I think you are splitting hairs here. To clarify, I wrote that...

I think you are splitting hairs here. To clarify, I wrote that it was my view that ~100m shares were shorted (i.e. capped out at 105m, being the same number that were part of the "related" collar arrangement). You're claiming it was capped at 85m, being the visible volume associated with the block trade. The difference is only 15-20m shares. That"s fine.

It's getting a bit off-track from the central discussion, but I'll address since you raised it. Unfortunately, your claim that once a share is sold it is not available to be shorted again is quite wrong. We agree that It cannot be short-sold by the purchaser of those shares, but that purchaser can lend those shares out to another who can short them again. This was covered in some detail, with a worked example, in another thread within the last fortnight. I encourage you to read it.

You've gone from confessing to not really understanding what key aspects of this announcement meant when it was first released to taking a fairly hard-line agressive stance on various points and interpretations in the space of a couple of days. That's impressive.

Anyhoo, Happy Sunday.