The retail trader insurgency has massive implications for the future of capital markets.
This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.
This week, a collective of foul-mouthed internet memers took down some of Wall Street’s best-known hedge funds. In today’s episode, NLW looks at:
- The historical context of how the Great Financial Crisis set the stage for WallStreetBets
- How WSB gained infamy during the COVID-19 crisis by correctly predicting the market’s rebound while other investors remained bearish
- Why WSB started going after short-sellers, particularly around GameStop (GME)
- How WSB forced a short squeeze that required Melvin Capital to call in nearly $3B of emergency capital
- Why Robinhood forcing users to stop buying GameStop and other related assets will go down as an inflection point in the history of capital markets
See also: Retail Traders Sue Robinhood Over Meme Stock Restrictions
Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images News and WallStreetBets Subreddit