Thank you for linking this. IMHO the reddit thread is useless (I'm looking for older evidence of this term) but the linked post from seekingalpha is from 2014:

Thank you for linking this. IMHO the reddit thread is useless (I'm looking for older evidence of this term) but the linked post from seekingalpha is from 2014: https://seekingalpha-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/instablog/11442671-gerald-klein/3096735-anatomy-of-a-short-attack?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16119453107704&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fseekingalpha.com%2Finstablog%2F11442671-gerald-klein%2F3096735-anatomy-of-a-short-attack https://seekingalpha-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/seekingalpha... The description of a short ladder attack from 2014 strongly implies that the short party is attemping to manipulate a stock from its prevailing fundamental value. There is a key difference in that GME's fundamental value is nowhere near the $300+ range that it was trading it on Thursday! There need not be a misinformation campaign or "attack" for well-capitalized fundamental traders to see opportunity to sell into this. Especially after seeing the capital crunch nailing retail brokers.