This whole thing with Opes has highlighted to me what was already becoming apparent in the market.
Brokerages, Superfunds, Hedge Funds etc have been engaging in share lending and short selling. I undertstand that Commsec is one such brokerage to allow short sellling. Given that INP had engaged Commsec for their cap raising to sophisticated investors (and broker coverage) is it possible that the shares have been lent to another institution to be shorted and hence contributed by and large to the decline in the sp?
I refer specifically to these 2 articles as a start for anyone not familar with what I am questioning:
"One of the most striking ironies in all of this is that NAB boss John Stewart is guaranteeing the assets that one of his subsidiaries is lending to the very hedge funds that he complains are damaging his share price.
It is not known if Opes Prime borrowed stock from NAB's custodian business to lend to hedge funds because NAB didn't know. But if it did, any stock it has lent out to Opes Prime will be in the hands of the creditors, and like all other parties that have done business with Opes Prime, it will become a creditor."
Also let's remind ourselves that this is over and above the ASX shortsell list:
http://www.asx.com.au/data/shortsell.txt
INP Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
