October brings losses for short sellers in U.S. opioid-related shares

October has been a rough month for short sellers betting against companies at the heart of the opioid crisis, although those traders still have paper profits of almost $600 million for the year, according to data from financial analytics firm S3 Partners. The data from S3 analyzed changes in short interest and profits related to shares of eight companies named in U.S. opioid litigation. The list includes U.S. shares of drugmakers Mallinckrodt Plc , Endo International Plc and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd , drug distributors Cardinal Health Inc, McKesson Corp and AmerisourceBergen Corp, pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson.