GameStop's sharp rise has significantly narrowed, with the "big brother" of the brokerage firm considering banning him, and the US SEC investigation is also on the way

In Monday's U.S. stock market, GameStop (GME) saw its gains narrow to 14% during trading hours, hitting a daily low of $26.40, doubling in pre-market trading and reaching a maximum increase of 75% after the opening bell. By the end of Monday's trading session, GME closed up 21% at $28.

The reason behind GME's surge on Monday was the return of the "leader of retail investors," Keith Gill. Gill, known as DeepF-Value on Reddit and Roaring Kitty on YouTube and X, shared a screenshot of a trade confirmation on his Reddit account "DeepF-Value" on Sunday. The screenshot revealed that he had purchased 5 million shares of GameStop at $21.27 per share, totaling a whopping $115.7 million. Additionally, he bought 120,000 call options with a strike price of $20 expiring on June 21, with a total value of around $65.7 million.

However, during the afternoon trading session on Monday, two pieces of news significantly narrowed GME's intraday gains, as mentioned at the beginning of this article:

• According to reports, brokerage firm E-Trade under Morgan Stanley is considering banning Keith Gill, the "leader of retail investors," from trading on its platform, citing concerns about potential market manipulation.
• Additionally, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating certain call options trades by the company, which occurred around the time Gill posted on social media platforms.

Despite GME's roller-coaster ride in stock price on Monday, Gill remained unfazed. After the U.S. stock market closed on Monday, he updated his positions on Reddit, reminiscent of the retail investor squeeze battle in 2021. The screenshot showed that his GME stock and options positions remained the same as on Sunday. Gill's latest post came shortly after reports of E-Trade considering banning his trades.

As of Monday's closing, Gill's floating profit on GME stocks was $33.62 million, with a profit percentage of 31.62%; the floating profit on GME options was $51.83 million, with a profit percentage of 76.04%. In fact, Gill's floating profit was even higher earlier in the day, but he did not cash out.

After Gill shared the above screenshot after Monday's U.S. stock market closed, GME rose in after-hours trading, with gains reaching up to 4%.

On the same day, it was reported that returning to the GME battlefield alongside the "leader of retail investors" himself was Andrew Left, the founder of the renowned Citron Research. Left, who failed in his short position against GME during the 2021 squeeze battle, has returned once again to short GME Regarding Gill's post on Reddit, he said, "I went short after seeing it."

In fact, Left announced the shorting of GME stocks back in May. He recently stated, "I have closed out my short position from May, and today I went short again." Left also revealed that his latest position is smaller than his previous one, but did not specify the exact size.

The frenzy surrounding GME since May is largely influenced by Gill. Impressed by Gill's strong influence, Left remarked, "He could easily be a hedge fund manager."

The retail short squeeze battle of 2021 has caused significant losses for Citron, leading Left to announce that his company will no longer publish short research, ending a 20-year practice. Although he has since resumed writing such research, the frequency has noticeably decreased.

Left stated, "I have no ill will towards this company. It's not even a company, but a trading instrument."

Renowned investor Duan Yongping also shared his participation in the current round of GME trading on Xueqiu. Unlike directly shorting the stock, Duan Yongping's trades are evidently more conservative and secure. He sold call options with a strike price as high as 100, and the options have a long expiration date set for January 17, 2015.

In other words, for the current frenzy surrounding GME to continue or intermittently last until early next year and exceed $100, Duan Yongping may exercise the options. GME needs to reach around $105 or higher for Duan Yongping to incur losses