And You Missed the Fun!
GameStop (GME), New York Stock Exchange, Short Squeeze
The stock market saw an example of the classic short squeeze last Friday organized by GameStop enthusiasts on the Internet to massacre short sellers. Business Insider:
Mark-to-market losses for GameStop shorts on a year-to-date basis reached $3.3 billion when trading closed on Friday, according to data from the financial-analytics firm S3 Partners. Losses totaled nearly $1.6 billion on Friday alone as shares rocketed 51% higher into the close.
GameStop stock has continued to climb as Reddit users and day traders have extended the unusual momentum trade into its third week. The company’s shares initially leaped on January 11 after it agreed with an activist investor to add three new directors to its board. The day’s gains drew in swaths of retail traders, including members of the popular WallStreetBets subreddit.
Online posts urging other investors to join the trade have since driven outsize bullish momentum for GameStop. The stock traded 115% higher as of 10:40 a.m. ET on Monday and is up more than 500% year-to-date.
As old Daniel Drew once remarked: “He who sells what isn’t his’n must buy it back or go to prison.”
