were focusing on expected flat game console sales or the fact that mobile phone maker Motorola (NYSE:MOT) had lower-than-expected handset sales. They might have been surprised, then, when ON Semiconductor posted a 34% increase in profits in the first quarter. Admittedly, they see average selling prices slipping in Q2, but will that be enough to bolster and hearten the short sellers?

More than a third of the 126 professional and novice investors weighing in on ON Semiconductor are considered All-Stars, CAPS players who consistently outperform their peers. They've been bullish on the power and data management semiconductor supplier since the beginning of the year, as revealed by its CAPS trend. Here's what a few CAPS players had to say:

• All-Star Nuts2Bolts looks at how well the company is positioned globally, particularly as China becomes a major world player. "China-based CHIP company that just introduced new chips for battery-powered mobile phones, PDAs, and other hand-held devices; chips perform very effectively powered by very low voltage lithium batteries. When the Beijing Olympics hit, how many millions of tourists (will be) on their cells, PDA's, blackberries, etc.? Watch out for this one!"
  
  
• pillip remarks that the company has already moved to contain its costs, which should be a boon in a difficult market. "Management has done good job restructuring company. Early entrant into power management arena. Nearly all production moved to low cost countries (China, Eastern Europe). Very high customer satisfaction ratings, even in bad times. Share sales by TPG slowing down."

Speak up
You've heard from the CAPS All-Stars. Now it's your time for a star turn. Tell the CAPS community what you have to say. On Motley Fool CAPS, your opinion counts just as much as the short sellers'. Tell us what you think: Squeeze 'em till it hurts, or short 'em till the sun don't shine. May the best argument prevail!

Intel is a recommendation of Motley Fool Inside Value, where a 30-day guest pass allows you to power up with Philip Durell as he seeks out all of the market's hidden values.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey owns shares of Intel but of no other companies mentioned in this article. You can see his holdings here. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.