{"id":3254,"date":"2026-01-27T12:38:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T12:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/five-years-after-gamestop-mania-retail-investors-are-reshaping-markets\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T12:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T12:38:44","slug":"five-years-after-gamestop-mania-retail-investors-are-reshaping-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/five-years-after-gamestop-mania-retail-investors-are-reshaping-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Five years after GameStop mania, retail investors are reshaping markets"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"RegularArticle-ArticleBody-5\" data-module=\"ArticleBody\" data-test=\"articleBody-2\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-articleBody-5-2\"><span class=\"HighlightShare-hidden\" style=\"top:0;left:0\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-107426523\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<p>Keith Gill, a Reddit user credited with inspiring GameStop&#8217;s rally, during a YouTube livestream arranged on a laptop at the New York Stock Exchange on June 7, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Five years after a band of online traders sent <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-1\">GameStop<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> skyrocketing and upended Wall Street&#8217;s assumptions about &#8220;dumb money,&#8221; the influence of retail investors has proven more durable and long-lasting than many expected.<\/p>\n<p>What began as a dramatic short squeeze in early 2021 has evolved into a persistent force in equity markets, reshaping trading dynamics, pushing hedge funds to adapt and providing a steady source of dip-buying flows of cash that helped underpin one of the longest bull markets on record.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Retail investors were always signals to me,&#8221; said Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, whose flagship exchange-traded fund exceeds $4 billion in assets. &#8220;When they were buying dips, the bull market was healthy. From 2009 to 2020, institutions acted like retail didn&#8217;t exist. That changed completely after 2020. Retail investors are difference-makers. They can move markets with size and conviction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Before the pandemic, retail trading accounted for only a small fraction of daily equity volumes in the U.S. That changed as lockdown-era government stimulus payments, zero-commission trading and social media-fueled coordination pulled millions of new investors into markets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A lot of people assumed that once Covid cleared and everyone went back to their daily lives, retail participation would fall off,&#8221; said Steve Quirk, chief brokerage officer at Robinhood Markets. &#8220;What surprised me a little is just how strong it&#8217;s been.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On average, individual investor participation in U.S. equities has risen to nearly 20% of daily trading volume, up from low single digits before Covid, according to Jeff Shen, co-chief investment officer and co-head of systematic active equities at BlackRock.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is certainly a social aspect of it that is quite foreign to a classic hedge fund where there&#8217;s a lot of independence,&#8221; Shen said. &#8220;The social aspect makes this type of flow very correlated&#8221; among varying types of Main Street investor.<\/p>\n<p>Quirk noted that on high-volume days, retail participation in equities could shoot up to close to 40% and, on the options side, as high as 50% of volume.<\/p>\n<p>During the meme stock frenzy, traders flocked to online forums such as Reddit&#8217;s WallStreetBets, where ideas spread at a rapid pace and unprecedented scale. Figures like Keith Gill, known online as Roaring Kitty, emerged as focal points for a loosely coordinated community that shared research, trading strategies and a deep skepticism of Wall Street orthodoxy. The GameStop saga also left a mark on popular culture, inspiring the 2023 film Dumb Money, starring Paul Dano and Seth Rogen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-107301492\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<p>A scene from the trailer for the film &#8220;Dumb Money&#8221; starring Paul Dano.<\/p>\n<p>Courtesy: Sony Pictures Entertainment<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Far from being wiped out after the meme-stock boom faded, retail investors have continued to deploy capital \u2014 propelling retail flows to new records in 2025, according to JPMorgan. The bank found inflows jumped nearly 60% from the prior year and were about 17% higher than the previous peak set in 2021, when meme-stock trading was at its height.