# What's going on with Gamestop stock?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-stock/931713
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 28, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-stock/931713 "2021-01-28T20:23:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-stock/931713/1 "2021-01-28T20:23:03Z")
I just took note of this today, but apparently Gamestop stock has gone up quite a bit in the last several months. This seems to have happened on the strength of small investors using apps like Robinhood to buy the stock. While those investors have been buying, large hedge funds have apparently been shorting the stock. This has reached a point where trading in Gamestop has been halted. From what I can gather, both the left and the right are coming out against whatever it is that hedge funds are doing. When AOC and Elizabeth Warren are on the same side of an issue as Ted Cruz and Trump Jr., something weird has to be going on. Being that I’m not an expert in all things stock market, I’m having trouble figuring out exactly what’s happening here. Here are some cites, and then some specific questions.
> **['This is unacceptable': AOC, Ted Cruz and others side with retail investors,...](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/this-is-unacceptable-aoc-and-others-side-with-retail-investors-slam-robinhood-and-wall-street-amid-game-stop-mania-171906758.html)**
>
> A bipartisan group of politicians have raised their voices in support of individual investors who can't buy stocks like GameStock. Meanwhile, hedge funds have no restrictions.
> **[January 28, 2021 Wallstreetbets Reddit thread news](https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/wallstreetbets-reddit-vs-wall-street/index.html)**
>
> An army of traders in a Reddit group are buying the stock to hurt short sellers, the hedge funds that have bet against GameStop. Shares of AMC Entertainment, Nokia, Tootsie Roll Industries and the shell of a bankrupt Blockbuster are all skyrocketing...
1. Why did Robinhood stop people from trading in Gamestop stock?
2. Why did the group of small investors decide to invest in Gamestop? Was it an attempt to keep the company from going out of business?
3. Is the rise in stock price a pump and dump without the dump, or is there something else going on here?
ETA: I can see this becoming a debate, and if it does, please move the thread to GD.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-stock/931713/2 "2021-01-28T20:27:39Z")
There’s literally a thread about it right at the top of GQ:
[Explain the GameStop short squeeze?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-last-word-about-horrible-video-games/845583)
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### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-stock/931713/3 "2021-01-28T20:29:11Z")
My bad 🤪. I will repost in that thread. Mods, please close this thread.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-stock/931713/4 "2021-01-28T20:31:59Z")
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-gamestop-stock/931713/5 "2021-01-28T20:32:08Z")
Done.