Just when you thought the meme stock craze was over, dead and buried, it returns with a scream.
The return this week of the Roundhill Meme Stock ETF (MEME) completes a “round trip” for the small but mighty fund, which initially launched in late 2021. It lasted just years before the firm pulled it for lack of demand. And it reminds us that in this market, what was old news can be renewed again. Because in the ETF business, any theme or niche has a shot. Or two.
MEME closed two years ago with just $2.7 million in assets. Its relaunch has it at $32 million just weeks out of the gate. That speaks in part to a surge in investor interest for, let’s face it, anything that can move up in price.
www.barchart.com
And, in the same way that the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) makes waves when it adds or removes stocks from its roster, so too can this actively managed ETF make some noise when it does so.
In a market that seems jacked up on the concept of following the crowd, this is a juicy idea. But it’s risky, and the fund managers will be repositioning the ETF more quickly than a passive index fund.
The fund website does a nice job of summarizing this, in a single sentence. When considering a quirky yet potentially effective ETF, this is very helpful.
Meme stocks are characterized by elevated trading volumes relative to comparable public companies during periods of intense online attention and extreme price volatility, with trading activity sometimes driven more by social media momentum than by fundamental or traditional technical analysis.
MEME’s portfolio as of Wednesday’s close had 21 stocks, led by Beyond Meat (BYND) with a 10.82% weight. That comes as the plant-based meat producer’s shares surged, touching a high of $7.69 up from just $0.65 at Friday’s close.
This list and the total holdings will vary, but I think one of the most attractive parts of MEME is that someone else is doing the meme-screening for us.
I’m a devoted technical trader, and there are times when I’m searching for which stocks are most…
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