CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday wondered “are the prices real” on Wall Street, trying at best to explain GameStop’s 175% rally over the past two days.
“I think the average American right now is trying to figure out how to find a stock that triples,” Cramer said. “” Forget what you’re talking about with the FAANG. I want a triple. “” FAANG, an acronym coined by Cramer, stands for major technology stocks – Alphabet’s Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google.
“It’s what people want. They want a triple. That’s not necessarily what we can offer,” said the host of “Mad Money.” Robinhood wants it. WallStreetBets wants it, he added, referring to the online brokerage that is popular with young investors and the Reddit forum at the center of the GameStop saga.
Against the backdrop of the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, Cramer said incredibly that GameStop is “taking hold of America” and the investing public.
The online trading frenzy surrounding the video game retailer rekindled Wednesday, as shares doubled following the announcement of next month’s departure of Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell. The stock rallied more than 70% at some stage on Thursday, before halving gains during a volatile session.
Cramer said it seems unlikely that a CFO change could be the catalyst for such moves.
Ryan Cohen, a major GameStop investor and co-founder of online pet food store Chewy, and GameStop itself have been silent amid the excessive swings that started last month with a hedge fund short-squeeze at around $ 20 per share, pushing the stock surged 2,300% to as much as $ 483. GameStop crashed below $ 50 in mid-February, before Wednesday’s peak.
Cohen posted a cryptic tweet on Wednesday afternoon, leaving Cramer and the other ‘Squawk on the Street’ hosts speculating Thursday morning as to what it could possibly mean.