Short-sellers are sitting on estimated losses of $70.87 billion from their short positions in U.S. companies so far this year, data from financial data analytics firm Ortex showed on Thursday.
By Reuters Staff
6 Min Read
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - GameStop shares sank on Thursday as trading platforms including Robinhood and Interactive Brokers restricted trading in the video game retailer along with AMC Entertainment and other stocks that soared this week in a social media-driven trading frenzy that shook stock markets.
GameStop, the video game chain whose 1,700% rally has been at the heart of the slugfest in the past week, lost half its value in early trading. The stock reversed an early rally, while American Airlines joined the growing list of amped up stocks as small-time traders battled Wall Street institutions and a Reddit discussion board served as a clearing house for strategy messages for an army of small-scale buyers.
(Adds report of Robinhood drawing down some credit lines)
Jan 28 (Reuters) - An army of retail investors that has routed Wall Street’s professionals in recent days was dealt a blow on Thursday, after online brokerages restricted purchases of red-hot GameStop and other stocks that had soared this week.
But the shares rebounded in after hours trading, resuming their advances after Robinhood Markets Inc and Interactive Brokers said they planned to lift the restrictions on Friday.
Retail investors, celebrities and policymakers had denounced Thursday’s restrictions and participants in online forums seethed, accusing the trading platforms of seeking to protect Wall Street’s interests at the expense of smaller investors.