158 Comments

Careful Glenn, US has the first female treasury secretary! Therefore, any criticism of how politicians handle Wall Street is sexist!

On a serious note, you and your readers might find this site useful. Both parties are corrupt and enjoy the benefits of insider trading (they made it legal for themselves), Democrats have now become the bigger party of the Wall Street:

Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Congress:

https://unusualwhales.com/i_am_the_senate/congress

Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Senate:

https://unusualwhales.com/i_am_the_senate

> For example, Pelosi in Dec 22 was against more stimulus. Her husband buys deep ITM TSLA and AAPL calls that day. December 23rd, she is suddenly for stimulus again, with those same companies ralling 5%, giving her an instant +30 return.

> Congressman Gottheimer is absolutely an incredible options trader. He’s been selling calls at peaks on $MSFT all 2021, & seemingly buying back the contracts on dips. This in blocks of $250,000 - $5,000,000, which is incredible size given the amount of $MSFT shares he owns. For ex, on 02-12 he sold 500k $MSFT $160 strike expiring 06/18/2021. On that same day, he bought deep ITM calls of $1M-5M at $145 expiring 03/19/2021. The whale caught both of his movements as well.

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Corrupt evil POLS.

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GameStop is not over. Please keep investigating. WallStreet Bets is compromised just like the mainstream media. We migrated from there to rGamestop. Then r/GameStop got compromised. This happens all the time. Now we are on r/Superstonk. Shorts never covered. The stock market is a Ponzi scheme filled with synthetic and naked shorts. Trades are also done in dark pools to suppress the price. Also check out the interviews on the Superstonk YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/q8-JO3g5bm4 Great interviews and information from hero’s who’ve been fighting and investigating naked short selling for decades. You are one of the good ones Glenn. The mainstream media is a complete failure and propaganda machine. Wall Street bets is dead. Garbage.

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I haven’t used that Reddit cesspool for couple years since they banned The_Donald but I am curious how you know those subs are compromised?

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What’s not a cesspool? Because I’ve been personally involved since January. They erase posts, comments or anything that has to do with GameStop and the squeeze. The short sellers are screwed. Ryan Cohen took over and they can’t be bankrupt. It’s impossible. They have a billion in cash, no debt. Micheal Burry who shorted the housing market in 2007 when people thought it was crazy warned about GameStop. Small float, lots of FTD’s. Also this isn’t just retail vs hedgefunds. The two biggest holders of GameStop are BlackRock and Vanguard. Go look. They are going to buy everything up once GameStop pops.

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I don't understand the point of podcasts so I didn't listen to it, but from your writeup it seems like you think GameStop/AMC is a good thing. I mean I get the "eat the rich" thrill I guess, but really there's nothing good about this. A functioning stock market is an important bedrock of any free market economy. the short sellers looked at these stocks, analyzed them, thought they were overvalued and shorted them. This just helps the market prices reflect true values, which is the point of the stock market. Then people knowing nothing about the stock just buy it because it's a meme, and keep buying it as it becomes the most expensive stock of all time. that's just gambling, and stupid gambling. Why is this good again? And in addition to making the stock market a useless investment tool, it's probably not a good thing for the vast majority of the people that the institutions losing money in this silliness are managing your pensions. It's your money that these cowboys are trashing.

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author

I think it's complex with good and bad sides. I'm not really sure what the difference is between a podcast and an interview, but I see things like this as the latter, the point of which is to explore and better understand those complexities, not to glorify them.

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Agree with this, and by podcast, I just meant I like to read rather than listen. It's sort of like shopping on home shopping networks waiting for the item you want to pop up vs just ordering it on amazon.

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author

Understood. Often I also prefer to read someone's thoughts than have to listen to them. But sometimes I think things are better conveyed by hearing directly from a person with particular knowledge rather than having me (or another journalist) act as mediator. Most of what I do here is writing, of course, but every now and then I think a topic is well-served by a different format.

