The ensuing high volume of trading activity from individual retail investors led to various actions from platforms that provide free trading to these individuals, including Robinhood, Webull, Public and M1.
These retail investors resolved to collectively purchase and hold GME stocks (and subsequently, shares in other companies like movie theater chain AMC) in a bid to sweat out hedge funds with significant short positions in the same. The SEC statement does specify that it believes the “core market infrastructure” remains intact despite the heavy trading volumes of the past week, which were prompted primarily by activity organized by retail investors acting in concert through organization on r/WallStreetBets, a subreddit dedicated to day trading. It’s a relatively brief statement and doesn’t mention any of the key players by name (aka GameStop, Reddit, Robinhood and others), but it does acknowledge that “extreme stock price volatility has the potential to expose investors to rapid and severe losses” that could “undermine market confidence,” and basically says the commission is watching closely to ensure that it doesn’t.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an official statement on the tumult of the past week in the public stock market.