IEL shorts jump +1.11% as uranium stays crowded at the top

Movers Analysis

On the risers list, ALK is the eye-catcher: 1.42% to 2.67% (+1.25%). That’s a big percentage-point jump for a mid-cap miner, and it reads like traders leaning against a valuation that’s run ahead of near-term delivery, with the usual mining risks (costs, approvals, geology) doing the heavy lifting. ALK’s investor materials are here: https://investors.alkres.com/site/pdf/e5fa45d8-2779-48ee-85a7-0eb1098352a7/Corporate-Presentation.pdf. IEL’s +1.11% jump to 11.80% is the week’s cleanest signal. The most likely read is regulatory and demand anxiety around international student flows (visa settings, affordability, and currency effects), plus the market’s tendency to punish any hint of margin pressure in education services. RSG (0.74% to 1.71%, +0.97%) looks like classic gold-sector scepticism: gold can be strong, but single-asset execution and cost inflation are where shorts hunt. CU6 (6.71% to 7.60%, +0.88%) fits the biotech playbook: clinical-stage names attract shorts into trial and funding windows. CU6’s quarterly/activity reporting is here: https://www.claritypharmaceuticals.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/25-10-31_Clarity-Quarterly-Activity-Report-and-App-4C.pdf. On the fallers, IMU going from 5.22% to 0.00% (-5.22%) is extreme. That’s not a gentle change of mind — it’s shorts exiting en masse, likely due to stock borrow dynamics, corporate action risk, or a catalyst that made the risk/reward unattractive. BMN (-3.59% to 4.08%) and AGE (-1.08% to 0.26%) show uranium shorts being selectively reduced outside the big liquid names. That suggests the trade is getting more discriminating: keep the big hedges (PDN/BOE), cut the smaller, spikier ones. BMN’s investor presentation is here: https://bannermanenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251121_Investor-Presentation_November-2025_final.pdf. JHX also saw a decent unwind (7.36% to 5.99%, -1.37%). That looks like macro positioning: if bond yields ease even a little, the pressure comes off building products and US housing-linked cyclicals.

Industry Trends

Two sector trades are doing most of the work. First: uranium is still crowded at the top (PDN 16.23%, BOE 14.37%, plus BMN/AGE unwinds). Shorts aren’t calling nuclear demand fake — they’re betting the equities have priced in a lot, and that operational execution and uranium price volatility will create air pockets. Second: lithium remains structurally shorted (PLS 13.37%, MIN 13.76%, LTR 12.37%). This is the “lower for longer” pricing hangover trade. Even when the commodity stabilises, the market keeps testing who can protect margins and balance sheets. Away from resources, IEL’s surge shows shorts are happy to hit consumer-exposed growth when policy risk is live. LIC’s steady 10.10% short interest is the reminder that anything property-adjacent stays under the rate microscope on the ASX.