There’s been a lot of crazy things going on in markets lately, but this one may top them all.
Last Thursday morning, Elon Musk sent out this tweet to his 41 million followers…
What’s Signal?
It’s a messaging app for your phone and an alternative to WhatsApp, which has been criticized recently for privacy concerns (sharing data with Facebook, its parent company).
As one might have guessed, the demand for Signal exploded after Musk’s tweet.
And as a result, traders naturally looked to the financial markets to see if they could profit from it.
In searching for Signal, what they found was a company called “Signal Advance.”
Are they one in the same?
Not exactly.
Signal Advance is a small company that has absolutely nothing to do with the nonprofit company called Signal or its messaging app.
Did that stop traders from buying Signal Advance ($SIGL)?
Not at all.
It closed last Thursday (1/7) at $3.76, an increase of 527% from the day before the Musk tweet.
Did traders soon realize their mistake and reverse course?
No. Last Friday (1/8), it closed at $7.19, up another 91%.
Surely that was the end of it, right?
Nope. Today the stock hit a high of $70.85, a 118x increase from last Wednesday’s close.
Its market cap at today’s high hit $739 million, up from $6 million before the Musk tweet.
If that’s not a clear signal of insanity, I don’t know what is.
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