Your weekly recap and outlook
If you re reading this, that means you managed to make it through the stock market s most absurb week in recent memory. You ll always remember where you were when Reddit day traders banded together and pumped 90 s nostalgia stocks like GameStop to the moon an unprecedented uprising that sent ripples through every layer of the financial system.
The story starts, of course, with the traders themselves, who conduct their business on r/WallStreetBets subreddit. They threw the exact perfect mix of market savvy, anti-establishment sentiment, and sheer will into a blender and came out with a destabilizing cocktail that left established Wall Streeters scrambling clean up the mess.
GameStop millionaire u/DeepFuckingValue
Roaring Kitty
Wall Street Bets members are mostly retail investors, non-professional individual investors who aren t part of financial firms like hedge funds, private equity firms, or investment banks.
As Insider s Ben Winck reported: Reddit s structure and the democratic nature of users picking the most popular content differs wildly from Wall Street s research reports and market analysis.
By hyping up stocks and mobilizing the masses to get in on the action, these day traders boosted stocks to the surprise of many Wall Street firms.
The Redditor credited with helping light the match under GameStop claimed he turned $54,000 into $48 million.
Close icon
Two crossed lines that form an X . It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification. Wall Street Bets users have driven up the GameStop stock price. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Reddit day traders rebelled against Wall Street short sellers, sending GameStop and other stocks soaring.
It s far from over, but here are the winners and losers after a wild week in the markets.
A Reddit community called r/WallStreetBets sent real-life Wall Street into a frenzy this week by taking on short sellers â investors who bet on companies doing worse, not better, in the future.
»
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR TUESDAY EVENT: A conversation with Insider s markets gurus on the GameStop and Reddit-trader phenomenon
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR TUESDAY EVENT: A conversation with Insider s markets gurus on the GameStop and Reddit-trader phenomenon
Business InsiderFeb 1, 2021, 21:22 IST
Gamestop.SOPA Images/Getty Images
markets team on the recent market volatility caused by GameStop
trading chaos.
Stock markets around the world are reeling from Reddit traders volatile trading over the past week. How the speculative activity continues could determine whether the trend pops with little lasting impact or sparks a new discussion over economic equality.
What began as an effort to profit from a short squeeze has since exploded into a national debate on market access. Retail traders coordinating on Reddit forums like r/wallstreetbets lifted GameStop, AMC, and other highly shorted stocks, hoping to profit as funds covered their
Close icon
Two crossed lines that form an X . It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
r/WallStreetBets has hit 6 million users, after gaining more than 1.5 million users overnight.
The Reddit community caused a rally in games retailer GameStop s shares this week.
The public has been captivated by a narrative of everyman traders vs Wall Street.
Reddit community r/WallStreetBets surged by more than 1.5 million users overnight to 6 million members on Friday, as newly minted day traders and meme lovers piled in to watch the fun.
According to FrontpageMetrics, an unofficial site that measures subreddits growth, r/WallStreetBets was the fastest-growing all week, increasing its members by more than 2 million over the last 7 days. The group started Thursday with 4.4 million members.