It starts again: Under the slogan “To the Moon”, small investors gather in the online forum Wallstreetbets (WSB) and cheer for share prices in the sky. What the stocks have in common is high short sale rates and ailing business models. This week, the share of the world’s largest cinema operator AMC Entertainment rose even steeper than the WSB favorite, Gamestop, and its price more than doubled. This means that even investors who bought at the height of the hype in January are clearly in the black. Those who have been with us since the beginning of the year have increased their investment thirteenfold. The goal of small investors is a Shorsqueeze, in which short sellers who bet on falling prices liquidate their positions and thus drive the price up further. But institutional investors also apparently smell profits and have stocked up on AMC shares in recent months. Will the bet pay off – and can investors now speculate on quick profits or falling prices with play money?
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