GameStop Frenzy Prompts Senate Banking Panel Hearing on Stock Market

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the incoming chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, plans a hearing on the short-sale-roiled stock market.

Author:: Rob Daniel
Publish date:: Jan 28, 2021 3:43 PM EST

A prominent Democratic Party senator said Thursday he’d hold a hearing on the “current state of the stock market,” a move that comes during a frenzy of trading in GameStop (GME) - Get Report and other companies heavily targeted by short sellers.

Bloomberg News reports that Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the incoming chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, made the announcement.

“People on Wall Street only care about the rules when they’re the ones getting hurt. American workers have known for years the Wall Street system is broken – they’ve been paying the price,” Brown said in a statement quoted by the news service.

“It’s time for the SEC and Congress to make the economy work for everyone not just Wall Street. That’s why, as incoming Chair of the Senate Banking and Housing Committee, I plan to hold a hearing to do that important work.” No date has been set for the hearing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) earlier Thursday had said that Congress would look at what's happening with GameStop and many other companies that had been targeted by short sellers, or investors who bet that stocks will decline.

The Biden administration already is looking at it, and "we'll all be reviewing it," she said.

The stock market for several days has been roiled as thousands of investors, driven by the Reddit stream called WallStreetBets, have been locked in stock-purchase-and-sale combat with major institutions.

The shares in question include videogame retailer GameStop and the largest U.S. theater chain, AMC Entertainment. (AMC) - Get Report They also include a variety of other stocks, including Koss (KOSS) - Get Report, Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) - Get Report, BlackBerry (BB) - Get Report, Nokia (NOK) - Get Report and more.