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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:
- Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) continues its long run as the most shorted ASX share with short interest of 18.1%. This is down week on week again. Short sellers are betting heavily against the uranium market.
- Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) has seen its short interest ease slightly week on week to 15.3%. This is another uranium miner that is being targeted by short sellers.
- Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) has short interest of 14.9%, which is up week on week. A precarious balance sheet and weak commodity prices are weighing on sentiment.
- Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) has seen its short interest remain flat at 12.8%. Chinese spodumene prices recently dropped to multi-year lows, dragging lithium miners down with them.
- Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 12.4%, which is down slightly week on week again. This high level of short interest is also being driven by weak lithium prices.
- Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has 10.7% of its shares held short, which is up slightly since last week. Short sellers don't appear to believe that this medical device company's shares deserve to trade on such high multiples.
- Cettire Ltd (ASX: CTT) has seen its short interest rise to 10.7%. Short sellers will have been smiling last week after a terrible update led to this online luxury products retailer's shares crashing over 40%.
- Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) has 10.5% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. It is another uranium miner that short sellers have been successfully targeting.
- Lifestyle Communities Ltd (ASX: LIC) has seen its short interest rise slightly to 10.2%. This may be due to concerns that negative media coverage is causing headwinds for the retirement living developer.
- IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 10.2% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. Some short sellers may have been closing positions after its shares crashed over 50% a week earlier following a very disappointing update.
