Energy News: SandRidge Energy Inc. (SD)’s Royalty Interests, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK) & Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)’s Carelessness

Chesapeake Energy Becomes #46 Most Shorted S&P 500 Component, Replacing Chipotle Mexican Grill (Forbes)
The most recent short interest data has been released by the NASDAQ for the 07/15/2013 settlement date, and we here at Dividend Channel like to sift through this fresh data and order the underlying components of the S&P 500 by “days to cover.” …In our new rank based on the most recent short interest data from NASDAQ, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) has taken over the position of #46 most shorted S&P 500 component, from Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) which is now in the #73 spot. The “days to cover” at 07/15/2013 was 9.28 for Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), and 7.36 for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG); this compares to the average across all S&P 500 components of 4.64 (up from the average back on the 06/28/2013 settlement date of 3.58).

Exxon Among Targets for Divestiture in Climate Push (Bloomberg)
Activist Bill McKibben, who helped turn an obscure oil pipeline project into a high-profile political fight, has a new target for his effort to curb global warming: energy companies such as Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) McKibben’s group, 350.org, is asking colleges, cities and churches to divest their financial holdings from a group of 200 companies that produce coal, oil or natural gas. So far six schools, 16 cities and 11 religious institutions have agreed to divest from those companies, according to his group. “We know we can’t bankrupt Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM),” McKibben said in a meeting with Bloomberg News in Washington. “But we think we can politically bankrupt them.”