Hello investors!

This morning, we’ll get our first batch of labor market data of the week with April job openings.

Then on Thursday, initial jobless claims for the week ending June 1 will come out, and Friday will bring non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate.

Later this week we’ll unpack the labor market in more detail.

Today, we’re venturing into the well-trodden, chaotic territory of meme stocks.

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Roaring Kitty returns (again)

If it’s true lightning never strikes the same place twice, no one told Roaring Kitty. 

The Reddit account presumably operated by Keith Gill, the trader of meme-stock fame, once again single-handedly juiced markets on Monday after it posted for the first time in three years. 

Gill’s username, which includes a guessable profanity between the words “Deep” and “Value,” shared a screenshot of a $115 million position on GameStop. 

Much of the intrigue online, however, centers on the 120,000 call options — which are currently in the money — that expire June 21. 

The post led to a burst of market activity.

Shares of GameStop closed 21% higher on the day and climbed more than 10% in overnight trading.

Other meme stocks including AMC, BlackBerry and Reddit also ticked higher.

If those positions are indeed real and Gill holds them until they expire, he’ll own 17 million shares of GameStop.

So it’s possible Roaring Kitty — or whoever is running his Reddit account — will soon own 6.3% of all outstanding public float, which would make him the fourth largest shareholder, according to Bloomberg data.

"GameStop's fans and investors are not to be ignored,” Jeff Ransdell, managing director at Fuel Venture Capital, told me. “They are passionate about their stock and driving it upward.”

It was only a few weeks ago Gill posted on X for the first time since 2021.

That catalyzed a 270% rally for GameStop that quickly lost steam but still burned some short sellers.

Similarly on Monday, the video game retailer added roughly $6 billion to its market cap as shares soared as high as 75% before paring.

“The meme stocks have never been about rationality and valuation, and that run-up was simply the latest demonstration,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist of Interactive Brokers. 

Generally, stocks tend to run higher when notable investors take notable stakes in a company.

But the playbook doesn’t quite make sense for GameStop, which struggles with income and profitability. 

In any case, Roaring Kitty posted an update on Reddit at the end of trading Monday that showed he held his entire position through the rally. 

In one session, he gained 48%, or about $85 million.

To be clear, it’s not obvious that Gill has engaged in outright market manipulation.

Yet according to The Wall Street Journal:

• Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade is considering booting him from the platform  

• The Massachusetts securities division is looking into Gill’s activities

• The SEC is reviewing the timing of Gill’s trading and social posts

Still, short sellers betting on the stock to fall saw $1.43 billion in paper losses, according to Barron’s.

“If you are monitoring Reddit and are an avid chat roomer where all of the action is going on, that's your world, and I wish you the best,” Ransdell maintained. “But if you're waiting for your financial advisor to tell you to buy Gamestop, that's not going to happen.”

Do you think Roaring Kitty will emerge unscathed from his meme-stock bet at the end of the month? Hit reply to this email or let me know on X @philrosenn.

*At a glance:

Elsewhere:

• A trading glitch incorrectly showed stocks down 99%. The New York Stock Exchange fixed the error early Monday, but not until trading halted for Chipotle and other sizable companies. Berkshire Hathaway was among the names listed at a a severe discount. (Bloomberg)

• Bill Ackman is moving forward with an IPO. The manager of the hedge fund Pershing Square sold a 10% stake in the firm that valued the company at about $10 billion. Ackman intends to IPO as soon as next year. (Reuters)

• Oil prices tumbled on Monday after multiple OPEC+ members including Saudi Arabia and Russia said they would start phasing out production cuts this October. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell more than 3%. (CNBC)

Rapid-fire:

• Microsoft and Google both initiated layoffs in key divisions (CNBC)

• US banking system faces $517 billion in unrealized losses, FDIC warns (Kobeissi Letter)

• The US manufacturing sector contracted in May, the ISM Index showed (MarketWatch)

• OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has an investing empire filled with potential conflicts of interest (WSJ)

• Mexico’s peso weakened more than 3% against the dollar as the country sees a tidal wave of support for one political party (Bloomberg)

• India’s stock market soared to a new high as investors celebrate an election victory for incumbent Prime Minister Modi (FT)

Last thing:

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