GameStop Corp (stock symbol GME), an American retailer of video games, electronics and wireless services, has become one of the most attractive issuers for investors in 2021, in a story that illustrates the changing face of the investment landscape, in the context in which in one month its shares appreciated by 685.5%, according to calculations made by ZF based on data from Investing.com.

 

Nearly a quarter of this rally was recorded on January 26, when Elon Musk posted on Twitter "gamestonk", a word game consisting of GameStop and stonk, a slang for the word stocks (shares). a 92% rally, rising from $ 76.8 to $ 148 per unit.

 

Like many other retailers, GameStop suffered last year due to the reorientation of consumers to online, so the losses led the company to announce the closure of 450 stores in 2021. GameStop operates about 6,500 stores in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. But, surprisingly, the chain of stores with a history of 37 years is today the target of a battle between small investors in the Reddit community and Wall Street shorts that show no signs of fading and that has highlighted some changes in the investment paradigm.

 

In other words, small investors have added large buy orders to the idea of ​​ruining Wall Street bets that the price will fall, a bet that has proved very expensive for financial professionals over the past month.

 

On Wednesday, GameStop shares continued their upward trend, rising in the premarket by 68.9%, to $ 250 per unit, according to Investing.com data. In September 2020, Ryan Cohen, investor and founder of online pet food giant Chewy, bought a 13% stake in GameStop. Subsequently, the price began to rise as retail investors entered the purchase to benefit from the low price, taking advantage of what they saw as an ideal buying opportunity. Wall Street investors, on the other hand, saw the market as a chance for a declining bet and a chance to shorten the stock.

 

Short selling involves selling a company's shares and selling them with the intention of buying them back cheaper when the price drops and making a difference. Many Wall Street fortunes have been made through this type of trading, but on the other hand, if the price goes up, the losses can be huge.

 

According to The Guardian, about 71.7 million GameStop shares, worth about $ 4.7 billion, are currently traded in absentia. But the company has only 69.7 million shares available for trading, which means that more than 100% of the shares are traded in the market in absentia, according to data aggregated by ZF. As of January 26, 2021, these bets have cost investors about $ 6.12 billion, which includes a loss of $ 2.8 billion on Monday, January 25.

 

According to ZF's calculations, in the last two weeks, GME shares have advanced 642%, which means that they have increased more than 7 times, the company reaching a capitalization of 10.3 billion dollars.

 

Bemorepanda prepared some memes.

 

1.Getting robbed

 

2.During the pandemic

 

3.Insurance better

 

4.Black Friday

 

5.Hit close

 

6.Money for trade-in

 

7.RIP

 

8.Can I get a change

 

9.Math is hard

 

10.Walmart be like

 

11.Gamestop

 

12.Trading

 

13.Chicken and gamestop

 

14.Mind blow

 

15.Shopping with mom

 

16.Love and devotion

 

17.Couple of clowns

 

18.Nature is healing

 

19.Game exists

 

20.So long

 

21.High brow

 

22.Trade in

 

23.A  big collection

 

24.Trade in credit

 

25.Gamestop be like

 

26.The game my son wants

 

27.Reddit Wall Street

 

28.Gamestop employee

 

29.Two stocks

 

30.Gamers life

 

31.Busted

 

32.Gamestop cashier

 

33.Insurance adjusters be like

 

34.Walmart says

 

35.Gamestop credit card

 

36.Better?

 

37.Games at home

 

38.Not my job

 

39.My car outside

 

40.Gamestop robbed

 

41.Gamestop be like

 

42.Old Pokemon

 

43.Gamestop sticker

 

44.Congratulations

 

45.A fortune

 

46.30 games

 

47.Roving hedge

 

48.Ma'ma

 

49.Do you game?

 

50.Trying to sleep