what was the biggest short squeeze in history 
during the 2008 financial crisis porsche automobile holding se poahy already a major holder of volkswagen ag vwagy shares increased its total stake in volkswagen to about 75 the state of lower saxony also owned more than 20 of the company leaving few remaining shares available to trade at a time when the stock was being heavily shorted 9 hedge funds and other short sellers were suddenly left in a tricky position as porsche s move meant that not all of them could cover their positions against this backdrop short sellers were forced to buy back the shares they sold which helped drive volkswagen s share price up to 999 10the bottom linea short squeeze can seemingly happen suddenly with price rising parabolically but often short squeezes are fueled by unusually high short interest in the underlying security when something happens which drives the price of the stock up the short sellers rush for the exits all at once attempting to buy to close their positions this adds fuel to the force propelling the stock price higher and irrationality sets in what happened to game stop s share price in 2021 is a good example of a short squeeze in action 