Medicare Agent News: GameStop Is Soaring Again

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

GameStop Is Soaring Again

By Alex Eule | Wednesday, February 24

So We're Doing This Again. Stock markets have felt kind of boring in the last few weeks. Talk of inflation and bond yields can't quite compete with a soaring stock, pushed up by retail traders trying to inflict pain on hedge funds. If you were missing January's GameStop frenzy, then the trading today was for you.

Stocks generally had a solid day, with the Nasdaq Composite rebounding a bit from its recent softness. The tech-heavy index was up 1% on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3%, to an all-time high.

But the highlight came in the last hour of trading when GameStop shares returned to the spotlight. For no obvious reason, the stock soared 104% in less than 60 minutes. It was up another 100% in after-hours trading. The stock's volatility had taken a breather for much of the last month. Now it's as if that break never happened, unless, of course, you bought GameStop shares at their Jan. 27 high, in which case your investment is still down 74%.

AMC Entertainment, another heavily shorted stock that soared alongside GameStop in late January, also began to rally late today. It finished up 18% and rose another 20% in after-hours trading.

There's no way to know whether today's move will inspire another crazy set of trading days like those in late January, but it's now clear the GameStop frenzy wasn't just a momentary blip. Connor Smith has more on Barron's, including one possible reason for the new rally.

There was real news on the day, including positive vaccine data from Johnson & Johnson, which could receive U.S. approval for its one-dose Covid-19 shot in the coming days, giving the country a third vaccine option. That news had re-opening stocks on the move again. The biggest gainer in the S&P 500 was Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, up 9.3% on the day.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spent a second day testifying in front of Congress. Powell has sought to play down worries about inflation and rising interest rates. (The 10-year Treasury yield rose again Wednesday to 1.388%, the highest level since Feb. 20, 2020.). Here's one of Powell's key quotes this week, as captured by Barron's Alexandra Scaggs:

“It’s very important to ask why rates are moving up. If you look at why they’re moving up, it’s to do with more normal levels, or more mandate-consistent levels of inflation,” he said. “In a way it’s a statement of confidence from markets” in the economy and recovery.

You can read the rest of Alex's story here.