THE ROARING KITTY
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A family headphone maker in Milwaukee with almost no shares available to buy.
Koss was a genuinely small company with a tiny float, which meant even modest buying pressure moved the price violently.
The stock went from a few dollars to a peak in the fifties within days, and it surged again by 64% during the February aftershock. Trading was repeatedly halted for volatility.
Koss showed the pure mechanics with nothing else attached. No turnaround story, no activist investor, no product cycle. Just a small float, heavy shorting and a crowd that arrived at once.
Size is not protection. A company most people had never heard of became a battlefield because the structure of the trade allowed it.
The clearest textbook example of what float and short interest can do when attention concentrates.