Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the recent boost in GameStop stock price that was driven by calls …
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the recent boost in GameStop stock price that was driven by calls for ordinary people to punish hedge funds. The Massachusetts Democrat raised the possibility that the stock rally, described as a populist rebellion against Wall Street, actually could be driven by “scam artists executing a ‘pump-and-dump’ stock scheme.” “I am deeply concerned that these casino-like swings in the value of GameStop and other company shares are yet another example of the gamesmanship that interferes with the ‘fair, orderly, and efficient’ function of the market,” Warren wrote in a letter to acting SEC Chairwoman Allison Lee. “I am writing to seek information on how the SEC intends to address these concerns and prevent these and future incidents of potential market manipulation.” An SEC statement this week that the stock overseer was reviewing the market battle, along with stock-trading platform Robinhood’s decision to restrict trades, infuriated people on all sides of the political spectrum from leftists to right-wing populists, who said the government should instead focus on the stock-shorting hedge fund profiteers.
