Which stocks will short squeeze next week

Important Context

It isn’t possible to guarantee which stocks will experience a short squeeze next week. What we can do is screen for stocks that have characteristics historically associated with a higher probability of a short squeeze: high short interest, elevated trading activity, and sufficient liquidity.

Below is how each of the selected filters serves that goal.

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap: 200M – 20B

   • Purpose: Focus on small- to mid-cap stocks where short squeezes are more likely and more extreme.
   • Rationale:
     • Very large caps (>$20B) are harder to squeeze because they are heavily followed, more efficiently priced, and require massive capital to move.
     • Very tiny microcaps (<$200M) can be too illiquid, subject to manipulation, and harder to trade safely.
     • The 200M–20B range is a sweet spot: small enough to be squeezable, big enough to have meaningful liquidity and institutional attention.

2. Relative Volume ≥ 1.2

   • Purpose: Identify stocks already seeing above-average trading activity, a common precursor to squeezes.
   • Rationale:
     • Relative volume > 1.0 means current volume exceeds the stock’s average volume.
     • A threshold of 1.2 ensures we’re looking at names where interest and trading activity are picking up, which is often when short sellers can get pressured if prices start moving against them.

3. Exchange Listing: XNYS, XNAS, XASE (NYSE, NASDAQ, NYSE American)

   • Purpose: Restrict to major U.S. exchanges for better liquidity, transparency, and data quality.
   • Rationale:
     • Short squeeze setups are more actionable in stocks that trade on well-regulated, liquid venues.
     • Major exchanges tend to have tighter spreads, more reliable quotes, and wider participation (retail + institutional), all of which matter during a squeeze scenario.

4. Is Optionable = True

   • Purpose: Focus on stocks with listed options, which can fuel or amplify short squeezes.
   • Rationale:
     • Optionable stocks allow for “gamma squeezes”: heavy call buying can force market makers to buy shares to hedge, adding buying pressure on top of any short covering.
     • Optionability is also a proxy for liquidity and interest—stocks with options are usually more actively traded and watched.

5. Short Ratio: MoreThan30Pct (Short Interest > 30%)

   • Purpose: Target stocks with very high short interest, the core ingredient of a short squeeze.
   • Rationale:
     • A short interest above 30% of float is extreme and indicates a large contingent of investors betting against the stock.
     • When prices move up and liquidity tightens, these shorts may be forced to buy back shares quickly, which is exactly the “squeeze” mechanism.
     • This is the most direct filter aligning your query (“likely to experience a short squeeze”) with the search universe.

Why Results Match Your Goal

• The high short interest filter (Short > 30%) directly addresses the key condition for a short squeeze: many traders are short and vulnerable.
• The relative volume ≥ 1.2 requirement looks for names where trading activity is already picking up—often an early sign of potential pressure on shorts.
• The market cap band (200M–20B) steers us toward companies that are large and liquid enough to trade, but small enough for squeezes to be realistically powerful.
• Limiting to major exchanges ensures better execution and more reliable data during volatile moves.
• Requiring the stock to be optionable increases the chance that option activity could accelerate or magnify any developing squeeze.

Together, these filters don’t predict a short squeeze next week with certainty, but they systematically surface stocks with the structural characteristics that make a short squeeze more likely compared to the broader market.