Methodology

Two sources, two measures

ASIC short position reports are the source for our main % short figure, rankings, and company histories. They show reported outstanding short positions, published four business days after the trade date. We label this T+4.

ASX gross short sales measure short-selling activity during a single trading day. These reports are available the next business day, labelled T+1. Gross sales do not tell you how many short positions remain open.

More on the difference between ASIC and ASX data

How to read the figures

% short

Reported short positions as a percentage of shares on issue, where the source data supports the calculation.

Gross short sales, % of capital

The day's gross short sales as a percentage of issued capital. This is a daily activity measure, separate from % short.

7-day and 30-day changes

The difference between reported percentages, in percentage points. A move from 2.00% to 2.50% is +0.50 percentage points, not a 0.50% increase.

Updates and checks

We check for new reports on business days and refresh cached pages after processing them. Check the source date beside each figure; neither feed is live.

Processing checks cover missing or empty files, malformed ticker codes, duplicate rows, and stale dates. Amended files and processing errors are corrected by reprocessing the source.

Limits of the data

Reports can be incomplete or revised. ASIC relies on submissions from short sellers and cannot verify every report. Our processing checks cannot resolve errors in the underlying submissions.

Short positions can reflect hedging or arbitrage as well as a view on a company's prospects. These figures do not explain why a position exists and are not a buy or sell signal. This site provides general information, not financial advice.