AMC has become the latest darling of investors who have banded together on social media in an attempt to propel stocks higher. The stock fell 6.7% on Friday but kept an 83% gain for the week. This took his earnings for the year to over 2.100%. Its average daily trading volume this week has more than tripled the 2021 average.

The S&P 500, meanwhile, has fluctuated within a narrow range as investors analyze signals on inflation and the labor market that could fuel the Federal Reserve’s next moves. The core index rose 0.9% on Friday after the monthly jobs report showed employers created 559,000 jobs in May, less than economists had expected – a snippet of evidence that could weigh against the Fed, which is pushing back its timetable to raise rates or ease bond purchases.

Friday was the 10th day in a row without a 1% change in the S&P 500, the longest such streak since a period from late April to May, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Trading volumes were also lukewarm during the shortened holiday week. About 11.4 billion securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq changed hands on average every day this week, compared to an average of 12.5 billion in 2021. At the height of the previous equity craze even on the 27th. January, more than 23 billion shares and other securities changed hands.

Even stock momentum, meanwhile, hasn’t yet matched January’s fury.

More than 766 million AMC shares changed hands on Wednesday alone, the second busiest day on record for the action, according to DJMD. This pales in comparison to the peak on January 27, when 1.25 billion shares traded in a single session, but easily exceeds its daily average of 163.3 million shares this year.

AMC was the third most actively traded stock in the U.S. market in 2021, behind sole cannabis company Sundial Growers Inc..

SNDL -15.50%

and underwear maker Naked Brand Group Ltd.,

NAKD -15.11%

both are also popular with individual investors. Shares are up 12% and 13%, respectively, this week, on top of last week’s double-digit percentage gains, on above-normal volume.

Sundial fell 16% on Friday while Naked Brand fell 15%

GameStop, the original Reddit crowd favorite, slipped 3.8% on Friday but still rose 12% for the week, extending last week’s 26% rally. The stock, which has risen more than 1,200% this year, climbed to $ 483 on an intraday basis in January before falling back to Earth and approaching $ 40 the following month.

Investment professionals have warned that the hot stocks of the week are a risky game. Even AMC agreed: In a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said its current prices reflect market dynamics unrelated to its business and that investors should be prepared to risk losing their money. silver.

“The meme stock rally is not too different from a typical pump and dump, which tends to hurt a retail investor,” said Jonathan Waite, senior research analyst at Frost Investment Advisors. “These stories don’t tend to end well.

Write to Karen Langley at [email protected]