GameStop shares soar on resurfacing of Roaring Kitty’

Post by Keith Gill, who drove meme-stock mania of 2021, attracts more than 12m views

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GameStop shares surged on May 13 as speculation swirled around a return to social media by Mr Keith Gill, who drove the meme-stock mania of 2021 under the moniker Roaring Kitty.

The account's post on social media platform X shows a man leaning forward with what looks like a gaming controller, which some traders interpreted to mean that Mr Gill is coming back into action.

Mr Gill, whose account has long been dormant, shot to fame in 2021 by rallying day traders on Reddit in an effort to squeeze GameStop short-sellers.

The post had attracted more than 12 million views in the hours since its publication. Mr Gill posted on X again at llam New York time, this time a short video clip stating: "Fine, I'll do it myself."

The reaction to Mr Gill's initial post shows shades of the original 2021 mania, with chatter across Reddit's WallStreetBets and activity on StockTwits sparking a rush of retail trader buying.

"That he is able to generate a crowd says that the crowd is back to feeling Fomo (fear of missing out) and Yolo (you only live once) in an enormous way," said Mr Peter Atwater, president of Financial Insyghts and an adjunct professor at William and Mary and the University of Delaware.