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Once a 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:
- Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) continues to be the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose again to 14.6%. Concerns that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will derail the travel market recovery has been weighing on sentiment.
- Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has seen its short interest ease to 12.1%. This week the ecommerce company's shares will leave the ASX 200 index following a rebalance. Kogan's abject form has led to its shares being crushed, dragging its market capitalisation to a level that saw it ejected from the index.
- Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) has short interest of 11.4%, which is down week on week. Redbubble was also dumped out of the ASX 200 index at the quarterly rebalance. The ecommerce company has been underperforming in FY 2022.
- Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has short interest of 9.3%, which is down week on week. As with Flight Centre, short sellers appear concerned that Omicron could negatively impact this online travel agent's recovery.
- Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has seen its short interest remain flat at 9%. Much to the delight of short sellers, Zip's shares were sold off last week amid reports that US regulators are looking into the BNPL market.
- Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) has short interest of 9%, which is down week on week. Short sellers will have been happy to see this biotech company's shares crash lower last week after Novartis terminated an agreement that could have been worth US$1.25 billion to Mesoblast.
- Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX: OBL) has short interest of 8.2%, which is down slightly week on week. This may be due to the Government wanting to overhaul class action laws, which could be detrimental to Omni Bridgeway's business model.
- BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) has short interest of 8%, which is flat week on week. Short sellers may believe weaker iron ore prices could lead to the mining giant falling short of expectations in FY 2022.
- Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND) is a new entry with short interest of 7.7%. This engineering company has been struggling this year amid the skilled worker shortage and wage inflation.
- Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has seen its short interest ease to 7.2%. Short sellers will have been disappointed to see this medical device company's shares shoot higher last week following a sales update.
