5 Stocks Ready to Soar on Earnings

WINDERMERE, Fla. (Stockpickr) -- News events have the power to create massive volatility in the market, and the one event that can move stocks substantially higher or lower is an earnings release. Take that one step further and combine a bullish earnings report with a stock that's heavily shorted, and you have the fuel that can ignite a large short squeeze in any stock.

Short-sellers hate being caught short a stock that produces earnings that please the bulls on Wall Street. When this happens, we often see tradable short squeezes develop as the bears rush to cover their positions and avoid even bigger losses. Even the best short-sellers know that it's never a good idea to stay short once a big short-covering rally starts that's sparked by an earnings event.

This is precisely why I search the market for heavily shorted stocks that are about to report earnings. You need to find just a couple of these candidates in a year to help enhance your portfolio returns -- the gains become so outsized in such a short timeframe that your profits add up quickly.

Related: 5 Rocket Stocks to Buy for Earnings Season

That said, let's not forget that stocks are heavily shorted for a reason, so you have to use trading discipline and sound money management when playing earnings short-squeeze candidates. It's important that you don't go betting the farm on these plays and that you manage your risk accordingly. Sometimes the best play is to wait for the stock to break out following the report before you jump in to profit from off a short squeeze. When you do this, you let the trend emerge after the market has digested all of the news.

However, sometimes the stock is going to be in such high demand that by waiting you will miss a lot of the move. That's why it's only worth betting prior to the report if you have a very strong conviction that the stock is going to explode higher.

Here's a look at a number of stocks that could experience big short squeezes when they report earnings this week.

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