Shorters continue to close out their short positions since the...

Shorters continue to close out their short positions since the resumption of trading after the CR announcement on 16-Aug-2023, and why wouldn't they with the foresight of the CR terms and inevitable SP impacts, combined with 2-year share price lows and limited further SP downside available...

The CR and associated SPP has provided a golden opportunity for Shorters to lock in gains at time of SP lows after a protracted SP downtrend since Nov-2021, and before any renewed investment interest and prospective upturn in the Biotechnology indexes. Coupled with the near-term potential for positive news on the IMU clinical trials front, I believe Shorters would be taking significant risks maintaining open short positions at these prices at this time, and for not much further downside potential. IMO the reward-for-risk trade-off for Shorters is now highly diminished!


From the graph, the percentage of shorts / total shares has decreased from a peak of ~8.1% on 21-Aug to 4.7% on 30-Aug.

I suspect there will likely be more downward pressure on the SP and more short closures to come next week during the 5-day VWAP period starting tomorrow 8-Sep, up to the SPP closure date on 14-Sep, which will ultimately determine the final SPP share price for eligible shareholders.