still just over 2.5m short., page-3

Its been said before and I think its worth saying again that the increasing size of short positions can be a bonus.

Shorting a stock when you have a long position is nothing more than insurance. When you buy a new car if you knew you were never going to crash and no one was going to steal it you wouldnt waste you money on insurance.

Likewise if you are long hdr and think it will go up in the medium to long term it is a perfectly acceptable stratergy to short sum at this time in case of a duster or a short term sell off in the price of oil . In doing this you are " insuring " the profit in your long position.

Conversly market makers like maccas and cfd providers write puts and calls on both sides of the shares price with a time premium profit built in they are like t.a.b for horse racing it doesnt matter who wins the race because they make a profit either way.

Cheers Hoot