This is a response to the recent GameStop stock spike, where it rose up to around 1700%. Robinhood, a trading app that utilizes 'comission-free' investing, has come under fire for relinquishing trades from being traded. But here is the thing- Robinhood is actually charging you a fee for trading; they just sell it to you at a higher price and pocket the difference. Because of this loophole, many people use the app which allows Robinhood to sell your trading data to Hedge Funds, so they know what you are buying and try to stop the stocks from rising.
The 'meme' culture has also blossomed during these times, and even the GameStop stocks and other similar ones, like DogeCoin, have been called 'Meme Stocks.' On the reddit, Wall Street Bets there are many memes avaliable. For the first time in some of these people's lives, they have been able to purchase medicine for their families and pay off student loans because of their trading. One meme that was posted, entitled "Reactions to the GameStop Short Squeeze," described the four views of our political system: Authoritarian, Economic-Left, Economic-Right, and Libertarian, with the Wall Street Investors, in the middle. While these four groups usually have quite significant political differences, they all share different but similar reactions to the market. Whether it be eating the rich, still being mad about outsourcing jobs, finally paying off student debt, or the free market at work, it seems like the American people are the real winners.
Additionally, Sea Shantys have become largely popular due to social media. Circulating the internet, came this rendition of what happened to $GME. I quite enjoyed the song myself, and I thought it was worthy of sharing. It goes like this:
"There once was a stock that put to sea, the name of the stock was $GME, the price went up and the shorts dipped down, Hold my bully boys, hold. Soon may the Tendieman come, to send our rocket into the sun. One day, when the trading is done, we'll take our gains and go. She had not been two weeks from shore, when Ryan Cohen joined the board, the captin called all hands and swore he'd take his shares and hold. Soon may the Tendieman come, to send our rocket into the sun. One day, when the trading is done, we'll take our gains and go. Before the news had hit the market, Wall Street Bank came up and bought it, with diamond hands, they knew they'd profit, if only they could hold. Soon may the Tendieman come, to send our rocket into the sun. One day, when the trading is done, we'll take our gains and go."
Origionally written by user @geosaris on TikTok, this GameStonk song went viral.
There are many concerns that this rasies for Wall Street Traders and the American people, alike. As meme culture has been steadily on the rise, memes have been starting to expose corrupt politicans and other plots used to manipulate the American people. As we can see from news platforms and memes around the internet, this economic blimp will be catostrophic. There is no doubt that lobbists will be demanding change in legislation and restrictions on what a 'free market' means.
Thank you for reading my response! If you wish to see the original response, click here! Go Stonks!