(Bloomberg) — The animal spirits of the U.S. stock market have spread to a handful of meme stocks following a mysterious afternoon X post from Keith Gill, the online personality known as Roaring Kitty who rose to fame in 2021’s meme stock craze.
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Shares of GameStop Corp., one of the original favorites of a generation in the January 2021 meme frenzy, rose as much as 14%, halting volatility, before paring most of the gains to end the day up 5.9%. AMC Entertainment, another darling of the era, also erased some of the upside to close 5.9% higher.
The merchant posted a mock-up of a Time magazine cover, featuring a blank computer screen with a YouTube-like media player. The photo appears to be an edited version of the cover of the December 25, 2006 issue of Time magazine, when “You”, as the American public says it, was named “Person of the Year.”
With no accompanying text to provide clues about the meaning of the post, day traders made other logical leaps. Shares in Unity Software Inc. rose. – Index U – as much as 8.2% on the day, while Clear Secure Inc., the operator of airport security systems – Index YOU – quickly pared previous losses by 4.6%. Unity shares ended the day up 4.9%, while Clear Secure shares fell 1.1%.
The meme-like rise comes amid increasing signs of surplus in US financial markets. Bitcoin rose above $100,000 for the first time, while stocks hit new records and credit spreads remained tight.
It’s Gill’s first X post since September, when a similar cryptic image of a dog inserted into a still from the Toy Story film series sparked a brief wave of meme posts. In June, shares of Chewy Inc. jumped. and Petco Health and Wellness Co. After Gill posted a different image of a cartoon dog on X., he disclosed a 6.6% stake in July before abandoning his position entirely, according to an October filing with X Bank. Sec.
GameStop shares also rose in June when Gill decided to return to his YouTube channel, which had become popular during the Covid-19 pandemic, but fell after subsequent livestreams. Generation benefited significantly from investing in the beleaguered video game retailer during 2020 and 2021.
Thursday’s post from Gill sparked a flurry of options activity with traders picking up bullish call options on Unity, sending volume to the highest level since September 24, while the one-month call more than doubled from the previous day.
Meanwhile, data compiled by Bloomberg shows that one trader made a multi-leg bet on Clear Secure on Wednesday, buying a $30/$40 call spread expiring in May and financing it by selling put options with a $20 strike. And a similar finish. The trade, which looked more like a hedge rather than a directional bet, helped send call volume and open interest in the stock to an all-time high.
–With assistance from David Marino, Elena Popina, and Billy Lipschultz.
(Updates stock movements when the market closes)
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