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At the start of each week, I like to look at ASIC's short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.
This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn't quite right with a company.
With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:
- Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) continues its long run as the most shorted ASX share even though its short interest eased slightly to 21.2%. Short sellers don't seem to believe that lithium prices will improve any time soon.
- Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) has short interest of 16.4%, which is up week on week again. This has been driven by weak graphite prices.
- Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 12.6%, which is down slightly week on week. Falling lithium prices mean that this miner has just announced plans to suspend production to conserve cash.
- Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 11.4% of its shares held short, which is up week on week again. Last week the lithium miner announced the start of a strategic review of its operations in the face of weak prices.
- IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 10.2% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. This language testing and student placement company's shares came under pressure last week after Canada announced limits to student visas.
- Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD) has seen its short interest rise to 8.9%. Short sellers may believe the gold miner overpaid for recent acquisitions.
- Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) has seen its short interest fall again to 8.7%. While there are concerns that a capital raising is coming, strong uranium prices have helped drive its shares notably higher this month, much to the dismay of short sellers.
- Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT) has short interest of 8.5%, which is up week on week. Short sellers appear to believe this semiconductor company is another meme stock.
- Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has 8.4% of its shares held short, which is up slightly week on week. Short sellers may believe the market's growth assumptions are too ambitious.
- Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) has entered the top ten with short interest of 6.8%. This mineral exploration company's shares have crashed 84% over the last 12 months. Short sellers appear to believe there's further to fall.
