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'Meme stock' investors are trying to catch up with a financial system which has left them behind

The US stock market took a tumble early in August 2024 as fears rose of an economic slowdown. Then a few days later calm was restored, reminding us how quickly things can change in the financial world.

This means that meme stocks often have a price which doesn't reflect the true estimated value of the firm that has issued them. One of the most famous is GameStop, which soared in value earlier this year, apparently in response to a single posting by an influencer known as Roaring Kitty.

At the heart of the meme-stock movement is an online investment community known as WallStreetBets (WSB) which uses Reddit to exchange ideas and information about investments. This community—made up of "social retail traders" rather than industry professionals—is driven by rumor and social media postings, rather than traditional financial information.

A "meme-lord" is an influencer within this community, like Ryan Cohen (now chairman and CEO of GameStop), who once posted a picture of a McDonald's ice-cream cone with a frog emoji which led GameStop stock to rise by 104% that day.

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