Overview

• Retail investors propelled heavily shorted names such as Opendoor, Krispy Kreme, Kohl’s and GoPro to sharp gains and record trading volumes this week.
• Goldman Sachs’s Most Shorted Rolling Index climbed 13% in July and is up over 60% since April, while its Speculative Trading Indicator reached levels not seen since 2021.
• Normalized borrowing costs around 10% annualized suggest a milder short squeeze than the 2021 meme mania, but volatility remains elevated.
• Bullish posts by EMJ Capital’s Eric Jackson on X.com and coordinated social-media chatter continue to spark rapid price spikes in these low-priced stocks.
• Advisors recommend treating meme-stock plays as discretionary entertainment capital and enforcing strict risk controls given weak fundamentals and heightened pullback risk.