What Did the Stock Market Do Today? 3 Big Stories to Catch Up On.

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What an odd day in the stock market — it seems that retail investors spent Thursday searching for the next big opportunity. With no clear winner, what did the stock market do today?

Street sign for Wall Street pictured in front of several American flags representing american stocks

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  • The S&P 500 gained 0.47%
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.06%
  • The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.78%

So what did the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Change Tunes.

Many on Wall Street came to an agreement on Thursday that the r/WallStreetBets frenzy appears to be cooling down… at least for now. In a week that has delivered new short-squeeze plays seemingly every hour, investors had a different focus. Speculative biotech plays were soaring, as were cybersecurity stocks and a few crypto-adjacent companies. Leading Reddit stocks like AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) and GameStop (NYSE:GME) ended the day in the red.

There are multiple reasons for this.

If you ask the biggest bears, it is because AMC and GME stock have run way too far beyond what they are worth. Any pullback would reflect their struggling businesses and the absurdity of the retail investor frenzy.

But even the bulls have a few proposed reasons for the slump. After GameStop announced a new CEO and officially welcomed Ryan Cohen as chairman yesterday, some investors were hoping for concrete turnaround updates. The company has shaken up its C-Suite and board, but where are the plans? How will the video game retailer actually become an Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)-esque firm? Others are reacting to moves by AMC to leverage retail interest, as reports of dilutive share sales and insider sales rock Reddit stocks.

An indicator of this is mentions on r/WallStreetBets. According to Memeberg Terminal, mentions of both GameStop and AMC were down over the last 24 hours. Medley Management (NASDAQ:MDLY), one of the top gainers in terms of comment growth, still only had 28 mentions.

With the weekend drawing near, investors may just be feeling beat. However, as we have seen in the past, r/WSB could quickly come roaring back. Who knows what the next big squeeze winner will be when it does.

Look Out, Uber!

On Thursday, Chinese ride-hailing company Didi filed for an initial public offering, with plans to list on either the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq. The company plans to trade under ticker DIDI.

There are several key things for investors to note. Within China, Didi beat out Uber (NYSE:UBER) and bought out its operations. Uber, the ride-hailing giant, currently has a 12.8% stake in its rival. Other backers include SoftBank (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) and Tencent (OTCMKTS:TCEHY).

As Dan Primack wrote for Axios, this should have Uber and peer Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) on watch, especially considering the sizeable Didi business. Its latest valuation came in at $62 billion, but it will see a higher value during the IPO.

But beyond this competition, now may be a critical time for the Didi IPO. Uber and Lyft are gearing up to embrace Hot Vax Summer, eyeing a return of airport rides and passengers in need of a safe trip home from the bars. However, labor shortages are cramping the reopening play, and forcing these companies to raise rates for rides.

With operations in China, as well as other countries like Russia and South Africa, can Didi enjoy the reopening hype without the labor shortage woes? Either way, this is an IPO to watch.

Orphazyme Stock Took Some Good Drugs

At its intraday high of $77.77, drugmaker Orphazyme (NASDAQ:ORPH) posted gains of 1,387%. Importantly, this rocket ride came without any news, and only the slightest bit of speculation.

For those unfamiliar with the Denmark-based company, Orphazyme seeks to treat neurodegenerative conditions. One rare disease on its watch is Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NPC), and Orphazyme hopes its lead drug candidate arimoclomol could be a solution.

Typically, gains like this would require serious news, such as U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. However,  as InvestorPlace contributor Chris MacDonald highlighted, it has been several weeks since any corporate update. It seems that speculation around June 17 as a key date for Orphazyme could be driving interest. That marks the PDUFA — a date by which the FDA must review its application for arimoclomol. Because these are binary events, MacDonald writes that investors must be betting on a favorable outcome for the drugmaker.

Regardless of the reasoning, it is not every day that investors see gains of this nature. Without any clear news from Orphazyme, it feels indicative of the retail mania that has taken over Wall Street in recent days.

Read more about Orphazyme here.

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On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Sarah Smith is the Editor of Today’s Market with InvestorPlace.com.


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