GameStop mania may not have been the retail trader rebellion it was perceived to be, data shows

A look at the 10 most-purchased stocks by retail traders during the market mania last month is missing one key stock: GameStop.

AMC Entertainment and Plug Power, two names caught up in the trading frenzy along with GameStop, were popular buys among retail investors, JPMorgan found, yet the brick-and-mortar video game retailer that seemingly put Wall Street on its heels is notably absent from the list.

The prevailing narrative was that a band of Reddit-inspired small traders rose up against Wall Street by buying GameStop en masse, forcing a short squeeze by professional hedge fund managers, who were forced to cover their negative bets or risk catastrophic losses.