hollis (they/them) currently studying classics and archaeology.
the whole gamestop stock r/wallstreetbets thing is SO fucking funny like a group of redditors realized that the stock market is fake and just memed it into the news. this is the only time i will praise redditors.
it’s the perfect drama because no normal people give a shit about the stock market so you have a bunch of stock brokers and wealthy dudes crying on air about how their made up system isn’t showing the right lines anymore. one of them suggested russian interference.
You can find a lot of explanations in more depth online if you just google “What’s happening with Gamestop stocks” but a very simplified explanation from Reddit:
It’s triggering a short squeeze.
ELI5: Imagine you’re out on your front lawn and you overhear your neighbor John asking your other neighbor Mary if he could borrow a pound of bacon for breakfast, saying that he will go to the grocery store later in the day, buy bacon, and return a pound to her tomorrow. You think to yourself, “hm, i can make some money off of this.” So you hop in your car, drive down to the local grocery store and buy all the bacon that they have before John could get there.
A few hours later, you see John running around in a panic trying to find bacon for sale so he can keep his word to Mary. you grab the bacon that you got from the grocery store, run up to him, and say, “Hey John, I heard you were looking for bacon. I have a pound here that I can sell to you for $420.69!”
r/Wallstreetbets caught word that a bunch of hedge funds sold short (i.e., borrowed shares) of GME. so they ran out and brought up as much shares of GME as they could, and are/will sell back to the hedge funds at insane prices.