(Bloomberg Gadfly) -- It really sucked to be short Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in 2017.
No wonder the bears are starting to give up.
Short interest peaked July 14 at 141 million shares. With the stock up 74 percent for the year at that point, you could understand the hopes for a slide. The bears were disappointed. Not only did Alibaba keep climbing, the lowest close from that point was a drop of a mere 60 cents, or 0.4 percent.
The shares have since gone on to rise another 13 percent, and by the close on Dec. 28 were up 96 percent for the year. The stock did ebb a little in the interim, but an 11 percent peak-to-trough decline was barely enough to make shorting worth the hassle.
Oh well. Sorry bears, better luck in 2018.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Tim Culpan is a technology columnist for Bloomberg Gadfly. He previously covered technology for Bloomberg News.
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.