What did you do this week? I spent it drenched in sweat, launching a vicious assault on Wall Street hedge funds which cost them $5 billion (£3.7 billion). And I didn’t even have to put my trousers on.
Along with thousands of other degenerates, I bought shares in GameStop, a struggling US video game store whose value has soared by 2,000 per cent in the last four weeks. Behind the surge is a wild Reddit community called WallStreetBets, where bored young men gamble on barely researched stock tips and crack tasteless jokes.
The community, whose tagline is ‘like 4chan found a Bloomberg terminal’, has a long and hilarious history of aggressive stock market bets leading to eye-watering gains and losses. In 2019, for example, a clueless 19-year-old member made $700,000 (£510,000) and then lost it all again within two weeks.
I became the only moron to buy GameStop shares and lose money
But this GameStop episode is different.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in