 | | | | An army of retail investors that has routed Wall Street's professionals in recent days was dealt a blow on Thursday, after online brokerages Robinhood Markets Inc and Interactive Brokers restricted trading in red-hot GameStop and several other social-media darlings stocks that had soared this week. | | | | | | A tug of war between solo stock traders piling into GameStop and seasoned hedge funds betting against the U.S. video game retailer has unleashed a wave of copycat trades. | | | | | | The U.S. House Financial Services and Senate Banking committees said on Thursday they will hold hearings on the stock market after users of investment apps faced trading limits following the "Reddit rally" that put a charge into GameStop and other volatile stocks that were touted in online forums. | | | | | | A slugfest between Wall Street and Main Street took an unexpected turn late on Wednesday after moderators of a stock trading forum that has helped fuel massive rallies in the shares of GameStop temporarily closed its doors. | | | | | | GameStop shares sank on Thursday as trading platforms including Robinhood and Interactive Brokers restricted trading in the video game retailer along with AMC Entertainment and other stocks that soared this week in a social media-driven trading frenzy that shook stock markets. | | | | | | U.S. House Financial Services Committee chair Maxine Waters said on Thursday she will hold a hearing on recent stock trading in GameStop and other stocks that have experienced dramatic swings attributed to social media-driven trading. | | | | | | U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, bouncing from sharp losses in the prior session, thanks to a broad rally as earnings season got off to a strong start and fears lessened around hedge funds selling long positions to cover shorts. | | | | | | Social media chatrooms are beginning to resemble the squawk boxes on old-fashioned trading floors, as a new generation of retail traders continues to gain influence over the stock market. | | | | | | The U.S. economy contracted at its deepest pace since World War Two in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic depressed consumer spending and business investment, pushing millions of Americans out of work and into poverty. | | | | | | The dollar retreated and Wall Street rallied on Thursday as investors looked past weak U.S. GDP and jobless claims data to hopes of a rosier economy ahead and welcomed restrictions on this week's social media-driven trading frenzy. | | | | | |
