How to invest wisely in crypto and meme stocks: Two industry pros weigh in

But with interest in some alternative investments potentially starting to fizzle from peak pandemic levels, here’s what two seasoned investment professionals have to say about how to invest wisely in crypto and meme stocks.

“We are at this point where the meme-stock phenomena has kind of dried out a little bit,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest, in an interview with MarketWatch on Tuesday.

Bell talked about how first-time investors during the pandemic have experienced a volatile stretch, but also how government stimulus has left many with elevated levels of cash on the sidelines in money-market and deposit accounts.

“I think what gives them comfort to stay invested, at this point in time, is the fact that they are financially more sound than they were going into the start of the pandemic,” she said.

Broker-dealer Ally also encourages investors to have only a small exposure to volatile or risky assets, like cryptos or meme stocks, she said.

Risk assets sold off Tuesday, including popular meme stocks GameStop Corp. GME, -1.50% and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC, -3.92%, which both fell more than 5.7%. Bitcoin BTCUSD, -2.07% traded about 34% below the crypto’s all-time high in April, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Last Friday, China declared all crypto-related transactions illegal in the country, as part of its crackdown on digital assets.

The 10-year Treasury yield TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.521% climbed above 1.5% Tuesday, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.16% booked its worst daily percentage decline in about four months.

This year has been notable for all the “dip buying” by investors when stocks have come under brief pockets of weakness.

Mark Hulbert, founder and president of the Hulbert Financial Digest and a longtime MarketWatch columnist, called the “stubborn bullishness” among investors in online forums vowing to buy the dip or “hold on come hell or high water” a “hallmark of a market top,” during Tuesday’s talk.

“The final low will be when even those people who say they will never sell — when they sell and throw in the towel — that will finally be the bottom.”