Introduction
Canadian equity market experts, ranging from market enablers to investor protectors, were recently gathered by the Global Risk Institute (GRI) to discuss the future implications of last month’s events which captivated financial markets observers. Novice retail investors harnessed the power of social media to take on Wall Street professionals. The protagonists have done so by buying up shares in U.S. video games retailer GameStop (GME) as well as other short-sold targets like AMC and Blackberry. This “Meme stock mania” was a crowd-sourced attempt to beat billionaire hedge fund traders at their own game, while creating volatility and broader awareness of high street activities in the market.