(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission waded into the battle between small investors and Wall Street hedge funds on Friday, warning both brokerages and the pack of social media traders that it was closely monitoring potential wrongdoing.
The week-long slugfest, pitching the little man against major financial institutions, has inflated stocks of a number of previously beaten-down companies, drawn outrage from politicians and calls for action from regulators.
It took off again on Friday as brokers including Robinhood eased some of the restrictions they had placed on trading, allowing video game store chain GameStop ( GME ) and headphone maker Koss Corp ( KOSS ) to jump 50% each in value.
In a rare joint statement the SEC, traditionally cautious with public pronouncements, said it was working closely with other regulators and stock exchange "to ensure that regulated entities uphold their obligations to protect investors and to identify and pursue potential wrongdoing".
"The Commission will closely review actions taken by regulated entities that may disadvantage investors or otherwise unduly inhibit their ability to trade certain securities," it added.
The showdown between small-time traders and professional short-sellers has also attracted the scrutiny of Congressional lawmakers, the White House and is being probed by the New York Attorney General.
Global equity markets have also suffered as funds were forced to sell some of their best-performing stocks, including Apple Inc, to cover billions of dollars of losses.
The benchmark S&P 500 was down 0.6% on Friday. [.N]
"The (GameStop ( GME ) ) rally will continue for as long as these trading platforms allow people to buy these stocks," said Joe Donohue, an investor in Stocktwits, a social media platform for equity investors.
"Once they shut it down - if they do - then there is going to be some selling. But until such time, the Robinhood/Reddit people are going to have their way with these stocks."
Robinhood said on its website that it was easing some restrictions, but still not allowing purchases of fractional shares in GameStop ( GME )and 12 other companies, effectively meaning smaller investors have to bet more in order to buy in further to the trade.
The brokerage, which has said its hand was forced by the surge in market volatility, was also maintaining numerical limits on the number of shares any one account could hold in each of the companies, further hampering players with existing positions from betting on more gains.
In one victory for the retail pack, short-seller Andrew Left, who runs Citron Research and sparked the slugfest with his call against GameStop ( GME ) , said in a YouTube video that his company would no longer publish short-selling research.
Facebook Inc took down a popular Wall Street discussion group, Robinhood Stock Traders, in a move its founder said was an unjustified response to the market moves.
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On Reddit forum WallStreetBets, whose almost 6 million members are seen as having driven the rallies, GameStop ( GME ) and AMC remained overwhelmingly favored stocks.
J.P. Morgan has named 45 stocks that may be susceptible to similar "fragility events" in days to come, including real estate company Macerich Co, restaurant chain Cheesecake Factory Inc ( CAKE ) and clothing subscription service Stitch Fix Inc. ( SFIX )