GameStop, AMC and Bed Bath pull off a meme stock comeback

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The meme craze is making somewhat of a comeback as traders continue to pile into riskier pockets of the market. Stocks have been picking up overall since March 9 - despite volatility over the war in Ukraine and yield curve inversions - and some are looking to drop cash into surprises in memeland. GameStop (NYSE:GME) even rose for a tenth consecutive session on Monday, notching its longest winning streak since April 2010 and recording a 143% return over the past two weeks.

Catalysts? Billionaire Ryan Cohen, chairman of GameStop's board, bought another 100K shares of the meme stock last week, bringing his ownership stake in the videogame retailer to 11.9%. AMC (NYSE:AMC) CEO Adam Aron separately announced that the theater chain would shoot for more "transformational" deals where it can "reach for the stars and intriguing investments that have potentially attractive returns."

While it is difficult to predict if a meme session will end in a rocket ride or a crash, the core sector usually trades as a group. Yesterday saw AMC surge 45%, GameStop rally 25% and Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) climb 17%. Things are trending down this morning, though newly minted meme-stock Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) is still on fire, soaring 31% premarket after an 80% gain on Monday (AMC previously took a position in the precious metals producer).

Go deeper: The sentiment is quickly spreading to other riskier areas, like the crypto market. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to make gains over the weekend and just turned positive for 2022 after climbing above $48,000.