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Why are meme stocks rallying once again?

GameStop and AMC Home Entertainment have again caught retail investors' attention, reminiscent of the. meme stock craze that grasped Wall Street 3 years earlier,. following social networks posts from the leading figure behind that. rally Roaring Cat.

Here is what you require to learn about the recent rise in meme. stocks:

ROARING KITTY AND HIS SKETCH

Keith Gill, popularly known among traders as Roaring. Cat, shared a series of cryptic posts on social media. platform X in May following a three-year space. One of them. consisted of a sketch of a guy leaning forward in a chair, a popular. meme among gamers that shows things are getting serious.

Previously in the week, the online stock influencer posted a. screenshot showing a $116 million bet on GameStop's shares, and. revealed on Thursday that he would host a livestream on Friday. that was arranged for 12 p.m. ET (1600 GMT).

With colourful YouTube streams and Reddit posts, Gill made. the bull case for GameStop in 2021, assisting bring in a. flood of retail money into the business.

In Gill's 2021 testimony to Congress, he rejected the idea. that he used social media to profit by promoting GameStop to. unwitting investors.

GAMESTOP LEADS AGAIN, BUT STAYS CHOPPY

Videogame seller GameStop has rallied more than 160% so. far this year, since last close. While theatre chain AMC. Home entertainment likewise climbed in tandem with other. so-called meme stocks, it has since shed gains and is down more. than 6% year-to-date.

Retail traders represented 11% of the turnover in the. videogame merchant between Monday and Tuesday, according to. Vanda Research study, while being the most trending stock on retail. trading social networks platform Stocktwits on Friday.

Moves on the stock were choppy in early trading, ahead of. the livestream, as the business launched its quarterly outcomes. ahead of schedule and revealed plans to raise more than $3. billion by offering up to 75 million shares.

Other extremely shorted stocks such as solar company SunPower. and storage container maker Tupperware have. shed gains made along with GameStop, and were down 20% and 10%,. respectively, so far this year.

WHAT ARE MEME STOCKS?

Meme stocks refer to certain company's shares that have actually been. boosted by retail investors using trading platforms and social. media investment guidance.

It break into the open throughout 2021 when the COVID-19. lockdowns boosted cost savings, policy stimulus put cash into. people's pockets and exceptionally low rates of interest pushed. investors to the stock market.

An expansion of zero-fee trading apps also encouraged. anybody with a mobile phone to meddle stocks.

Thousands of Reddit users on inexpensive trading. platforms such as Robinhood banded together to drive up. the costs of meme stocks, squeezing hedge funds that had. taken short positions, or bets against those shares.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT THIS TIME?

U.S. rates of interest are at multi-decade highs following the. Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to tame inflation and the. S&P 500's gains are focused in the shares of a. handful of megacap business.

Many fund supervisors are likewise awaiting more commentary from. Roaring Kitty.

Roundhill Investments last year revealed the closure of its. exchange-traded fund tracking the efficiency of meme stocks. almost 2 years after its launch, putting a nail in the coffin. of the popular pandemic-era trade.

(source: Reuters)