I’d say the rest of the market was pretty crazy. Not exactly March 2020, but most of the market bled pretty badly today. But yeah, with GME specifically, Thursday was peak insanity.
Just like parents and children. If the child wins some contest, it's "My son/daughter! That's my son/daughter up there!"
Investopedia is a good resource for looking up stuff about markets, finance, and investing:
Yes correct. It can be lucrative to lend out your shares. Brokers can offer more than 10% on certain issues. But, at the end of the day, you hold a stock because you think it's going to go higher. A short seller thinks the stock will go lower. So, in theory, after you make your shares available to borrow, when you sell those shares you will be better off than by simply holding the stock.
An additional point: now that essentially all retail investors do not actually possess the shares in their portfolios (shares are held in "street name" by their broker for them) brokerages can lend shares to short sellers without asking permission from holders. Even worse for retail investors, there is no compensation paid when brokers lend out "your" shares.
Yes, true, if you have a margin account. Most people do not even know they agree to lend out shares when they sign the broker agreements. I think you can call your broker and participate if you have a cash account and have enough shares.
It is usually lucrative for the broker. This is one of the ways they make money. But it depends on the type of account you have and your relationship with the broker. If you have a cash account and large enough shares you can reach out to your broker to see if you can loan out your shares.
You can lend your shares and make $$. The broker that is facilitating this of course takes a bit off the top.
We’ll see I guess. I’ve got two shares in right now. Might average down if it hits $150.
and I get to call the shots at what I invest in. Yeah, I bought in because of this. But again, so what if it tanks. I'm not disillusioned into thinking this will go to 69,420.69 per share. The lesson with all of this is worth and actually getting in is worth waaaaaaay more than any of this, and so is the fun in sticking it to those huge fund managers. I let all my other future investments be for real, this one is for fun and learning.You are making an investment decision based on how you believe the public will react to a market condition (weather, war, politics, health, stick it to the man, etc).I bought in. 1 share. If it goes up, yay. If it goes down, oh well. I can afford one share.
The important thing (in my mind) is not the price of the share, but the fact that over the course of just a few short days there millions of people really paying attention to the stock market, and actually putting a concerted effort into learning how it works. For these people it the stock market was just some voodoo thing where you could buy a portion of a company somehow, and there are crazy guys flashing their hands and throwing paper every which way on a floor. Now they learning terms both of the traditional variety, as well as the WSB variety. If these people buy even just one share of stock of GME, they get to see what happens and how it happens. They get to see all the public and even some of the private, sketchy stuff going on. There's no learning like actually doing, and a heck of a lot of people are just now doing.
For me, I have some (not enough, but that's neither here nor there) money in a govt. thrift savings plan account. Every now and then I change up my positions around between various funds, and I enjoy getting statements that say I gained X percentage this quarter, etc. But now, I've got a freaking brokerage account
Am I wrong with any of this?
I mean, I guess. Q: Do I think it will go up? A: Do I even care. Is it that the important thing for me here? Nah, not really. This particular instance for me was less investing a more a part of just being there and sticking it to a hedge fund. Of course I want it to go up for my sake, but one share of GME isn't going to make or break me! I mean, I might as well "diamond hands" hold this thing till I die. That's what I think a lot of the seasoned vets don't get, a lot of these people straight up don't care about losses with this, they'll hold and hold and hold some more.
But they, brokers, cannot buy directly with your cash. That is against the law. Hence the need for clearinghouses.