The Twitter-bred “Ape Army” is encouraging another run on AMC’s stock with #AMCDAY.
Can you keep a meme stock down?
The hashtag #AMCDay! has been trending, a throwback to last year’s rise of the so-called meme stock.
The hashtag has been encouraging apes, which is what the internet-based AMC investors refer to themselves as (a reference to the “apes together strong” line from “Planet of the Apes”) to buy stock in AMC (AMC) – Get AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Class A Report, or in the words of Twitter user @BobzyBear, “BUY and HOLD all the #AMC you can on #AMCDay.”
(BobzyBear also suggests that you “Book yourself a Day at the #AMC movies on #AMCDay.”
The Return Of Meme Stocks?
Last year saw the rise of the so-called meme stocks, as individual interest investors, many of whom are college students or recent graduates who had not previously purchased shares of any company or shown much interest in participating in the stock market, began using brokerage apps including Robinhood (HOOD) – Get Robinhood Markets, Inc. Class A Report, to purchase shares of companies such as AMC and the video game chain store Gamestop (GME) – Get GameStop Corp. Class A Report.
These mass runs on sales were usually incubated in message boards and Reddit-based subreddits such as r/WallStreetBets, who encouraged members of the community to take advantage of the low share prices of AMC and Gamestop stock, and use them towards either short-term profit, mischief, or to upend the plans of institutional short-sellers of these stocks.
What Did Wall Street Think Of Meme Stocks?
In theory, one might find this to be welcome news, as the more people who get involved in the market, the better, right?
But as TheStreet founder Jim Cramer observed, “the mechanics of the market are breaking down. It’s arguable that these people [buying these stocks] are all one group,” he told CNBC. “They are using arguments that they think hold up under scrutiny. I don’t think they do. But it doesn’t matter what I think.”
At one point last year, shares of GameStop rose more than 500%, although it also fell to below $20. It closed on Jan. 6 at $131.03 per share.
True to some investors intentions, “As buyers plowed into the stock, shorts were sent running for the hills,” with Cramer noting that “the ‘wallstreetbets’ people′ … have ganged up, arguably allowed by free speech purposes, to center on a few stocks,” adding ““I’ve never seen the guns like this. They can break shorts.”
