Comparing A Couple Of Polarizing Muddy Water Shorts

Muddy Waters identifies short opportunities across many sectors, including a regional bank, Bank Of The Ozarks Inc OZRK, and a major medical device company, St. Jude Medical, Inc. STJ.

Bank Of The Ozarks

Muddy Waters announced a short position in the regional bank on May 4, 2016.

Shares opened for trading that day at $39.04 and Muddy Waters' short announcement sent the stock falling to an intra-day low of $33.66 before closing the day at $37.69. The stock then remained range bound between the $35 and $40 level until breaking above the $40 level last week.

Shares hit an intra-day high of $43.30 on Tuesday, but quickly tumbled below the $40 mark on heavy volume after the company reported its third quarter results.

Muddy Water's short position is losing money as shares are trading higher than they were back in May despite the stock being lower by more than 1 percent on Tuesday.

Related Link: Bank Of The Ozarks Shares React To Company's Record Q3

St. Jude Medical

Muddy Waters' short on St. Jude was more notable given the thesis behind the position. The firm shorted St. Jude on the premise that its medical devices are vulnerable to a cyber attack that puts its clients in risk.

The short was announced on August 25. The stock opened for trading that day at $81.73 and Muddy Waters' short report sent shares tumbling to an intra-day low of $73.40 before closing the day at $77.82.

Similar to Bank of the Ozarks, St. Jude's stock recovered from its August 25 lows and was trading as high as $81.01 on October 6.

On Tuesday, Muddy Waters' short position in St. Jude gained in value as the stock fell more than 3 percent after the company warned clients of a premature battery depletion issue in its medical devices.

Muddy Waters also Tweeted a copy of a letter he received from a doctor which details the battery warning.

Of particular note, another stock shorted by Muddy Waters is lower during Tuesday's trading session. Shares of Tutor Perini Corp TPC, a construction company, was trading lower by more than 1.50 percent.