Traders piled into shares of Revlon Inc., driving its gains from a record low to 650% as individual investors looked to strike a quick profit, while ignoring the fundamentals of the troubled cosmetics giant, Bloomberg News reported. The stock surged 34% on Wednesday, bringing gains from an all-time low to more than 650% as trading volume continued to soar past recent trends. More than 119 million Revlon shares have traded on average each day since bottoming — about 665 times the average daily volume in the past year prior to its boom. Retail traders have been helping to drive gains, piling in nearly $18 million over the past week, data from Vanda Research show. The maneuver is reminiscent of other bets in low-priced, debt-laden companies, such as Hertz Global Holdings Inc., with investors rapidly trading Revlon shares after the company filed for court protection on June 15.
