Blockbuster bit the dust back in 2010 \u2013 filing for bankruptcy after consumers stopped heading out to rent physical DVDs in favour of streaming from the comfort of their homes. What remains of Blockbuster, aside from that old card in the back of your drawer, is a couple of zombie tickers for liquidation\/trust remnants \u2013 with next-to-no liquidity (i.e. nobody trades them).<\/p>
BB Liquidating (BLIAQ) is an example, and interest in its stock surged in 2020\/2021 following threads on social media channels including Reddit<\/a>. The Blockbuster mania was like a side-meme to the broader GameStop<\/a> mania. Kids, eh?<\/p> In theory that could happen again \u2013 lightning could strike twice. Stranger things have happened\u2026 I just can\u2019t think of any right now. But it\u2019s crucial to be aware that there\u2019s no real underlying company to speculate on\u2026 no revenue, no profit, no staff, no service. A bunch of Redditors decided to pile into a zombie ticker for a laugh, and then everyone lost interest. A light-hearted pump-and-dump.<\/p> And so as such, most trading platforms don\u2019t support trading shares in BLIAQ or BLIBQ. I\u2019m checking Trading 212 and eToro as I write, and\u2026.. nada. Soz.<\/p> There aren\u2019t really any stocks like Blockbuster\u2026 I mean, how many video rental stores can you name? But there are modern equivalents \u2013 see the table below. Google\u2019s in the mix representing YouTube \u2013 arguably the largest source of video consumption globally. But bear in mind the fortunes of most of these companies is about more than just how many Friday-night-movie-watchers use their specific service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCan we interest you in a little Netflix, Sir\/Madam?<\/h3>