Investing legend Bill Gross has been dabbling in the meme stock trade, notably its two highest profile names GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC).
“I simply think that the AMC and GameStop are lottery tickets,” said the Pimco co-founder in an interview with Yahoo Finance Presents. Gross — who just penned his own memoir called “I’m Still Standing: Bond King Bill Gross and the Pimco Express” — has been betting against GameStop and AMC using options.
Explained Gross, “If you can sell options that are out of the money levels, then ultimately these lottery ticket companies which have very little behind them, in my opinion, will go down.”
By his own admission, the long-time bond king has been on the wrong side of the trade of late on these volatile meme names.
Shares of GameStop and AMC have roared back to life since mid-March after lagging badly for most of the year. Both stocks have had key catalysts that have reawakened the ape armies.
Ryan Cohen, GameStop executive chairman (and OG ape), reached a settlement last week with his new activist holding Bed Bath & Beyond (which is also a meme stock). The settlement signaled to the GameStop faithful that Cohen’s attention is 100% back on turning around the video-game seller turn NFT marketplace.
GameStop shares have surged 52% in the past two weeks, per Yahoo Finance Plus data.
As for movie chain AMC, the stock has caught a bid (which means moved up a lot in investor lingo) as the company has taken a stake in a gold miner (as gold prices have climbed). CEO Adam Aron has also struck an upbeat tone on further acquisitions.
AMC’s stock is up 43% in the past two weeks.
Concedes the semi-retired OG bond king Gross, “It hasn’t been a good week.”
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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