GameStop news live: Short sellers lose $19bn as Omar says billionaires who pressured apps should go to jail

Andy Gregory and Graig Graziosi
An epic battle is unfolding on Wall Street, with a cast of characters clashing over the fate of GameStop (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
An epic battle is unfolding on Wall Street, with a cast of characters clashing over the fate of GameStop (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

GameStop’s shares soared again on Friday, jumping 100 per cent by the market’s open, as under-fire investment app Robinhood partially reversed its decision to restrict trading of its stocks and reportedly secured €1bn from its backers. Despite GameStop’s explosive open, the rest of the market lagged.

Robinhood – which says its “mission is to democratise finance for all” – then decided to block users from buying GameStop shares, which it said was due to “significant market volatility”, prompting a fierce backlash, including from members of the US Congress as politically diverse as Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who signalled their support for a congressional hearing.

Lawmakers weighed in on the developing situation Friday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the SEC asking the agency what it planned to do in response to the market shakeup. Rep. Ilhan Omar called for jail time for any billionaires found to have influenced retail stock services like Robinhood to bar Americans from purchasing stocks on their platforms.

Short sellers face an estimated $19bn in losses due to the short squeeze, though many are still holding out hope that the price will drop before they are forced to close out their short positions.

Read more:

Latest Stories

  • AOC to Ted Cruz: 'You almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago'

    Cruz was concurring with the congresswoman's take on the Robinhood app when she criticized him for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

  • McConnell misquotes Biden in an attempt to criticize his rush of executive orders

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) seemed to think he had a slam dunk argument against President Biden's rush of executive orders. But in an attempt to spin Biden's own words against him on Thursday, McConnell ended up replacing Biden's quote with a misleading version that has been circulating online. Biden has signed more than 30 executive orders since he took office last week, taking aim at former President Donald Trump's immigration crackdowns, loosened environmental policies, and more. McConnell on Thursday claimed the flurry of orders flew in the face of what Biden said in an October town hall: That "you can't legislate by executive action unless you are a dictator." But as CNN's Daniel Dale points out, Biden actually said "there are some things you can't do by executive order unless you're a dictator," with no reference to legislation. Oh, didn't see until now that Mitch McConnell took Biden's quote way out of context in the same way Hannity did. https://t.co/5rK6V0jEPR — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 28, 2021 Fox News host Sean Hannity similarly tweeted out the false quote as a "flashback" just a few hours prior. Hannity got it from a tweet by Tom Elliott, who shares news clips with a conservative spin and misleadingly paraphrased Biden as saying "you can't [legislate] by executive order unless you're a dictator." .@JoeBiden in October: “I have this strange notion, we are a democracy … if you can’t get the votes … you can’t [legislate] by executive order unless you’re a dictator. We’re a democracy. We need consensus." pic.twitter.com/7UotJCXSm3 — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 26, 2021 White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the quote on Thursday, and told reporters it was taken out of context. More stories from theweek.comThe Capitol insurrection isn't moderating the GOP. It's making them more extreme.Democrats plan to make every House Republican take a vote on GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problem

  • Court tosses murder conviction over fire in secret tunnels

    A Maryland appeals court on Friday overturned a wealthy stock trader's conviction on a murder charge in the fiery death of a man who was secretly helping him dig tunnels for a nuclear bunker beneath a home in a tony suburb of Washington, D.C. Daniel Beckwitt, 29, was sentenced in 2019 to nine years in prison after a jury convicted him of second-degree “depraved heart” murder and involuntary manslaughter for the death of 21-year-old Askia Khafra, who was burned beyond recognition in the September 2017 fire at Beckwitt's home. A three-judge panel from Court of Special Appeals ruled this week that the evidence wasn't sufficient to sustain Beckwitt's murder conviction.

  • 3 Minneapolis city council members float new proposal to scrap police department

    The Minneapolis Police Department would be replaced with a new entity responsible for "various public safety functions" under a draft ballot measure introduced by three council members.What's happening: The proposed charter amendment would maintain a division with police officers but remove a requirement to maintain a minimum head count based on population.Get smarter, faster with the news CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians read. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here.How we got here: The lawmakers who drafted the measure — Phillipe Cunningham, Steve Fletcher and Jeremy Schroeder — were among those who vowed to "begin the process of ending" MPD following George Floyd's killing. * Schroeder said the revised approach will "expand our public safety toolbox," making the city "safe and equitable for all.” The other side: Frey told The Star Tribune he's concerned the change would "dilute accountability by having the head of public safety report" to both him and the 13-member council.What's next: The proposal is subject to review by the council and the city's Charter Commission before appearing on the November ballot. * Authors say this year's timeline means the proposal can move ahead with or without the commission's support. * Ultimately, voters would have to sign off.This story first appeared in the Axios Twin Cities newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard. * Sign up here.Be smart: sign up FREE for the most influential newsletter in America.

