GameStop Stock surges due to meme traders

[Eacaraxe]

...But we don't need channers doing this to have undeniable proof that the stock market is a fickle and bad mistress...

Yeah, we do. We really, really do. One needn't look further than yesterday's CNBC coverage and the smattering of defamatory "GME purchasers are alt-right!" yellow journalism to see exactly why: a bought-and-paid-for media establishment working double time to manufacture consent for the now-inevitable wave of "market reforms" on the part of government and private institutions, that build barriers against retail investors and limit their capacity to influence the market or make money in any meaningful form, whilst further obfuscating the exact sort of bad-faith activity we've seen over the past two days to shield themselves from consequences for short-sighted and unethical behavior.

Just today, Citron announced they'll no longer be publishing short reports:


You think that's anything but reactionary wagon-circling to prevent retail investors from seizing opportunities created by myopic and irresponsible market behavior, like...oh, I dunno...hedge funds massively overleveraging themselves by shorting 140% of a corporation's float? You want to mention '29, '79, '08, and other recessions, but you don't want to mention how myopic, greedy, irresponsible, and unethical market behavior in an unregulated, opaque, and arcane marketplace that caused many of those.

Melvin, Citadel, and other hedge funds got caught with their pants around their ankles and their dicks in the cookie jar. They knew the risks and the potential consequences of their position if someone decided to squeeze them. Someone did. And rather than sit the fuck down, take their losses, file chapter-11, and sail all the way to their yachts on golden parachutes, they've engaged on a three-day, sector-wide temper tantrum that's blown the fourth wall wide apart for even the slowest on the uptake to see, and transformed a short squeeze into a protest movement.

If it took Redditors shitposting their way to get here, I'm all for it.

We can look at 1929, 1979, 2008 and a whole other string of recessions to realize that when the stock market is disrupted everyone suffers, everyone loses money and a lot of innocent people who can't do anything about it loses their jobs, their homes and some times their lives.

...have you not seen stonk line go up for a year during a global pandemic to the tune of $10T in quantitative easing, while elected officials insider traded in broad daylight with zero consequences, while bodies pile up to COVID and literal bread lines stretch for miles? Trillions have already been transferred to the wealthiest 0.1% from the everybody else and counting. We're already living where Charles Dickens and Upton Sinclair meet, buddy, and it was going to get worse anyways.

The people involved realized they're circling the drain and were going to go down anyways. They've decided to go down swinging, knowing the risks.

 

[gorfias]

Yeah, we do. We really, really do. One needn't look further than yesterday's CNBC coverage and the smattering of defamatory "GME purchasers are alt-right!" yellow journalism to see exactly why: a bought-and-paid-for media establishment working double time to manufacture consent for the now-inevitable wave of "market reforms" on the part of government and private institutions, that build barriers against retail investors and limit their capacity to influence the market or make money in any meaningful form, whilst further obfuscating the exact sort of bad-faith activity we've seen over the past two days to shield themselves from consequences for short-sighted and unethical behavior.

Just today, Citron announced they'll no longer be publishing short reports:


You think that's anything but reactionary wagon-circling to prevent retail investors from seizing opportunities created by myopic and irresponsible market behavior, like...oh, I dunno...hedge funds massively overleveraging themselves by shorting 140% of a corporation's float? You want to mention '29, '79, '08, and other recessions, but you don't want to mention how myopic, greedy, irresponsible, and unethical market behavior caused many of those.

Melvin, Citadel, and other hedge funds got caught with their pants around their ankles and their dicks in the cookie jar. They knew the risks and the potential consequences of their position if someone decided to squeeze them. Someone did. And rather than sit the fuck down, take their losses, file chapter-11, and sail all the way to their yachts on golden parachutes, they've engaged on a three-day, sector-wide temper tantrum that's blown the fourth wall wide apart for even the slowest on the uptake to see, and transformed a short squeeze into a protest movement.

If it took Redditors shitposting their way to get here, I'm all for it.


...have you not seen stonk line go up for a year during a global pandemic to the tune of $10T in quantitative easing, while elected officials insider traded in broad daylight with zero consequences, while bodies pile up to COVID and literal bread lines stretch for miles? Trillions have already been transferred to the wealthiest 0.1% from the everybody else and counting. We're already living where Charles Dickens and Upton Sinclair meet, buddy, and it was going to get worse anyways.

This story has to cause the scales to drop from so many eyes. The year is young and yet this may be its biggest story.

