Risky meme trading is back. A trading rule change may have lit the fuse

retail traders are piling back into meme stocks, and a regulatory change may be fueling the fire. the sec recently approved a finra proposal to eliminate the pattern day trader rule, which had required traders with four or more day trades in five days to keep $25,000 in a margin account. the new "intraday margin" rule removes that barrier. the results have been extreme. allbirds shares surged from roughly $2.50 to $24 after the company rebranded as newbird ai and pivoted to compute infrastructure. the stock has since fallen back to near $8. avis budget group, ticker "car," went from under $100 last month to a record near $850 on wednesday before staging a sharp intraday reversal. jpmorgan analysts note that crowding in meme stocks is approaching levels seen after liberation day. they said the rule change could drive a further pickup in retail volumes in coming months. adam cohn at tradestation told cnbc the change means "more people can participate in short-term trading strategies."