Comment of the Week
Why No One Can Stop Talking About GameStop
What Marker readers have to say about the revolt against Wall Street
Everyone’s been talking nonstop about GameStop’s improbable rally and what the battle between Redditors, the wolves of Wall Street, and hero-turned-villain Robinhood reveals about the markets and the greater economy. On Monday, Marker Editors first noted that GameStop’s stock price was going bonkers with the share price increasing by a mindboggling 2,200% over the last nine months, moving from a low of $2.80 in April to $79 last Friday. But the retail trading frenzy continued as GameStop shares climbed to an astronomical $489 and hit a $33.7 billion market cap yesterday at its peak. (The stock has since fallen, opening today at around $358 a share but it remains extremely volatile.)
On Tuesday, Marker columnist and author of The Wisdom of Crowds James Surowiecki wrote about the “meme stock” market bubble forming as Reddit traders banded together to expose the positions of hedge fund short sellers on beleaguered firms like GameStop, AMC Theaters, Nokia, BlackBerry, and Tootsie Roll. “In an odd way, it’s a remarkable testament to the internet’s ability to facilitate collective action,” Surowiecki wrote.
