Hi All Firstly, I am a long-time Strike holder - pre-Jaws for...

Hi All

Firstly, I am a long-time Strike holder - pre-Jaws for those of you who can remember - and intend to continue to hold.

But the shorts worry me and I'm not sure a short squeeze party is likely any time soon.

STX is now cemented in Shortman's unwanted Top 20, with more than eight per cent of the stock sold short. I decided to look at some of the other long-term shorted stocks to see if there were any patterns that might point towards a price recovery for us. My list is a bit random, and note it includes various industries and takes no account of black swan events that might have prompted shorters to swoop: I am simply looking at numbers. Each of these stocks has between six and 13 per cent sold short. Here's the list (hopefully my crude formatting will work):

Stock   Price High Date of High Price Today Morningstar Valuation

SYR 33.50    11/22   2.61   48% undervalued
FLT 23.37 7/23   19.97 2% overvalued
LYC 11.39 4/22 6.15 8% undervalued
LTR   3.00    10/23   0.98 43% undervalued
IEL 39.05    11/21   14.60 28% undervalued
BOQ 9.74 10/21    5.94 19% undervalued
STX 0.50 1/24    0.23 48% undervalued

Think what you will of stock valuations, but the point is those who set price stocks are not always driven by valuations at this end of the market in particular. Whoever is shorting STX, and whatever their motives, the reality is our price will continue to come under pressure until ... well, until what? We all talk about price catalysts to come, but as the furious reaction to Monday's positive announcement showed, a positive will only be a positive if there are not traders determined to drive a stock lower. (And yes, 1 July probably played a large role in that.)

I foresee Strike continuing to 'add value' to the business, but with one-in-every 12 shares short-sold, it might continue to struggle to add value to the share price unless the much-heralded consolidation of the Perth Basin companies swings into action.

I had hoped to realise a partial profit this year - I need some cash - and I hope I'm wrong to be so cynical. But I must say that table above does not fill me with confidence that a short squeeze party venue should be booked just yet.

OOO