5 Stocks Ready to Soar on Bullish Earnings

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Affymax's earnings estimates. We apologize for the error.

WINDERMERE, Fla. (Stockpickr) -- Short-sellers hate being caught short a stock that produces bullish results. When this happens, we often see tradable short-squeeze develop as the bears rush to cover their positions to avoid big losses. Even the best short-sellers know that it's never a great idea to stay short once a bullish earnings report kicks off a big short-covering rally.

This is why I scan the market for heavily shorted stocks that are about to report earnings. You only need to find a few of these stocks 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.

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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 trade is to wait for the stock to break out following the report before you jump in to profit off a short-squeeze. This way, you're letting the trend emerge after the market has digested all of the news.

Of course, sometimes the stock is going to be in such high demand that you risk missing a lot of the move. That's why it can be worth betting prior to the report -- but only if a stock is acting technically bullish and you have a strong conviction that it is going to rip higher.

With that in mind, here's a look at several stocks that could experience big short squeezes when they report quarterly earnings this week.

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