On 11 January 2021, two words accidentally earned a tiny firm 527% profit in shares over night.
When South African tech-guru and multi-billionaire Elon Musk tweeted “Use Signal”, investors worldwide rushed to buy stocks in Signal Advance. Although the company was literally unknown in the financial arena prior that moment, the intensity of demand drove prices through the roof.
Elon Musk was referring to “Signal”, an encrypted messaging app striving to be an alternative to Facebook messenger and WhatsApp. However, it was “Signal Advance”, a small medical device company that ended up in the trading spotlight.
Blind Faith
While news headlines focused on the hilarious but colossal benefits from the public’s misinterpretation, what caught my eye was the public’s response. It’s obvious that none of the investors scrambling for Signal Advance stocks did their homework. Everyone literally put their money where Elon Muck’s mouth was. They forked out millions of dollars, putting their financial security on the line in blind faith by taking Musk at (what they assumed was) his word. The immediate, unquestioned and intense response to Elon Musk’s position caused me to compare it to the response God’s people have to His word.