GameStop Revives Fights Over Stock Tax, HFT Firms Buying Orders

Frenzied trading of GameStop Corp. and other companies last month is reviving debate in Washington about changes that Wall Street has long opposed, including taxing stock purchases, banning brokerages from selling their customers’ orders and reining in short-selling.

The ideas being floated by some Democratic lawmakers have long been on the wish lists of consumer advocates, who argue they would prevent financial firms from preying on retail investors and curb the excessive speculation that’s transformed the stock market into a casino, rather than a place where companies raise money to grow their businesses. But industry executives counter that policy revamps ...