By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Vlad Tenev, co-founder and co-CEO of investing app Robinhood, speaks during the TechCrunch Disrupt event in Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., May 10, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Online broker Robinhood restricted trade in about 13 highly volatile stocks such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment to protect the company and its customers, Chief Executive Vladimir Tenev said on Thursday.
The app, popular with young investors for its simplicity, has been at the heart of the day-trading mania that has followed calls on social media to buy stocks heavily shorted by hedge funds. The restrictions allowed customers to sell but not buy.
GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings remained overwhelmingly favored stocks on Reddit's top trading forum on Thursday, even as they and other companies at the core of a retail trader frenzy plummeted after online brokerages imposed trading restrictions.
GameStop gamed in stock market tizzy By WILLIAM HENNELLY in New York | China Daily Global | Updated: 2021-01-29 12:20 A GameStop store is pictured amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Jan 27, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]
It looks like the latest installment of Wall Street vs Main Street.
The stock market has been in an uproar this week over the wildly speculative trading in a handful of stocks, namely GameStop, a retail outlet that sells video games, and has drawn the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress and politicians from both sides of the aisle.
Reports are out that there will soon be government hearings concerning recent activity surrounding GameStop stocks. The decision comes after the House Committee on Financial Services revealed that it would, probe recent market instability.