This is entirely my opinion which I have been pondering for some...

This is entirely my opinion which I have been pondering for some time. The ASM share price will continue to drop as the short selling increases leading to the March index rebalances.

In November 2022 the short selling rose to 7.09% - 10 million shares. I believe the shares had been short sold with the knowledge that the MSCI index would sell ASM at the November rebalance. This would be the opportunity to cover their short selling. Only 6.5 million shares were covered leaving 3.5 million shares short sold. At this time I believe the short selling is targeting ASM falling out of the ASX 300 index and possibly other indexes.

With the recent resumption of short selling we are currently back over 6.5 million - 3.96% shares short sold. With Citicorp holding 10 million shares and HSBC holding 7 million shares there is no shortage of shares still to be short sold. It will not be an issue for financial institutions to sell their shares at a loss as these institutions will more than make up for any losses from profits made through their short selling. I do not know if Citicorp and HSBC will have to sell if/when ASM drops out of the ASX 300 and other indexes. Someone more knowledgeable may be able to advise. What I believe is unethical is that institutions collude with short sellers lending shares, and buying and selling small parcels of shares via high frequency trading to move the share price to where they want to manipulate the indexes. This short selling has nothing to do with the fundamentals of ASM but is entirely based on the ability to move ASM into and out of indexes and profit by resultant sell off.

I believe the short sellers have already profited from manipulating the ASM share price and plan to continue their manipulation and profiteering through their nefarious share price manipulation. My hope is that again they will not be able to cover all their shorts and with the positive ASM announcements to come there will be a flood of buyers into the market.

These are my thoughts only. I hold a large position, for me, over 30% of my portfolio and I am down 55%. I am holding for the long term and will continue to support the company through capital raising etc. Thank you to all for posting on these forums as it helps my understanding of the share market and increases my disdain for the incapacity of ASIC to maintain a fair market place to the detriment of smaller share holders.