Black Friday Short-Squeeze Opportunities

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- With Thanksgiving fast approaching, retailers have one thing on their collective minds: Black Friday.

After all, the day, which got its name by historically propelling retailers into profitability -- otherwise known as "in the black" -- for the year, continues to be one of the most significant for retailers and the manufacturers that supply them.

And although prices will be slashed deep this year, most analysts expect a buying frenzy to well surpass last year's Black Friday disappointments. So with retail's biggest day in mind, it's time to talk turkey about the phenomenon that could cause some of the industry's biggest stocks to surge going into next week.

I'm talking, of course, about a short squeeze.

A short squeeze is the buying frenzy that ensues when a heavily shorted stock starts to look attractive again to investors. As more and more of the short investors buy shares to cover their positions, share prices skyrocket. Almost anything can trigger a short squeeze, including trumping earnings expectations, winning a lawsuit, unveiling a new product and even announcing a management change.

One of the best indicators of just how high a short-squeezed stock could go is the short-interest ratio, which divides shares short by average daily trading volume in order to get a ballpark estimate of the number of days it would take for short-sellers to cover their positions. The higher the short ratio, the higher the potential profits when the shorts get squeezed.

Each week, Stockpickr creates a portfolio of stocks this week with high short interest ratios and the catalysts to trigger a squeeze. Here's a look at this week's potential plays.