6 ms·

Wall street bets is just exposing the facade of wallstreet. As more information about investing becomes available, hedge funds and investors will look increasin

Wall street bets is just exposing the facade of wallstreet. As more information about investing becomes available, hedge funds and investors will look increasingly less sophisticated. Platforms like Robinhood will erode their edge by increasing liquidity, lowering transaction costs, and providing access to more exotic investments and financial derivatives.

gchokov 6y ago
Non sense.
- brodouevencode 6y ago
  How so?
- ThisIsTheWay 6y ago
  > Non sense. Really great contribution there, appreciate you sharing your thoughts and furthering the conversation. What LogicSlave said is dead on accurate. Lowering the barrier to market entry has empowered millions of people to make their money work for them. Is some of it unhealthy? Absolutely. But not all gamblers are addicts, and its not all counter-productive either. The downside is that many are jumping in without fully understanding the risks, but in my opinion, the best way to learn the game is to play. Investopedia fantasy portfolios are a risk free way to try it out, but those have been around for decades and few people use it as an opportunity to learn the market.
  - seabird 6y ago
    There's nothing nonsense about it. These big firms have billions on the line and are interested in protecting it. WSB is a comedy outlet where active posters are at least in the high end of hobbyist traders, and they realized that some very greedy short selling left an opening for a decent buck. The vast majority of Robinhood's userbase couldn't even come close to explaining to you the mechanism through which this happened, let alone know when it's happening elsewhere and how to enter and exit. Nobody there has any delusions that they would be able to take on a large firm if the large firm was able to hit back. Markets and the choices you make them in can be incredibly complex. Most people don't have the time and drive to deal with that, no matter how much you "democratize" the technology.
    - ThisIsTheWay 6y ago
      > Markets and the choices you make them in can be incredibly complex. Most people don't have the time and drive to deal with that, no matter how much you "democratize" the technology. Fully agreed here. My point wasn't to say that people are taking on Wall St. and getting rich quick by developing a deep understanding the mechanizations of the market. But you don't have to understand a gamma squeeze to make money. In the past, brokers were a luxury only the wealthy could afford, and I think it's a great thing that that is no longer the case.
  - greenonions 6y ago
    Also, I think it's overlooked how much of the banter on wallstreetbets does not necessarily dictate how participants invest. There are probably many people who read, joke, and occasionally make a risky investment, but who otherwise maintain a relatively conservative portfolio. Wallstreetbets is just the most entertaining way to casually pick up knowledge on the subject.
1996 6y ago
I work in finance and I agree so much with everything you wrote!
ViVr 6y ago
Max Keiser sure agrees that Wall Street is rampant with fraudulent practices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2euIWm6Ch4&t=1m15s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2euIWm6Ch4&t=1m15s
cbozeman 6y ago
This is what's really pissing off a lot of people who think they're "somebodies" in the finance world. A bunch of people who didn't attend Columbia, Harvard, and Yale Business Schools are using a fucking phone app to do what only they used to be able to do - manipulate the market. And its pissing them off. For decades, these arrogant little shits were told they were the Masters of the Universe. Now they're finding out firsthand that it just ain't so, and their egos can't handle it.
- tiziniano 6y ago
  What is this fantasy? revenge porn fanfic?
  - cbozeman 6y ago
    A hedge fund with $12.5 billion in assets lost so much money that two other hedge funds had to step in and save it with a capital injection of $2.75 billion. You tell me.
itsoktocry 6y ago
>and providing access to more exotic investments and financial derivatives. People having access to exotic investments they didn't understand (and hence couldn't correctly price) was exactly how we got 2008. Wall Street benefits from volatility and all of this trading, they aren't losing any edge.
- ThisIsTheWay 6y ago
  People - and here I mean the average person, not the ultrawealthy - were conned into buying things they couldn't afford, not exotic investments. Assuming the exotic investments you're talking about were the various derivatives markets propped up by bullshit, that was massive corporations making investments and taking on risk they didn't even understand. Unfortunately, the fallout impacted average people who weren't even directly involved.
tiziniano 6y ago
Lo, n behold, yet another example of the average American obsession with "looks".

