Return of the meme-stock investors? Retail investors in the US have been showing new signs of life after largely keeping their heads down during this year’s stock selloff, driving sizable gains in some meme-stocks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Individual investors had purchased a net USD 1.35 bn a day of US stocks and ETFs on average as of 11 August — the highest monthly average since the recent bull market peaked in January — according to macro and investment research firm Vanda Research. The rally pushed up shares in Bed Bath and Beyond and AMC Entertainment Holdings at least 68% this month, while usual suspects Tesla, Apple, Amazon and Meta remain the stocks most sought after by retail investors this month, data shows. And activity is up on WallStreetBets forum — a subreddit for stock and option trading discussions, which launched GameStop.

Lower prices could be the draw: Many retail investors have ventured into the market because of recent lower prices, the WSJ notes. Recent stock splits from companies including Amazon have made it cheaper for individual investors to dip their toes in, it adds.

But don’t expect a repeat of the 2020-21 meme-stock feeding frenzy: Retail investor activity is still a long way off the highs seen in 2021, the WSJ tells us. Current inflation and fears of recession are fueling market uncertainty for both professional and newbie investors, it adds. And overall, markets are still down this year — meaning there’s little scope for investors to pour money into them as they did in 2020 and 2021.

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How heatwaves are unearthing lost archaeological history: Extreme hot weather and drought is bringing to light some of the Earth’s lost history, including ancient cities, past-shipwrecks and others, Bloomberg reported. A dried-up River Po, Italy’s longest river, has revealed World War II wreckage, including a German tank and cargo ships. Aceredo — a ghost village near Spain’s borders — has been revealed, thanks to a drought hitting the village that was flooded in the 1990s to clear the way for Alto Lindoso reservoir. And in a surprise, extreme hot weather in the UK has unearthed a hidden 17th century garden, dubbed the Great Parterre, that was once home to flower beds and paths. The Middle East has also seen a historical site uncovered, with the ruins of an ancient city in Iraq emerging from a drought-hit area of Mosul’s reservoir this year. Kurdish and German archaeologists inspected Kemune, an ancient city along the Tigris River that was held under the Mitanni Empire from 1550 to 1350 B.C.