Re the GameStop thing: These flashy stories are always a good opportunity to analyze the news media and learn about them.
A general observation: I love how some of these experts in news are informing us that all stock market investors are young and diverse. I’m sure you’ve heard that too. I think they assume that since retail investing and trading is done online now, it is, ipso facto, done by young people, who are, unlike other age groups, also diverse, for some reason. Because you know, it was young people who invented the internet just a few days ago, on a strictly diverse basis or whatever, and also diversity is important, see, so: young and diverse. Also Reddit is only for young people according to no sources. I use Reddit, so I guess I’m young! Misinformation can be a plus!
Their naivete is pretty fun. A little dangerous, but mostly funny as hell.
And I get the the distinct impression that many of them think all the established Wall Street elites who run these hedge funds and brokerage firms (etc) are all old men. All of ’em. I’m pretty sure I heard one insinuate that they were in (not)fact old WHITE men, which on the one hand relieved me, because I was absolutely sure some left-wing idiot would start blaming White Men, and they did! (I’m still waiting for them to blame Trump). But on the other hand, it makes me want to punch my TV (what with all my toxic masculinity ‘n whatnots).
And hearing them all blather on about GameStop (and their hilarious efforts at appearing erudite, and professorial, explaining “short-selling” to the populace as if they, being reporters, knew all along, and they didn’t just look it up on Wikipedia to get a clue); and those “explainers” they give on the stock market generally, as if they have the foggiest clue about the stock market — or even about Reddit (they quickly looked that one up too I suspect, given how they talk about it)… so much fun.
It reminds me of those U.S. Congress hearings or some ridiculous and usually purely performative official Canadian parliamentary committee hearing on the latest tech privacy problem (or whatever issue they’ve been told to act all concerned about), and they betray themselves and their ignorance by exhibiting this cringeworthy, hideous, non-understanding of tech with the most amazingly embarrassing questions and statements. I love it when that happens because I appreciate the learning experience about politicians and governments and bullshitting that so many will benefit from.
Let’s be clear with actual facts: precisely 99.999% of news media reporters and editors know exactly nothing about GameStop, investing, stock markets, the economy, or how any of that works, nor anything about the people or personalities involved, not their age, sex, or their skin color. Nothing. Nor even how business works, as may be readily apparent when you look at their employers’ business models and their profit/loss statements). They act as though they do know, tho, just as they act as though they’re politically objective and unbiased. It’s a performance. A sort of a lie. According to sources.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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