  • AOC tells Ted Cruz she doesn’t want to work with him on Robinhood probe because he ‘almost had me murdered’ during Capitol riot

    Ms Ocasio-Cortez again called for Mr Cruz to resign

  • ‘For Christ’s sake, watch yourself’: Biden warns family over business dealings

    Still, one brother discussed new venture with major donor before Biden entered the White House.

  • Have a Drink in Style with These 9 Cocktail Tables

    The best occasional tables keep your cocktail at arm’s reachOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • China could strip Hong Kong citizens of right to vote

    China could strip Hong Kongers of their right to vote if they opt to hold British-issued travel documents allowing them to resettle in the UK, experts said last night. The warning came after Beijing announced yon Friday that it would "no longer recognise" the British National (Overseas) passport for Hong Kongers, through which a visa scheme opens on Sunday allowing them to move to Britain. The scheme - announced by Boris Johnson last year in the wake of Beijing's human rights clampdown in Hong Kong - is expected to be used by more than 300,000 people in the coming five years. Beijing’s foreign ministry declared that as of Sunday, it would no longer recognise the "so-called BN(O) passport as a travel document and ID document, and reserves the right to take further actions." The declaration thus far appears to be largely symbolic, because Hong Kongers also have their own Hong Kong passport and ID cards, which Beijing still recognises.

  • Man Attacked by 12 in NYC Chinatown is a Gang Member With 43 Arrests, Police Sources Say

    A man who was beaten, slashed, stripped and robbed by a violent mob in Manhattan Chinatown is a known gang member with a lengthy criminal record, according to police sources. The brazen attack, which was caught on surveillance video, occurred at Canal Street and Allen Street around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 22. WANTED for ROBBERY: On 1/22, at 11:30 AM, in the vicinity of Canal St & Allen St in Manhattan, a group of individuals assaulted a 26-year-old male victim and removed his cell phone, pants, underwear and shoes.

  • Pelosi signals support for reconciliation bill to pass coronavirus relief without Republicans

    Congressional Democrats are preparing to leave Republicans behind as they push forward with another COVID-19 relief bill. With a 50/50 party split in the Senate, congressional Democrats have spent the past week discussing using a budget reconciliation bill to pass their COVID-19 relief with just a simple majority. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) affirmed in a Thursday press conference that Democrats would pass the reconciliation "if we need it" — but some centrist Republicans reportedly aren't thrilled. As Punchbowl News reported Thursday morning, "there's frustration on the Republican side" of the so-called "Sweet 16" of bipartisan centrist senators with this plan. These centrists — namely Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) — "say Democrats are moving way too quickly toward budget reconciliation, which they take as a signal that Democrats have no interest in the GOP’s support," sources tell Punchbowl News. Murkowski publicly said Wednesday that it would be "wise" for President Biden "to work to try to get a bipartisan proposal," especially given his Inauguration Day comments regarding "unity and working together." But as Democrats see it, there's no time to waste. COVID-19 continues to spread rampantly across the U.S., vaccine distribution is lagging, and millions of Americans are still out of work. There's also slim chance Republicans will agree to more than a $500 billion relief bill, while Biden is pushing for a $1.9 trillion package and soon-to-be Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wants to toss a $15/hour minimum wage into the mix. More stories from theweek.comThe Capitol insurrection isn't moderating the GOP. It's making them more extreme.Democrats plan to make every House Republican take a vote on GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problem

