Opendoor leads meme stock redux on Wall Street with shares tripling in one week
The online real estate startup saw shares popping more than 22% in premarket trading Tuesday, set to extend a red-hot run powered by retail traders chasing meme stocks. It had surged more than 42% in Monday's session with trading halted multiple times due to volatility.
The stock, which had been trading mostly under $1 this year, hit a high of $4.97 during Monday's session and closed the day at $3.21 apiece. Its meteoric rally pushed the stock up by more than 500% in July alone.
The ticker $OPEN has been heavily cited on WallStreetBets, the online forum behind the infamous GameStop mania in 2021. It gained traction on the internet partly after hedge fund manager Eric Jackson, an investor in Opendoor, started touting the stock, saying it can reach $82 a share.
"HODLTHE($OPEN)DOOR," one post reads.
Trading volumes exploded with 1.9 billion of Opendoor shares exchanging hands on Monday, more than 1,700% of the three-month average, according to FactSet.
About 22% of Opendoor's available shares are sold short, meaning short-covering could be at play during this run. Short sellers tend to buy back shares to cut their losses when their short target rallies suddenly, and their buying can further push up the stock.
Heightened options trading in the name also intensified the rally. Bespoke Investment Group called Opendoor a "poster-child" for the recent wave of options market optimism.
"That stock is up 500% in three weeks; total call open interest has tripled over that time period, Bespoke said in a note to clients. "Surges in call buying are driving extreme moves higher for a small slice of the market, even as most other stocks drop."
When Opendoor went public through a special purpose acquisition company in 2020, it was riding a SPAC wave and broader gains driven by low interest rates and Covid-era market euphoria. Opendoor's business involved using technology to buy and sell homes, pocketing the gains.
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Chicago Tribune
44 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
More young people going into farming, but it's still few of them
At the Porter County Fair on Thursday, Ron Birky, of Morgan Township, said he retired as a farmer after 46 years. 'I was raised on a farm,' he said, but that's not a guarantee he would become a farmer. 'I was one of five kids, and I was the only one to go into farming,' he said. 'I always enjoyed it. That was really the only thing I wanted to do after high school,' Birky said. But becoming a farmer isn't easy. The average age of a Hoosier farmer is 56. Out of 94,282 producers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2022 Census of Agriculture, only 1,962 were under age 25. Compared to the previous survey, conducted in 2017, there were more younger farmers going into the business, noted Todd Davis, chief economist at the Indiana Farm Bureau. 'I can say part of that is that coming out of the experience of 2020, there might be more people wanting to look at having a change,' he said. The COVID-19 pandemic has created long-lasting changes in society. 'I guess you can read into it younger people are seeing opportunities,' Davis said. 'My guess would be a lot of them would be what I call the specialty farmers, smaller scale, maybe taking advantage of farmers markets, selling to local people,' Davis said. That could include operating an on-farm store and more aggressively marketing products to local customers. 'It's a little more niche,' he said. Cody Boone, 17, a member of the Pleasant Pioneers 4-H club, raises cattle. 'I want to do something with farming. I'm not exactly sure what part,' he said. Boone is being raised on a farm, 'a lot of work all the time, especially during birthing season.' 'The farm is more my grandpa's,' he said. Cody's uncle has a farm in LaCrosse, so working for his uncle has possibilities, too. 'I definitely want to do something with them,' he said. Cody's father, Corey Boone, 42, married into farming. His father-in-law had a dairy farm, then raised feeder calves, then goats. 'I kind of got into helping him do all that,' Boone said, although his full-time job is as a collision repair technician, working on auto bodies. With a small hobby farm like his, 'you probably put in more than you get out,' Boone said. Along the way, he has learned a lot about farming. 'One of the first lambs we had, it got out and we chased it for over an hour. We chased that lamb for miles,' he said. Raising goats has been an adventure, too. 'They will climb on everything. They will eat everything,' including flowers in the garden, Boone said. Part of specialty crop production, Davis said, is being an entrepreneur and gauging what the market is. 