Shorts increased again to 14,008,796 or 7.43% of shares on...

Shorts increased again to 14,008,796 or  7.43% of shares on issue. That's if you believe the figures reported by ASIC.

ASIC says "It is important to note that ASIC’s aggregated short position reports are reliant on the accuracy of reports we receive from individual short sellers. While we will monitor compliance with short position reporting and provide additional guidance where necessary, we are unable to verify the accuracy of all individual reports submitted to ASIC, nor to verify that all short sellers in our market (both in Australia and overseas) are lodging reports.
Disclaimer: No responsibility is accepted for any inaccuracies contained in the matter published."

It seems to me that the parasites could report an increase in shorts without actually having such an increase. This might persuade some holders to sell into the hands of the same parasites whose intention is to accumulate. It may also explain situations where shorts appear to be covered in a particular period but the trading volumes in that period are too low to confirm the required purchases.

When the figures from ASIC cannot be trusted, any old conspiracy theory can seem to make sense.

  
... and more to come: