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I don't know of a good place to put this otherwise, but I am tired to death from two fronts about GME and AMC, the "Return of Roaring Kitty", and the "apes".

It plainly defrauding unsophisticated investors who can now access the market in very small increments via apps. A former executive officer's social media site / SPAC merger even urged meme stock tactics.

I've come to feel they should be delisted or trading frozen for very long periods. They aren't really stocks any more. I'm not sure what I'd call them, but the SEC should be protecting investors from them and it should be harder to buy them.

I've come to feel they should be delisted or trading frozen for very long periods. They aren't really stocks any more. I'm not sure what I'd call them, but the SEC should be protecting investors from them and it should be harder to buy them.

First, you’d have to find some definition of what makes a “meme” stock. GameStop and AMC are actual companies with actual stock and actual stockholders. Why should their ability to buy or sell their stock be impeded. It’s not as though it’s all of them, it’s a (large) fringe who jumps in and out at the beck and call of whoever this Roaring Kitty is. *(Yes, I am sure he loaded up on the stock before he made his call. And I don’[t know if that counts as illegal or not. Time will tell, I hope.)

I acknowledge that it’s a pretty slick grift, but shutting down access so capriciously doesn’t seem like the right way to do it. (I have no suggestions on how to, however.)

I just picked on GME and AMC because they've been complicit to degrees. When you read https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/column-me..., that is the current CEO of GME. AMC is less so, but they have taken advantage of the situation with equity swaps and offerings. It's hard to define a meme stock, and maybe the term muddies the waters, but market manipulation is happening here and tolerated by the companies.

The SEC's goal 1 is "Protect the investing public against fraud, manipulation, and misconduct", and FINRA guidance on halts and suspensions touches on manipulation.

I don't post a lot here, or in the old metar board - apologies if it is too off-topic. But I think that the lack of regulation in instruments like crypto/NFTs and meme stock manipulation is reducing public trust in the markets, which is a substantial asset of the US based exchanges, and an emerging macro consideration. Slightly pedantic, but like to think I'm being more "draconian" than "capricious". Even though it may harm legitimate investors in these companies, their interests are outweighed by the broader public interest.

I just picked on GME and AMC because they've been complicit to degrees. When you read https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/column-me..., that is the current CEO of GME. AMC is less so, but they have taken advantage of the situation with equity swaps and offerings. It's hard to define a meme stock, and maybe the term muddies the waters, but market manipulation is happening here and tolerated by the companies.

Tolerated by the companies? Heck, AMC issued a new round of treasury shares when the meme craze was at its height to cash in. Tolerated? I’d say “celebrated”, mostly.

But I return to the original point. How do you define when a real stock is a “meme stock” - and what do you do about it? At some point the “meme-ness” of both Game Stop and AMC wore off, and they returned to being just normal stocks, at least until the magician behind the curtain started posting about them again. What was that point? And what do you do about it?

How do you craft a regulation which doesn’t harm ordinary stock holders but at the same time does what you seek to do? I’m truly unable to envision a regulation which does so fairly.

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