Why short sellers are losing interest in these 11 stocks

Welcome back to the Monthly Short Seller Series. This time, we take a look at companies experiencing a notable month-on-month decline in short interest.

The data refers short interest changes between 28 November and 23 December 2022.

Interesting observations

Very beaten up: There's quite a few names on the list that have been sold to oblivion in the last twelve months. This includes: BWX (-96%), City Chic Collective (-91.5%), Appen (-74.9%), Betmakers (-64.4%) and Imugene (-55.8%).

A bounce for 'junky' names: Companies like Betmakers, Appen and Kogan were classic covid winners turned to rising rate losers. However, since 29 December 2022, a lot of these unprofitable covid runners (including ones not on the shorts decline list) have started to bounce, with returns including:

• Kogan +20.8%

• Zip +21%

• PointsBet +15.2%

• Temple & Webster +7.1%

Gold soars: Three mid-ish cap gold names have appeared on the list: St Barbara, Bellevue Gold and Gold Road Resources. This coincides with a recent surge in gold prices, up around 13.8% since November lows to a six month high of US$1,854 an ounce. A weaker US dollar, plateauing bond yields and easing inflation figures has helped the yellow metal get its groove back. Of note, Bellevue Gold shares are up around 10% on Thursday.