Meme stocks prove they have nine lives

AMTD Digital

18/08/2022 17:35

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are their own.)
    NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Activist investor
Ryan Cohen may fade, but memes are making a comeback. His RC
Ventures wants to sell its 12% stake in Bed Bath and Beyond
 BBBY.O , which sent shares down over 25% on Thursday
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ZU2DC.
    It’s a brutal whipsaw after rallying over 360% this month,
partly propelled by earlier filings revealing Cohen’s purchases
of options on the stock. After a summer lull driven by economic
gloom, meme-driven volatility has resurrected.
    The tide of bubble-stock investing receded from last year’s
highs, but there have been some recent breakouts. Hong
Kong-based AMTD Digital  HKD.N , for instance, rallied out of
nowhere  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ZG12C to become more valuable than Walt Disney
 DIS.N  before falling to a tenth of its peak valuation – still
worth a stunning $35 billion. 
    Other fads are returning, too. The cryptocurrency crash
found bottom, with its total market value https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/
 up nearly 40% from mid-June. And after his WeWork debacle, Adam
Neumann snagged a $350 million investment from Andreessen
Horowitz for his new venture  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ZR3D7. While central bankers
worry about a recession, others are partying like it’s 2021. (By
Jonathan Guilford) 
    
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 (Editing by Gina Chon and Sharon Lam)
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