Short-sellers whack SUNTEC REIT, SPH, WILMAR, SEMBCORP INDUSTRIES, GOLDEN AGRI -- lots more

CREDIT SUISSE, in a report today (2 Feb), said there has been a surge in short-selling activity on SGX.

Now, we know a bit more about who (or which group of market participants) have been causing investors lots of agony.

Credit Suisse said total short-selling activity surged from S$3.2 bn in December 2015 to S$5.6 bn in January 2016, representing 25% of total turnover.

Stocks with the highest short selling as a percentage of total volume in January include Suntec REIT (50%), SPH (47%), Wilmar (46%), SembCorp Industries (42%), and Golden Agri (38%).

Other victims include: OCBC, StarHub, Capitaland, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, and Keppel Corp.

“(Short-selling) has ruined a lot of people. You can go broke doing it. It's a whole lot easier to make money on the long side. You can't make big money shorting because the risk of big losses means you can't make big bets." - Warren Buffett

Stocks which saw the most significant increase (in Jan 2016 versus Dec 2015) in short selling as a percentage of total volume include Suntec REIT, ST Engineering, KREIT, Jardine Matheson and CapitaMall Trust.

These are blue chips tracked by Credit Suisse but it is not uncommon for non-blue chips to be shorted too.

When reversals come, it will be the turn of shortists to experience agony. Probably, many will end up surrendering their gains and maybe more, we hope.

If you are tempted to play the shorting game, bear in mind what Warren Buffett said: "It's ruined a lot of people. You can go broke doing it.

"It's a whole lot easier to make money on the long side. You can't make big money shorting because the risk of big losses means you can't make big bets." (Source)

Counter Name	Last	Change
AEM Holdings	2.320	-
Best World	2.480	-
Boustead Singapore	0.940	-
Broadway Ind	0.132	-
China Aviation Oil (S)	0.920	-
China Sunsine	0.420	-
ComfortDelGro	1.440	-
Delfi Limited	0.880	-
Food Empire	1.120	-
Fortress Minerals	0.300	-
Geo Energy Res	0.295	-
Hong Leong Finance	2.420	-
Hongkong Land (USD)	3.230	-
InnoTek	0.500	-
ISDN Holdings	0.305	-
ISOTeam	0.044	-
IX Biopharma	0.043	-
KSH Holdings	0.265	-
Leader Env	0.052	-
Ley Choon	0.050	-
Marco Polo Marine	0.068	-
Mermaid Maritime	0.143	-
Nordic Group	0.320	-
Oxley Holdings	0.089	-
REX International	0.127	-
Riverstone	0.780	-
Southern Alliance Mining	0.475	-
Straco Corp.	0.505	-
Sunpower Group	0.205	-
The Trendlines	0.064	-
Totm Technologies	0.021	-
Uni-Asia Group	0.825	-
Wilmar Intl	3.210	-
Yangzijiang Shipbldg	1.710	-

Counter Name

Last

Change

2.320

2.480

0.940

0.132

China Aviation Oil (S)