Where Six Mem Stock Investors Are Right Now

Months after interviewing him in 2021, we checked back with some of the investors who got involved in so-called meme stocks during the pandemic — or bet against them — to see how they’re adjusting. Because the market is dealing with a new era. Why unrest?

One thing is for sure: the volatile stock market of 2022 is not the same rising tide that has drawn millions of amateur investors over the past two years.

in it for the long haul

Joanna Burns is playing the long game.

Ventura County, California residents were interested in investing last January when Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum shot to prominence. He bet on AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.

Now Ms. Burns is holding her stock, assuming the shares are undervalued and that’s when the price will start to rise and the short sellers—those betting against AMC stock—will buy shares to cover their losses. She said she is sitting on a profit after initially buying the shares at around $13 and adding that position at the high and low prices. Shares of AMC closed at $14.52 on Thursday.

If the shares rise as she expects, Ms. Burns would like to use the profits to pay off student loans and buy a home.

But she sees her stake in AMC as more than an investment: For her, it’s part of a David-versus-Goliath battle between powerful financial institutions and everyday retail investors.

“It’s really capitalizing on this opportunity to gain financial independence as well as win in a rigged game,” she said.

Meanwhile, she’s making her living in the gig economy — writing, copy-editing, making videos for a CBD company, giving tarot readings — after finding out that the corporate world wasn’t the best fit.

“With Covid, it allowed a lot of introspection,” she said. “I just decided to get out I guess what you would call a rat race.”

—Karen Langley

Before: An Oral History of WallStreetBets (February 11, 2021)

done with the meme scene

Sam Daftarian calls it quits on trading meme shares.

“The whole meme stock saga – this is not a sustainable way of trading,” said Mr. Duftarian.

Last year, he enjoyed trading and made some profits while riding the viral stock sensation. Mr. Duftarian, 45, also thought of taking a full-time job out of it.

Since then, she’s decided it’s not for her. a turning point? That’s when he got burned over an investment in e-commerce company ContextLogic Inc. After hearing about the stock from his cousin, he poured thousands of dollars into the shares starting June. The price subsequently fell, and he says he sold the investment at a huge loss.

“That was what made me realize, ‘Hey, all your gains on GME and AMC were probably just luck,'” said Mr. Dufterian, using the ticker for GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment. “They weren’t based on fundamentals. More research. It was based on feelings and emotions.”

He says he wishes he hadn’t sold tech giants like Tesla Inc. and Apple Inc. in favor of meme stock. He has also dabbled in cryptocurrencies, but recently exited a position in Dogecoin.

“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that buying and holding is the smartest thing to do,” said Mr. Duftarian.

—Gunjan Banerjee

Before: GameStop Mania Reveals Power Shift on Wall Street—and the Pros Reeling (January 27, 2021)

He doesn’t need to see her to believe

Tushira Kumarage has never been to a Gamestop retail location. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland – where the nearest store is located hundreds of miles across the Irish Sea.

But Mr. Kumarage has still become a dedicated GameStop investor. Last year, a 21-year-old student studying maths, statistics and actuarial science started buying shares based on a tip from a WhatsApp trading group. He managed to buy just before the shares rose to $483 in January 2021. And he kept on scooping up more throughout the spring. It currently holds 180 shares—an amount that it has neither added nor subtracted since May.

He had a strong stomach as the stock became zigzagged. His profit has fluctuated by tens of thousands of dollars, and he is currently sitting on a modest profit. He is not planning to sell.

“I think investing in the short term is different from looking at the long-term potential of this company,” he said. He places himself in the latter camp.

Mr Kumarage said he remains optimistic about GameStop President Ryan Cohen’s outlook and was encouraged last year when former Amazon.com Inc. executives Matt Furlong and Mike Ricupero took over as chief executive and chief financial officer respectively. had attended.

“Why would they jump ship from a successful company to a company that is supposedly dying and supposedly going out of business?” He asked.

