Wall Street is looking to influential stock trading subreddits like r/wallstreetbets to gain an edge.

A perfect storm of pandemic-induced boredom, red hot stock markets, and zero-fee trading has inspired retail investors flock to equities this year.

They now represent the second largest group in the US market, morphing into a force “Wall Street can’t afford to ignore”,  according to Bloomberg.

Benn Eifert, chief investment officer of hedge fund QVR Advisors, points to popular reddit community r/wallstreetbets, which is legendary for its high risk/high reward play-style.

Like the guy who claims he took out $US400,000 in loans to day trade during COVID-19 – and made $US6.3 million.

“There are influencers within that community that will say, ‘Alright, today we’re buying the Tesla $US2500 calls for next Friday,’ and the volumes that will print are huge,” Eifert says.

“And you better believe that the most sophisticated options players in the world — the Susquehannas and Citadel Securities — are extremely focused on this flow and predicting it in real-time.”

 

Papa Elon from r/wallstreetbets

 

To markets…

US share markets rose on Tuesday. Tesla shares were up 7.2 per cent as anticipation builds on reddit for the carmaker’s ‘Battery Day’ event next week.

Aussie shares were higher on the open, with the benchmark ASX200 Index gaining 45 points or 0.77 per cent to 5,940 by 12pm EST.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday September 16:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

CODE NAME PRICE % CHANGE MARKET CAP
EER East Energy Resources 0.03 900 $ 9,602,961.11
SAN Sagalio Energy 0.055 588 $ 1,637,281.04
T3D 333D 0.002 100 $ 2,131,991.53
ICI Icandy Interactive 0.056 87 $ 11,031,763.44
ALT Analytica 0.003 50 $ 10,558,837.00
ANW Aus Tin Mining 0.0015 50 $ 3,218,662.95
BAS Bass Oil 0.0015 50 $ 6,684,280.19
CCE Carnegie Clean Energy 0.0015 50 $ 11,141,452.45
PCL Pancontinental Oil 0.0015 50 $ 5,406,715.49
FFG Fatfish Group 0.016 45 $ 8,969,204.28
CLA Celsius Resources 0.032 39 $ 17,945,015.86
NPM Newpeak Metals 0.004 33 $ 12,697,105.33
PAK Pacific American 0.026 30 $ 5,541,698.00
LNY Laneway Resources 0.009 29 $ 26,425,461.53
LMG Latrobe Magnesium 0.028 27 $ 28,523,067.52
MYQ Myfiziq 1.035 27 $ 93,635,694.75
SGI Stealth Global 0.105 24 $ 8,066,500.00
KTA Krakatoa Resources 0.1 23 $ 20,326,950.00
TNY Tinybeans 1.12 20 $ 42,577,515.75
MNW Mint Payments 0.012 20 $ 11,339,712.97
GAS State GAS 0.61 20 $ 74,642,077.14
THR Thor Mining 0.013 18 $ 4,679,291.28
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Coal/renewable energy minnow Pacific American (ASX:PAK) is dipping a toe into WA gold exploration, while former cobalt high flyer Celsius Resources (ASX:CLA) is buying a suite of copper-gold projects in the Philippines.

And mobile gaming stock iCandy (ASX:ICI) is up two days in a row after a “strongly supported” placement announced yesterday received more than $5 million in bids.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday September 16:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

CODE NAME PRICE % CHANGE MARKET CAP
ECT Env Clean Tech 0.001 -33% $ 14,401,549.18
PSL Paterson Resources 0.003 -25% $ 15,441,989.25
KAS Kasbah Resources 0.012 -20% $ 2,030,699.28
LCY Legacy Iron Ore 0.004 -20% $ 31,236,192.59
FFR Firefly Resources 0.19 -17% $ 59,119,092.36
EGR Ecograf 0.17 -17% $ 74,617,287.44
CFO Cfoam 0.025 -17% $ 5,765,220.78
THC THC Global Group 0.23 -16% $ 48,393,887.85
CGN Crater Gold 0.012 -14% $ 17,184,942.14
AVE Avecho Biotech 0.007 -13% $ 12,779,659.36
BAT Battery Minerals 0.014 -13% $ 21,089,464.78
JXT Jaxsta 0.15 -12% $ 27,273,051.21
DAU Dampier Gold 0.03 -12% $ 9,688,658.36
BUX Buxton Resources 0.115 -12% $ 17,687,206.16
GSW Getswift 0.37 -11% $ 89,486,365.34
LCL Los Cerros 0.1875 -11% $ 76,908,516.72
PO3 Purifloh 1.96 -10% $ 69,036,460.62
AGE Alligator Energy 0.0045 -10% $ 7,192,146.71
EVE EVE Investments 0.009 -10% $ 38,229,918.89
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THC Global (ASX:THC) has been forced to justify its continued existence on the ASX after the troubled cannabis company delivered its half-year financial statements with an important proviso.