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The Short Report

Weekly Reports | Jul 06 2017

This story features ESTIA HEALTH LIMITED. For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: EHE

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.

Summary:

Week ending June 28, 2017

Last week saw the ASX200 fall to 5680 before commencing a rally back to 5800 before falling back to 5680 before rallying back towards 5800. If traders are giddy, it appears short players are really not sure what to do either.

Few of the red and green movements in the table below represent any more than bracket creep.

One exception is beleaguered Ardent Leisure ((AAD)), which last week took a tumble on yet another downgrade to guidance. The company’s once acclaimed Main Event business continues to struggle and in the light of Ardent’s other issues, primarily lost theme park attendance, it has been a tough time all around for the leisure fund.

The shorters have cashed in to some extent, with Ardent shorts falling to 8.5% from 11.4%.

An interesting move is that of Japara Healthcare ((JHC)) which saw its shorts rise to 9.4% from 8.4%. Gateway Lifestyle Group ((GTY)) also saw a rise, to 8.3% from 7.9%. Japara is a closer link to the residential aged care sector now under scrutiny since the Aveo ((AOG)) story broke than Gateway, but both have ties to aged accommodation.

We might thus detect a theme but for two contradictions. Shorts in peer Estia Health ((EHE)) fell to 7.3% last week from 8.3% and shorts in Aveo itself only amount to 0.2%. The Japara/Estia switch may simply imply a pairs trade.

These are the only moves of note last week, hence no Movers & Shakers.

Weekly short positions as a percentage of market cap:

10%+

ORE    20.0
SYR    18.6
WSA   15.5
IGO     15.0
MYR   15.0
ISD     13.0
RFG    12.6
MTS    12.5
JBH     12.4
DMP   12.3
FLT     12.2
ACX   12.1
MYX   12.0
SHV    10.8

Out: AAD                  

9.0-9.9%

GXY, JHC, HVN, NEC
 
In: JHC                                                                                  

8.0-8.9%

QIN, AAD, BKL, GTY, HSO, CTD

In: AAD, GTY, HSO             Out: JHC, BGA, EHE

7.0-7.9%

OFX, BGA, AHG, NWS, MND, A2M, EHE, TPM, BAP, VOC

In: BGA, EHE            , BAP              Out: GTY, HSO, SAR, IPD

6.0-6.9%

IPD, BEN, GXL, SAR, SRX, RIO, RWC, PRU, CSV, NXT, SEK, IFL

In: IPD, SAR, CSV                Out: BAP, MYO, PLS

5.0-5.9%

MYO, APO, PLS, KAR, RCG, BAL, OSH, AWE, AAC, AWC, DCN, MSB, CCP, VRT

In: MYO, PLS, APO              Out: CSV, WGX, BDR, MTR, QUB

Movers and Shakers

See above.

 
ASX20 Short Positions (%)

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

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS REPORT

The above information is sourced from daily reports published by the Australian Investment & Securities Commission (ASIC) and is provided by FNArena unqualified as a service to subscribers. FNArena would like to make it very clear that immediate assumptions cannot be drawn from the numbers alone.

It is wrong to assume that short percentages published by ASIC simply imply negative market positions held by fund managers or others looking to profit from a fall in respective share prices. While all or part of certain short percentages may indeed imply such, there are also a myriad of other reasons why a short position might be held which does not render that position "naked" given offsetting positions held elsewhere. Whatever balance of percentages truly is a "short" position would suggest there are negative views on a stock held by some in the market and also would suggest that were the news flow on that stock to turn suddenly positive, "short covering" may spark a short, sharp rally in that share price. However short positions held as an offset against another position may prove merely benign.

Often large short positions can be attributable to a listed hybrid security on the same stock where traders look to "strip out" the option value of the hybrid with offsetting listed option and stock positions. Short positions may form part of a short stock portfolio offsetting a long share price index (SPI) futures portfolio – a popular trade which seeks to exploit windows of opportunity when the SPI price trades at an overextended discount to fair value. Short positions may be held as a hedge by a broking house providing dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) underwriting services or other similar services. Short positions will occasionally need to be adopted by market makers in listed equity exchange traded fund products (EFT). All of the above are just some of the reasons why a short position may be held in a stock but can be considered benign in share price direction terms due to offsets.

Market makers in stock and stock index options will also hedge their portfolios using short positions where necessary. These delta hedges often form the other side of a client's long stock-long put option protection trade, or perhaps long stock-short call option ("buy-write") position. In a clear example of how published short percentages can be misleading, an options market maker may hold a short position below the implied delta hedge level and that actually implies a "long" position in that stock.

Another popular trading strategy is that of "pairs trading" in which one stock is held short against a long position in another stock. Such positions look to exploit perceived imbalances in the valuations of two stocks and imply a "net neutral" market position.

Aside from all the above reasons as to why it would be a potential misconception to draw simply conclusions on short percentages, there are even wider issues to consider. ASIC itself will admit that short position data is not an exact science given the onus on market participants to declare to their broker when positions truly are "short". Without any suggestion of deceit, there are always participants who are ignorant of the regulations. Discrepancies can also arise when short positions are held by a large investment banking operation offering multiple stock market services as well as proprietary trading activities. Such activity can introduce the possibility of either non-counting or double-counting when custodians are involved and beneficial ownership issues become unclear.

Finally, a simple fact is that the Australian Securities Exchange also keeps its own register of short positions. The figures provided by ASIC and by the ASX at any point do not necessarily correlate.

FNArena has offered this qualified explanation of the vagaries of short stock positions as a warning to subscribers not to jump to any conclusions or to make investment decisions based solely on these unqualified numbers. FNArena strongly suggests investors seek advice from their stock broker or financial adviser before acting upon any of the information provided herein.

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