Yahoo Finance Wall Street 'permanently changed' by meme stocks, retail trading: star YouTube trader
The "meme stock" phenomenon may have been considered "a fad' by some, but its longevity is proof that "it's here to stay," says one prominent retail trader.
"It really feels like the foundation of Wall Street and how stocks are interpreted, viewed, and how people make their decisions, it almost feels like it's prominently changed," YouTube host Matt Kohrs told Yahoo Finance Live.
"It seems like we're seeing Wall Street shift before our eyes," he added.
The GameStop (GME) saga earlier this year gave rise to a movement among retail traders who claim the rules of the markets are rigged against the little guys, favoring the likes of hedge funds and other institutional investors.
"At the start, we didn't know what we didn't know. But I think the knowledge within the group is expanding rapidly," said Kohrs.
"There seems to be strong appetite for really truly fighting for market reform, market transparency," he said.
"Is payment for order flow the best thing for market structure? ... What about these 13F's? Right now why are shorts not being reported when you have to report longs, calls and puts? Why is that one left out?" he asked.
'This journey is full of high highs, and low lows'
Talk to most on Wall Street and they'll say the the run-up on meme stocks are disconnected from fundamentals. Some analysts have outright stopped covering the flagship memes this year.
GameStop has an average price target of $88, with only 1 analyst Hold rating, and 1 Sell.
Following the initial massive GME short squeeze in January, shares of the video game retailer never went back below $100 since late February. The stock has held near the $200 range for the last six months.
Meanwhile AMC (AMC) has 0 Buys, 3 Hold, 6 Sell recommendations, with an average price target of $5.44. The stock is currently trading at around $40 a share.
Analysis from Wall Street, however, isn't what retail traders known as Apes are looking at. They're often busy chatting among each other and commenting on the latest stock headed "to the moon."
"We're now 11 months into this thing. It shows that retail's idea and concept of where they find value and where they don't find value, is obviously here to stay," said Kohrs.
"This journey is full of high highs, and low lows," said Kohrs. "It's an exciting one, and I think we're in the early stages of where this Ape nation is going to be going in the long run."
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