MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle set Rep. Maxine Waters up with a softball question about the GameStop stock price war, suggesting that perhaps it wasn’t fair for the average American to use a resource like r/wallstreetbets for stock trading information. Instead, like banks, shouldn’t the little guy be regulated too?
Ruhle interviewed Chair of the Financial Services Committee Waters on what actions the committee could take to address the GameStop stock price war that started Jan. 13 and slowed significantly on Feb. 2. Ruhle went after the anonymous retail traders. She asked Waters, “What about free resources? Should people be able to use anonymous chat rooms to pump up a stock, tell a story and not have to hold any accountability?” Major financial institutions like banks have to abide by regulations. Waters responded, “We’re gonna find out,” if platforms like r/WallStreetBets should remain unregulated or if the platforms should be able to exchange trading information at all.
GameStop’s stock became a subject of interest after stock prices increased more than 50 percent in a single day despite the retailer reporting poor sales figures during the third quarter of its fiscal year 2020. The stock value continued to increase, some days by more than 100 percent in aftermarket trading. Large financial firms like Melvin Capital took a major hit.
Forums frequented by retail stock traders like r/WallStreetBets created memes and encouraged users to buy the stock and hold it. The collective action shown by the retail traders had the effect of boosting the stock’s value enabling them to walk away with significant profit. The action also hurt hedge funds that predicted the stock’s value would fall.
Robinhood, a popular retail trading app, and other platforms, came under scrutiny for restricting trading on Jan. 28 of some stocks including GameStop when the trading frenzy was heavy.
Waters announced that there would be three congressional hearings regarding the GameStop Stock price spike. The first of three congressional hearings focused on the retail trading company Robinhood, and occurred on Feb. 18. The hearing addressed Robinhood’s choice to restrict the trading of stocks that had been highlighted by Reddit and other retail trading forums. The second hearing has not been held yet, but Waters said that “experts” would be present to explain what really happened.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact MSNBC at (212) 664-6605 and demand that it report the truth about the GameStop stock price surge and defend the abilities of individual investors to trade freely.