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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) is still the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose to 21%. Weak lithium prices have been weighing heavily on sentiment (and profits).
- Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) has short interest of 17.6%, which is up week on week. Short sellers don't appear to believe that graphite prices will improve any time soon. This could mean that Syrah's cash burn continues for some time to come.
- Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 12.1%, which is down since last week. This lithium miner has been struggling with falling lithium prices. So much so, it has announced plans to restrict production to reduce costs.
- IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 11.1% of its shares held short, which is up sharply week on week. Short sellers have been loading up on the language testing and student placement company's shares following its half-year results.
- Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 10.2% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. This lithium miner's shares were sold off (again) last week after a large shareholder sold its entire stake at a big discount.
- Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) has seen its short interest ease to 9.8%. Short sellers appear to believe that the market is being too bullish on uranium prices.
- Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD) has seen its short interest rise slightly to 9.2%. This appears to have been driven by integration risks from a recent acquisition spree.
- Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) has short interest of 9%, which is up week on week. Short sellers have been targeting this mineral exploration company since it revealed that its production is still years away.
- Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT) has short interest of 8.4%, which is down week on week. Valuation concerns appear to be behind this.
- Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has 8.4% of its shares held short, which is up week on week. Short sellers appear to be expecting a soft result from the travel agent this week.
