GameStop (GME) stocks soared as much as 110% on Monday and were temporarily halted due to volatility after “Roaring Kitty”, the person considered to trigger the stock market frenzy during the pandemic, job online for the first time since 2021.
“Roaring Kitty,” identified that year as Keith Gill, became a prominent figure in Wall Street Bets and YouTube for his bullish stance on GameStop (GME).
Sunday’s post on X included a meme of a video gamer leaning forward, appearing to take the game seriously. The last time Roaring Kitty posted on X was in June 2021.
Gill was known for posting comments on why GameStop would go higher and ultimately testified before Congress about the massive January 2021 short squeeze spurred by an army of retail traders.
Short interest in GameStop sits at about 24% of the float, according to data from S3 Partners.
“Including today’s losses, GME’s short positions are now down -$1.34 billion from May’s losses, and now down -$952 million for the year” , Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of S3 Partners, told Yahoo Finance on Monday.
Monday’s gains follow a recent rally in meme-related stocks. Operator of the AMC cinema chain (AMC) gained 19% during the session while Trump Media & Technology (DJT) gained 8%.
“Short sellers could find themselves in a tough and bloody situation on these stocks,” Dusaniwsky said.
As Jared Blikre of Yahoo Finance recently noted: the recent surge in meme stocks does not appear to be the ominous sign of what it has been in the past, but rather a healthy risk appetite for investments.
Ines Ferre is a senior economics reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre.
