By | April 25 2012 4:04 PM

Over the course of any bear market the occasional short squeeze is expected. A short squeeze is when a market that is in a long-term down-trend turns higher and trades thru that price point where the majority of short-term traders have sold at. As price continues higher it squeezes the weaker short-position holders out of their positions. And just as predictable is the howling from the squeeze victims of unfair play and outright manipulation on behalf of quants or hedge funds or even central bankers. Of course this is kind of silly because when it comes to free markets there really are no rules limiting who can buy or sell or how much, because, they're free. Of course central bankers are trying to game hedge funds who are in turn trying to trim black boxes, prop and retail traders.