The stock trading app Robinhood is currently blocking users from buying any more GameStop stock citing “recent volatility” as its price soared from just under $US20 ($26) at the beginning of the month to over $US300 ($390) at the end of yesterday.
“We continuously monitor the markets and make changes where necessary,” the company wrote in a blog post this morning. “In light of recent volatility, we are restricting transactions for certain securities to position closing only, including $AMC, $BB, $BBBY, $EXPR, $GME, $KOSS, $NAKD and $NOK. We also raised margin requirements for certain securities.”
Reports began spreading on Twitter ahead of the stock market opening that heavily shorted stocks like GameStop, AMC, and Nokia, all of which have been spiking in recent days amid a trading frenzy over on the WallStreetBets subreddit, were no longer available to trade. Currently, if you search for any of them on Robinhood. nothing shows up. They also appear to be excluded from the app’s built-in newsfeeds. The trading app Stash, meanwhile, now shows a warning about volatility on the GameStop page seeking to dissuade users from investing in it.
Robinhood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[referenced id=”1202864″ url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/01/gamestop-stock-drama-continues-as-price-soars-and-hedge-fund-blinks/” thumb=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/01/28/mrc5tpwkg5kciqrdlyob-300×168.jpg” title=”GameStop Stock Drama Continues As Price Soars And Hedge Fund Blinks” excerpt=”GameStop’s stock price continued to soar in after-hours trading last night to over $US300. While many are waiting for it to come crashing back down, it might be too late for some major hedge funds. With the stock still sitting at well over $US250 a share (unthinkable just…”]
GameStop’s unthinkable stock price surge over the last week has been a lot of things — a feud between amateur day-traders meming on Reddit and big hedge funds placing, a case study in how untethered from reality the stock market can be — but it’s also drawn the attention of regulators and even the White House as some rich people and Wall Street insiders freak out about the right and wrong ways to gamble online.
It’s also put a big spotlight on WallStreetBets, the community of Reddit edgelords the centre of the circus. The group’s Discord server was banned last night for hate speech, and the subreddit itself was temporarily taken offline. It’s since come back, along with additional Discord servers.
Additional reporting by Lisa Marie Segarra.
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