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a new retail investor that is much more informed, much more engaged, has many more tools,&#8221; said Devin Ryan, Citizens JMP senior analyst. &#8220;It&#8217;s not just democratization of access to the markets, but also of information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A drop in trading commissions in 2019, and the rise of fractional trading also helped open up markets ahead of Covid. A few decades ago, trading commissions were close to $100. By 2020, most brokerage firms had also added the ability to trade &#8220;fractions&#8221; of a share. That meant you could buy in dollar amounts versus needing to have thousands to get access to your favorite tech stock. And there were largely no\u00a0account minimums.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"ArticleBody-smallSubtitle\">Respect from institutions<\/h3>\n<p>Hedge funds and short sellers learned a painful lesson. Crowded bearish positions now carry greater risk in an era where retail traders can quickly mobilize capital and amplify moves.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just so great to see that dumb money moniker go away, and then to get respect from the institutions,&#8221; said JJ Kinahan, head of retail expansion and alternative investment products at Cboe Global Markets. &#8220;Professionals learned a lesson from the tenaciousness of the retail investors who believe in companies and continue to buy them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Many hedge funds have scaled back short exposure, diversified portfolios and invested heavily in tracking retail sentiment to avoid becoming targets of coordinated buying. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To many professional investors, retail traders have become that annoying TV-series villain who never quite gets written out,&#8221; said Ivan \u0106osovi\u0107, founder of\u00a0Breakout Point, a firm that tracks retail trader activity on discussion boards. &#8220;Now, five years in, it&#8217;s basically the fifth season of the show, and somehow they&#8217;re still in the cast.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Retail investors&#8217; dip-buying during key drawdowns like the tariff-induced selloff in early April \u2014 along with the rush into the <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-4\">SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2014 last year resulted in bumper returns that left Wall Street taking note.<\/p>\n<p>In 2026, everyday investors have turned their attention to energy stocks following the U.S. strike on Venezuela and silver amid the metal&#8217;s monster run. Silver passed the $100 per ounce mark for the first time last week.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They bailed out the market during Covid, and they bailed it out again during the tariffs, they were aggressive buyers,&#8221; Robinhood&#8217;s Quirk said. &#8220;People underestimate how savvy retail investors are.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Collapsible-proliveCollapsableContainer\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" viewbox=\"0 0 256 256\" aria-labelledby=\"title desc\" role=\"img\" focusable=\"false\" preserveaspectratio=\"xMinYMin\" class=\"Collapsible-stockChartIcon\"><title>Stock Chart Icon<\/title><desc>Stock chart icon<\/desc><g transform=\"translate(1.4065934065934016 1.4065934065934016) scale(2.81 2.81)\"><path d=\"M 87.994 0 H 69.342 c -1.787 0 -2.682 2.16 -1.418 3.424 l 5.795 5.795 l -33.82 33.82 L 28.056 31.196 l -3.174 -3.174 c -1.074 -1.074 -2.815 -1.074 -3.889 0 L 0.805 48.209 c -1.074 1.074 -1.074 2.815 0 3.889 l 3.174 3.174 c 1.074 1.074 2.815 1.074 3.889 0 l 15.069 -15.069 l 14.994 14.994 c 1.074 1.074 2.815 1.074 3.889 0 l 1.614 -1.614 c 0.083 -0.066 0.17 -0.125 0.247 -0.202 l 37.1 -37.1 l 5.795 5.795 C 87.84 23.34 90 22.445 90 20.658 V 2.006 C 90 0.898 89.102 0 87.994 0 z\" transform=\" matrix(1 0 0 1 0 0) \" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M 65.626 37.8 v 49.45 c 0 1.519 1.231 2.75 2.75 2.75 h 8.782 c 1.519 0 2.75 -1.231 2.75 -2.75 V 23.518 L 65.626 37.8 z\" transform=\" matrix(1 0 0 1 0 0) \" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M 47.115 56.312 V 87.25 c 0 1.519 1.231 2.75 2.75 2.75 h 8.782 c 1.519 0 2.75 -1.231 2.75 -2.75 V 42.03 L 47.115 56.312 z\" transform=\" matrix(1 0 0 1 0 0) \" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M 39.876 60.503 c -1.937 0 -3.757 -0.754 -5.127 -2.124 l -6.146 -6.145 V 87.25 c 0 1.519 1.231 2.75 2.75 2.75 h 8.782 c 1.519 0 2.75 -1.231 2.75 -2.75 V 59.844 C 41.952 60.271 40.933 60.503 39.876 60.503 z\" transform=\" matrix(1 0 0 1 0 0) \" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M 22.937 46.567 L 11.051 58.453 c -0.298 0.298 -0.621 0.562 -0.959 0.8 V 87.25 c 0 1.519 1.231 2.75 2.75 2.75 h 8.782 c 1.519 0 2.75 -1.231 2.75 -2.75 V 48.004 L 22.937 46.567 z\" transform=\" matrix(1 0 0 1 0 0) \" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"Collapsible-proLivePlayerCloseOrExpand\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe title=\"SPDR Gold Trust over one year\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/appchart?symbol=GLD&amp;range=1Y&amp;type=mountain&amp;embedded=true&amp;$DEVICE$=undefined\" height=\"460\" scrolling=\"no\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border:0;width:100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>SPDR