Michael Burry tweeted yesterday that his firm received a subpoena from the SEC in regard to GameStop (NYSE:GME). He deleted the tweet later in the day with no explanation.
The development adds intrigue to what may happen with the investigation after SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said earlier in the month that the agency was "pretty close" to releasing a report.
Burry-led Scion Asset Management reported owning a 2.4% stake in GameStop at the end of Q3 last year after starting to accumulate a position in 2019. However, Burry called the GME rally in January "unnatural, insane, and dangerous" and his public comments on the retailer supported a long-term bull thesis.
The SEC has been stepping up its focus on what its calls the "gamification" of trading, which some analysts see as a risk to Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD). New rules could also slow down some of the meme rallies and ability of hedge funds to frontrun social sentiment moves.
The Reddit WallStreetBets community is still thriving with Canoo (NASDAQ:GOEV), SmileDirectClub (NASDAQ:SDC), ContextLogic (NASDAQ:WISH), Kirkland's (NASDAQ:KIRK) and ReNew Energy Global(NASDAQ:RNW) all seeing a burst of interest this week. Of course, AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) is still a staple and well defended in some circles despite its valuation.
As for GameStop, shares closed at $185.16 on Friday vs. the 52-week trading range of $9.10 to $483.00. GameStop (GME) is up 883% YTD. And while that is a stellar return, there is a mall stock that is up more than 2000% YTD.