Is this a story of Davids vs Goliath? Sort of. On one side you have scrappy retail investors; on the other you have big hedge funds. And in 2021 these retail traders got together to use the system to make a lot of money. That as a result some hedge funds and brokerages lost money was just the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, many retail traders lost too.
The stock market is basically gambling, and it favors the big boys with deep pockets or connections. One of the greatest frauds is convincing average people to believe that they too can make money on the stock market. A few can make a lot, some can make a little, and many can lose everything. Stocks are an investment only if you are one of the big boys.
The system is gamed. For example, if you want real-time data that is not available elsewhere, you need to get access to a Bloomberg terminal, which costs 20,000 USD per year. Enter Reddit followed by retail brokerages like Robinhood. But before you think these are ways to close the gap, think again. They're just ways for gamblers to gamble even more.
While this documentary gives one viewpoint into the shorts squeeze on GameStop in 2021, sadly it also seems to worship the small-time gamblers who won big despite the odds. Sad, because while it is true that their winnings came from some big hedge funds, it is also true that much also came from other retail traders. In other words, there are no heroes here.
The winners ate both the rich and the not-so-rich. The point wasn't really to punish the big boys; it was to make money from gambling by basically card-counting, i.e. Look for trends, make bets, and get out before the entire feeding frenzy comes apart. No value was created, nothing useful to society was made; money simply changed hands. That's all.
The stock market is basically gambling, and it favors the big boys with deep pockets or connections. One of the greatest frauds is convincing average people to believe that they too can make money on the stock market. A few can make a lot, some can make a little, and many can lose everything. Stocks are an investment only if you are one of the big boys.
The system is gamed. For example, if you want real-time data that is not available elsewhere, you need to get access to a Bloomberg terminal, which costs 20,000 USD per year. Enter Reddit followed by retail brokerages like Robinhood. But before you think these are ways to close the gap, think again. They're just ways for gamblers to gamble even more.
While this documentary gives one viewpoint into the shorts squeeze on GameStop in 2021, sadly it also seems to worship the small-time gamblers who won big despite the odds. Sad, because while it is true that their winnings came from some big hedge funds, it is also true that much also came from other retail traders. In other words, there are no heroes here.
The winners ate both the rich and the not-so-rich. The point wasn't really to punish the big boys; it was to make money from gambling by basically card-counting, i.e. Look for trends, make bets, and get out before the entire feeding frenzy comes apart. No value was created, nothing useful to society was made; money simply changed hands. That's all.