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A transcript of the podcast would be great as it would not be you mediating but would convey the same information in faster form (reading vs listening, ease of scanning). Another advantage of print vs video is there is no automatic bias created by the appearance or mannerisms of the interviewed to which we humans are, sorry to say, prone. In print, the idea is everything as there is no distracting image.

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Direct transcripts of extemporaneous speech are frequently very difficult to follow, let alone ken the substance, compared with hearing the voice and seeing the non-verbal comm clues.

That said, I much prefer written (i.e. composed, and clarified for objective reading) discourse.

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Thanks. Prefer writing

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To each his own. I prefer live interviews because the guest's nuance is difficult to capture in writing. Matter of fact, I generally dismiss transcribed interviews.

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Agree. I am a much better reader then listener

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I like to read and at times re-read an article. Some podcasts, like Dan Bongino have an entertainment value along with conveying information. Problem is some of the over the top podcasts utilize "entertainment" as a substitute for facts and data. Dave Rubin is a well balanced podcast where Dave is pleasant and congenial host while presenting good interviews as well as an analysis of current news stories.

MSM seems to be a quickly dying paradigm where some vacuous talking head prattles on about whatever their corporate masters deign to be the latest narrative. Facebook and Twitter appear to be well controlled outlets for whatever POV has been decided and approved by unseen influencers of public opinion. Really is an information bog out there that needs a thoughtful approach in order to make sense of the world around us.

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Why are you responding to a condescending elitist who would actually type, "I mean I get the "eat the rich" thrill..."?!?!

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"A functioning stock market is an important bedrock of any free market economy" -- on what planet is "arrow63" ??

The US stock market has been mal-functioning for decades !

And "free market" economy is a delusion like "US democracy and freedoms" that our military brings to the world

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That's your opinion, but for reality based people, it's made them a huge amount of money just by buying an index fund and leaving it alone. And these silly GameStop spasms are just dumb sideshows that excite dumb money and teach all the wrong lessons.

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The "too-big-to-fail" crony-Capitalism is the public malfeasance that will ultimately destroy ALL free markets if not kept in better check.

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Correct -- if we don't have nuclear annihilations of life on Earth....

A bit of history about US War party – by Dave Lindorff - Aug 4, 2020 ( ThisCantBeHappening.net )

Unsung Heroes of Los Alamos: Rethinking Manhattan Project Spies and the Cold War

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/04/unsung-heroes-of-los-alamos-rethinking-manhattan-project-spies-and-the-cold-war/

• Plans for 300 nuclear bombs on USSR, with minimum 15-20M dead (these estimates were before “nuclear winter” effect was identified)

• US spies are unsung heroes that prevented another US crime of our millennia

And: https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/09/remembering-ted-hall-and-klaus-fuchs/

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I'm pretty sure we'd agree on very little, but that you're much more excited about your opinions than I am about mine so you win on intensity.

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So, by your silence, I accuse you of supporting bail-outs, M. arrow63.

M. Amy, for all her passion, is the one trying to fing common ground with you, and all you can do is condescend.

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That's the one thing M. arrow63 is right about! The U.S. stock market has worked wonderfully. Our capital allocation and investment markets are the envy of the world. Yes, there is malfeasance, both public and private. And the truth of those comes out and bad players are eventually exposed.

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An amazing reader's comment - worth remembering:

Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Congress: https://unusualwhales.com/i_am_the_senate/congress Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Senate:

https://unusualwhales.com/i_am_the_senate

> For example, Pelosi in Dec 22 was against more stimulus. Her husband buys deep ITM TSLA and AAPL calls that day. December 23rd, she is suddenly for stimulus again, with those same companies rallying 5%, giving her an instant +30 return.

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And, of course, there is a bit of history of not that long ago...:

A bit of history about US War party – by Dave Lindorff - Aug 4, 2020 ( ThisCantBeHappening.net )

Unsung Heroes of Los Alamos: Rethinking Manhattan Project Spies and the Cold War

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/04/unsung-heroes-of-los-alamos-rethinking-manhattan-project-spies-and-the-cold-war/

• Plans for 300 nuclear bombs on USSR, with minimum 15-20M dead (these estimates were before “nuclear winter” effect was identified)

• US spies are unsung heroes that prevented another US crime of our millennia

And: https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/09/remembering-ted-hall-and-klaus-fuchs/

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Your points are not unreasonable, but let's not forget the name of the subreddit: wallstreetBETS. Of course it's gambling. It's not investing.

