The Hopes That Rose and Fell With GameStop

“I am not a gambler by nature,” he said, “and this is money I have already written off.”

Mr. Davitt, who lives in Chicago and works for a company that provides worker assistance programs for employers, figures he might as well hold on to both companies. GameStop just named several new executives, which could help inject new life into the company, he said, and AMC could see a bounce once more people start venturing out of their homes.

“If I didn’t like GameStop or AMC,” Mr. Davitt said, “I wouldn’t be finding this as enjoyable.”

Another on the Line

By almost any measure, Mr. Daumer, the Indiana teenager, is one of the winners of the GameStop trade. He more than doubled his money, even if he didn’t score the biggest possible payday.

“Do you fish?” he asked, searching for a way to explain the experience.

When you’re fishing, he said, and you feel a tug on your line, it might be just a nibble or it might be a bite. If you wait to feel a stronger tug, you risk losing the fish you didn’t know you had.

The peak, he said, was that kind of moment. He thought it was just a small nibble, and decided to wait.

“The fish got away,” he said.

But there are others out there to be hooked, he said. He’s already dabbling in shares of a penny stock, Castor Maritime, which is based in Cyprus. It’s up over 300 percent so far this year.

What kind of business is the company in?

“You know what? I wish I could tell you,” Mr. Daumer said. “I just like the numbers.”