shorting - tools of the takeover trade

Following on from Ivor Ries comments about BOW, ESG and MEL as takeover targets for the gas-hungry majors, here is the short sales from 16th June:

BOW - 2,156,427 534,417 24.7% of total sales
MEL - 2,179,252 539,000 24.7% of total sales

ESG - 1,839,804 821,500 44.6% of toal sales

Wow, 44.6% shorts! When you consider than for every short, there has to be a corresponding buy back at some stage, that is 89.2% of sales related to shorting and buying back shorts!

Almost no transactions, buy or sells, that are third parties.

Again today, watch the modus operandi. Price pushed down early, then wait for the buyback which will return the price to a similar level from which is closed on Friday.

Yaq