But then so is what the hedge funds are doing. They aren't soberly allocating assets for long-term returns, they are engaging in highly-leveraged gambling with other people's money. And until 2021 they could always count on Street and government institutional support if things went south or in their struggles with the retail investor. The news is that now the tables have turned, in an admittedly small way.

I agree there is just a little too much excitement over this. If you read the subreddit, there are certainly a few smart guys in there, but their voices are overwhelmed by the babel from (not to put too fine a point on it) ignorant children who inexplicably wait until a stock climbs to unsupportable levels before buying in with their last dollar. That's not the traditional way to make money, and it will remain a money-losing strategy in the future.

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There is nothing new under the sun is what my 90 year old dad always says. Another thing he always says when referring to his Wall Street trades - something he has been engaged in for 65 years and has done quite well (risk + luck) - is "I need to call my bookie." His "bookie," of course, being his broker. Wall street, as he has taught me, is a gambling casino and it's rigged.

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Not completely. I’ve lost lots of money in casinos but by following simple rules am very much “up” in the stock market

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The casino experience is controlled by two things. -- greed and fear. Same as the stock market. Controlling both can result in a profit. Problem is most every human born cannot balance these forces and fall victim at some time to these forces. Wall Street is somewhat of a casino without the free booze. But the majority of W.S. is an actual market that over the long run produces advancement within corporations, money to finance future endeavors and for many investors long term profits that mimic those of the overall business community in any given decor of society.

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Yep. Bad financial strategy. Successful strategy at pointing out inequities in the system

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These HedgeFunds shorted 140% of the stocks which were available. Plus Tesla was the perfect example of how short sellers abuse their relations in the corrupt media to spread FUD and try to destroy a legitimate company. For many years, Tesla was the most shorted stock and yet Elon kept proving them wrong. That was another reason why Elon said he's learnt his lesson and will not take SpaceX public.

Tell me how shorting more than 100% stocks and spreading FUD about legit companies is a good thing and how that "helps the market prices reflect true values"?

And if some moron puts their money in stock market using AMC and GameStop and loses the money - then they deserved it and will learn a lesson. An idiot and his money are soon parted. But that's not what's going on here. People who have money and are willing to potentially lose it just to have a "establishment" feeling are the ones who should be playing with AMC/Gamestop etc.

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Shorting a stock doesn't mean you think it's a piece of garbage, it means you think it's overpriced. It's a very common opinion that Tesla's fundamentals don't justify its lofty share price, and institutions shorting the stock were trying to get that adjusted. It doesn't mean they're right, but a real price results from people with varying opinions buying and selling. A stupid price results from people buying because it's an internet meme, or just buying to screw the hedge funds, or just because it's going up and assuming what goes up can't go down. None of this is healthy.

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No, I am not talking about tesla right now. I am talking about where they were 2-3 years ago and how they were getting shorted plus bad press with FUD mixed in to try to discourage them and their buyers as much as possible. At that time they weren’t overvalued. They had production issues sure but they are a tech company, not a car company and therefore their tech was crushing all the stuff from their competitors. And that’s why and how Elon proved them wrong.

A stock should simply not be allowed to be shorted over 100%. That makes absolutely zero sense and that’s where I think you and I differ. You can’t say something is overpriced and then be okay with it being over shorted.

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I just don't care about the "overshorting". first for technical reasons it doesn't really happen, because synthetic long positions are created in a short. But it's an arcane point and can be viewed in different ways. More importantly, it's extremely rare even if you ignore the technical issue. People (not you, but maybe someone like Amy the commenter here) seem to think evil hedge funds are shorting company stocks and bankrupting and putting poor people out of business. But none of that really happens. People buy and sell stock, there are winners and losers, it should be boring and long term. But encouraging this sort of ridiculous behavior is just going to lead to ruin for people arriving late to the game, and bad investment lessons for everyone else. And of course it's all egged on by the media because stocks aren't usually exciting, but this insanity is.

