The Meme ETF is back. Is it late to the party again?

Roundhill Investments resurrected an exchange-traded fund centered on meme shares on Wednesday, aiming to give on a regular basis buyers a easy means to play the new class of buzzy-yet-volatile shares.

But if historical past repeats itself, that would sign the commerce — and broader market — is already shedding its steam.

Roundhill stated the Meme Stock ETF, which launched once more on Wednesday, trades underneath the ticker MEME. That’s the similar ticker the agency used for its earlier meme-focused ETF that launched in late 2021 earlier than closing two years later.

“Meme stocks started as a rebellion but have grown into a revolution,” Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments, stated in a press release. “With MEME, we offer investors a tool to capture that power through an actively managed ETF that can rotate quickly into the stocks dominating the conversation today.”

Its earlier run presents a cautionary story. The ETF went dwell in early December of that 12 months, simply as the Nasdaq Composite was hitting a peak. From the ETF’s 2021 launch to the announcement of its closure in late 2023, the Nasdaq tumbled almost 10%. The broad S&P 500 shed greater than 3% in that timeframe.

Well-known meme shares fared a lot worse. GameStop plunged round 69% in that interval, whereas AMC cratered by greater than 96% in the almost two-year span.

“Meme stocks were a large part of the exuberant sentiment in the 2020-2021 market, ultimately leading to a cyclical peak,” Jonathan Krinsky, BTIG’s chief market technician, in a Wednesday be aware to shoppers that identified the irony of the relaunch.

Krisnky added that the meme fund launching was an indicator of market froth “reaching fever pitch.” Roundhill’s relaunch may be taken as “another sign of some exuberance,” he warned.

To make certain, the new iteration of the fund displays the new era of meme shares. During the Covid meme inventory craze, Reddit consumer “Roaring Kitty” and followers of the WallStreetBets discussion board led inventory squeezes of GameStop and AMC, amongst different names.

In right now’s fund, Opendoor Technologies is the largest holding with a weight of greater than almost 12%, in accordance to Roundhill information as of Wednesday. The inventory — which completed final 12 months beneath $2 a share — has skyrocketed almost 450% this 12 months amid attention from hedge fund supervisor Eric Jackson.