Good Evening. Stocks dipped on Thursday, ending a tumultuous quarter in the negative, as investors assessed President Joe Biden’s decision to release the largest amount of oil ever from the country’s strategic petroleum reserve in a bid to cool rising energy costs.
The S&P 500 index closed 1.57% lower, while the Dow Jones fell by 1.56%. The Nasdaq also went down by 1.54%.
HOW FAR WILL MEME STOCKS GO?
GameStop (GME) shares are surging in after-hours following an announcement seeking a stock split. The shares of the video game store increased by as much as 20%, exceeding the $200 mark.
In an 8-K SEC filing, the business stated that it intends to seek stockholder approval at its upcoming annual shareholder meeting to increase the number of authorized Class A shares from 300 million to 1 billion in order to implement the split via a dividend.
“GameStop also intends to request stockholder approval at the Annual Meeting for a new incentive plan (the “2022 Equity Plan”) to support future compensatory equity issuances,” said the filing.
Retail investors who are positive about the flagship meme stock have voiced their delight.
S&P 500 TOP PERFORMER
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) saw a gain of more than 100% in the first quarter of 2022, making it the top performer in the S&P 500.
The triumph comes after Berkshire Hathaway Inc., led by Warren Buffett, purchased 18.1 million additional shares of Occidental, bringing the company’s overall investment in the oil behemoth to about 15%.
The company has been struggling for years, and the positive quarter represents a turning point. Over the last three months, stock prices have risen by 101 percent as oil prices have surpassed $100 per barrel. Occidental has had its best quarter ever. As of closing, OXY was down 1.29% to $56.74 per share.