Shares of GameStop plunged more than 60 percent on Tuesday morning, the second day of breath-taking losses, then turned around to erase around half of the loss before tumbling again.
The fall was so swift that trading was briefly halted just five minutes after the market opened. Then they were halted again when shares rocketed straight up shortly after 11 a.m.
Shares of stocks that have been rising dramatically in the last few weeks alongside GameStop also fell at the open. Koss shares were down by 46 percent and then reversed to reclaim half the lost territory. Trading was halted at 9:36 as shares fell and then again at 11:30 as they soared. AMC shares dropped by almost 50 percent but by 11:30 a.m. they were down by only 33 percent.
The prices of these stocks, many of which have been supported by users of the Reddit board WallStreetBets, have tended to fall when the broader market rises and rise when the broader market falls. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 500 points, around 1.7 percent, in the first hour of trading Tuesday morning.
One of the most prominent bulls in the so-called “meme stocks”—Bar Stool Sports founder Dave Partnoy—announced he had sold his shares in the companies Tuesday morning.
I have officially sold all my meme stocks. I lost 700k ish. Vlad and company stole it from me and should be in jail. pic.twitter.com/qXP1N1UFil
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 2, 2021
The reference is presumably to Vlad Tenev, the chief executive of Robinhood. The company restricted trading in GameStop and other meme stocks last week, triggering outrage from customers who accused the app-based brokerage of sabotaging their positions. Tenev said higher collateral requirements from market makers and the clearinghouse required them to slow trading.
Even after Monday and Tuesday’s huge declines, shares are still well above where they traded at the start of the year.
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