Ann: STX: Final Investment Decision - Walyering Gas Project, page-30

I honestly don't trust the short sale data. Who at this point would be short-selling STX after a continuous flow of excellent news? And now they are essentially betting against Macquarie Bank, who want to see this well above 30 cents to make sure their options are in the money.

Essentially after every great announcement, the manipulators (let's not call them shorters) wait a few hours to let the initial flurry of excitement to pass, then dump on-market in the afternoon and next morning. And then we end up exactly where we were before each great announcement, i.e. around 27-28 cents. If nothing else, the fact that it trends back to that particular range over-and-over again is highly suspicious.

I think the short data is essentially an accumulator/manipulator trading between accounts, transferring the shares to another account, and the reporting them as short-sales. Then every freaks out thinking Strike is one of the most shorted stocks on the ASX. It also gives anyone sitting on the sidelines second thoughts about buying into Strike. Mission accomplished.

I know I sound like a crank, but I think the shorting is a concerted campaign by a competitor to squeeze Strike's share price, because they know they need to raise equity sometime in the future. Thankfully, we have Macquarie in our corner for our near-term funding requirements. And obviously, suppressing the share-price also opens the way for a lowball takeover.

With South Errugulla reserves around the corner, a potential deal with Koch, and Walyering providing all the cash flow we need to service debt going forward, any potential takeover bid would need to come in the next couple of months you'd think.