Economy

Reddit Users Unite To Buy GameStop Shares and Turn Stock Market World Upside Down

What happens when an online chatroom convinces everyone in it to buy one stock simultaneously? Individual investors win and hedge funds lose big and people who have been trading stocks in suits rage at those trading stocks from their phones.  The stock market saw just that with GameStop over the past few weeks. On Jan. 15, GameStop was valued at $35 but on Jan 28 it was valued at $469.42. This astronomical increase has been tied to a Reddit Forum, Wall Street Bets, whose users learned that Melvin Capital “shorted” GameStop, betting that the stock price would fall, and people in the forum decided that they would buy the stock so that Melvin Capital would lose their money. This initial reaction set off a chain of events that will most likely be remembered for a long time.  The stock price of GameStop has since gone on a wild ride that has all media outlets glued to this constantly developing story. On Tuesday, the stock opened at $88.28 but closed the day at $145.96; by the closing bel...