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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:
- Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) continues to be the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose to 16.9%. Short sellers seem to be betting against a successful ramp up of the uranium miner's Langer Heinrich Mine project.
- Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) has seen its short interest rebound week on week to 14.3%. It is another uranium miner that short sellers have been targeting.
- Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) has short interest of 13.9%, which is up week on week. This appears to have been driven by a combination of weak commodity prices and concerns over the state of its balance sheet.
- Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) has seen its short interest rise to 13.8%. Increasing lithium supply from Africa is expected to hold down lithium prices for some time to come.
- Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 12.1%, which is down week on week. Liontown is another lithium miner that is struggling with low lithium prices.
- IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 12.1% of its shares held short, which is up week on week again. Short sellers have been highly successful targeting this struggling language testing and student placement company's shares. They are down sharply this year due to extremely tough trading conditions.
- Lifestyle Communities Ltd (ASX: LIC) has seen its short interest rise to 11.6%. This month, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled against this retirement living company, leading to a huge share price decline.
- Silex Systems Ltd (ASX: SLX) has seen its short interest rise to 11.3%. Short sellers may be doubting that this uranium enrichment technology company will be successful with its pivotal TRL-6 demonstration.
- Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has 11.1% of its shares held short, which is up week on week. This medical device company's growth has been below expectations this year.
- Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) has flat short interest of 9.9%. It is possible that short sellers believe that trade tariffs could negatively impact demand for corporate travel in the near term.
