JS on Smart Investor (video interview), page-45

Big picture I agree with you, the shorting issue won't determine the future of BIG.

Separately there's quite a bit of evidence given the spike in short positions that someone or a group of people did seek to take advantage of the timeline of events from the Ownership Matters report to the AFR reporting. I think that's a serious question worthy of ASIC investigating. If the media can influence the market by reporting 'publicly available information' surely that's an issue.

I don't think the AFR or its journalists personally benefited from that, simply because its usual for them to be involved in reporting stories, its their job. But there's no doubt in my mind that some people took advantage of the timeline of events even though the reporting did not uncover anything that was apparently not 'publicly available' as the journalist put it.

I'm not holding my breath though. It's more a useful lesson in how the real world works more than anything else.