Actually, companies with high short interest are often beneficiaries of gigantic short squeezes. It's one thing if it's a company with a failing business, like for instance Sears/K-Mart. But it's quite another thing if it is a good company that a lot of shorts have piled onto.

I can't remember the name of the website/newsletter that tracks this and tells its subscribers which heavily shorted company they think is ripe for a lucrative short squeeze. But I remember getting free samples of the letter, back in the days when we used to get actual paper newsletters.