Short & Caught is Stockhead’s fortnightly recap of which ASX small cap stocks are heavily shorted. Stocks that are shorted have investors betting that they fall.

Shorting works by selling stocks you do not actually own in the hope of buying them back at a lower price.

Because shorting is restricted under Australian law, any substantial shorting of stocks is worth knowing about even if you own these stocks and only trade long.

Stockhead’s two preferred metrics are raw short interest as well as percentage changes in them within the last month.

 

The most shorted

Code Name Price (I) Short Interest (Shares) Short Interest 1 Month % Change Market Cap
GXY GALAXY RESOURCES LTD 0.76 81.90M 6.96 370.58M
SYR SYRAH RESOURCES LTD 0.32 68.68M -4.84 155.13M
SXY SENEX ENERGY LTD 0.20 65.47M 1.07 400.59M
MYR MYER HOLDINGS LTD 0.26 62.54M 3.95 271.02M
NCZ NEW CENTURY RESOURCES LTD 0.10 58.71M 18.15 73.35M
CVN CARNARVON PETROLEUM LTD 0.18 56.82M 4.32 383.27M
INR IONEER LTD 0.14 55.19M 3.39 277.18M
CLQ CLEAN TEQ HOLDINGS LTD 0.17 39.93M -0.19 138.10M
MLX METALS X LTD 0.067 34.87M 15.03 68.95M
SWM SEVEN WEST MEDIA LTD 0.12 34.56M -13.31 238.40M
JMS JUPITER MINES LTD 0.23 31.48M -0.63 489.75M
FAR FAR LTD 0.019 30.99M 20.09 269.43M
SDA SPEEDCAST INTERNATIONAL LTD 0.79 30.94M -0.95 189.40M
PDN PALADIN ENERGY LTD 0.075 30.06M 66.82 160.20M
BUB BUBS AUSTRALIA LTD 0.58 30.05M 35.58 366.99M
MRM MMA OFFSHORE LTD 0.098 28.07M -0.64 129.60M
BGL BELLEVUE GOLD LTD 0.47 25.26M 34.34 313.45M
BUD BUDDY TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.019 20.26M 19.35 59.56M
GRR GRANGE RESOURCES LTD 0.20 19.81M 8.64 254.61M
EWC ENERGY WORLD CORP LTD 0.067 18.56M 1.12 134.67M
ALG ARDENT LEISURE GROUP LTD 0.57 17.88M 4.05 371.77M
LNG LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS LTD 0.12 14.96M -8.89 72.08M
KAR KAROON ENERGY LTD 0.42 14.89M 570.27 456.21M
OEL OTTO ENERGY LTD 0.014 14.76M 65.54 56.59M
SLC SUPERLOOP LTD 0.68 14.39M 14.62 281.72M
IPD IMPEDIMED LTD 0.068 14.33M 46.78 48.04M
SPL STARPHARMA HOLDINGS LTD 0.95 14.05M -1.09 379.99M
HT1 HT&E LTD 1.35 13.26M 0.49 389.52M
BOT BOTANIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.075 11.77M 0.68 83.65M
AMA AMA GROUP LTD 0.42 11.40M -12.26 376.73M
DCN DACIAN GOLD LTD 1.4 11.38M 6.58 319.80M
PET PHOSLOCK ENVIRONMENTAL TECHN 0.52 11.20M 12.28 350.29M
LVT LIVETILES LTD 0.19 11.00M 27 220.63M
ECX ECLIPX GROUP LTD 1.42 9.74M -5.63 455.48M
CGB CANN GLOBAL LTD 0.009 8.50M 36.06 32.61M
FBR FBR LTD 0.029 7.46M 0.34 61.73M
AMI AURELIA METALS LTD 0.30 7.12M 207.18 323.37M
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.11 6.99M 355.2 255.94M
CLH COLLECTION HOUSE LTD 1.09 6.97M -14.16 154.01M
KGN KOGAN.COM LTD 3.84 6.38M 9.32 428.62M
EHE ESTIA HEALTH LTD 1.52 5.65M -2.3 456.91M
BWX BWX LTD 3.24 5.25M -27.97 444.81M
EMR EMERALD RESOURCES NL 0.038 5.01M -49.76 148.27M
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While lithium miner Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) remains anchored at the top of the most shorted ASX stocks, one commodity with a few new entrants on this list was petroleum.

