Bloomberg News is out with the latest short-interest numbers (they're as of Feb. 28) and two local names, Dollar General and Delek US Holding, are high on the list of stocks that saw big drops in negative investor bets. Delek shares are up 10 percent in the past month, Dollar General has risen just slightly.

Shares of Delek US Holdings on Monday surged more than 5 percent to reach their highest levels since May of 2008. Investors continue to take kindly to the company's reiteration last week of its acquisitive ambitions, but also helping Monday was the impact of Japan's earthquake on nuclear energy sentiment, which in turn is lifting refiner stocks.

Patrick Scholes at FBR Capital has lifted his price target on shares of Gaylord Entertainment to $44 from $39 after the hotel and resort operator reported its fourth-quarter results. Scholes, who has an 'outperform' rating on Gaylord, is now a touch above the company's median price target, while Gaylord shares (Ticker: GET) are at their highest level since the last trading day of 2007.

Credit Suisse analyst Edward Westlake says rising supplies will help the oil refining market post strong numbers in 2011, which should benefit operators of refiners in the heart of the country. That includes Delek, which runs a 60,000-barrels-a-day facility in eastern Texas. Westlake has hiked his price target for Delek shares (Ticker: DK) to $10.50, a good 15 percent above where they closed Thursday trading.

Uzi Yemin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Delek US, remarked: “In connection with the ongoing support of our lenders, we have secured a long-term credit facility for our retail segment. This facility will provide us with a significant degree of financial flexibility to accommodate new store construction, store reimaging and strategic acquisitions.”

[H]owever, underscoring the company's preference for units in the 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot range, he added, "the real challenge we see on the acquisition front is a lot of stores on the market are smaller stores."