Gold Trust over one year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>To be sure, other volatile investing opportunities have popped up in the void left by pandemic-era short-squeezes of stocks like GameStop and <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-9\">AMC<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Demand for options and leveraged funds have boomed in recent years, while a new class of meme stocks including <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-11\">Opendoor<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> and <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-12\">Kohl&#8217;s<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> sprouted up in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>But at exchange-traded fund manager Direxion, retail investors are using their high-risk levered instruments wisely, according to CEO Douglas Yones. Firm research shows mom-and-pop investors are typically devoting only a small portion of their overall portfolios to these speculative plays, while keeping most of their money in more traditional investments.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The markets are playing into the hands of retail,&#8221; said Yones, a former executive at the New York Stock Exchange. &#8220;The volatility has been incredibly good for end investors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"ArticleBody-smallSubtitle\">Wealth transfer<\/h3>\n<p>Retail&#8217;s influence is being reinforced by a favorable backdrop of rising stocks and a looming generational wealth transfer from baby boomers, a shift that is gradually putting more capital in the hands of investors comfortable with digital-first trading.<\/p>\n<p>Household investors collectively control more wealth than institutional investors, Fundstrat&#8217;s Lee said, with roughly 76% of household wealth held by people over the age of 60, a demographic that has traditionally been less active in trading but increasingly influential as assets shift hands.<\/p>\n<p>Lee added that about $120 trillion will be inherited by millennials and Gen Z over the next 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Retail participation could get much, much bigger,&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;That&#8217;s four times the size of the US economy. It&#8217;s more wealth than the entire net worth of China.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Brokerage firms are starting to build tools to cater to these younger investors. They&#8217;ve overwhelmingly moved toward 24\/7 trading, a hallmark of cryptocurrency markets which trade on nights and weekends. More firms are offering access to cryptocurrencies and crypto ETFs, while prediction markets are booming. There&#8217;s also been a rise in private markets offerings for average investors.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"ArticleBody-smallSubtitle\">&#8216;The greatest thing since sliced bread&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>Already, data shows how much more skin young people have in the game. JPMorgan found 37% of 25-year-olds in 2024 moved &#8220;significant&#8221; sums from checking to investment accounts in recent years \u2014 a sharp increase from the 6% recorded doing the same in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Nick Wyatt, a 27-year-old auditor, is one of those Covid-era traders. With extra downtime during the pandemic, the Michigan resident researched and consulted a friend on how best to grow his spare cash saved from a part-time job in the market. Wyatt briefly tried day-trading stocks as he began investing, but quickly decided to instead use a conservative, long-term strategy that includes funding a Roth individual retirement account. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the best decision I ever made,&#8221; said Wyatt, who has since gotten his fianc\u00e9 into investing and used profits for a down payment on a home. &#8220;Compounding interest is the greatest thing since sliced bread. You can&#8217;t beat it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-relatedContent\" id=\"RegularArticle-RelatedContent-1\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-container\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-nonCollapsibleContent\">\n<h2 class=\"RelatedContent-header\">Read more CNBC reporting on retail investors<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keith Gill, a Reddit user credited with inspiring GameStop&#8217;s rally, during a YouTube livestream arranged on a laptop at the New York Stock Exchange on June 7, 2024. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Five years after a band of online traders sent GameStop skyrocketing and upended Wall Street&#8217;s assumptions about &#8220;dumb money,&#8221; the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2217,335,2394,321,2395,706,1973],"class_list":["post-3254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-gamestop","tag-investors","tag-mania","tag-markets","tag-reshaping","tag-retail","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.finznest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}