—Caitlin McCabe

Before: GameStop’s Most Loyal Shareholders Are In It For The Long Haul, Not Memes (June 6, 2021)

conquering your parents

Jake Sandhu began investing in 2020, using the £7,000 (equivalent to about $9,360) in savings he spun off from a business venture that resells sneakers. After a few wins on stocks like AMC, the 20-year-old UK resident invested about $76,000 in natural-gas exporter Tellurian Inc., which he found via YouTube.

Mr. Sandhu bought around $4 a share, with the belief that Tellurian would rise to $10, or $15, by the end of 2021. It never closed above $5.32 and is trading below $3 these days.

But Mr. Sandhu won something big: his parents, who told him his investments were too risky, asked to get involved. He gave them £1,000 to invest in Tellurian, when the stock faltered after Mr. Sandhu took his initial stake. , is redeemed when its value is doubled.

Nevertheless, Mr. Sandhu said he had turned his initial £7,000 into £82,000, largely thanks to Mime Stocks. He’s also convinced his parents, at least for now, that he doesn’t need a 9 to 5 job.

“They still consider it risky,” said Mr. Sandhu, “but they are happy as long as I am making money.”

His portfolio has lost some value in the recent market, but he still plans to hang on to his meme stocks.

“At this point of time, I am paused and will look to buy when the market sentiment changes,” he said.

-Hardika Singh

Before: A Budding Natural-Gas Exporter Becomes Meme Stock (August 27, 2021)

He provoked the anger of the reddit crowd

A year ago, meme-stock investors fought with Andrew Left. He is still licking his wounds.

In Wall Street’s most famous short seller, Mr. Left held a live stream presentation in January 2021, arguing that GameStop shares would drop 50%. Unhappy fans of the company shared Mr Left’s personal information, hacked his social media accounts and threatened his children.

GameStop bulls also raised the stock, which was valued by Mr. Left in the tens of millions of dollars. Within days, Mr. Left, the founder of Citron Research, said his firm would no longer publish short seller reports. Today, Mr. Left continues to focus on companies he thinks investors should buy.

“Things have changed for short sellers – you don’t want to be in a rush,” he said, referring to stocks with huge short selling interest.

Mr Left, who has moved from Los Angeles to Florida, says higher-priced stocks are now in a more precarious position as interest rates are set to rise, but he is not going to re-engage in the fight over stocks.

“I’ve spent more time as a father and husband,” he said. “I don’t need to be a public face and provoke the anger of the Reddit crowd.”

—Gregory Zuckerman

Before: GameStop Short Squeeze Shows a Ugly Side of the Investing World (Jan 27, 2021)

converting a suspicious spouse

In the Misner household, Shari calls the financial shots. The 51-year-old primary school teacher keeps a careful eye on expenses and closely monitors bank statements and receipts. Her husband, Robert, says he “would never write a check without them running the check.”

But when it comes to GameStop, Robert is in the driver’s seat.

Together, the pair have 198 shares of GameStop stock in the brokerage accounts that Mr. Misner controls. He has steadily risen in position over the past year, having bought as recently as November.

“I feel good about the company,” said the 51-year-old, a Florida resident who is a manager at a technology-services company.

He said that he has also made his wife a more believer in stocks.

“She checks the stock price a couple of times a week and if it’s a down day and it’s been a day she’s checked it, she’ll rib me a little bit. She’s like, ‘Oh, so where are we today? are you?'” said Mr Misner.

“He probably has hope, or maybe has guarded optimism.”

Mr Misner said he trusted Mr Cohen, who co-founded the pet-product retailer Chevy Inc. before gaining control of GameStop.

For now, he doesn’t see himself selling, he said, and he believes the stock could eventually surpass last year’s high of $483. The recent ups and downs in stocks haven’t baffled Mr. Misner.

“It’s kind of a matter of faith. I believe based on my experience with Chevy … that he and his team are doing the right thing to take the company where they want to go,” Mr. Misner said.

—Caitlin McCabe