'Some of those operations also get into a little agritourism,' like an apple orchard, Davis said, with a focus on fall tourism. 'Frankly, I think it was kind of a donut stand. That was the most popular part of the farm experience.' For the traditional corn-and-soybeans farmer, getting into the business has some barriers for a young person. Land is the first need. That means buying or leasing, renegotiating the terms of the lease every few years. 'If you want to grow your business, you have to keep expanding your land base,' Davis said. 'Commodity agriculture is known for having margins that are constantly shrinking,' he said. 'There's always a push for greater efficiency, cost management, using every input in the most efficient way possible.' Trying to support a family? You'd want off-farm income not only for the cash but also for the benefits, especially if you're raising children. Machinery is another big expense. Farmers can find used equipment or lease it, but that will require getting loans. 'Younger farmers may not have much of a credit history, and they may not have a lot of equity to help secure loans,' Davis said. That's where their parents or grandparents come in. They need a previous generation to help them get started. And, of course, they need to know how to farm. 'That's a prerequisite for every career, isn't it?' Where younger farmers might have an advantage over their counterparts nearing the end of their careers, Davis said, is that younger farmers tend to be more interested in pursuing technology and newer, innovative production practices. They're probably more comfortable with electronics, computerization and so forth. Farm Bureau provides scholarships for ag majors, primarily, to help them get started. 'There are college Farm Bureau chapters at Purdue, Huntington and Vincennes,' getting young farmers into Farm Bureau and the networking side of industry. 'They'll make more than just friends,' Davis said. They'll bounce ideas off each other, too. 'That's something that Farm Bureau helps foster in its younger farmers program.' Agriculture gets a lot of attention this time of year, what with county and state fairs allowing youngsters to show off the fruits of their labor. 'The county fair experience is really good for the younger generation,' Davis said, along with Future Farmers of America. 4-H, and living on a farm, helped Annie Martin's kids understand where meat really comes from – not just a grocery store but all the steps along the way, from farm to slaughterhouse, before reaching the grocery. Being in 4-H, 'it's responsibility all the way around. It's time with your family. It's time management,' she said. Martin also married into the farming business when she said, 'I do,' alongside husband Blake Martin. Their kids understand the rigors of farming. 'They have to be accountable at a really young age,' she said. Her son is planning to become a farmer. 'He's been able to drive a loader since he was 6,' Martin said. 'He has a work ethic that's pretty incredible.' He's heading to the state fair after winning the tractor driving competition at the county fair, the proud mom said. 'Farmers never really retire. He slowly learns to operate something new every year,' she said. Her daughter Brooklyn Martin, 11, a Morgan Sodbuster, said she wants to be a zoologist, not a farmer. 'I just like animals a lot, so I thought that would be fun.' Soon after Ron Birky graduated from high school, a distant cousin retired and leased his 165 acres to Birky. 'At one time, we had some hogs,' he said, but corn and soybeans were Birky's two staples. Birky was in 4-H for all 10 years. He's seen his kids go through 4-H, and now his grandchildren are going through it. The oldest grandchild, now entering fifth grade, thinks he wants to be a farmer. 'We still own 600 acres,' Birky said, but the machinery was all sold at auction two years ago. If that grandchild goes through with his current career choice, it won't be easy. 'Boy, it's tough,' Birky said, for a young person to become a farmer. 'There's 600 acres that we own, and that's half the battle.' But it's a fierce battle. 'If you're not raised in a farming family, it's virtually impossible' to go into farming, Birky said. 'The capital investment is unbelievable,' he said, with combines and other machinery exceeding $1 million to buy new. Then there's the risk involved. This year hasn't had much rain. 'I don't need to go to Vegas,' Birky said, because farming is its own gamble. Birky retired at 67, his dad at 80 or so. 'He basically didn't retire, I just took over everything,' Birky said. Young 4-H'ers are considering their options. Norah Grimmer, 13, of Valparaiso, tended Maverick, her grand champion steer, at the fair on Thursday. She's planning to study animal science at the University of Notre Dame to become a veterinarian. Elizabeth White, 16, a member of the Center Wildcats, plans to attend Valparaiso University. 