Meme stocks roar back to life with GameStop, AMC catching fire
NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - Day traders who have been flocking to all things crypto in recent weeks have rediscovered their zest for meme stocks. GameStop surged 13 per cent on Monday (May 17), its second double-digit rally in three days. AMC Entertainment Holdings closed 7.5 per cent higher, building on last week's 36 per cent jump. A basket of stocks caught up in January's Reddit-fuelled meme-stock frenzy rose 5.6 per cent for its best performance since late March. Similar to the earlier mania, the catalyst for the latest advances seems to have come from social media. The hashtag #SqueezeAMC trended on Twitter on Monday, in a call to recreate the heavy retail buying in January that forced investors out of bearish positions on GameStop and other stocks. AMC was also the most-cited stock on online message board Stocktwits over the weekend. Participation by retail traders swelled to 24 per cent of all US stock market action during the first quarter, according to Bloomberg Intelligence's Larry Tabb. Stocks the group favoured soared, including a 1,600 per cent rally in January by GameStop. But those bets turned sour in the second quarter, with some of the Reddit targets falling more than 5...
Dow ends over 34,000 for 1st time on good bank earnings, upbeat US economic data
NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks shot to fresh records on Thursday (April 15) following blowout earnings from large banks and strong US economic data showed the recovery picking up speed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9 per cent to a record 34,035.99, and the first close above 34,000. The broad-based S&P 500 also ended at a record, gaining 1.1 per cent to 4,170.42, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.3 per cent to finish at 14,038.76. The records came as Citigroup and Bank of America joined the parade of large banks reporting at least a doubling of quarterly profits on strong trading results and large reserve releases amid the improving economic outlook. "Across the board, the banks surprised to the upside," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, who also cited strong economic reports as a factor in the rally. Meanwhile, retail sales surged 9.8 per cent in March compared to the prior month, as Americans spent more in restaurants and on sporting goods, gardening and cars as coronavirus vaccines became more widespread. And new applications for jobless benefits plunged to 576,000 last week, the fewest filed since the week e...