President Biden’s chief economic adviser said the administration would take a look at legal issues related to the GameStop roller coaster ride it took last week, while low-dollar traders clashed with administrators. well-trodden hedge funds, sending their stock to astronomical levels.
“I can tell you that the SEC is focused on fully understanding what happened here. And it focuses on protecting retail investors and also on market integrity, ”said Brian Deese, head of the National Economic Council. NBC News “Meet the press.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission said last Friday it would take steps “to identify and track potential wrongdoing.”
“The Commission will closely examine the actions taken by regulated entities that could disadvantage investors or otherwise inhibit their ability to trade certain securities,” SEC Chairman Allison Herren Lee said in a statement.
An army of ordinary investors, organized on Reddit forums such as WallStreetBets, has acted to counter financiers from hedging the risk of making huge profits, betting on the lack of sale that GameStop shares will fall.
They spent millions buying the shares of the financially struggling brick shop, forcing many top investment firms to sell at a substantial loss or incur even greater losses.
At one point, GameStop shares hit a record high of $ 492 per share before returning to about $ 325 on Friday.
It traded at $ 3.30 a share in 2019.
RobinHood, the popular stock trading app, sparked widespread criticism when it temporarily stopped trading on GameStop until Friday’s downgrade.
NBC News host Chuck Todd asked Deese if he thought the missing sale should be illegal.
“We will analyze these issues and we will certainly fully understand this special episode and the broader questions there. Our immediate focus here is to take the steps we need to take the floor under this economic crisis, “Deese said.