Local markets have returned from the ‘unofficial’ summer break (Melbourne Cup to Australia Day), and stocks are down.
But most of the action is in the US, where a merry band of 2.1 million Redditors are putting some big instos to the sword.
At the front of the firing line is $US12.5bn investment fund Melvin Capital, which took a short position in games retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME).
GME still sells video games via a network of physical stores, which made it one of the most-shorted stocks on the market amid the post-COVID digital commerce boom.
Instead, they’ve picked up the ball of post-COVID capitalism and ran with it — so far dishing out a lesson in positioning and capital flows.
Generating a community-led avalanche of buy calls in a particular stock is one thing.
But when it has the effect of squeezing major short positions at the same time, the result looks like this:
(Pic: Google)
At its last closing price of $US147.98, GameStop is now a big enough stock by market cap to be included on the S&P500.
Also, the party hasn’t stopped yet — GME shares surged above $US200 in after-hours trade and Elon Musk has weighed in.
Melvin’s billionaire founder Gabe Plotkin is on the ropes. The fund has already taken a $US2.75bn lifeline from Citadel and Point72 Asset Management to help cover its short positions.
Gabe and just about everyone else are now waiting to see what happens next if the stock keeps mooning.
‘Nearology’ is a common phrase in mining circles, but if you think it applies to r/wallstreetbets as well then GME Resources (ASX:GME) is up more than 15 per cent this morning on no news.
WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday January 27:
Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.
Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements
CODE
NAME
PRICE
% CHANGE
VOLUME
MARKET CAP
APG
Austpac Resources NL
0.002
100
750,000
$ 3,165,663
MNB
Minbos Resources Ltd
0.11
57
19,849,897
$ 25,876,053
LKE
Lake Resources
0.39
54
39,079,790
$ 223,415,579
ANL
Amani Gold Ltd
0.0015
50
19,670,180
$ 9,386,997
CYQ
Cycliq Group Ltd
0.003
50
33,019,805
$ 4,607,385
AWN
AWN Holdings Limited
1.45
42
140,200
$ 40,314,341
CCE
Carnegie Cln Energy
0.002
33
291,558,517
$ 17,298,103
RNU
Renascor Res Ltd
0.037
32
70,847,281
$ 46,639,875
BPH
BPH Energy Ltd
0.125
32
47,514,506
$ 55,190,001
ELT
Elementos Limited
0.014
27
42,668,090
$ 35,709,591
PLL
Piedmont Lithium Ltd
0.795
27
16,828,518
$ 869,245,860
GRV
Greenvale Mining Ltd
0.19
27
3,767,032
$ 51,214,441
CRS
Caprice Resources
0.295
25
739,347
$ 15,530,759
ARO
Astro Resources NL
0.005
25
1,300,000
$ 11,982,772
POW
Protean Energy Ltd
0.02
25
13,281,987
$ 10,409,807
ROG
Red Sky Energy.
0.0025
25
500,000
$ 4,863,844
AOU
Auroch Minerals Ltd
0.31
24
5,136,361
$ 63,921,283
ANR
Anatara Ls Ltd
0.24
23
554,163
$ 13,737,738
SES
Secos Group Ltd
0.3
22
1,786,692
$ 130,714,081
QEM
QEM Limited
0.15
20
849,748
$ 12,500,000
Among stocks with announcements, resources companies topped the winner’s list with gains led by Angola-based explorer Minbos (ASX:MNB).
MNB said it’s now signed the Mineral Investment Contract with Angolan authorities to start exploring at its phosphate project in the country’s Cabinda Province.
Lithium developer Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) also jumped sharply after announcing it will close a new issue of 50,000 shares “forthwith”, after the offer was heavily oversubscribed.
Elsewhere, nanocap bike products manufacturer Cycliq Group (ASX:CYQ) ticked higher following the release of its December 4C filing. You can read up on other notable quarterlies in this Stockhead wrap.
LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday January 27:
Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.
Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements
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