Short Interest
Also called: days to cover, short squeeze
The share of a stock's float sold short — when a heavily shorted stock rises, short sellers buying to cover can fuel a 'short squeeze'.
Short interest is the number of shares sold short, often expressed as a percent of float. 'Days to cover' divides short interest by average daily volume — how many days of normal trading it would take shorts to buy back.
A high short interest plus a rising price can force shorts to cover, and their buying pushes price even higher in a self-reinforcing short squeeze. It cuts both ways: shorts are betting the stock falls, and they're often right.
On StockSetups
StockSetups folds short interest, days-to-cover and short-volume into a 0–100 short-squeeze score on each signal, surfaced in the dossier's short-interest group (subject to data-source coverage).
Related terms
See short interest on tonight's board.
StockSetups scans the whole US market after the close and draws the patterns, levels and indicators on every chart.
Start free — 7-day full access →