Short2.16CREDIT 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.

Buffett CNBC 10.12“(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 NameLastChange
AEM Holdings2.340-0.020
Best World2.460-0.010
Boustead Singapore0.960-0.005
Broadway Ind0.1330.004
China Aviation Oil (S)0.9250.005
China Sunsine0.415-
ComfortDelGro1.480-0.020
Delfi Limited0.895-0.010
Food Empire1.260-0.010
Fortress Minerals0.305-0.005
Geo Energy Res0.310-
Hong Leong Finance2.5000.010
Hongkong Land (USD)3.1200.050
InnoTek0.520-0.005
ISDN Holdings0.310-
ISOTeam0.0430.002
IX Biopharma0.041-0.002
KSH Holdings0.250-
Leader Env0.051-
Ley Choon0.045-0.001
Marco Polo Marine0.0670.001
Mermaid Maritime0.140-0.001
Nordic Group0.310-0.030
Oxley Holdings0.089-
REX International0.136-0.001
Riverstone0.815-0.005
Southern Alliance Mining0.430-0.015
Straco Corp.0.5100.010
Sunpower Group0.205-0.005
The Trendlines0.067-0.002
Totm Technologies0.022-
Uni-Asia Group0.825-
Wilmar Intl3.5000.020
Yangzijiang Shipbldg1.750-0.030