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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) remains the most shorted ASX share with short interest of 17.6%. This is down week on week once again. Short sellers aren't giving up on the uranium industry despite positive news in recent months.
- Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) has seen its short interest rebound to 16.1%. This is another uranium producer that short sellers have been targeting.
- Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) has short interest of 15.3%, which is up week on week again. This may be due to concerns that a capital raising will be required in the near future due to its precarious balance sheet and weak commodity prices.
- Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) has seen its short interest rise to 13.5%. With Chinese spodumene prices recently dropping to multi-year lows, there are concerns that a recovery could still be some way off.
- Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 12.5%, which is up week on week. It is another lithium miner that short sellers have been successfully targeting.
- Lifestyle Communities Ltd (ASX: LIC) has seen its short interest rise again to 10.6%. This retirement living developer has underperformed expectations partly due to brand damage from negative media coverage.
- Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has 10.6% of its shares held short, which is down slightly since last week. This medical device company's growth has been softer than expected this year.
- 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 have crashed deep into the red this year due to a very poor update.
- Silex Systems Ltd (ASX: SLX) is a new entry in the top ten with short interest of 9.9%. It is a uranium enrichment technology company. It seems that the market has doubts that Silex will achieve its pivotal TRL-6 demonstration by the end of 2025 as planned.
- Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) has 9.6% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. It is another uranium producer that short sellers have been targeting.
