How prevalent are short squeezes? Evidence from the US and Europe
File(s)1-s2.0-S0378426625000561-main.pdf (2.51 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Allen, Franklin
Haas, Marlene
Pirovano, Matteo
Tengulov, Angel
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We develop a novel measure to identify short squeezes triggered by sharp price increases. These “market squeezes” drive short sellers to close their positions early. To provide a comprehensive analysis of short squeeze dynamics, we also examine lender squeezes, identified through share recalls. We find that stock-day short-squeeze events are rare and short-lived. However, the quarterly proportion of unique stocks experiencing market squeezes is 9.9% (12.3%) in the US (EU), compared to 8.7% (5.4%), for lender squeezes. Our analysis shows that market and lender squeezes are driven by different determinants. We find that market squeezes impair price discovery, consistent with significant declines in short interest after these events. This contrasts with lender squeezes, after which short interest remains stable or increases, and price discovery remains unaffected.
Date Issued
2025-07-01
Date Acceptance
2025-03-19
Citation
Journal of Banking and Finance, 2025, 176
ISSN
0378-4266
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Banking and Finance
Volume
176
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.jbankfin.2025.107436
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
107436
Date Publish Online
2025-04-11