"the number shares reported short on a daily basis increased on...

"the number shares reported short on a daily basis increased on very high volume days (about 40m each day) BUT the total number short stayed around the same...(still 21% / about 390m)"

Right. That means those covering each day are about the same as those shorting - so roughly same volume for sellers and buyers.

And from this you deduce that it caused the SP to go up?
Anybody else here would deduce the same?

Remember too that the Big Guys have bots working for them and use many very small trades to minimise their influence on the share price.

So, what caused the SP to go up, and retrace since? I have NFI, but certainly not what you said. On the other hand there are myriads of world events reported daily and people have their own opinion about how these events affect the markets. Remember- the share price is the collective opinion (median, some would say) of all the people. And this opinion is influenced by what people see/hear. If someone has the opinion that the SP should be higher, he will buy, and if enough people do it the SP goes up. Simple.

For example right now the possible election of Trump is causing a lot of confusion. Some people will work it out right and make a mozza. Not me unfortunately.

This is why I like to deal with facts. Eventually facts will win out, perhaps after a long tortuous journey.

good luck to you all - especially guessing the market sentiment.