How the radar scores a squeeze
A short squeeze is a feedback loop: heavily-shorted stock rises → shorts are forced to buy to cover → that buying pushes it higher → more shorts forced out. SqueezeRadar scores the conditions for that loop across a dozen free, public data signals, then nets them into one read. No paid terminals, nothing fabricated — every number traces to a public source.
The fuel — structural short
How much stored short pressure exists, regardless of timing.
Shares sold short as a % of the tradeable float — the classic squeeze geometry.
Shares short ÷ average daily volume — how long shorts would take to exit.
A small float makes covering violent. Under ~20M is dangerous; under 5M is explosive.
The pressure — fresh reads
Is pressure building now? The fresher reads help offset the lagged biweekly number.
Cost-to-borrow fee + shares-available — the free proxy for utilization. Expensive + scarce = supply tapped.
Short volume ÷ total volume each day, with an accelerating flag when it rises above the name's own recent average.
Persistent fails-to-deliver above exchange thresholds — a settlement-stress signal, not a standalone squeeze guarantee.
SEC aggregate FTD balances and whether they are rising — useful context, not proof of naked shorting.
The accelerant
What turns a grind into a parabola.
Call wall, max pain, and a bullish-gamma flag (call-heavy + price below max pain) where dealers must buy as it rises.
Bollinger bands compressed inside Keltner channels — a coiled spring that 'fires' on expansion (the TTM squeeze).
RSI(14) plus price vs the 50- and 200-day moving averages.
The ignition — catalysts
Fuel without a spark just sits there. We detect what's happening now.
Material corporate events, dated and linked straight to EDGAR — far more reliable than a news headline.
The newest relevant headline, flagged fresh only when it's recent.
r/WallStreetBets mention volume, plus ApeWisdom rank momentum in the discovery funnel.
The risk overlays — squeeze-killers
What sinks a thesis. These pull the score DOWN and flip the verdict to Trap Risk.
A recent priced offering (424B* / S-1) means new supply is hitting — a squeeze into an offering is a trap. Penalty −6.
A cluster of Form 144 proposed-sale filings — distribution into the move. Penalty up to −4.
An exchange deficiency (or a sub-$1 price). A delisting kills the thesis. Penalty up to −10.
The score & the verdict
The base factors (short float 25, days-to-cover 20, float 15, borrow 22, RVOL 8, momentum 6, options 4) sum toward 100. Real-time bonuses (daily short up to +6, Reg SHO +4) add to it; risk penalties (dilution, insider selling, listing risk) subtract. The result is capped 0–100.
Because a high score with a hidden offering is a trap, every name also gets a one-line verdict that synthesizes the whole stack:
- Clean Setuploaded with fuel, zero red flags.
- Ignitingthe move is starting — squeeze fired or shorting spiking.
- Trap Riska squeeze-killer is present (offering, delisting, insider dump).
- On Watchbuilding, but not there yet.
Track record & honesty
The Hall of Fame is built from our own published snapshots — every gain is measured from the price on the day we first listed a name to the highest close we recorded after, so it's a verifiable floor, not a forecast. Scores refresh on scheduled market-signal runs; prices update intraday. Data degrades honestly — a source that fails shows a blank, never an invented number.
SqueezeRadar is a research and documentation tool, not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Short squeezes are high-risk and most setups never squeeze. Do your own research.