There is no way of telling what short covering is taking place. The only published reports are aggregate short sales provided by ASIC (with a lag of 4 trading days). The ASX releases non-aggregated daily short sales figures which can be used as an indication of short sales activity within this 4 day window. As mentioned in previous post, a calculation can be made using these data sets but there is a lag of 4 days. It is important to note that ASIC’s aggregated short position reports are reliant on the accuracy of reports received from individual short sellers. They are unable to verify the accuracy of individual reports or that all short sellers are lodging reports.
A sharp and sudden increase in the stock price together with an unusually high trading volume can indicate short covering. Yesterday's trading volume (2,947,828) was well below average trading volume past 8 trading days (6,851,878). I don't consider a 0.72% (+$0.02) increase in price signals short covering. Latest available data (4 day lag) shows shorts continue to rise:
Nothing from yesterday's trading caught my eye except the gap down in post 4:00pm closing price auction:
SPK Price at posting:
$2.84 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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