Short Selling Also Up 92%... US Retail Investors Compete to Find Soaring Stocks

GameStop Surges Again
Investment Heat Rises in Small-Cap Stocks with High Short Selling Volume

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The stock price of GameStop, which has been shaking the US securities market, rose again by 92%. Amid the spotlight on the battle between institutional investors leading short selling and individual investors, the competition to find another soaring stock is also accelerating.

On the 26th (local time) in the New York stock market, GameStop's stock price closed at $147.98, up 92% from the previous day. In the previous day's trading, GameStop surged to $159 during the session before the increase narrowed to about 20%, but on this day, the closing price and the high price were formed at similar levels. Trading volume exceeded 150 million shares for three consecutive days.

The rise on this day is also interpreted as the stock price being driven up by concentrated buying from retail investors based on the online community 'Reddit.'

Despite large-scale short selling, the phenomenon of 'short squeeze,' where concentrated buying by individual investors pushes up the stock price and short sellers buy back the shorted shares, is said to be unprecedented in the US stock market.

US individual investors are moving on to discover new investment stocks following GameStop.

On this day as well, low-priced stocks such as Nokia, BlackBerry, and AMC experienced large-scale trading and price fluctuations compared to the previous day, which Wall Street understands is because individual investors are searching for the second GameStop. These stocks traded 200 to 300 million shares in one day, emerging as the hottest stocks in the New York stock market.

Investors are targeting stocks with a high short selling ratio, like GameStop. Investment-related media have also started introducing stocks with high short selling ratios.

Small-cap stocks with a high short-selling ratio introduced by the investment magazine Barron's

According to Barron's, GameStop's short selling has increased to 144% of the float. Despite the buying enthusiasm of individual investors, short sellers are also increasing their selling volume, intensifying the battle between the two sides.