LOTZ - Bed Bath & Beyond continues to lead meme rally in premarket trade

All aboard! Just don't be the last one to get off the train. Traders are continuing to buy up tickets to memeland, sending in fairies to circle the usual darlings.

Choo-choo: Bed Bath & Beyond ( NASDAQ: BBBY ) is up another 13% premarket to around $13, after popping 40% on Monday (as a record 120.5M shares changed hands) and 30% on Friday. Yesterday, GameStop ( GME ) was also halted for exchange for volatility, while AMC Entertainment extended another big rally. Further outsized gains were recorded by Express ( EXPR ), Overstock.com ( OSTK ), HEXO Corp. ( HEXO ), Express ( EXPR ), Vroom ( VRM ), Waitr Holdings ( WTRH ), Wayfair ( W ) and CarLotz ( LOTZ ).

The latest catalyst appears to be the astounding rise and fall of AMTD Digital ( AMTD ), which surged 32,000% since going public on July 15. The offbeat Hong Kong-based fintech priced its IPO at $7.80, and while it topped out at $2,540 last week, the movement was enough to remind the WallStreetBets crowd of skyrocketing moves. A recent rebound on Wall Street has also infused some risk back into the market, while heavy short interest has set the stage for a meme comeback (more than half of Bed Bath shares available for trading are now currently sold short).

Go deeper: Remember, a lot of the meme names that are now seeing a resurgence are down heavily since the initial fever of January 2021, and timing is everything until the last trader is left holding the bag. Some still swear by the technicals, which have created countless day trading channels and messaging platforms, while others are quick to point to the eye-popping fortunes being posted online. As an outgrowth of the YOLO trade, meming is partly a strategy (short squeeze), partly a gamble (remember binary options?) and partly a middle finger to Wall Street (little guy vs. the suits) that has been compounded by the gamification of stock apps and access to commission-free trading.

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