Gamestop shares soared as high as 110 per cent on Monday after “Roaring Kitty,” the man credited with starting the meme stock rally in 2021, posted online for the first time in around three years.
The post appeared to show a video gamer leaning forward on their chair, a meme indicating things are getting more serious. Roaring Kitty had been absent from all social media platforms since mid-2021.
Trading in the struggling company was suspended multiple times over the morning as the online world went into a frenzy and shares shot into the stratosphere. AMC, a separate meme stock, rose eight per cent by mid-afternoon.
Roaring Kitty, whose real name is Keith Gill, was a marketer at Massachusets Mutual Life Insurance. His other alius is DeepF——Value, on Reddit.
The meme stock rally began after Gill posted on Reddit’s Wallstreetbets discussion group. It involved individual investors taking aim at short sellers and hedge funds who were downbeat on Gamestop, forcing them to cover their short positions and drive up prices.
Gill’s post ultimately resulted in Robinhood shutting down trading in Gamestop, AMC and a few other stocks as share went haywire.The crisis was exacerbated by the pandemic as traders were stuck at home with less to pre-occupy themselves with.
Wall Street’s Melvin Capital lost billions as a result of its heavy short position in Gamestop, and eventually collapsed in 2022.
The incident prompted a string of congressional hearings and regulatory scrutiny around practices in the broker industry, leading to testimony from Melvin Capital, Reddit and Gill himself.
The trader faced class action lawsuits, including one that alleged he had pretended to be a novice despite being a licensed professional.
The meme stock rally was the inspiration behind Craig Gillespie’s “Dumb Money,” which was released last year.