GTCH from my understanding the shares are not lost ,,,, they have to be replaced or covered ,,, this leads to the squeeze and in turn price raise or surege in volume,,,, i beleive the formt might have something to do with the shares being covered ,,would seem illegial since 4 oclock bell is cut off for me and you but many loop holes for the mm's,,, that should start to ease up this year with legislation in the works,,, they will have to report all trades where in the past were able to get away without doing it,,, saw some legislation in febuary working on it to even the playing feild for all ,,,, i havent watched the movie yet but was topd GAME STOP would explain the way the system warks on the shorts
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In January 2021, a short squeeze of the stock of the American video game retailer GameStop and other securities took place, causing major financial consequences for certain hedge funds and large losses for short sellers. Approximately 140 percent of GameStop's public float had been sold short, and the rush to buy shares to cover those positions as the price rose caused it to rise even further. The short squeeze was initially and primarily triggered by users of the subreddit r/wallstreetbets, an Internet forum on the social news website Reddit, although a number of hedge funds also participated. At its height, on January 28, the short squeeze caused the retailer's stock price to reach a pre-market value of over US$500 per share ($125 split-adjusted), nearly 30 times the $17.25 valuation at the beginning of the month. The price of many other heavily shorted securities and cryptocurrencies also increased.
On January 28, some brokerages, particularly app-based brokerage services such as Robinhood, halted the buying of GameStop and other securities, citing the next day their inability to post sufficient collateral at clearing houses to execute their clients' orders. This decision attracted criticism and accusations of market manipulation from prominent politicians and businesspeople from across the political spectrum. Dozens of class action lawsuits have been filed against Robinhood in U.S. courts, and the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services held a congressional hearing on the incident.
The unusually high price and volatility continued after the peak in late January. On February 24, the GameStop stock price doubled within a 90-minute period, and then averaged in the neighborhood of $200 per share for another month. On March 24, the GameStop stock price fell 34 percent to $120.34 per share after earnings were released and the company announced plans for issuing a new secondary stock offering. On March 25, the stock recovered dramatically, rising by 53 percent.
