U.S. stock benchmarks tick mostly higher Wednesday, but with all three benchmarks struggling to surpass record-closing territory ahead of an eagerly awaited inflation report due Thursday.
Meme stocks are companies that see their value fueled by social media attention.
At the height of the trading mania, several retail brokers restricted the buying of GameStop after collateral requirements needed to clear the trades spiked, angering many traders and spurring congressional hearings and regulatory probes.
The latest surge comes as individual traders in online discussion forums, such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets, have pumped up shares of companies including Clover Health Investments Corp , GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings.
The amount of cash flowing into meme stocks has been larger than any single sector or industry, even surpassing the S&P tech sector, according to Vanda, which tracks retail flows.
New Reddit darling Clover Health jumps 13% - Netscape Money & Business netscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from netscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Recent retail flows into meme stocks hit January peak levels â Vanda Research
NEW YORK (Reuters) â Retail traders have put as much money into so-called meme stocks over the past two weeks as they did at the peak of the frenzied GameStop rally in January, analysts at Vanda Research said on Wednesday.
Meme stocks have received $1.27 billion of retail inflows in the past fortnight, matching the peak in January, when retail traders piled into video game retailer GameStop Corp in an attempt to drive up the share price and punish short sellers by forcing them to cover their positions at big losses.