'I'm trying to decide between mechanical and electrical engineering,' she said. After that comes law school. 'We have a small hobby farm,' White said, raising poultry and rabbits along with a few sheep not exhibited at the fair. '4-H has really, really raised my confidence,' she said. 'I know a lot of veterinarians, and they have to deal with a lot of attitudes.' Alexis Leek, 18, of Morgan Township, is a member of the Hustling Hoosiers club. 'I was thinking about working with horses,' she said, in the criminal justice field. That involves riding horses in parades and other events, not putting the handcuffs on felonious equines. 4-H 'definitely helped me with people skills and talking with people I don't know,' she said. Heather Cox, of Morgan Township, aged out of 4-H but was master showman last year, she said while visiting the horses – and people – in the horse barn. She's at Purdue University, where she's thinking of studying animal behavior. Like Leek, Cox said 4-H has polished her people skills. Now she's passing the torch to others. Shiloh Otey, 15, a member of the Hustling Hoosiers, is exhibiting horses, rabbits and poultry, and helping her sister with goats. 'I want to be a veterinarian,' she said. 'I like working with bigger animals.' Leek and Cox said although their career paths don't include farming, they wouldn't rule out raising animals on a small farm when they're older.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
From Krispy Kreme to GoPro, has meme-stock trading frenzy returned?
Shares in struggling retailers and ageing consumer brands surged, as amateur traders cast aside Wall Street's skepticism and mobilized online. It's like 2021 all over again. But the latest meme-stock rally could be even bigger than its predecessor four years ago, when investors piled into recognizable but unloved stocks, such as the video games retailer GameStop and the movie theatre chain AMC, according to the founder of the Reddit forum that helped whip up the frenzy. Retailer Kohl's, camera firm GoPro, fast-food chain Wendy's and doughnut chain Krispy Kreme each staged rapid rallies this week, driven by abrupt surges in trading volume reminiscent of the the meme-stock craze of 2021, when social media memes boosted a collection of struggling stocks, triggering extraordinary and volatile leaps in value. Actress Sydney Sweeney helped bring clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters into the mania after it was announced the Euphoria and White Lotus star would front the brand's latest marketing campaign. The company's shares surged about 10% in trading on Thursday. Meme stocks are 'about to leap-frog in size and scope and scale, so that retail traders are going to redefine what matters', according to Jaime Rogozinski, founder of the wallstreetbets Reddit forum behind many of the volatile rallies. 'The world of finance is clearly changing, with blockchain technologies encroaching, and AI agents that trade on their own,' he said. 'And the collective of retail traders is adapting along with it.' Rogozinski founded wallstreetbets in 2012, but said Reddit ousted him as a moderator in 2020. His bid to sue the social media company for trademark infringement was dismissed by the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit last month. The forum's users home in on stocks and share their own research. 'It's a decentralization of power of who can be financial analyst,' said Noor Al, a moderator on wallstreetbets. 'Great ideas can now come from anyone, anywhere. 'We're seeing the power of retail push stocks, sometimes to the tune of billions of dollars, through the power of ideas, the power of community and the power of the people,' he added. The meme-stock craze of 2021, which produced stars such as Roaring Kitty, was a product of the Covid era, when many amateur traders were stuck at home and flush with pandemic stimulus cash. Whether this latest frenzy produces similar winners is not yet clear. Kohl's finished the week up 32%, GoPro was up 66% and Krispy Kreme was up 41%. The rallies show some investors are willing to take on more risk, as stocks scale record highs and the market, dominated by big tech, becomes harder to beat. Often, meme-stock bets are unbound from economic fundamentals, as investors move to support a brand for romantic or ideological reasons. Donald Trump's Trump Media & Technology Group, home to Truth Social, is valued at more than $5bn on quarterly revenue of about $1m. The wallstreetbets ethos 'has always to some extent been about flaunting and exploiting the ironies, relevance or irrelevance' of the stock market, said Rogozinski, who pointed to Wendy's, the hamburger chain, as a good example. 