The Short Report

By Rudi Filapek | More Articles by Rudi Filapek

See Guide further below (for readers with full access).

Summary:

Week ending February 6, 2020

Last week saw the ASX200 take its second leg down on the coronavirus scare before bottoming out and beginning the rebound.

The arbitrage is over, it seems, Kirkland Lake Gold ((KLA)) has disappeared off the table.

I noted in last week’s Report that Nearmap’s ((NEA)) profit warning sparked a -25% sell-off in the share price but an increase in short positions to 13.7% from 12.3%. Analysts have since called the plunge misguided, and while the share price has only marginally improved in the interim, short positions last week dropped to 10.8% from 13.7%.

Bit of a rethink, it appears.

The only other stock to record a change in short position of one percentage point or more last week was Pinnacle Investment Management ((PNI)), formerly Wilson Group. The fund manager reported a strong earnings result and enjoyed a share price pop last week. Shorts rose to 8.1% from 7.1%.

Otherwise we might note that last week brought some severe volatility in the prices of battery material miners – more so than is usual – on the back of a parabolic run-up in battery and EV poster child Tesla. The likes of Galaxy Resources ((GXY)), Orocobre ((ORE)) and Syrah Resources ((SYR)) surged, only to fall back again when Tesla warned of a virus impact on its Chinese factory.

Was the surge driven by short-covering? It would appear not. Short positions in all three, and in Pilbara Resources ((PLS)) and Mineral Resources ((MIN)), are barely changed from the week before

No Movers & Shakers this week.

Weekly short positions as a percentage of market cap:

10%+
GXY   19.0
SYR    16.9
SDA    13.0
ORE    13.0
ING     12.2
GWA  11.5
CGC    11.4
JBH     11.1
NEA    10.8
BGA   10.7
WEB   10.4
NXT    10.3
MTS    10.0

In: MTS           Out: KLA

9.0-9.9

DMP

Out: MTS, BKL

8.0-8.9%

CUV, SUL, RSG, PPT, NUF, NCZ, BKL, PLS, BEN, PNI, IVC

In: BKL, PPT, NUF, NCZ, BEN, PNI                      Out: HUB

7.0-7.9%

MIN, HVN, HUB, A2M, MYR, BOQ, CTD

In: HUB                      Out: NUF, PPT, NCZ, BEN, PNI, BIN

6.0-6.9%

BIN, KGN, RWC, SGM

In: BIN, SGM

5.0-5.9%

CLH, BWX, CGF, MND, CLQ, FLT, IFL, MYX, COE, RFF, AMP, NEC, GMA, DCN

In: FLT                        Out: SGM, JIN, MSB

Movers & Shakers

See above.
ASX20 Short Positions (%)

CODE LAST WEEK WEEK BEFORE CODE LAST WEEK WEEK BEFORE
AMC 0.4 0.4 NCM 1.0 1.0
ANZ 0.5 0.5 RIO 4.1 3.8
BHP 3.4 3.2 SCG 0.3 0.4
BXB 0.3 0.3 SUN 0.6 0.6
CBA 0.7 0.7 TCL 0.4 0.4
CSL 0.1 0.1 TLS 0.3 0.3
GMG 0.2 0.3 WBC 0.5 0.5
IAG 0.5 0.5 WES 0.6 0.7
MQG 0.4 0.2 WOW 0.7 0.8
NAB 0.6 0.6 WPL 0.8 0.7

To see the full Short Report, please go to this link

Guide:

The Short Report draws upon data provided by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) to highlight significant weekly moves in short positions registered on stocks listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Short positions in exchange-traded funds (ETF) and non-ordinary shares are not included. Short positions below 5% are not included in the table below but may be noted in the accompanying text if deemed significant.

Please take note of the Important Information provided at the end of this report. Percentage amounts in this report refer to percentage of ordinary shares on issue.

Stock codes highlighted in green have seen their short positions reduce in the week by an amount sufficient to move them into a lower percentage bracket. Stocks highlighted in red have seen their short positions increase in the week by an amount sufficient to move them into a higher percentage bracket. Moves in excess of one percentage point or more are discussed in the Movers & Shakers report below.

About Rudi Filapek

Rudi Filapek-Vandyck is approaching three decades as an active journalist. During the nineties, Rudi successfully built a financial news wire in Europe. After arriving in Australia in 2000, he worked on several projects before founding FNArena.

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