Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tag: meme stocks

The Bear Market Returns

The following is an amended form of the Aug. 22 Daily Contrarian. This briefing and accompanying podcast are released to premium subscribers each market day morning by 0700. To subscribe, visit our Substack.

Stock futures are selling off in Monday’s pre-market, continuing the trend that started early Friday with the crypto flash crash.

Meme stocks are seeing the worst of it, with AMC Entertainment (AMC) dropping more than 30% ahead of the new APE listing. Shares of GameStop (GME) and Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY) are down multiple percent as well.

There is once again no clear catalyst for the move downward. There have not been any new developments with the Fed, nor new earnings or economic data that could have caused this.

There may be concerns ahead of the Jackson Hole Symposium, which starts Thursday. Before that we’ll get some earnings, though frankly last week’s retailer earnings were probably more important. Friday is Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole and the PCE Deflator to provide some more intel on inflation.

Or maybe the bear market is back? There doesn’t always have to be a clear catalyst for investors to dump risk assets. Maybe the bear never left. Bear markets do have rallies, sometimes quite significant ones.

Leave a Comment

Revisiting Gav Blaxberg’s Social Media Powerhouse Stocks

Gav Blaxberg, chief executive officer at Wolf Financial, said he favored stocks that are popular on social media and discussed the Gamestop (GME) surge in the Season 3, Episode 13 episode from June 2021.

“You look for companies that either have very recognizable management or leaders…[or] growth stocks that have blown out of the water their fundamentals,” he said.

Blaxberg identified Labor Smart, Inc. (LTNC), Future Holdings Limited (FUTU), and Celsius Holdings (CELH) as some examples.

Blaxberg said social media is critical to stock performance, and that GameStop’s surge was not as unprecedented as people thought, given Kodak’s success in 2020.

What Happened

Comments closed

Season 3, Episode 19: When Investors Become Gamblers — And Why It’s Happening Now

With William L. Silber, Author of ‘The Power of Nothing to Lose: The Hail Mary Effect in Politics, War, and Business’

William L. Silber, author of the book ‘The Power of Nothing to Lose: The Hail Mary Effect in Politics, War, and Business,’ joins the podcast to discuss his thesis that individuals, including investors, can become reckless gamblers if they have nothing to lose.

Silber has a career dating back to 1966 in academia and Wall Street. His comments are pertinent in the present day of cryptocurrencies, the ‘retailization’ of options trading, NFTs, and meme stocks, among others. So is his recommendation (not investment advice) to reduce risk exposure.

Content Highlights

  • When people have downside protection and limitless losses, “they tend to become reckless and almost gamblers” (3:48)

  • Rogue traders and the skewed payoff that makes them go rogue (14:41);

  • What to make of the present day and investors’ collective risk appetite, especially regarding meme stocks? (17:32);
  • Background on the guest (24:55);

  • A valuable lesson learned at Odyssey Partners in the 1980s: what’s an exit strategy? (27:47);
  • Is this a time for investors to reduce risks and sell stocks? (30:26);

  • Precious metals and their place in a modern portfolio (36:52);
Leave a Comment