The early 2020s will be a fascinating unit in American history classes one day. Perhaps when they talk about 2021, the terms Roaring Kitty, diamond hands, and meme stock will be sixth-grade history vocabulary words. Well-known CNBC host Jim Cramer told Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast that he immediately told everyone holding GameStop stock to sell after it skyrocketed to $400 a share.
After delivering that advice, which the majority of people holding onto the stock didn't want to hear, he said it was "24/7 bodyguard" afterwards.
“Take the home run. Don’t go for the grand slam. Take the home run. You’ve already won. You’ve won the game. You’re done,” the host told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” viewers.
Cramer was right. After the intial hype, GameStock and all the other meme stocks fell back to their original prices. The stock is currently at $27 a share.
Keith "Roaring Kitty" Gill resurfaced in 2024 to preach the gospel of GameStop again, temporarily spiking the stock. But much to GameStop and Reddit's chagrin, the rally was short-lived. 2021 was fun. My wife and I even made a few dollars on AMC stock.
But there's no indication that GameStop has figured out anything to stop itself from circling the drain in the era of digital downloads. In fairness, it has seen some gains in the collectible market. I kid GameStop a lot, but I don't want to see them go away. They're an important part of our local economy and I hate seeing people lose jobs, especially when it's always the rank-and-file employees that it happens to.