Kaylee Wells

Now I've lost it.

An hour later, after more tries than I want to disclose, I finally spot what looks like a yellow ping pong ball with wings.

I see him.

I did it.

That's so exciting.

Greg Miller, who's leading the tour, is perhaps even more invested in my success than I am.

Is that my spark bird?

You have to tell me what kind of bird this is again.

My spark bird hasn't inspired me to drop $1,000 on binoculars, but I did hang a bird feeder in my yard.

Or three.

In Oak Harbor, Ohio, I'm Kaylee Wells for Marketplace.

Short squeezes start because investors bet on a stock doing poorly, also known as taking a short position.

Here's an example.

In this example, Paul Shea of Bates College will borrow a bunch of shares of Avis stock, sell them while they're overpriced, and then when the price falls, he'll buy them back up and return them to his lender.

Now, Avis was ripe for the picking because rental car companies have had a rough go recently, says Tyler Shipper with the University of St.

Thomas.

But when too many investors take that short position, it drives up the demand for the stock.

So the stock price climbs and climbs and climbs, making these investors' bets fail spectacularly.

Because the people who lent their stock to the investors say, hey, that stock's worth a lot now, so I want you to give it back.

But oh no, the investor sold it, remember?