Oil prices were falling even before Monday’s bloodbath, and leading the charge was Senex Energy (ASX:SXY) with 65 million shorted shares against it.

Short interest against Karoon Energy (ASX:KAR) rose 570 per cent and against Otto Energy (ASX:OEL) 66 per cent both reaching nearly 15 million.

Other beaten up sectors made the list as well, infant formula stock Bubs Australia (ASX:BUB) and uranium play Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) both reached over 30 million in short interest.

 

The newly shorted

Code Name Price (I) Short Interest (Shares) Short Interest 1 Month % Change Market Cap
TTM TITAN MINERALS LTD 0.08 1.23M 123258800 70.15M
ATL APOLLO TOURISM & LEISURE LTD 0.25 121.96k 12196000 52.12M
ACF ACROW FORMWORK AND CONSTRUCT 0.27 173.08k 2472500 58.70M
CZI CASSINI RESOURCES LTD 0.078 108.91k 494945.44 36.36M
AQX ALICE QUEEN LTD 0.02 2.00M 36773.16 22.36M
RXP RXP SERVICES LTD 0.35 50.00k 20646.89 63.63M
CDV CARDINAL RESOURCES LTD 0.34 303.17k 15890.19 172.91M
LYL LYCOPODIUM LTD 5.03 94.16k 10361.67 222.10M
ELX ELLEX MEDICAL LASERS LTD 0.61 49.59k 4672.38 94.78M
TPW TEMPLE & WEBSTER GROUP LTD 2.48 667.61k 3804.15 356.15M
ATS AUSTRALIS OIL & GAS LTD 0.034 264.64k 3666.52 57.19M
TER TERRACOM LTD 0.18 1.35M 3574.05 114.79M
88E 88 ENERGY LTD 0.018 445.29k 2207.42 156.41M
HCT HOLISTA COLLTECH LTD 0.13 201.26k 1912.57 44.39M
ZNO ZOONO GROUP LTD 1.64 273.39k 1549.42 373.99M
FLN FREELANCER LTD 0.36 18.28k 1042.56 165.49M
MYE MASTERMYNE GROUP LTD 0.75 29.65k 930.84 81.31M
HZN HORIZON OIL LTD 0.058 2.92M 891.09 92.44M
DCC DIGITALX LTD 0.02 203.40k 849.4 13.93M
REX REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LT 0.91 69.53k 799.5 112.91M
BBN BABY BUNTING GROUP LTD 2.67 960.06k 725.75 381.42M
GGG GREENLAND MINERALS LTD 0.086 970.00k 651.8 114.33M
PAN PANORAMIC RESOURCES LTD 0.18 2.63M 647.51 152.63M
MOZ MOSAIC BRANDS LTD 1.02 233.52k 627.05 106.49M
WKT WALKABOUT RESOURCES LTD 0.16 10.29k 598.1 66.34M
KAR KAROON ENERGY LTD 0.42 14.89M 570.27 456.21M
AU8 AUMAKE INTERNATIONAL LTD 0.052 35.50k 516.55 20.94M
LPD LEPIDICO LTD 0.01 679.15k 426.73 50.97M
BFG BELL FINANCIAL GROUP LTD 0.91 20.81k 420.17 365.65M
NXS NEXT SCIENCE LTD 1.74 153.24k 385.29 394.69M
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.11 6.99M 355.2 255.94M
IMM IMMUTEP LTD 0.34 99.32k 323.62 144.90M
ISD ISENTIA GROUP LTD 0.17 10.72k 281.09 43.00M
DNK DANAKALI LTD 0.46 270.95k 225.89 151.39M
AMI AURELIA METALS LTD 0.30 7.12M 207.18 323.37M
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Among stocks between 1 and 5 million shorted shares, this trend continued. The most unlikely targets new to the list are two stocks in the hand sanitiser business, Zoono (ASX:ZNO) and Holista Colltech (ASX:HCT)

Both have risen a staggering amount in recent weeks, but shorters have begun to target them, albeit modestly for now with just over 200,000 shorted shares each.

One of the most decimated industries on a global basis is the travel and tourism sector. Apollo Tourism and Leisure (ASX:ATL) and Regional Express (ASX:REX) both became new targets as well.

Retailers were also added to the list, including Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW), Mosaic Brands (ASX:MOZ) and Baby Bunting (ASX:BBN).