The so-called "meme stock" GameStop plunged as financial influencer "Roaring Kitty" hosted his first live stream in three years since the last meme stock bonanza. Keith Gill, who runs X and YouTube accounts, is followed by investors and also publishes opinions on Reddit under the username "Deep-------Value.”
Gill is credited with starting the meme stock craze in 2021. He drew in a huge audience for his return to live streaming on Friday with half a million people watching.
Gill's cheerleading of stocks has often sent some soaring. Scripps News has spoken to economists and financial advisers to ask if any of that conduct is illegal, and that is still not clear.
GameStop ended the day on Wall Street Friday down nearly 40%, trading at over $28 a share — an $18 drop for the day.
It was a lot of money at stake for investors and displayed how much power one person could have on the stock market with their online activity before an audience of social media users.
ELON MUSK, TWITTER AND TESLA STOCK
Last year, data sciences student Affan Bin Hasan of Cardiff University in the UK published findings of research he conducted on the power of billionaire Elon Musk and posts he made at the time on Twitter. Hasan said he found compelling evidence of a direct relationship between Musk's messages posted to the social platform and the stock price of his company Tesla.
Musk settled with securities regulators and a class-action lawsuit for $40 million after it was alleged that he misled investors with a 2018 tweet claiming he had lined up the financing to take Tesla private in a deal that never came close to happening.
KEITH GILL'S INFLUENCE
37-year-old Gill has testified before Congress on his influence.
In 2021, he was one of five people at the center of the saga who fielded questions on short-selling from the House Financial Services Committee.
He was the inspiration for the film "Dumb Money." Last month he returned to the social media financial stage with a message posted to X — formerly known as Twitter — with a single photo signaling he had made a return to day trading.