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"bad investment lessons for everyone else"

Well if anyone is putting their money which they aren't willing to lose into GameStop or AMC as an "investment", they are a fool who deserves their money to be lost. No sane person is putting money in these right now as an "investment". It's for shits and giggles and to get a feeling of "sticking it to the big guy". And it's their own money they are putting in, so I really don't see how it will "lead to ruin for people arriving late to the game".

If you go in the stock market (or any market in general) as an adult and put your entire savings or next month's rent in there without common sense, then you made that decision and you deserve whatever consequences there are. I really don't see why I need to feel bad for some hedge fund manager in case a poor person makes some money out of a shits and giggles meme.

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Those who arrive "late to the game" probably always get trimmed to some point. That is the nature of the stock market. Thats a descriptor of life itself. Small number innovators in any society reap whatever benefits that society offers while in the end the society reaps the residual advances or increases in efficiency. It is how we move forward. Capitalism is based on this idea. It can be abused but is usually self correcting because of the multi forces at work cannot be cornered by any one practitioner for very long.

Even monopolies come under the sway of market forces just because their offer. for a short time. an advantage that does not last forever. AT&T was a great investment. After it was broken into its' constituent parts it produced even a better ROI and spawned a huge telecommunications mega-industry that offered many good investments and as many flops. In the end the public benefited by the variety and pricing of products even futurists could not predict. Most of this was brought on by innovators and inventors who were financed and driven by that very market that created and then divested monopolies like AT&T.

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Speaking of encouraging ridiculous behavior, there are strong forces pushing towards higher valuation based on little information. Plenty of people choose maximum retirement-plan contributions once and never revisit the decision.

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It has always been thus! People and institutions have often traded based on nothing more than rumors and very speculative reports. It is not really ridiculous but actually normal behaviors driven by something for nothing ideas or just plain old greed. Once money or assets are lost the gambler in most cases has paid a price for his/her lack of financial education that schools failed to provide. Should consider it as a University level course in finance that whatever you lost was the tuition for that level of finance 101 from the perspective you being an individual willing to learn the basic lessons of investing. Something for nothing is very rare and usually does not exist in the world we serfs inhabit.

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Amy, you just need to take a deep breath. Reread what I wrote, I'm not blaming you for anything. I'm just saying you have very passionate and far out of the mainstream views. You didn't cause anything, and it's ridiculous to infer that I'm saying you did. who knows you may be right, but what I do know is people with your extreme and strongly held views about anything won't be changed by exchanging comments online. So I'm aiming my discussion towards people who are more open to other ideas. Peace.

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"...not be allowed to be shorted over 100%..."

180 degrees wrong! That is ANTI-free market. The over-shorters got their just rewards. That will stop over-shorting, NOT more regulation.

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Who decides whether a stock is over-valued? You seem to think there is an "objective" price for stocks (and, by extension, I fear, everything else) that the "experts' at big banks know, but we hoi poloi do not.

How much is your car worth? You don't know until you agree on a price with a buyer. It is NO different with stocks or labor or.....

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I think it’s an even harder than “what’s your car worth”. When Elon started his Tesla or Spacex, he was mocked and everything was called impossible. Nobody could ever believe that this company out of nowhere would change space travel for forever.

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Hey, M. News: You have probably already seen this: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/california-judge-assault-weapons-ban-historic

Check out those wonderful exerpts from Judge Benitez' opinion! (sorry to interrupt our discussion here with off-topic.)

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Yep. I read the full 94 page ruling and fully enjoyed it. It was filled with stats and facts and also called out the democrat/media narratives.

The judge put a 30 day stay on it though and obviously CA is appealing it and appeals court will most likely overturn it unfortunately. But all this won’t be decided until scotus finally grows the balls to take up the case and shut this gun control nonsense down.

