Clearing prices under margin calls and the short squeeze [pdf]

Worth the read if you're into q-fin and also curious with respect to the recent events.

The take-home message is that the author proposes a simple principled formulation for the size of short squeezes.

Here's a noteworthy example.

> Example 5.1. [GameStop Corp.] . . . we find that . . . the price would jump by more than 1900% due to a short squeeze. With a price per share of approximately $17/share prior to the short squeeze, we would anticipate a sudden jump in prices to over $340/share due to the short squeeze. This is consistent with price movements observed in early 2021 leading up to a spike in prices on January 27, 2021.