DOJ short-selling probe said to focus on trades in Amazon, Microsoft, JPMorgan - report
Thanumporn Thongkongkaew

A Dept. of Justice inquiry into potential collusion among short sellers is said to be looking at trades in mega cap companies including Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM).
U.S. prosecutors have sent out subpoenas to ask about trading in several blue-chip stocks to the same list of short sellers that they had previously inquired about smaller cap companies, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar.
The update on the short-seller probe comes after Bloomberg reported in February that the DOJ is reportedly collecting information on dozens of investment firms and researchers involved in short selling as part of an investigation in possible trading violations.
The DOJ had subpoenaed communications and other info from almost 30 investment and research firms, according to the Bloomberg report from February. No one had been accused of wrongdoing and the opening of the investigation doesn't mean individuals will face any charges.
The February report comes after Bloomberg in December said that the DOJ was said to have started a criminal probe into short selling by hedge funds and research firms looking at potentially improperly coordinated trades and insider trading.