Media being the enemy of the people that they are ran with whatever was mentioned in the first sentence of the ruling instead of the rest of the ruling filled with stats and facts.

Lawyers Viva and Barnes discussed it here:

https://youtu.be/_6B6Qo3R8Us

Ps. Just a suggestion that you should start using archive.is instead of actual news media links- it prevents them from getting clicks plus also preserves articles for when they do secret edits to them.

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This is central to the Capitalist project:

The owner, and ONLY the owner, and the prospective owner, and ONLY the prospective owner to ANY trade should do the instantaneous valuing, which automatically makes it subjective, as it should be.

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Problems when Wall St. institutions "target" a stock then spread negative rumors and financial reports about that very stock, with the help on an unethical media, it all becomes a rigged game. This is no different than a "pump and dump" scam practiced by boiler rooms, just in reverse. The stock market can be a jungle and without some specialized knowledge you will become prey to the predators who roam that jungle. Good and honest investment firms do a decent job, for a fee, but even they get scammed from time to time by some very smart and unethical operators. There are never a shortage of unethical operators when there is easy money to be made.

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That's why the vast majority of people should buy an index fund or etc, and ignore it for decades. You really can't get scammed by the machinations you're worried about with a long timeline. And you absolutely, positively should not be reading "tips" on instagram and buying those stocks on margin to teach Wall Street a lesson. But that's what Gamestop/AMC is all about and it's really dumb.

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You and I/Not Me$ are talking about two different points imo. I agree with what you are saying but we are talking about 2 different things.

You are talking about solid investment plans - and I agree with you on that.

But this GameStop/AMC stuff is not "investment". This is a shits and giggles meme culture - throwing in money simply to make the hedge funds bleed a little bit. Most likely to lose money but get a "good feeling" that some rich hedge fund manager had a shitty day for a bit. We are not talking about "investments" here.

And if anyone's doing this as an "investment", then they didn't educate themselves with some financial education before entering the market and thus deserve to lose whatever they put in.

Also on the brighter side, you should acknowledge how this thing has exposed the hypocrisy and corruption in the finance sector and politicians. It educated a lot of people on how corrupt Robinhood practices are. It exposed people like Elizabeth Warren to those who didn't already know she was a corrupt politician who only really cares about her Wall Street buddies while giving you lip service.

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No. That's why we will always need small investors, and their ever better platforms for allocating their OWN capital to maximize their OWN wealth.

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In a true market money is not "lost." It is just moved from one institution or individual to another. The "new money" invested finances corporations and and research to enhance the corporation's value while supporting new products that add value to the comp[any and society in general. Apple and Microsoft have really revolutionized modern society based on investors belief on their business models and the public's acceptance of their products. On the other hand many companies with flawed business models crashed and burned costing individuals whatever they invested. This is a survival of the fittest paradigm applied to the business world. In the old Soviet Union this lack of competitive struggle produced nothing but crappy cars and many other products. The need to compete to survive has some real value.

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They are called capital-allocation markets, after all. That is what they do, in order to maximize investor stored capital value, i.e. return-on-investment. All sunshine is good, and all judgments are made on (and therefore corrected because of) objective market performance, in the long run.

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All values judged by individuals who have skin in the game (stand to lose/gain capital/property).

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You are correct that the shorting has a purpose. They aren’t doing that. They are creating naked shorts and synthetic shares. They are flooding the market with them. The stock market is a Giant Ponzi scheme. They are making loads of money. It’s illegal but the fines they get is so small compared to the profits they make. What happens when a company bankrupts? Those shares disappear and they don’t pay taxes on them. Big corporations are also involved in this taking out the competition.

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Listen to this man. Death spiral loans to small cap companies, then naked shorting the companies into the dirt -and hiding the naked failures to deliver in options contracts.

