Between Monday’s opening bell and Thursdays’ close, shares of Support.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRT) surged from around $9.50 a piece to $19.70. At the noon hour Friday, Support.com stock was trading at around $49.20, up almost 150% since Thursday’s close.<\/p>\n
While there is no fundamental explanation for the move, two things about the stock stand out. First, short sellers held about 67% of the stock’s total float as of August 13. That may have been a target just begging to be pummeled by traders looking for a short squeeze opportunity. In fact, on August 13, trading volume in the stock reached 83 million shares, well above the previous day’s volume of around 7 million. Since last Friday, the stock has traded above 29 million shares a day.<\/p>\n
The second thing to keep in mind is that Support.com is acquiring Bitcoin mining company Greenidge Generation Holdings. A special stockholders’ meeting for Support.com is scheduled for September 10 to vote on the proposed merger. Rising Bitcoin prices are likely producing some of the lift for Support.com’s share price.<\/p>\n
Meta Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ: MMAT) traded sharply higher Friday as well. We noted Thursday a company prospectus filing that registered 191 million shares that have been issued already and, therefore, counted among the outstanding shares. Retail traders holding shares of Meta needed a little persuading, but once they got the message, they took the shares on a rocket ride. Short sellers held about 8.4% of Meta’s float as of August 13.<\/p>\n
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) bounced off a year-to-date low set last Friday, and the stock had gained about 26% as of the noon hour. The company’s short interest to total float ratio is about 8.1%, so this move seems to be a more or less typical fluctuation in the stock’s price. Still, the trend for Clean Energy Fuels is downward. Shares have lost more than $10 since their recent peak in early February.<\/p>\n
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) recently revealed in its quarterly earnings report on SEC Form 10-Q that the company has invested some $250 million in 10 small companies, many of which will repay the investment over the next few years, guaranteeing Palantir a steady revenue stream. Interesting idea, but downside risk remains.<\/p>\n
Clean Energy Fuels traded up about 7.6% in the noon hour Friday to $8.22, in a 52-week range of $2.36 to $19.79. The average daily trading volume on the stock is around 16.5 million shares, and fewer than 4 million had been traded so far on the day.<\/p>\n
Palantir stock traded up about 3.6%, at $25.78 in a 52-week range of $8.90 to $45.00. The average daily trading volume is around 44.5 million shares, and about 38 million had traded.<\/p>\n
Meta Materials was up more than 20% to $4.18, in a 52-week range of $0.42 to $21.76. The average daily trading volume is around 25 million shares, and almost 23 million had traded.<\/p>\n
Support.com traded up more than 170%, at $53.58 in a 52-week range of $1.62 to $59.69. The high was posted late in the morning. The average daily trading volume is 10.4 million shares, and more than 107 million had changed hands on last look.<\/p>\n
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