In January, the stock price of struggling retailer GameStop shot up to nearly $500, having started the year at below $20. A main cause, according to many news reports at the time, was a coordinated effort by individual investors to topple hedge funds who’d bet heavily against the stock. The uprising couldn’t be sustained, however, and GameStop shares plummeted. They traded around $44 at the time of this recording on February 23. The GameStop phenomenon offered spectacle, but what did it tell us about the democratization of investment markets? Host Drew Carter of Morningstar Investment Management LLC speaks with guests John Owens, David Whiston, and Steve Wendel about the contrasts between meme stocks or viral investing with taking a fundamental, long-term approach. Owens is senior portfolio manager at Morningstar Investment Management LLC, where he oversees two focused stock portfolios. Whiston is equity strategist at Morningstar Research Services LLC, where he covers mostly auto stocks, including Tesla, as well as auto dealers and Winnebago. And Wendel is head of behavioral science at Morningstar, Inc., where he researches and writes about the intersection of finance and human behavior.
Read more from Morningstar Investment Management at mp.morningstar.com, including John Owens' article on the subject of this episode here. And find articles from David Whiston, Steve Wendel, and many more at morningstar.com.