Gamestop, AMC and Hedge funds.
What a mind-blowing story.
Do yourself a favour and if you are pretty new to all of this sort of thing watch this podcast. I was put on to this channel by a friend who mainly deals in Bitcoin. Even though the channel is heavy into talking about Crypto currencies they did this podcast about what exactly is going on with Gamestop (GME) stocks and explain the situation.
I am pretty new to stocks, only learning during the first lockdown how easy it is the get into and how fruitful it can be. Now- Please PLEASE always remember that stocks are effectively educated gambling. There is no such thing as a sure thing- Wall street is now learning that thanks to this story- and educated gambling is still gambling. I AM NOT in any way recommending you get involved with anything- especially not stocks- ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY not Gamestop (GME) or AMC entertainment (AMC) without your own research and with money you are absolutely ok losing. -Now that is out of the way- lets break it down.
If you have listened to the above podcast you will understand the connotations here- just how illegally operated these businesses are- and what are the punishments by the government when they have been found to break the law? The businesses and hedge-fund managers responsible for BREAKING THE LAW are charged A PERCENTAGE of what they have MADE! So... A tax on ill gotten gains then- not a fine. Isn't a fine supposed to outweigh the gains and give you a reason to not do what you did. Not allow you to keep a large percent of what you made. This then must obviously open links to government based corruption, surely? Making a rule where rich can get richer and donate a small percentage of it as a 'fine'- then carry on.
Watching the film The Big Short made me angry. It made me angry because the game was rigged to be un-losable if you have enough money. What was the punishment? Create a law that is breakable- when it is broken you are charged a percentage of what you made. Not all of it. Not extra. A donation and then allowed to continue.
If you or me robbed a bank and stole 100k we would be put in jail- all money removed and a mark against our name for the rest of our lives limiting travel and many many other things. Not awarded a vast percentage of what we stole and then allowed to do it again.
So. WallStreetBets. I have donated to the cause. I don't plan on ever seeing a return- I see it as me paying a little bit of money to slap a hedge funder.
Please feel free to inform me if I have any of the above wrong. Drop a message or a comment. I want to be wrong, but I am pretty confident I am not. Corruption and laws made so the rich can get richer.
If you want to buy stocks or crypto I used at first:
Freetrade for stocks- follow this link and sign up and you will get a random free stock worth between £3-£200 (I get one too) -Once you have set up your account you will be able to get a similar code to send to friends so that you can get a free share from each friend that makes an account. I love the app they have it is super user friendly and secure- they also have really really good customer service. There isn't the biggest choice of stocks at the moment compared to some, still hundreds, but they add to their portfolio most weeks. The fees are also really low and there is the option of a plus account and ISA.
Coinbase for Crypto- I actually use other wallets but Coinbase is pretty user friendly for buying with low-ish fees and they have great training videos where you can earn crypto from them in minutes. Although I buy on here- I have had issues- their customer service is really really poor- so perhaps just use it for the training videos and free crypto until you are comfortable trying other exchanges. There are codes you can share for people to join the app but I am not really happy with recommending it for rewards until they fix some issues. Again, once you have an account you get your own link and you can send it to friends and you get a reward for each one that sets up an account.
I will mention again I am not recommending you get into stocks or crypto- do you own research and see how you feel- the above are just the services/companies/apps I have used. I will do a breakdown of them properly with more extensive pros and cons at some point I am sure. It is good to diversify your portfolio in different places the above again are just what I started with and are good for beginners.