  • Even Steve Bannon Isn’t Buying Rudy Giuliani’s Latest Unhinged Conspiracy

    Twitter/@peltzmadelineTrump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Friday threw out a conspiracy theory about the deadly Capitol insurrection that was so insane, fellow conspiracist Steve Bannon had to jump in and pump the brakes.Giuliani, currently facing a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems for pushing baseless claims of voter fraud about the company, has been on a mission recently to distance former President Donald Trump (and himself) from the seditious riot that the president incited on Jan. 6.While Giuliani recently said he cannot defend Trump in his Senate impeachment trial because he’s a witness—Giuliani infamously called for “trial by combat” at the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally preceding the MAGA riot—the former New York City mayor has attempted to present an alternate reality of what actually occurred that day.After initially claiming that the riot was “99 percent peaceful,” Giuliani has since latched onto the Trumpist talking point that the violence was actually instigated by antifa and other leftist groups, despite the FBI saying there’s no evidence of antifa involvement. At least 21 of the rioters arrested, meanwhile, have direct ties to right-wing extremist groups.Bannon, who was recently pardoned by Trump and was directly involved in promoting the “Stop the Steal” rally, welcomed Giuliani on his War Room podcast on Friday to discuss the ex-president’s impeachment defense. And while Bannon has been as equally responsible as Giuliani for peddling the “Big Lie” that the election was “stolen” from Trump due to widespread voter fraud, he wasn’t buying everything Giuliani was selling on Friday.Rudy Giuliani is blaming the insurrection on @ProjectLincoln pic.twitter.com/tj4tu4k1ux— Madeline Peltz (@peltzmadeline) January 29, 2021 Saying that the Capitol riot was planned by antifa and “even some right-wing groups that were enemies” of Trump, the ex-mayor wildly claimed that anti-Trump political action committee The Lincoln Project was involved in this supposed scheme.“Hang on! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa—what are you saying ‘working for The Lincoln Project?’ Right-wing groups, like who?” Bannon quickly interjected.“One of the people who organized this is well-known for having worked with The Lincoln Project in the past,” a wide-eyed Giuliani exclaimed.As the one-time America’s Mayor continued to go down his rabbit hole, Bannon tried to stop Giuliani—only for the Trump lawyer to demand that he be allowed to finish his theory.“Go ahead,” a bemused Bannon replied.Giuliani, meanwhile, spun a tale about how this one person purportedly linked to The Lincoln Project had the “same motivation as the antifa people had,” which was to “blow this thing up.” He went on to say a lot of the right-wing groups involved in the riot “weren’t pro-Trump” and that the “biggest problems were caused by antifa—where the shooting took place.”(It appears Giuliani is linking John Sullivan, who recorded the footage of Ashli Babbitt’s shooting and was later arrested for taking part in storming the Capitol, to antifa. While Sullivan took part in Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the past, left-wing groups have long denounced him as an “agent provocateur” looking to exploit protest violence for fame.)“So who’s the guy working with The Lincoln Project?” Bannon eventually circled back.“I don’t know if I can reveal his name,” Giuliani muttered. “Because we have that from anonymous sources. But he worked in the past for [Utah Sen. Mitt] Romney.”Bannon, in an oddly rare self-reflective moment, said they are “getting blown up all the time” for tossing out specious and inflammatory speculation of this nature.“You can’t throw a charge out there like that and then say, ‘I have a double secret probation guy who I can’t mention but he worked for Romney and worked for The Lincoln Project,’” he further scolded Giuliani.Of course, it isn’t as if Bannon has suddenly seen the light of his dangerously conspiratorial ways. Elsewhere in the discussion, he said Trump’s impeachment defense should focus on election fraud to “fix November 3” as the “hard facts” show “that this thing was stolen.”The Lincoln Project, meanwhile, appeared to take the baseless allegations thrown at them in stride, snarking on Twitter that Giuliani went from calling for “trial by combat” to blaming them for the insurrection in a matter of weeks.January 6th: Let’s have trial by combat!January 29th: It was the Lincoln Project’s fault. pic.twitter.com/S2fWZ3P9vD— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) January 29, 2021 Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Canada judge won't relax Huawei CFO bail conditions

    A Canadian judge on Friday rejected a bid to ease bail conditions for a senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in Canada on a U.S. extradition warrant. British Columbia Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke said the current restrictions are the minimum required to ensure Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and its chief financial officer, does not flee Canada.

  • Psychiatrists fear children are being 'coached' into accessing puberty blockers, Court of Appeal hears

