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:
- Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) remains the most shorted ASX share with short interest 19.2%, which is up slightly week on week. Short sellers are betting on lithium prices remaining under pressure for some time to come.
- Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) has 14.9% of its share held short, which is up again week on week. Short sellers are also betting big against uranium right now.
- IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 14.3% of its shares held short, which is up slightly week on week. This language testing and student placement company is struggling with student visa changes in key markets.
- Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) has short interest of 13.8%, which is up slightly since last week. This uranium stock is crashing on Monday after releasing a disappointing quarterly update.
- Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) has seen its short interest ease week on week to 12.9%. This graphite miner continues to burn through its cash reserves due to weak graphite prices.
- Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) has short interest of 10.9%, which is down week on week. This mining and mining services company's shares came under pressure last week due to allegations against its founder CEO.
- Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has 10.4% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. This Western Australia based lithium miner is another that short sellers are betting against.
- Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) has seen its short interest rise to 10.1%. Short sellers aren't giving up on this rare earths producer despite its shares recently hitting a 52-week high.
- Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) has 9.8% of its shares held short, which is up since last week. It is another uranium stock that short sellers are going after.
- Lotus Resources Ltd (ASX: LOT) has 9.2% of its shares held short. Lotus Resources is yet another uranium stock that short sellers have loaded up on. They clearly believe the market is wrong to be bullish on uranium.