What constitutes market manipulation in today’s world? Ex-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jay Clayton, suggests that Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill’s tweets could potentially be seen as such manipulation. This seems a bit lofty, particularly as it’s unclear whether Gill was involved in the recent surge in Gamestop’s stock value.
Gill’s tweets didn’t directly mention Gamestop – instead, he posted an image of a man intently leaning toward his computer screen, along with several videos containing movie clips. As Matt Levine from Bloomberg jokingly points out, Roaring Kitty seemingly raised Gamestop’s market capitalisation by $3 billion (or €2.76 billion) just by tweeting a single picture.
Meanwhile, Levine references former investor in Bed Bath & Beyond, Ryan Cohen, who is currently dealing with a legal complaint from disenchanted investors. The grounds for this action partially revolve around Cohen selling shares soon after tweeting a smiley moon emoji, suggesting to some that he anticipated a rapid stock increase.
This situation harks back to a lively debate in February 2021, where reliable news sources such as Reuters pondered whether a tweet featuring an ice cream and a frog emoji could’ve led to a swell in Gamestop’s share prices. One baffled analyst stated, “I don’t know what an ice-cream means.” It appears that people are always on the lookout for hints. The search undeniably continues today.