EXPR Stock Price and News: Express Inc. crashes down as brokers restrict retail investor trading

NYSE:EXPR plummeted by 50.79% on Thursday despite a broader market rally.
Express Inc was halted by brokers around US as there was an attempted crackdown on short squeezes.
Express is just one company caught in the middle of a turf war between hedge fund managers and r/WallStreetBets.

Stocks Reporter FXStreet

NYSE:EXPR hit the market on Thursday without the support of r/WallStreetBets as most brokers in the United States halted the trading of the retail stock. Express Inc. proceeded to plummet by 50.79%, giving back nearly all of the gains it had made the day before, and closing back down at $4.70. As brokers loosened the regulations on trading shares, Express rebounded after hours, adding over 30% at the time of writing.

Express Inc is one of a handful of companies with a high percentage of their shares in short positions that r/WallStreetBets have targeted. The resulting short squeeze caused other companies, most notably GameStop (NYSE:GME) to skyrocket several hundred percent in one day, leaving hedge funds and other short sellers no choice but to close out their positions. The halting of trades for these companies has increased the ire from the Reddit subgroup and has even rallied the likes of Elon Musk, Chamath Palihapitiya, and Dave Portnoy to support the group. The ongoing feud between the retail investors and the hedge fund managers has caused a high amount of volatility on the stock market and has raised the interest of social media.

EXPR stock forecast

One of the leading brokers caught in the middle of this is Robinhood, which has become a popular online and mobile-based investing platform. Robinhood has since been hit with a class-action suit regarding its halting of trading of certain stocks, so the legal ramifications of this whole story have yet to unfold. Stay tuned, as Friday should be interesting with most of the bans on trading lifted by the end of the trading session on Thursday.

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