 

[Eacaraxe]

This story has to cause the scales to drop from so many eyes. The year is young and yet this may be its biggest story.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing how "protecting small investors from predatory behavior" and "protecting predatory behavior from small investors" have become practically synonymous over the past 72 hours. "$GME is heavily overvalued in the short term and retail investors are taking undue risk buying, so we have to shut it down!" is laughably transparent, when anyone who's paid attention is entirely cognizant $GME is grossly undervalued right now; "fundamentals" no longer has anything to do with it, GME's market value is whatever wealth can be extracted from overleveraged hedge funds on margin call.

That script got flipped real fast as soon as retail investors figured out how they can exploit predatory market behavior through collective action, didn't it.

 

[gorfias]

Yeah, it's pretty amazing how "protecting small investors from predatory behavior" and "protecting predatory behavior from small investors" have become practically synonymous over the past 72 hours. "$GME is heavily overvalued in the short term and retail investors are taking undue risk buying, so we have to shut it down!" is laughably transparent, when anyone who's paid attention is entirely cognizant $GME is grossly undervalued right now; "fundamentals" no longer has anything to do with it, GME's market value is whatever wealth can be extracted from overleveraged hedge funds on margin call.

That script got flipped real fast as soon as retail investors figured out how they can exploit predatory market behavior through collective action, didn't it.

It's a story about bias, power, about how we really are all living in the Matrix. Some are calling what the reditters did, "stock manipulation" but that is what these hedge funders do when they go on TV, say, Hilton is worth $0! and then buy a bunch of that stock, etc. Some of these ordinary people could go to jail while the Wall Street types will get money from our tax dollars if need be.
@Chimpzy posted a good one from of all people, Steven Colbert. Steve is a corporate creature himself and I though he would start bloviating that the reditters are white supremacists or such but instead seems to have grasped what happened well enough.

He does seem to be saying what the Hedge Fund guys do is not so bad. Gamestop is today's Blockbuster video. The market has moved on from their business model. Still, 14 thousand employees still work there. They may / will eventually go down. But the Hedge Fund has a built in reason to want that to be sooner rather than later. They will do their part to see that happen (which really is stock manipulation). That's bad. Especially for the 14 thousand employees.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Saw someone mention this on Twitter; how long until they try to link this back to "that which we cannot name"?

 

[gorfias]

Saw someone mention this on Twitter; how long until they try to link this back to "that which we cannot name"?

I'm hearing it is already happening. Retaliation.

 

[Eacaraxe]

Some are calling what the reditters did, "stock manipulation" but that is what these hedge funders do when they go on TV, say, Hilton is worth $0! and then buy a bunch of that stock, etc.

Yeah, it's as much stock manipulation as Jim Cramer or any other television personality. Retail investors saw a vulnerability in the market, seized it, and spread the information as laymen.

What's sickening is our current regime of licensing and certification was to prevent Ponzi schemes, pump-and-dumps, etc. only to have been promptly captured and twisted to serve predatory traders' ends, which has been the case for a very long time now. The only difference is who the SEC (another captured organization) protects, and who pays them to protect whom.

He does seem to be saying what the Hedge Fund guys do is not so bad. Gamestop is today's Blockbuster video. The market has moved on from their business model. Still, 14 thousand employees still work there. They may / will eventually go down. But the Hedge Fund has a built in reason to want that to be sooner rather than later. They will do their part to see that happen (which really is stock manipulation). That's bad. Especially for the 14 thousand employees.

Gamestop's on its way out the door and no one believes otherwise for a nanosecond. Neither its market value nor future prospects are relevant. The hedge funds' market value is. Retail investors in on this aren't betting on Gamestop to succeed, they're betting on Melvin and other overleveraged hedge funds to fail and those hedge funds' net worth once liquidated on margin call is the grand prize. That's how a dying retail chain with an estimated $2.82 billion valuation has ballooned into what's reported to be potentially $70 billion worth of damage to the market.

And as I said a page ago, yeah this little moment has all the markers of a crowdfunded pump-and-dump scheme. Folks were absolutely right to point that out. Keyword, were. Game's changed now, and folks want blood on the floor.

 

[deleted20220709]

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[Eacaraxe]

Does anyone in this thread seriously think it is Wall Street, investment bankers, hedge funds and other entities that feed of the stock market that will take the economic hit from this?

The answer to this, can be found in this:

It is great that those actors are suddenly scrambling to self-regulate and asking for measures that will actually long term limit their predatory practices (at least until they can pour hundreds of millions into lobbying to swiss cheese those regulations), but what will the cost be? And who will pay for it?

