Short Communication: Clearing Prices under Margin Calls and the Short Squeeze

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a clearing model for prices in a financial market due to margin calls on short sold assets. In doing so, we construct an explicit formulation for the prices that would result immediately following asset purchases and a margin call. The key result of this work is the determination of a threshold short interest ratio which, if exceeded, results in the discontinuity of the clearing prices due to a feedback loop.