Short Squeeze

Categories: Trading, Investing

Ever see anyone walk uncomfortably out of the Target changing room wearing something the clothing designer never intended to fit onto that body? Yeah. That would be “squeezing the shorts.”

In Wall Street-speak, the term is, uh, related. Kinda. A given stock has a float of, say, 100 million shares and averages 3 million trade each day. There’s a big hedge fund that’s convinced the company’s cancer-curing drug will actually only turn the users’ toenails bright green. So they short and short and short. Note that short-selling is when an investor is betting that the stock will go down in price. They essentially borrow securities from the brokerage with whom they have set up the short-selling contract. Those shares get sold at whatever price they’re trading at at the time the short sales happen. The hedge fund then waits until the stock falls to its target price, at which point it then buys back the stock more cheaply, delivering them back to the brokerage, and booking what is, hopefully, a hefty profit. But things don’t always work out according to the best laid plans of hedge funders and men.

So Cancer B Gone stock climbs, despite the hedge fund having bet that it would go down. In horror, the hedge fund watches as the stock climbs from 82 to 85 to 90, with the fund all the more sure it's worth 10 bucks a share. After continued shorting of more and more shares, betting on the downfall of Cancer B Gone, the hedge fund wakes up in horror one morning to read The Wall Street Journal headlines, and, uh...the drug actually works. So the CBG shoots suddenly to 200 the next moment, leaving the hedge fund now with an average short sale price of 85-ish per share.

The hedge fund is 115 dollars per share in losses per share, times the 10 million shares it shorted. The loss on this short has wiped out all of the gains for the year the hedge fund had hoped to book. And worse, the stock now has virtually unlimited upside, as cancer curing...really is a thing.

So the hedge fund is squeezed. That is, its short position is squeezed, because it absolutely has to buy back the shares now at the 200+ dollar price, capitulating that it was wrong in shorting it in the first place, and all of its competitors know this fact, as they carefully track the short position on the stock, noting that some 50% of the total shares outstanding were, in fact, short.

So competitive hedge funds will be buying the snot out of the stock for a while, until enough volume in shares transacting passes, so that the hedge funds will have covered their shorts, having been squeezed to pay likely 250, maybe 300 dollars a share by the time they're finished being squeezed by the investors being long the stock, and punishing them for their ill-timed bet that cancer could not be cured.

So yeah, the position they are in is…uncomfortable. Like the magician's assistant in the box when the magician forgets about her and goes on lunch break.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What are short cover and squeez...7 Views

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finance a la shmoop what is short-covering

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and squeezing the shorts hmm alright ever see anyone walk uncomfortably out

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of the target changing room wearing something the clothing designer never [Man wearing tight clothing by changing room]

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intended to fit onto that body yeah that would be squeezing the shorts in in Wall

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Street speak the term is kind of related a given stock has a float of say a

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hundred million shares and averages trading of three million shares a day

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well there's a big hedge fund that's convinced the company's cancer curing [Woman gulps a pill]

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drug will actually only turn the users toenails bright green and all of this

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will come to light soon the stock will sell off big so they shortened short and

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short recall that short selling is when an investor borrows stock betting that

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the stock will go down in price and then sells it so yeah that's how it works

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they essentially borrow securities from the brokerage with whom they've set up [Stock transfers from brokerage to hedge fund]

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the short selling arrangement those shares get sold at whatever price

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they're trading out at the time that the short sales happen the hedge fund then

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waits until the stock falls to its target price hoping that it actually [Cancer B Gone stock price falls]

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falls and doesn't go the wrong way at which point it then buys back the stock

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more cheaply delivering it back to the brokerage and booking what is you know

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hopefully a hefty profit right so they'd shorted it a hundred and then it falls

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to 80 and they buy it back and make twenty bucks a share but things don't

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always work out according to the best laid plans of hedge funders and men so

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cancer begun stock climbs despite the hedge fund having bet that it would go [Cancer B Gone stock increases]

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down well in horror the hedge fund watches as the stock climbs from 80 to

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82 to 85 to 90 with the fund all the more sure it's worth 10 bucks a share

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after continued shorting of more and more and more shares betting on the [People in meeting looking unhappy]

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downfall of cancer be gone while the hedge fund wakes up in more horror one

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morning to read the cover The Wall Street Journal which says the drug [Man reading newspaper]

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actually works so the CBG shoots suddenly to $200 the

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next moment leaving the hedge fund now with an average short sale price of

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around 85 bucks a share the hedge fund is $115 a share in losses now that's per

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share times the 10 million in shares it shorted and remember it

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only trades 3 million a day on an average day that's three days and change

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of short position on this stock the loss on this short has wiped out all the

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games for the year of the hedge fund and worse the stock now has virtually [Stock price rises]

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unlimited upside as cancer curing you know is a thing

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so the hedge fund is squeezed why squeezed well it's short position is [Man squeezes hedge fund water bomb and it pops]

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squeezed because now it absolutely has to buy back the shares at the $200 plus

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price and it has to buy him back because the odds of this stock Falls or goes

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down with all the positive headlines coming from journalists all around the

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world about cancer being cured well pretty low right stock probably going to

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300 400 who knows but it's going up so the hedge fund will have to capitulate [Man giving speech on stage]

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that it was wrong in shorting in the first place and all of its competitors

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know this fact as they carefully track the short position on the stock noting

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that some 50 percent of the hundred million total shares or 50 million

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shares that were floating were in fact short enormous short position like this

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one hedge fund wasn't the only one betting it would fall so being the

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kindly loving people that hedge funders are the competitors will be buying the [Competitors give money to brokerage]

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snot out of the stock for a while bidding to 20 to 30 to 40 until enough

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volume and shares transacting passes so that the hedge funds will have covered

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their shorts meaning the guys who shorted it at a hundred bucks have to

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pay to twenty to thirty to forty whatever the price is to unwind their

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shorts before the stock goes the 300 400 500 and bankrupts them that's getting

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squeezed that's how short squeezes work and

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punishes hedge funders for ill-timed bets that are wrong and yeah you don't bet [Hedge funders sitting at a table]

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against a curing cancer at least hopefully not in our world the position

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there in those shorts being SQUOZE is uncomfortable like this uncomfortable [Man in tight pants in a changing room]

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