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Source: whiteMocca, Shutterstock
Summary
- North American markets witnessed the rise of the ‘short squeeze’ Reddit rangers in 2021.
- Many Canadians, who are sitting on mountains of cash, joined this rush and bet on stocks.
- Total volume across the four TMX equity markets soared by 100% YoY to 46.8 billion.
Equity market activities in Canada zoomed in the first two months of 2021 as investors jumped on the stock frenzy and Reddit-fueled craze.
Total volume across the four TMX equity markets in Canadian – The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), TSX Venture (TSXV) Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange and Montreal Exchange – soared by 100.6 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to 46.8 billion, while value surged by 34 per cent YoY to US$478.787 billion. Total transactions also grew by 46.1 per cent YoY to 66.84 billion.
TSX trading volume in February 2021 was 11.96 billion and valued at C$ $219.12 billion, up from 9.6 billion in January 2021, and 7.6 billion in February 2021. TSX year-to-date (YTD) volume grew by 44 per cent YoY with a value growth of 29 per cent YoY to C$418.64 billion.
Among the four marketplaces, the YTD volume growth was highest for TSXV, up 211.9 per cent YoY to 19.657 billion. YTD value also surged by 461.8 per cent to C$ $13.3 billion.
@Kalkine Image 2021
The Reddit Rally
After the unprecedented pandemic-led crash of 2020, the markets were healing in the second of last year.
However, come 2021, and the North American markets witnessed the rise of the Reddit rangers.
Right from the first month of the year, a legion of small-time retail investors, who connected via social platforms such as Reddit, took on the big guys at Wall Street and Bay Street.
Short squeezes for AMC Entertainment, Blackberry, Koss Corporation, and at least 12 more stocks turned the markets, leading to high frenzy action on the stock markets.
Many Canadians, who are sitting on mountains of cash, joined this rush to bet on stocks.
These bullish investors still have their game face on and continue to short squeeze more stocks.
In February, the TSX accounted for 45 per cent of the total volume across TMX marketplaces and 87 per cent of total value. Daily average transactions were a whopping 1.5 million, valued at C$ 11.5 billion, up from C$10 billion in January.