    Psychiatrists fear that transgender children are being “coached” into giving rehearsed answers when trying to access puberty blockers, the Court of Appeal has heard. Dr David Bell, a former governor at a gender identity NHS trust, expressed concern that children may be pressured by parents, friends or websites when trying to address feelings of gender dysphoria. Dr Bell, who was a psychiatrist at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust from 1996 until earlier this month, was granted permission on Friday by two senior judges to intervene in a landmark case examining whether transgender children can legally take puberty blockers. In November, the High Court ruled that children should not receive the controversial drugs unless they understand the "long-term risks and consequences" of them. The NHS was forced to change its guidance overnight, preventing children from accessing the hormonal treatment without a court order. The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has since launched an appeal against the ruling. In a preliminary hearing on Friday, lawyers on behalf of Dr Bell told the court that he wishes to intervene in the appeal as he has since retired from the NHS Trust and feels he can speak more freely. In legal papers lodged before the Court, Dr Bell is described as a “high profile whistleblower” after he published a report in August 2018 which “investigated serious concerns” raised by ten clinicians working at the Tavistock. The report found that the Tavistock’s gender identity clinic, GIDS, “is not fit for purpose” and some young patients “will live on with the damaging consequences.” Dr Bell said he felt “victimised for whistleblowing” by the Trust in the wake of the report and as a result “did not feel able to participate” in the initial High Court dispute. However, Dr Bell retired from the Trust earlier this month on January 15 and “is no longer subject to the same constraints,” the legal documents said. "There is evidence that staff members may be frightened of coming forwards," the documents continued. "Dr Bell, a highly eminent psychiatrist who until recently occupied a senior position with the Appellant, is now free from his employment and able to describe the concerns, which he investigated in some detail." Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Dingemans granted his application to intervene in the appeal, which will be heard over two days in April, while other groups, including the LGBT charity Stonewall, had their application denied. Lawyers for Dr Bell said he wants to tell the court about concerns that were raised to him by gender identity practitioners, including that “children may be ‘coached’, whether from parents, peers, or online resources, to provide rehearsed answers in response to particular questions.” The practitioners were also concerned that “highly complex factors” - including historic child abuse and family bereavement - can influence children’s attitudes towards gender, meaning puberty blockers is not always the best course of treatment. The landmark case on puberty blockers was first launched against the Trust by Keira Bell, a 23-year-old woman who began taking puberty blockers before deciding to reverse the process of changing gender. Ms Bell said the clinic should have challenged her more over her decision to transition to a male when she was 16. It was also brought by a woman who can only legally be identified as "Mrs A", the mother of a 15-year-old autistic girl who is currently on the waiting list for treatment. At the initial High Court hearing in October, their lawyers said that children going through puberty are "not capable of properly understanding the nature and effects of hormone blockers". They argued there is "a very high likelihood" that children who start taking hormone blockers will later begin taking cross-sex hormones, which they say cause "irreversible changes", and that the NHS Trust offers "fairytale" promises to children because they are unable to give their consent to the sex-change process.

  • Proud Boys supporter who U.S. says had ammunition cache and made threats pleads not guilty

    A Proud Boys supporter who U.S. prosecutors said kept a large weapons cache and made ominous social media posts, including toward a Democratic senator, pleaded not guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition and making online threats. Eduard Florea, of Queens, New York, entered his plea through a federal public defender at a Friday hearing before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak in Brooklyn federal court.

  • Teen charged in fatal shooting of 5 at Indianapolis home

    A 17-year-old Indianapolis boy was charged with murder for allegedly fatally shooting his father, stepmother, two teenage relatives and a 19-year-old pregnant woman in the family's home.

  • Obama speechwriter criticises Biden’s calls for unity: ‘There’s an entire party blocking it’

    'Until the Republican Party steps up and tells their own voters what's really happening with the truth, it's going to be elusive’

  • Filipino American Father, Daughter Electrocuted by Downed Power Lines in LA

    A Filipino American father and daughter were electrocuted in the backyard of their home in Panorama City, California, on Monday. The victims were identified as Ferdinand Tejada, 53, and Janine Reyn Tejada, 20, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office via CBS Los Angeles. Ferdinand was reportedly trying to move a downed electrical wire outside his home when the fatal accident occurred.

  • Johnson & Johnson Releases Single-Dose Vaccine Results

    Johnson & Johnson announced on Friday that its coronavirus vaccine was 72 percent effective against the pathogen in the U.S., and the company will ask federal regulators for approval in February. Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna candidates, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is administered in one shot. The vaccine uses a relatively new technology to deliver a coronavirus gene into the body by using a modified form of the common cold. The gene instructs bodily cells to make a protein similar to coronavirus, which wards off infection. While the vaccine is not as effective as those of Pfizer and Moderna, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is still strong enough to give widespread protection from coronavirus. The company has the ability to ship millions of doses, and a February approval would add the vaccine to the tools currently being used to fight the pandemic. While the vaccine’s efficacy rate was 72 percent in the U.S., that rate dropped to 57 percent in trials in South Africa, where a new variant of coronavirus is spreading. The variant, labeled B.1.351, has also been found to slightly reduce the efficacy of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Concern over the variant prompted the Biden administration to impose a travel ban from South Africa earlier this week.

  • Trump's popularity 'never been stronger than today' as Republicans vow to win back House

    Donald Trump met with US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in Florida on Thursday amid a tug of war over the Republican Party's future, with congressional leadership appearing eager to present a united front with the former president. Winning back the House of Representatives from Democrats in 2022 was the primary topic of the meeting at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, according to a readout provided by Save America, a political action committee linked to Mr Trump. "President Trump's popularity has never been stronger than it is today, and his endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time," it said. Mr McCarthy, an ally who encouraged Mr Trump's baseless election fraud claims, distanced himself from the outgoing president after Mr Trump was accused of inspiring his supporters to storm the US Capitol earlier this month. He declared that Joe Biden was the winner of the November election and that Mr Trump "bears responsibility for (the January 6) attack on Congress by mob rioters".

  • Hate crime charges added in gruesome Grindr attack on gay teen

    Holden White, a 19-year-old student in Louisiana, says police failed him.