GameStonk falls back to earth: The brick-and-mortar games retailer subject to an epic tug-of war between retail investors and hedge funds gave up much of its extraordinary 2021 gains last week, falling 80% in a sell-off that saw USD 18 bn wiped from its market cap, Bloomberg reports. The stock finished the week trading at USD 63.77, a far cry from the USD 483 peak seen at the end of January.

This coincided with US stocks having their best week since November after poor jobs figures raised investor optimism that lawmakers would push through the Biden administration’s USD 1.9 tn stimulus proposal, Bloomberg says. “The market is going to be in a bad news is good news scenario — bad news is temporary and likely to be met with additional support,” said Steve Chiavarone, portfolio manager and equity strategist at Federated Hermes.

Global food prices are at near-seven year highs as governments stockpile strategic goods and erect trade barriers, weather hits supply, and covid-19 disrupts trade, the Financial Times reports. The FAO Food Price Index reached 113.3 points in January, its highest monthly average since July 2014, raising fears of rising hunger in poorer countries dependent on imports.

And we could soon be paying more for our tea: Tea prices in India have leapt to record highs as flooding and covid-19 restrictions weighed on production last year, according to Reuters. Egypt imports mns of kilos of Indian CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade every year.

The EGX30 fell 0.2% on Thursday on turnover of EGP 1.8 bn (21.7% above the 90-day average). Domestic investors were net buyers. The index is up 7.0% YTD.

In the green: Pioneers Holding (+5.3%), Cleopatra Hospitals Group (+3.2%) and Fawry (+2.4%).

In the red: Ezz Steel (-3.9%), Orascom Development (-3.4%) and Emaar Misr (-2.6%).