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All profits come from "someplace." Usually can't steal from an honest man. Taking out the competition that you refer to is the survival of the fittest aspect that trims the inefficient companies and rewards the more efficient. That is the idea but it can be distorted by unethical practices and the usual human greed that permeates any market ever created. When the distortions and unethical forces get too pernicious either the market corrects them or it too dies; as the tulip market and others did in past times. Markets are just another illustration of the human condition in one of its many forms. If there were not markets we would invent something pretty similar to take its place. Humans cannot be regulated into little "units of production" that many think possible. We will always return to some statuses that is dictated by our DNA or "humaneness" Would be like trying to control the tides -- pretty much a fools errand.

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Don’t be naive, short sellers manipulate stock prices all the time for their own greedy purposes. Can you say Goldman Sachs!

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First podcasts are long form interviews on your phone (and I am a dedicated Luddite). Secondly these hedge funds frequently manipulate stocks lower and higher for pecuniary interest. The tables were turned. I am happy if they are anxious.

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Re "functioning stock market": Isn't the market distorted a lot more by the Fed than these Reddit amateurs?

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Re: arrow63

Well, here's a succinct bit of writing/reading that you evidently didn't comprehensively consider prior to commenting on the topic which it introduces.

"Jaime Rogozinski on the politics, purpose, ethos and future of a rapidly growing group of small online investors and activists masterfully gaming the financial casino."

However, the diversion into the distinction between listening and reading preferences & comprehension birthed a mini-thread of its own, despite our author's diplomatic kindness and patient reminder that an element of a podcast is an interview.

And most importantly, the discussion/interview with Jaime Rogozinski is comprehensive and thoughtful, as well as being replete with the sounds of happy pets.

As Usual,

EA

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"Those so-called happy pets are a deliberate distraction!" - Adult-onset ADHD victim (of many, many things).

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Re: TAS/pop122

Is that a contagion or an attitude?

As Usual,

EA

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Exactly!! ( ;0 )

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After three days of considered anticipation awaiting a sign, it seems we have an understanding. (:-})

As Usual,

EA

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Oh for heaven's sake arrow63, are you not aware that the stock market is rigged?

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*A functioning stock market is an important bedrock of any free market...*

What makes you think we had a (fairly) functioning stock market?

Talk about rigged...

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Dude the stock market is not functioning ...

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Some people are better at processing auditorily, so it makes sense to me that the content includes podcasts.

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Absolutely. I guess some people took my comment to mean there should be no audio, but I didn't mean that. I just meant to explain that I don't listen to audio so maybe something I wrote in my comment was contradicted in the audio I didn't listen to. I just put some snark on it because I thought that's what you're supposed to do online.

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Very reasonable post. But to this, "I just put some snark on it because I thought that's what you're supposed to do online," I just want to say, "Well, we at least try to do things a bit different around here." (And my success rate is somewhat below average. Note, I mean that as a compliment to the general punditry going on this forum.)

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You're right, you don't understand.

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Try reading Varoufakis's #AnotherNow on your assertion that a "A functioning stock market is an important bedrock of any free market economy. " Actually it came into being the same time Shakespeare was writing Hamlet. It POURED MONEY into burgeoning capitalistic gambling

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Yes but it also funded lots of thriving enterprises. It was way back then that businesses depended on stock markets, now they rarely issue new shares. People here are misinformed about the link. In any event you’re not reading my comment logically. I am saying you need a stock market to have a free market economy,which isn’t controversial (except here apparently). I’m not saying it’s existence guarantees a market economy.

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Read the present GREAT economist Varoufakis the elected office from Greece to the EU. I always go to the best. youtube him or read his books as he is in great demand as the expert on a free market economy without capitalism

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“ A functioning stock market is an important bedrock of any free market economy.”

Ah, yes…slogans.

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yeah, I got it from a clip of a Vietnam War protest, all the protestors were chanting it. It's really catchy.

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This guy is a scam artist Glenn. You're being used.

He has literally nothing to do with today's WSB and is trying to ride the meme stock hype to some sort of quasi-celebrity status (grift).

