The creditors might have something to say about the cash and...

The creditors might have something to say about the cash and cashflow being applied to buying shares before they are paid. I suspect they might say "no".

I think if there is an active negative/short bet in play, (as opposed to a mighty over supply od ghares for sale), it is tha tin one to two years the value of the company is less than the debt owed to SC and to Slipform et al.

This will be the outcome if EWC must walk away from both Sengkang and Pagbilao. 

However the rewards of such a bet are miserable relative to the potential loss faced by a shorter of one of the projects coming in, or facing a short squeeze and being unable to cover their shorts.

Even if the shorter assesses the probability of neither project ever being finished at 80%, that is an 80% chance of making 9 cents a share, and they are risk neutral (no shorter is), then would have to be betting they could cover their shorts in the event of some good news at 46 cents (ie a 36 cent loss). [(9*0.8) + (-36*.2) =0].  Of course the margin of error for the shorters was a lot greater at 16c per share, or 50 cents per share.

However this seems a lousy bet because the supply of stock, barring the overhang, is limited.  There will be no sellers. But there will be buyers. The shorters will need to compete with new buyers, and those existing holders who may have waited for the story to unfold. Any supply to cover the shorts may have to come from  fatigued investors who run for the hills, or maybe they are buying the significat holders will not increase their bets.

So for those reasons, I am not convinced the current softness in price is a short bet, as opposed to a massive overhang waiting to be cleared.  That said, once cleared I do not see a big rebound. Buyers will wait for some evidence that the projects are going to be finished.