Top Explosive Short-Squeeze Stocks

Updated from 6:32 a.m. EST

With the sharp stock market turnarounds we've had recently, especially the 600-point swing last Wednesday, there are plenty of opportunities to make money on potential short-squeeze plays.

A short squeeze takes place when short-sellers scramble to buy in their short positions on a stock that has started to rise on good news. When they start covering their bearish bets, the stock price is driven even higher. The American Stock Exchange is considered to be a more volatile market than the New York Stock Exchange, and therefore the short squeezes in Amex stocks can be even more explosive.

Stockpickr has reviewed the list of all the Amex stocks with market caps over $500 million and compiled the stocks with the highest short ratios, a measurement of how extensively shorted the stock is, in the Top Amex Short-Squeeze Stocks. The short ratio is the number of days it would take to cover a stock's short positions based on the stock's recent average trading volume.

Among the most heavily shorted Amex stocks is Bio-Rad Laboratories(BIO Quote), which has a short ratio of 12. This producer of specialty chemicals for life science research has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20 and a P/E-to-growth ratio of 1.8.

Bio-Rad is also owned by the University of Chicago Endowment, the 13th largest endowment in the U.S. The endowment also holds DeVry(DV Quote), which has a short ratio of 5, Reliant Energy(RRI Quote), with a 4.4 short ratio, and KB Home(KBH Quote), which has a 6.4 ratio.

Another Amex stock with a high short interest ratio is Badger Meter(BMI Quote), a maker of liquid flow measurement products with a short ratio of 14. The company has scheduled its earnings call for Tuesday, Feb. 5. The stock has a trailing P/E of 42 and a PEG of 2.3. It pays a yield of 1%.

Badger is also in the portfolio of the Heartland Value Fund, which specializes in investing in companies with market caps of less than $1.5 billion. This fund also owns shares of InterDigital(IDCC Quote), with a short ratio of 7.4, Swift Energy(SFY Quote), with a 12 short ratio, and Quintana Maritime(QMAR Quote), which has a short ratio of 1.7.

Grey Wolf(GW Quote) is another Amex-traded stock with a short ratio of 8.6. The stock has a P/E of 6.5 and a PEG of 0.4.

Grey Wolf shows up in the Stockpickr portfolio called Exploration & Production, which lists oil and gas stocks like Anadarko Petroleum(APC Quote), with a short ratio of 3, and Transocean(RIG Quote), which has a short ratio of 2.6.

To see the full list of the top 10 Amex stocks with high short ratios, check out the Top Amex Short-Squeeze Stocks at Stockpickr.com.