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Nailed it. The amount of attention this guy should be getting is that he founded the sub, and not much more. I don't find his take on the current situation to be helpful or valuable at all. He's clearly not that knowledgeable about it beyond following along enough to seek attention for personal gain.

I don't even browse WSB anymore. To be fair, it's hard to keep tabs on a throughline for a phenomenon that has organically grown so quickly, and has outgrown/transcended the place it started (WSB), and for which no single person can really speak beyond their own personal experience with it.

Props to you, Glenn, for continuing to try to keep some of your attention on this in the midst of all the other things you're covering. Had it been an interview with this guy done by anyone else, I wouldn't have bothered listening at all.

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An amazing comment - worth remembering:

Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Congress:

https://unusualwhales.com/i_am_the_senate/congress

Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Senate:

https://unusualwhales.com/i_am_the_senate

> For example, Pelosi in Dec 22 was against more stimulus. Her husband buys deep ITM TSLA and AAPL calls that day. December 23rd, she is suddenly for stimulus again, with those same companies rallying 5%, giving her an instant +30 return.

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I find it ironic that they call stock sales persons brokers.

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Wow so much to comment on. I am an older, conservative long term investor. I despise anyone or anything that encourages a “casino” mentality in regards to American capitalism/Wall Street. I love to see the carnivorous hedge funds forced to watch their backs. I fear that if block chain truly makes things clearer and fairer it will never be implemented. I would certainly consider very high taxes on short term positions, however they are defined. I bought Starbucks in 1990(which I still own) because they had a great cup of coffee. Old school. I’ve done well

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As someone who is basically financially illiterate, I’ve been LUCKY to get what little I have in the way of “wealth.” I own my home (okay well I have a mortgage and the payments are current) I own my car have a 401k etc etc. The basics. I don’t have a lot of knowledge in this area and as mom always said opinions are like axxxxxxx everyone has them. Heres simple from simple RE: the markets.

Safe to say there are SEC violations that go on year after year and never get prosecuted. After 2008 more than 30 bank execs were handed prison sentences for their respective roles in mortgage and/or TARP frauds. Some say idiots in DC were at least as culpable as Wall St (someone here mentions Pelosi as an example of more recent egregious behavior) and I doubt ANY of the former did time or were even prosecuted.

I participated in Occupy WS movement. I saw people around me suffering from losing the working and middle-class “wealth” they worked for decades to build. I also know some foolish people who believed the lies they were fed and yes, I believe there was predatory lending and there were actual victims.

I know that any deal with any financial institution is a gamble and rigged for The House. 2008 was the culmination of a series of schemes and games designed by some very smart people. They knew eventually the crap was going to land on the bottom rung and they knew who would be holding the ladder. But 2008 was not the last scheme by those smart people or more like them - as way less than a financial genius I worry what the next “ladder” will be and whether I’ll be one of those holding it.

What I would do now if I were in charge: burst the student loan bubble and take down Loan servicers and the politicians who benefit from them (look at everyone who said they would cancel student debt - the promise that disappeared in the ether). Then give everyone a one year penalty free period in which they could withdraw up to 100% of their 401k and choose their own investment vehicle (precious metals, stocks, mutuals, land whatever). Not liquidate just manage their own. Make volunteer financial planners available to those (like me) who need the help. Same for Social Security.

I’m tired of being taxed taxed RE-taxed on money I earn. I had nothing when I started and if The House has its way I’ll end up with nothing.

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I think on the student loan side, the solution is to get rid of student loans existing. My solution of how to pay for it:

Rather than a loan, have the university get some percent of the graduates salary for a certain amount of years. (Say 10% for 7 years, as a hypothetical example with no calculation behind it). This does two things.

1. This puts the onus on the college to help graduates find a good paying job if they want to recoup their investment in the student. It also makes the college more invested in helping every student succeed.

2. This regulates how many students will graduate with certain degrees. If the college knows you will never get a job with a certain degree, they won’t offer it, or they will greatly limit their spots available. This may seem unfair to programs like the arts, but I believe it is even less fair to waste an individual students money on a loan or the taxpayers money on subsidized college for someone to be underemployed their entire life.

