# Reddit users trying to manipulate stocks
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 27, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627 "2021-01-27T18:14:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 15
### Author:  [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/283 "2021-03-11T14:30:50Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#):
>
> Would that make you a Redditor? đ
If anything, it would make me a hedge fund. đ
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/284 "2021-03-11T14:38:12Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#):
>
> If anything, it would make me a hedge fundâŚ
lol if only. . . .
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/285 "2021-04-08T15:21:41Z")
[Some current news.](https://investor.gamestop.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gamestop-announces-slate-director-candidates-2021-annual-meeting)Share price at this moment is $177.1
### Ryan Cohen to Become Chairman of the Board Following Annual Meeting
> [@](#):
>
> The Company also shared updates that include:
>
> Following the Annual Meeting, the Board intends to elect Mr. Cohen as Chairman;
>
> Following the Annual Meeting, all directors will be compensated 100% in equity;
>
> Following the Annual Meeting, individual director compensation will be reduced approximately 28% from the prior year, and
Older news from the second surge. One author is saying that the second surge is unlike the first surge since the short sales have mostly played out. The second surge was more generic.
> **[International Investment](https://www.investmentweek.co.uk/international-investment?utm_source=international-investment&utm_campaign=redirect)**
>
> International Investment
> **[GameStop, The Second Surge: Anatomy Of A âGamma Swarmâ](https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgecalhoun/2021/03/10/gamestop-the-second-surgeanatomy-of-a-gamma-swarm/)**
>
> The âGamma swarmâ phenomenon looks like something to be reckoned with, a new trading strategy that may require many other market participants â short sellers, regulators, market makers, clearinghouses, certain hedge funds, many conventional investors...
Some of the Redditors in WSB decided to adopt gorillas. In a video, the head of the organization thanked the WSBers for saving the gorillas. Last I read, they had donated over $100K to adopt gorillas.
> **[Gizmodo | The Future Is Here](https://gizmodo.com/)**
>
> Dive into cutting-edge tech, reviews and the latest trends with the expert team at Gizmodo. Your ultimate source for all things tech.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/286 "2021-04-10T06:43:58Z")
# [Plotkinâs Melvin Capital Extends First-Quarter Losses to 49%](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/plotkin-e2-80-99s-melvin-capital-extends-first-quarter-losses-to-49-25/ar-BB1fu6N1)
> **[MSN](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/51percent-to-go-reddit-crowd-rejoices-at-report-that-melvin-capital-rang-up-a-49percent-first-quarter-loss/ar-BB1fuoHt)**
Melvin Capital is the hedge fund that had huge losses for shorting on Gamestop early in this saga.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/287 "2021-05-18T16:01:59Z")
More short sell losses totaling $930M for GME and AMC in the last 5 days. Current stock price for GME is $179.50. Why do they keep doing this?!
[https://www.reuters.com/technology/gamestop-amc-short-sellers-sit-nearly-1-billion-loss-ortex-2021-05-18/?utm\_source=reddit.com](https://www.reuters.com/technology/gamestop-amc-short-sellers-sit-nearly-1-billion-loss-ortex-2021-05-18/?utm_source=reddit.com)
> [@](#):
>
> Investors are estimated to have lost $930 million on their short positions in meme stocks GameStop [(GME.N)](https://www.reuters.com/companies/GME.N) and AMC Entertainment [(AMC.N)](https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMC.N) over the last five trading days, data from financial analytics firm Ortex showed on Tuesday.
> . . .
> Yesterday alone, short-sellers lost over $200 million each in both of those stocks, Ortex data shows. GameStop closed 13% higher at $180.6, the highest level since April 30.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/288 "2021-05-18T16:18:31Z")
My very casual and possibly totally incorrect understanding is this: essentially, these are the original shorts, not new shorts. The stock market is more or less conspiring to let these companies hold onto these shorts well past their due date so that the hedge funds and the market can try to convince the people holding GME that the great squeeze was over and they could sell (for less). There was this big push back in January where every financial news outlet reported, in almost the exact same language, that all the short positions were closed out. And then we found out later that they very much were not. So weâve had a months-long staring contest where the market pretends the whole thing is over with and the shorts are closed, and reddit isnât budging.
It seems credible to me - again with a very casual understanding - since we know that financial news entities were lying on behalf of the short position holders early on, and⌠well⌠if thatâs not whatâs happening here, why does GME stock keep undergoing all these weird fluctuations? If all the short positions were closed out months ago it shouldâve crashed back down to $5-10 and stayed there.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/289 "2021-05-18T16:27:13Z")
Interesting! Makes sense. How did the stock go from from over 100% short sold to all the hedge funds saying they closed out their short positions without affecting all the stock? That didnât make sense at the time.
> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> since we know that financial news entities were lying on behalf of the short position holders early on,
This is the part that bugs me. Thereâs no transparency about what percentage of the stock is short sold. The different reports say different things. These are public stocks and the hedge funds are trading in public stocks. I think there should be more transparency about their positions, if only for the people who are invested in the hedge funds.
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### Author:  [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/290 "2021-05-18T18:58:41Z")
I believe that the current theory is that they were creating a huge amount of naked short shares out of thin air. When the price was $2 they bet big that they could bankrupt the stock and it would hide the naked shorting.
There is currently a proxy vote that is due to end June 9th. If the proxy vote ends up with say 200% of shares voting, the shit is supposed to hit the fan. YMMV
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/291 "2021-05-18T19:12:15Z")
> [@sitchensis](#):
>
> There is currently a proxy vote that is due to end June 9th. If the proxy vote ends up with say 200% of shares voting, the shit is supposed to hit the fan. YMMV
That would be hilarious. But seems unlikely since the shares that are short sold donât seem to have owners. My theory is that they were created in the lag between sale and settlement date that never fully settled.
If the stock brokerages really sold shares that didnât really exist with ownership rights and everything, that would be incredible. Is there evidence that this may have happened? I havenât been following it that closely.
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### Author:  [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reddit-users-trying-to-manipulate-stocks/931627/292 "2021-06-09T00:13:49Z")
Just happened to check the Gamestop stock price. Itâs at $300 even (I wonder how often an even number like that shows up) at the close ahead of the earnings report on Wednesday. Itâs been as high as $483 in 2021.
> **[GameStop stock sent higher by meme trading army ahead of earnings](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/game-stop-stock-price-sent-higher-by-meme-trading-army-ahead-of-earnings-173125442.html)**
>
> The meme stock army is locked and loaded on GameStop's upcoming earnings report.
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