They lack the common decency to do even that much, and overconfident enough of their own influence to go full mask-off on live cable news as we've seen in the past two days. They're scrambling to cover their collective asses and shield themselves from negative consequences from either the government or general populace.

Which is really the whole point of all this, isn't it.

The answer about who paid for it can be found as late as 2008.

Yes, it is.

It will be the common man. It will be soon to retire people that see their retirement money vanish. It will be anyone below the upper middle class with a mortgage that will skyrocket as banks try to get cash flow. It will be everyone in a job that gets downsized because corporate wants cost saving measures now that their short term profitability is floundering. It will be anyone saving in stocks or financial instruments.

I am absolutely on board with how great it is that this seems to be changing some really predatory practices, but we should all be terrified about the outcome if Melvin actually goes under. Because it won't be the fat cats on Wall Street that takes the major hit if the stock market goes sideways, it never is.

So instead your tact is to blame the victim?

 

[Agema]

Does anyone in this thread seriously think it is Wall Street, investment bankers, hedge funds and other entities that feed of the stock market that will take the economic hit from this? It is great that those actors are suddenly scrambling to self-regulate and asking for measures that will actually long term limit their predatory practices (at least until they can pour hundreds of millions into lobbying to swiss cheese those regulations), but what will the cost be? And who will pay for it?

Yes. Quite likely true.

For all everyone's fervour and hyperbole now, likely it's just another little bit of theatre that will enjoy its 15 minutes of fame before everyone gets bored and moves on with no major structural change occurring. What I can absolutely bet is that the people who are going to most assiduously learn the lesson are Wall Street firms, and make sure this never happens again.

 

[deleted20220709]

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[Specter Von Baren]

Wherever did you get that idea? I am not casting any blame here, merely pointing out that the gloating about "the elite" taking one on the chin is a bit premature and that they are actually unlikely to see any real effects from this. If something happens here it will be the common man that takes the hit, whether that is increased regulation of the stock market to prevent small money from having any real effect or, worse case scenario, a stock market crash in which us common people will bear the brunt of the burden and then it will be our tax money that is used to bail out banks. If anything I am pointing out who the victim will be, not blaming anyone (but perhaps the fucked up system that is capitalism) for it.

I think the people have reached the stage where they understand that but giving the middle finger to the establishment that wants to screw them over is considered more worthwhile.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

 

[tstorm823]

The answer about who paid for it can be found as late as 2008. It will be the common man. It will be soon to retire people that see their retirement money vanish. It will be anyone below the upper middle class with a mortgage that will skyrocket as banks try to get cash flow. It will be everyone in a job that gets downsized because corporate wants cost saving measures now that their short term profitability is floundering. It will be anyone saving in stocks or financial instruments.

Nah. If anyone tries to tell you the common man's retirement portfolio is being hit by this, they're full of it. The positions taken by hedge funds, groups who have rules against regular poor people joining them, were so risky that people managing retirement funds wouldn't even be allowed to take them if they wanted to.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Saw someone mention this on Twitter; how long until they try to link this back to "that which we cannot name"?

Happened 5+ times already lol

 

[Satinavian]

Yes, it is a good thing overall.

The system is bad and it won't be changed until its failings are made glaringly obvious.

 

[Houseman]

Like houseman said

No I didn't. I don't understand this stuff. Don't you put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby!

 

[Eacaraxe]

If something happens here it will be the common man that takes the hit, whether that is increased regulation of the stock market to prevent small money from having any real effect or, worse case scenario, a stock market crash in which us common people will bear the brunt of the burden and then it will be our tax money that is used to bail out banks.

And, your intent in saying this is...what, precisely?

Literally everyone knows this. This is why they're protesting. Literally everyone knows the risks, and potential costs and blowback involved. This is why they're protesting. Literally everyone is already facing these outcomes and have been for a whole-ass year. This is why they're protesting.

What literally everyone doesn't know is what you're describing are assets and accounts held by mutual funds, not hedge funds. What you're describing are activities by oversight organizations and regulatory agencies that are well-captured and have been for decades. When it spills over -- and it will -- that's on Wall Street's and Washington's head for creating a toxic deregulated cesspit that's already blown up the global economy once in the last decade and never got fixed despite massive public outcry for it. Not those popping hedge funds in the nose for once.

 

[Seanchaidh]

Does anyone in this thread seriously think it is Wall Street, investment bankers, hedge funds and other entities that feed of the stock market that will take the economic hit from this?

Evidently Wall Street et al. are taking at least some of the hit from this given the volume of their screeching.

 

[crimson5pheonix]