'Wendy's has always been a meme that goes back a decade. It brings a smile to my face, because on Reddit there's always been this thing where they say: 'Sir, this is a Wendy's.' 'It's an inside joke, and I don't even get where it started. It's just a meme,' he added. The stock's fleeting rise – it rallied 10% in two days, but finished the week broadly flat – shows some retail investors do not necessarily care about the typical factors that drive the market, such as tariffs and war in the Middle East. 'It's this ability for us to almost make fun of the financial system.' Long-term institutional players will always get the last laugh, Rogozinski conceded, because prices will return to normal valuations. 'But in the short term there's lot of money to be had with this volatility, and the fact that stocks are able to move up and down with such ease is but a mere showcase for how the financial system needs a facelift in relevancy.' Related: Bed Bath & Beyond sees 'meme-stock' surge – but is it too little, too late? While current market conditions do not replicate the low interest rates and retail investor buoyancy of the Covid era, market records and a robust economy have made meme stocks attractive once again for some. 'You see all these indications where this is full-blown meme mania,' Brent Kochuba, founder of derivatives-data firm SpotGamma, told Bloomberg. 'The macro economic environment really favors the retail and speculative plays,' agreed Al. 'I think were only going to see more speculation and excitement. It's a good time to tune in, because retail players can react and provide insight faster.' Days traders are not necessarily bothered by a company's financial performance, said Rogozinski. 'You have this activist, elective investor who is saying, 'I don't care what the financial statements look like, I don't care what the discounted cashflow is, I like the food, I like the video-game store, I like the meme. So dude, you can go back to Excel spreadsheets if you want, but I really like the chicken tenders,'' he said. There is now a 'third component' to investment, beyond supply and demand, he claimed, 'which is, 'dude, I don't care if you think it's going to go up or not, or if they have assets or liabilities. I care about this company and I'm going to help it out. I'm going to go buy my jeans from American Eagle.'' Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
This middle-class New York town is experiencing a sudden wealth boom: Study shows surge of residents getting rich — quick
Households in Huntington, Long Island have seen a sizable boost to their incomes since COVID, a new study has revealed, putting the once middle-class town on a new rich list. Between 2020 and 2023, the median household income in the enclave surged by a whopping 22.8%, according to research conducted by GOBankingRates. The company analyzed income data from the US Census American Community Survey to determine the top 50 US towns where residents are building wealth the fastest. Huntington placed 16th on the list. Back in 2020, the median household income in Huntington was $131,989. In 2023, that figure had risen to $162,066. Meanwhile, the number of households making more than $200,000 in Huntington rose by an impressive 22.6% during the same four-year period— one of the highest percentages in the entire country. Only three towns in New York state made the GOBankingRates list. All were located on Long Island. Aurora East Media – GOBankingRates didn't explain what, specifically, was behind Huntington's wealth boom. It was one of only three New York towns to make the top 50 list. West Islip and Plainview, both located on Long Island, came in 21st and 33rd place, respectively. The median household income in both of those nabes surged between 2020 and 2023, and is now inching toward $200,000 in both communities. Meanwhile, Summit, New Jersey was named by GOBanking Rates as the number one town where 'upper-class Americans are getting richer.' Summit, New Jersey was named by GOBanking Rates as the number one town where 'upper-class Americans are getting richer.' Corbis via Getty Images While the community has long been cashed-up, residents appear to be getting richer there at rates higher than anywhere else in the country. Between 2020 and 2023, the median household income in Summit soared by a staggering 39.4%, from $142,845 to $199,107, per the study. There was also a 23.6% increase in the number of households earning $200,000 or more. The GOBankingRates study revealed that California is the state with the most areas amassing wealth quickly. A whopping 20 of the top 50 towns on the list were located in the Golden State, proving it's still a place of upward mobility despite high taxes and astronomical property prices.
