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This narrative needs to stop. This is institutional investor shorts vs intentional investors stockholders. Retail is just along for the ride but the instituti

This narrative needs to stop. This is institutional investor shorts vs intentional investors stockholders. Retail is just along for the ride but the institutional shorts did something crazy so other large funds came in like Michael Burry’s and bought large positions. This happens every once in awhile where other institutional investors see an opportunity to take out competitors who is over leverage. So just sit back and watch for the margin calls to go out and GameStop will skyrocket to something ridiculous while the shorts try to unwind their position. Still don’t get how this mess is going to get cleaned up since it’s impossible for the shorts to cover.

99_00 6y ago
Institutional investor and hedge funds aren't the same thing. It's my understanding that the shorts were put on by hedge funds. As far as I know institutional investors can't short stocks.
- mrh0057 6y ago
  Institutional investors are pretty much anyone who manages money on behalf of someone else. I don’t know how the restrictions work but likely has something to do with what the institution’s purpose is.
- MrStonedOne 6y ago
  Institutional investor has become the term to refer to the opposite of retail investors. I don't see that changing.
BryanBeshore 6y ago
Shorting a stock 140%+ is absurd. If anything, time and technology (in this case) caught up with the old game on Wall St.
- jjeaff 6y ago
  It's not any one group shorting that much. It's just that the aggregate has shorted that much. And I'm not sure that it really matters that the shorts exceed the total stock available. Because it's not like everyone will have to cover their shorts at the exact same moment. An entity can buy stock to cover their shorts, then the entity that received the stock to cover the "uncovered" position would then be free to turn around and sell that stock again. The real risk would be having a super large short position for a stock that has very low volume since it would be very difficult to cover lots of shorts if there aren't many people selling stock.
voisin 6y ago
> This is institutional investor shorts vs intentional investors stockholders. Source? Have you seen an update on breadth of long positions vs short positions?
jdjfktkrnj 6y ago
> Still don’t get how this mess is going to get cleaned up since it’s impossible for the shorts to cover. A deep pocketed long term large fund can buy the short position at a discount, a bit like distressed debt, and then just wait it out. It's a guaranteed win if you have deep pockets. Note that when they buy the position, they don't also inherit the current mark to market loss, only a part of it (the price they pay). What is a fair price for this position? I would love to know if someone has any insight on this.
- notyourday 6y ago
  > A deep pocketed long term large fund can buy the short position at a discount, a bit like distressed debt, and then just wait it out. They can't. Contrary to the memes peddled on reddit Illuminati aren't running the world.
SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
But this isn't a narrative any of those institutional investors seem to believe. Michael Burry himself says that the current rally is "unnatural, insane, and dangerous", reports that he's closed his position, and is calling for legal and regulatory fixes to prevent this kind of situation from happening in the future. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-27/michael-burry-calls-gamestop-gain-unnatural-insane-dangerous https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-27/michael-b...)
- mrh0057 6y ago
  It is unnatural and insane. You shouldn’t be able to short a stock that much to the point to can destabilize the whole financial system. The ripple effects can be really severe because the shorts are going to lose an unbelievable amount of money and will likely be bailed out somehow due to the ripple effects.
cpach 6y ago
Interesting! What is Burry’s involvement in this kerfuffle?
- Rebelgecko 6y ago
  At one point he owned around 2% of Gamestop shares so he potentially made a few hundred million dollars
- mam2 6y ago
  He bet on it 8 month or a year ago. saying, as always, that the financials were good. it's not like wsb picked a stock randomly anyway plus there was the microsoft dea.

99_00 6y ago

Institutional investor and hedge funds aren't the same thing. It's my understanding that the shorts were put on by hedge funds. As far as I know institutional investors can't short stocks.

mrh0057 6y ago
Institutional investors are pretty much anyone who manages money on behalf of someone else. I don’t know how the restrictions work but likely has something to do with what the institution’s purpose is.
MrStonedOne 6y ago
Institutional investor has become the term to refer to the opposite of retail investors. I don't see that changing.

BryanBeshore 6y ago

Shorting a stock 140%+ is absurd. If anything, time and technology (in this case) caught up with the old game on Wall St.

jjeaff 6y ago
It's not any one group shorting that much. It's just that the aggregate has shorted that much. And I'm not sure that it really matters that the shorts exceed the total stock available. Because it's not like everyone will have to cover their shorts at the exact same moment. An entity can buy stock to cover their shorts, then the entity that received the stock to cover the "uncovered" position would then be free to turn around and sell that stock again. The real risk would be having a super large short position for a stock that has very low volume since it would be very difficult to cover lots of shorts if there aren't many people selling stock.

voisin 6y ago

> This is institutional investor shorts vs intentional investors stockholders. Source? Have you seen an update on breadth of long positions vs short positions?

jdjfktkrnj 6y ago

> Still don’t get how this mess is going to get cleaned up since it’s impossible for the shorts to cover. A deep pocketed long term large fund can buy the short position at a discount, a bit like distressed debt, and then just wait it out. It's a guaranteed win if you have deep pockets. Note that when they buy the position, they don't also inherit the current mark to market loss, only a part of it (the price they pay). What is a fair price for this position? I would love to know if someone has any insight on this.

notyourday 6y ago
> A deep pocketed long term large fund can buy the short position at a discount, a bit like distressed debt, and then just wait it out. They can't. Contrary to the memes peddled on reddit Illuminati aren't running the world.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago

But this isn't a narrative any of those institutional investors seem to believe. Michael Burry himself says that the current rally is "unnatural, insane, and dangerous", reports that he's closed his position, and is calling for legal and regulatory fixes to prevent this kind of situation from happening in the future. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-27/michael-burry-calls-gamestop-gain-unnatural-insane-dangerous https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-27/michael-b...)

mrh0057 6y ago
It is unnatural and insane. You shouldn’t be able to short a stock that much to the point to can destabilize the whole financial system. The ripple effects can be really severe because the shorts are going to lose an unbelievable amount of money and will likely be bailed out somehow due to the ripple effects.

cpach 6y ago

Interesting! What is Burry’s involvement in this kerfuffle?

Rebelgecko 6y ago
At one point he owned around 2% of Gamestop shares so he potentially made a few hundred million dollars
mam2 6y ago
He bet on it 8 month or a year ago. saying, as always, that the financials were good. it's not like wsb picked a stock randomly anyway plus there was the microsoft dea.