what is days to cover and is it useful for identifying short squeeze targets 
days to cover also known as the short interest ratio is calculated by taking a stock s total number of shares sold short and dividing that number by the stock s average daily trading volume for example if a stock has one million shares sold short and its average daily trading volume is 100 000 shares then the days to cover would be 10 days that is it would take 10 days for short sellers to cover their entire short position based on the average daily volume of shares traded in general the higher a stock s days to cover figure the more susceptible it may be to a short squeeze if days to cover for stock a and stock b are two days and 20 days respectively then stock b may be more vulnerable as a short squeeze target who loses and who benefits from a short squeeze speculators and traders who have short positions in a stock will face heavy losses if the stock undergoes a short squeeze contrarian investors who have built up long positions in the stock in anticipation of a short squeeze will benefit as the stock price climbs 