The army of online investors who have pumped up shares of GameStop Corp. in recent weeks appear have a new object of their affection: Detroit-based Rocket Companies Inc.The parent company (NYSE: RKT) of billionaire Dan Gilbert's mortgage lending business Rocket Mortgage has seen its stock surge in…
Are we looking at the next GameStop wild ride here with more outlandish gains ahead?
Trading was halted briefly due to volatility. Rocket fell back some and found itself at $38.05 a share before 3 p.m. Tuesday, up $13.75 a share or 56.58%.
But then it regained steam.
Rocket closed at $41.60 Tuesday, up $17.30 a share or 71.19%.
Will a stock in a mortgage company much like one in a beaten-down video game retailer now soar to the stratosphere simply because Robinhood speculators and others are aiming their arrows at the stocks that the so-called evil hedge fund professionals expect to see fall in price?
Photo: Rocket Companies.
Dan Gilbert That zany trading frenzy in GameStop shares now seems focused on a Detroit startup, Nick Manes of Crain s Detroit Business reports: The army of online investors that have pumped up shares of GameStop Corp. in recent weeks appear have a new object of their affection: Detroit-based Rocket Companies Inc. The parent company (NYSE: RKT) of billionaire Dan Gilbert s mortgage lending business Rocket Mortgage has seen its stock surge in the last few days including more than 20 percent Tuesday morning as users of the Wall Street Bets channel on Reddit have begun pumping up the stock. The stock was trading at about $30 per share mid-day Tuesday.
Crain s Newsmakers webcast: Farner, Fox pursue big deals in a pandemic
Crain s Detroit Business
Getting big deals done is never a cakewalk, but COVID-19 made it exponentially more difficult.
That was the message in a pair of interviews conducted for Crain s Newsmakers 2020 webcast series that aired Tuesday.
Jay Farner, CEO of Detroit-based Rocket Companies, and John Fox, president and CEO of Southfield-based Beaumont Health, both took aim at big deals in 2020, they told Crain s Publisher and Crain Communications CEO KC Crain.
Rocket went public through an IPO in August. The seeds of that IPO were first planted in late 2019, Farner said, as leaders and founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert talked of ways to increase what Gilbert called optionality, Farner said.
Lenders holding their own as mortgage relief remains in place
Foreclosures likely to tick up at some point
U.S. government agencies continue with moratorium programs for borrowers
iStock
Amid a depressed economy that shows little sign of revving into higher gear in the near term, people s ability to stay in their homes has been a relief for many.
That s been made possible by the federal CARES Act, sweeping relief legislation passed last March as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold that included a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for those unable to pay their housing costs.
And under orders issued earlier this week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, those moratoriums have been extended through at least the end of March of this year. Those with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can remain in forbearance for up to 15 months. Federal COVID-19 Payment Deferral allows those borrowers to repay their missed payments at the time the home is sold, refinanced or at m