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I have been proposing a similar solution too- get universities to co-sign the loans. Similar impact to your ideas too which are both excellent.

Unfortunately this will never happen. But a girl can dream.

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Yes, a similar solution indeed. My first instinct is that the advantage of your solution over mine is that the student has some skin in the game. The disadvantage of your solution is that 18 year olds don’t make the best decisions with money unless their parents or school counselors are doing an excellent job, which especially for the poor students who need this the most, often isn’t happening. Some of these students will stick themselves with a bad loan and end up paying on it for maybe even years before the co-signing university is responsible. This makes me think we are both partially right here, and maybe the right approach is more like 7% of salary for 7 years and a small flat fee for every year attended (arbitrary numbers for illustration again).

But as you mentioned above, none of these things will happen, and it’s all a dream.

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Yep. Both ideas are powerful but they will never happen. But hey, you never know. Run on a platform focussed on 3-5 issues only and maybe you can get some traction.

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Is Mr. Rogozinski the infamous 'roaring kitty' of WSB? .. meow.

Everybody seems to want to get rich Quick. I, too, have been following Bitcoin since they were giving it away in Cracker jack boxes (& look at it now.), and keenly followed Gamestop and, as result, other listed AMC/Short stocks.

Never 'pulled the trigger' on any of it. I don't understand that world, and I'm a gambler. People who can create securitized credit default swap derivatives out of thin air .. . can do anything.

I'm all for an -unfettered- free market-place. .. but ***suspending*** Gamestop trading so the big Hedge Funds could recoup some losses seems a crooked game?

*I prefer to stick to bushes, where the poor and ragged people go . .. 'and the tireless workers in the Vineyard gladly labor in quite anonymity.'

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He is not. This guy doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same paragraph as Roaring Kitty, a.k.a. u/DeepFuckingValue.

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Thx. Somewhere during the interview (ok, Podcast.), I somehow got the impression he was.

*hope Greenwald, or somebody with half a brain, will revisit the various lawsuits working their way through the courts over the suspension of Gamestop trading during its astronomical rise in Jan.

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If you don't know who the mark is after 10 minutes, you're the mark.

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G- thank you for your work.

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Thanks for this very interesting discussion. Would be nice if you could do something similar with the topic of Blockchain and the pros & cons of the various crypto-currencies.

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Doesn't the "mining" sunset?

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In like 2140, then the "miners" will simply continue confirming transactions in order to collect the fees.

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As soon as I saw the Corporate Mainstream Media trashing wallstbets, I knew they were up to something good. Marc Cohodes calls CNBC the "Cartoon Network". He's right.

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I Love WSB. Been throwing around money on options like I'm a coked out Gordon Gekko for years. Shits legalized high risk gambling. Love it.

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It is good medicine, and long over-due.

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Isn't the stock market just a legalized form of gambling?

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Living and existing within a modern society is in and of itself be a gamble. Killings, auto accidents, enviromental caused illnesses and on and on it goes. Want to gamble your money there is always a willing bookie to accept your bet and quote the odds. Stock market is a type of betting but since the companies have equity and assets it is not an all or nothing proposition. Lose your money slowly or make a killing, even though you have no interest or real stake in the business you own shares in. Gambling is neither intrinsically legal or illegal but just either sanctioned by gov't or prohibited by that same gov't. What is legal gambling on one side of the street can be illegal on the other side if located in two different States. Legal or illegal gambling is gambling however you cut that pie. You can be guaranteed that either way get gov't will arrive after the payoff and demand its share of the proceeds. If risk and reward are the criteria then the market is surly a gambling casino.

The added good point is helping the businesses that are thriving unlike a casino that just takes its profits and does whatever the casino thinks will make it more money. Corporate windfalls from a soaring stock often go right back into the company to improve it and in the end make the company stronger.

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No, it is not. But you are a Statist, aren't you? You don't believe an individual should be able to own stock, do you? Only the State should have ownership in enterprise, right comrade?

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