Shorters are only "right" because there's a fight going on, and only one side is fighting it.
There are plenty of actions that the BOD could take (and before I get too far down this path, I believe that PLS management has been excellent, which is why they're my largest Li holding). If they have any good news, like a good projected profit estimate, preliminary results regarding any resource expansion, etc., NOW would be the time to release it.
I believe that I have made my position clear on this issue, but in my opinion, the BOD needs to play the buyback card. I know there are plenty of people that will say that they prefer a special dividend (so would I, under normal circumstances), or that profits are better utilized for CAPEX, another point I would generally agree with, as long as I like the CAPEX idea, but this is a special circumstance. When under a short attack, there is nothing that scares off the shorters faster and more decisively than a buyback.
The beauty of the buyback option is, you can announce a massive buyback, as long as it's believable that you have the cash to back the buyback. With billions in the bank, a $500M buyback announcement would be believable. Even better, just because you've announced a buyback doesn't mean you have to spend all that money. Instead, you make a fast, small buy, to announce that you've bought back the first million or two shares, and then you sit. If the SP drops more than 5%, you buy more shares, and announce it. Otherwise, you don't need to spend the entire announced buyback amount. You can often make your point spending less than ten percent of the announced buyback amount.
Given the depth and size of the shorting of PLS and CXO, it might take more than one share purchase announcement, but there's one more issue that will work to our (SH) advantage. Shorters are, essentially, bullies. Their mindset is (almost always) that they are going to take our money, and their is nothing we can do about it. That mindset generally doesn't stick around when the other party punches back.
Have a nice day
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