$ONG A leveraged long squeeze has formed into a human mountain; for this multi-round setup, I’ve judged that the break will start from the mountaintop. The spot long/short leverage ratio has topped out at a bit over three times, and within half a day it swelled by another 35%, yet the chips are scattered into fragments all over the floor—there isn’t a single “house” player in the box, only a mob of rush-in seats. On the leverage side, price is still being pulled back, and no new fuel has been added—no new contracts have been picked up. After four hours, I’ve determined the kinetic energy has exhausted; the open interest is collapsing as the sell-off spreads. In this pile of longs, not a single one has a backbone made of steel.