The recent revival in meme stocks, evident in today’s 25% surge in Krispy Kreme, could reflect both a targeting of investors betting against the bull market and the impact of passive investment strategies that have sapped liquidity and stoked volatility.

The latest bout of meme stock mania, in which retail investors are pocketing quick fortunes by piling into heavily-shorted stocks like Kohl’s Corp. and Opendoor Technologies Inc., is likely getting some help from what Wall Street derivatives pros call a gamma squeeze.

Retail investors appear to be using the momentum of the S&P 500 to target meme stocks in a bid to create a similar short squeeze to that of GameStop during 2021's meme frenzy. Rec