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Great explanation. IMO the GameStop phenomenon is the result of the combination of democratization of trading through software (Robinhood no fee trading, doing

Great explanation. IMO the GameStop phenomenon is the result of the combination of democratization of trading through software (Robinhood no fee trading, doing it on your cellphone) + social media enabled mass scale online community building (around some previously fringe niche). Any area that is subject to this kind of combination of change could face similar situation where the old institutions guarding the area would face increasing challenge from grass root efforts ("retards/autistics" as in wsb's lingo).

JumpCrisscross 6y ago
There is a third factor: a generation of investors who have never really lost money in the market.
- Cyph0n 6y ago
  I don’t think it’s about that at all. If you follow the subreddit at all, you’d see that WSB investors have been losing immense amounts for a long time now. I think the primary thing that baffles the more traditional investing establishment is how irrational WSB investors actually are.
  - qeternity 6y ago
    /r/wsb are not the prototypical Robinhooder who have followed on behind them.
    - guywhocodes 6y ago
      The mean dollar through Robinhood probably comes from a WSB:er tho
  - mckirk 6y ago
    Amazingly, it seems actually possible that WSB can remain irrational longer than some Hedge Fonds can stay solvent.
- qeternity 6y ago
  So much this. I cut my teeth in commods which are still very much two way markets. But the equity crowd hasn't seen any real volatility until March of last year and the Fed promptly stepped up to backstop the entire regime. I have friends who own TQQQ like it's dumb not to...and they're right.
- fredliu 6y ago
  I think there have always been potential "investors" that never really lost money because they were never investors in the first place. Lots of Robinhood, r/wsb users/members are 1st time traders because Robinhood significantly lower the barrier to entry for investing, and they don't feel as alone and scary once found an online community similar to themselves.
- pizzazzaro 6y ago
  >a generation of investors who ~~never really lost money in the market~~ never had money to burn in the market, and now want to use it to troll and rage. The only thing they've seen have any power, is now on full display on Wall Street.

JumpCrisscross 6y ago

There is a third factor: a generation of investors who have never really lost money in the market.

Cyph0n 6y ago
I don’t think it’s about that at all. If you follow the subreddit at all, you’d see that WSB investors have been losing immense amounts for a long time now. I think the primary thing that baffles the more traditional investing establishment is how irrational WSB investors actually are.
- qeternity 6y ago
  /r/wsb are not the prototypical Robinhooder who have followed on behind them.
  - guywhocodes 6y ago
    The mean dollar through Robinhood probably comes from a WSB:er tho
- mckirk 6y ago
  Amazingly, it seems actually possible that WSB can remain irrational longer than some Hedge Fonds can stay solvent.
qeternity 6y ago
So much this. I cut my teeth in commods which are still very much two way markets. But the equity crowd hasn't seen any real volatility until March of last year and the Fed promptly stepped up to backstop the entire regime. I have friends who own TQQQ like it's dumb not to...and they're right.
fredliu 6y ago
I think there have always been potential "investors" that never really lost money because they were never investors in the first place. Lots of Robinhood, r/wsb users/members are 1st time traders because Robinhood significantly lower the barrier to entry for investing, and they don't feel as alone and scary once found an online community similar to themselves.
pizzazzaro 6y ago
>a generation of investors who ~~never really lost money in the market~~ never had money to burn in the market, and now want to use it to troll and rage. The only thing they've seen have any power, is now on full display on Wall Street.