The Reddit forum WallStreetBets on January 28 2021. Picture: BLOOMBERG/BRENT LEWINA retail investor buys shares in a small company, touts his position on social media and inspires a horde of followers to do the same. The stock price goes to the moon — before crashing back to earth.
The incident shows how regulators sift through unusual trading patterns and come to conclusions often years later. It may pique the interest of protagonists and observers of the recent meme stock rally in the US, such as users of the Reddit forum WallStreetBets. causing short sales and short squeezes
Calls and direct Twitter messages to Yamada went unanswered. The Osaka district public prosecutors office declined to comment. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, Japan’s market watchdog, wasn’t immediately available to comment. Prosecutors didn’t make clear if the men had admitted or denied the charges, according to local media reports.
Separate from his arrest, Yamada has had many clashes on Twitter over the years about his discussions of his investments. The most prominent came to be known as “locust lords” for attracting a swarm of day traders. Yamada became the latest of the lords to go quiet in June, when he said he was taking a break from Twitter after his account had been briefly locked.