Trading platforms curb trading on high-flying Reddit stocks
28 January 2021
Major trading platforms including Robinhood, TDAmeritrade and Interactive Brokers are restricting — or cutting off entirely — trading on high-flying stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment.
Why it matters: It limits access to the traders that have contributed to the wild Reddit-driven activity — a phenomenon that has gripped Wall Street and the country.
Robinhood said it will only allow traders to close out their positions in stocks like GameStop, AMC Entertainment, BlackBerry and a slew of others that have been popular on Reddit boards, TikTok and other social media platforms, citing "recent volatility."
Interactive Brokers is cutting off options trading for these names and upping the requirements necessary to take long or short positions in these stocks.
- What they're saying: "We do not believe this situation will subside until the exchanges and regulators halt or put certain symbols into liquidation only. We will continue to monitor market conditions and may add or remove symbols as may be warranted," the company said in a statement to CNBC.
TDAmeritrade also limited trading for these stocks,while Charles Schwab (which owns TDAmeritrade) tightened margin requirements for trading.
Where it stands: Shares of GameStop jumped as much as 14% higher in early trading, while other hot meme stocks fell dramatically — including Bed Bath & Beyond (-18%), BlackBerry (-21%) and AMC (-26%).
- A number of trading platforms also said they were experiencing device disruptions.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.