gchokov 6y ago

Non sense.

brodouevencode 6y ago
How so?
ThisIsTheWay 6y ago
> Non sense. Really great contribution there, appreciate you sharing your thoughts and furthering the conversation. What LogicSlave said is dead on accurate. Lowering the barrier to market entry has empowered millions of people to make their money work for them. Is some of it unhealthy? Absolutely. But not all gamblers are addicts, and its not all counter-productive either. The downside is that many are jumping in without fully understanding the risks, but in my opinion, the best way to learn the game is to play. Investopedia fantasy portfolios are a risk free way to try it out, but those have been around for decades and few people use it as an opportunity to learn the market.
- seabird 6y ago
  There's nothing nonsense about it. These big firms have billions on the line and are interested in protecting it. WSB is a comedy outlet where active posters are at least in the high end of hobbyist traders, and they realized that some very greedy short selling left an opening for a decent buck. The vast majority of Robinhood's userbase couldn't even come close to explaining to you the mechanism through which this happened, let alone know when it's happening elsewhere and how to enter and exit. Nobody there has any delusions that they would be able to take on a large firm if the large firm was able to hit back. Markets and the choices you make them in can be incredibly complex. Most people don't have the time and drive to deal with that, no matter how much you "democratize" the technology.
  - ThisIsTheWay 6y ago
    > Markets and the choices you make them in can be incredibly complex. Most people don't have the time and drive to deal with that, no matter how much you "democratize" the technology. Fully agreed here. My point wasn't to say that people are taking on Wall St. and getting rich quick by developing a deep understanding the mechanizations of the market. But you don't have to understand a gamma squeeze to make money. In the past, brokers were a luxury only the wealthy could afford, and I think it's a great thing that that is no longer the case.
- greenonions 6y ago
  Also, I think it's overlooked how much of the banter on wallstreetbets does not necessarily dictate how participants invest. There are probably many people who read, joke, and occasionally make a risky investment, but who otherwise maintain a relatively conservative portfolio. Wallstreetbets is just the most entertaining way to casually pick up knowledge on the subject.

1996 6y ago

I work in finance and I agree so much with everything you wrote!

ViVr 6y ago

Max Keiser sure agrees that Wall Street is rampant with fraudulent practices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2euIWm6Ch4&t=1m15s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2euIWm6Ch4&t=1m15s

cbozeman 6y ago

This is what's really pissing off a lot of people who think they're "somebodies" in the finance world. A bunch of people who didn't attend Columbia, Harvard, and Yale Business Schools are using a fucking phone app to do what only they used to be able to do - manipulate the market. And its pissing them off. For decades, these arrogant little shits were told they were the Masters of the Universe. Now they're finding out firsthand that it just ain't so, and their egos can't handle it.

tiziniano 6y ago
What is this fantasy? revenge porn fanfic?
- cbozeman 6y ago
  A hedge fund with $12.5 billion in assets lost so much money that two other hedge funds had to step in and save it with a capital injection of $2.75 billion. You tell me.

itsoktocry 6y ago

>and providing access to more exotic investments and financial derivatives. People having access to exotic investments they didn't understand (and hence couldn't correctly price) was exactly how we got 2008. Wall Street benefits from volatility and all of this trading, they aren't losing any edge.

ThisIsTheWay 6y ago
People - and here I mean the average person, not the ultrawealthy - were conned into buying things they couldn't afford, not exotic investments. Assuming the exotic investments you're talking about were the various derivatives markets propped up by bullshit, that was massive corporations making investments and taking on risk they didn't even understand. Unfortunately, the fallout impacted average people who weren't even directly involved.

tiziniano 6y ago

Lo, n behold, yet another example of the average American obsession with "looks".