Volatility Triggers Restrictions From Brokerages On Trading: What You Need To Know

Brokerage firms were taking steps Wednesday morning and afternoon to restrict trading in highly volatile names, especially GameStop Corp. GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC.

Government And Regulators On Volatility: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is "monitoring the situation" with GameStop, although no further details were made available.

Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman discussed the extreme volatility in stocks during a CNBC "Squawk Box" appearance Wednesday morning. The Nasdaq exchange has technology in place that would facilitate a halt in stocks that are mentioned across social media platforms, she said. 

GameStop is listed on the NYSE. 

"If we see a significant rise in the chatter on social media channels and we also match that up against unusual trading activity — we will potentially halt that stock."

TD Ameritrade: Twitter user @SeaSalt posted a screenshot from brokerage TD Ameritrade that states: "In the interest of mitigating risk for our company and clients, we have put in place several restrictions on some transactions in $GME, $AMC and other securities. We made these decisions out of an abundance of caution amid unprecedented market conditions and other factors."

Charles Schwab, the parent company of TD Ameritrade as part of a $22-billion acquisition, told MarketWatch that it made changes to its margin requirements.

A spokeswoman said changes to how much capital an investor can borrow were enacted Jan. 13. The statement said the brokerage has also placed "restrictions in place on certain transactions in GME and other securities."

Interactive Brokers: Other users on Twitter are reporting similar restrictions at rival brokerage firms, including Interactive Brokers. One user, Tom George, wrote a Tweet that tagged Tesla CEO Elon Musk:

"Interactive Brokers is no longer accepting orders from GME, leaving millions of retail traders stuck. This is so unfair, if there is anything you can do, please help.