Yesterday, Beyond Meat (BYND) exploded 146%.

It was a classic short squeeze – the kind of explosive move that can turn a quiet week into a trader’s dream.

The catalyst?

Beyond Meat announced expanded distribution at Walmart and news that it is being added to the Roundhill MEME ETF.

That bit of positive news was all it took to light the fuse.

Short sellers panicked, buyers rushed in, and the stock skyrocketed.

Just a few days earlier in Nashville, trader JC Parets described this exact scenario on stage at the Paradigm Shift Summit.

His message was simple. If you know how to spot these situations early, you can catch some of the biggest moves in the market.

Parets isn’t your typical analyst.

He focuses on price, sentiment, and positioning rather than hype.

And his current trading approach centers on a single concept: find the crowded trade and wait for it to flip.

To understand what he means, it helps to know how short selling works.

When investors short a stock, they are betting that its price will fall.

They borrow shares from someone else, sell them immediately, and then hope to buy them back later at a lower price before they return them.

If the stock does drop they make money on the difference.

But when the price goes up instead, short sellers start to lose money.

Eventually, they have to buy the stock back to close their positions.

That buying pressure adds fuel to the rally.

When many short sellers are caught at once, their rush to buy creates a feedback loop of demand.

This is called a short squeeze and it can send prices soaring far beyond what anyone expected.

Parets’ strategy is built around these moments.

He follows a four-step process:

Step 1: Find the crowded trade where everyone is betting against the stock.

Step 2: Zero in on stocks trading near highs or with favorable technical patterns.

Step 3: Wait for the flip when prices start to rise and shorts begin to feel pressure.

Step 4: Ride the acceleration as short sellers rush to buy and drive the stock even higher.

Most investors avoid stocks with heavy short interest because they look risky or broken.

But Parets sees that skepticism as opportunity.

When sentiment shifts, the upside can be enormous.

That’s why his top pick for 2026 is the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), managed by Cathie Wood.

ARKK has one of the highest short interests in the market right now.

To Parets, that setup is perfect.

If even a bit of positive momentum returns to growth and innovation stocks, those bearish bets could quickly unwind, fueling a strong rally.

Yesterday’s Beyond Meat spike was a real-time example of his thesis playing out.

All it took was a small piece of good news to ignite massive buying pressure.

Parets believes the next setups could come from several sectors showing similar characteristics.

• Biotech (XBI) has been trading near new highs while still carrying heavy short interest.

• Psychedelic stocks such as Mind Medicine (MNMD) have started to tick higher after a long decline with many investors still betting against them.

• And regional banks (KRE) remain deeply unloved and could surprise to the upside if stability returns to the sector.

Parets’ message in Nashville was simple.

When everyone is leaning one way, you don’t have to join them.

Find the crowded trades that are starting to break out.

Because when sentiment flips, the biggest gains often come from stocks that everyone had written off.