Hunting for the next GameStop, plus an exclusive chat with short-seller extraordinaire Carson Block
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Joe Ciolli
Feb 8, 2021, 03:22 IST
Reuters
Hello everyone! Welcome to this weekly roundup of Investing stories from deputy editor Joe Ciolli. Please subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every week.
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Hello and welcome to Insider Investing. I'm Joe Ciolli, and I'm here to guide you through what's been happening in markets, as well as what to expect in the coming weeks. Here's what's on the docket:
Everyone is on the hunt for the next GameStop - which is to say a heavily shorted company that retail investors can rally around. Wells Fargo identified these 26 stocks that could be next, while Jefferies pinpointed 20 of their own.
Have thoughts on the newsletter? Just want to talk markets? Feel free to drop me a line at jciolli@insider.com or on Twitter @JoeCiolli.
Your weekly outlook
If you expected GameStop mania to subside this past week, then you were sorely mistaken. The stock - and its similarly shorted brethren - took traders on a volatile ride, following steep sell-offs with torrid rallies. The so-called meme stocks are now well below highs, but also didn't collapse immediately like many thought they would.
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This recent price action has set up a make-or-break week of sorts for the Reddit revolution. Much of the focus will be on whether the retail-investor cohort can "hold the line" and avoid being swept up in profit-taking. Attention will also be paid to the brewing situation surrounding famed Wall Street Bets day trader Keith Gill, who's under investigation as regulators look at his previous financial-advisement job.
Another lingering concern is that the Reddit legion will try to squeeze another heavily shorted asset. They already tried - and mostly failed - to do it with silver this past week. Given how that squeeze fizzled out, market watchers will be asking themselves if the jig is up, or if silver was just the wrong target.
The stimulus front will also be jam-packed with updates. President Joe Biden has made it clear that he's going to push through his $1.9 trillion bill with or without GOP backing, and concrete progress is being made to that end.
To date, positive stimulus updates have been met with stock-market gains as traders scramble to price in a stronger economic recovery. And conversely, any hold-ups have seen sharp selling. Expect volatility along those lines as stimulus haggling continues into next week.
In the wake of GameStop mania, everyone from day traders to institutional investors are scrambling to scoop up shares of the next big short squeeze target. Firms across Wall Street have been busy analyzing the market and pinpointing such names they recommend buying now.
In an exclusive interview, Carson Block of Muddy Waters Research explained to us how bubbles are forming in individual stocks like GameStop. The famed short-seller cites constant flows to passive investment vehicles, which he says is driving out active managers, leaving the market more vulnerable to sell-offs.
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