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There is no GameStop MOASS coming

 




Sorry.  There is none.  There is a cult on Reddit that consists of folks who tell either other that they're all about to get rich with their collection of modestly priced GameStop stock, or options. 

The coming apocalyptic event that will lift the true believers into the heaven of obscene wealth is known as: the GameStop MOASS.

MOASS stands in turn for "mother of all short squeezes." For those who aren't familiar with matters financial and don't know what a "short squeeze" is ... let me just say that it is the mirror image of a traditional stack market panic.  An old-school panic is a situation in which the price drop of a stock sets off a sudden belief that the stock will go further down, and a rush to sell it in time to get SOME value out of the sale.  That rush to sell is a self-fulfilling prophecy: it does drive the stock price down.

A short squeeze is the opposite.  It is where people (generally those who have bet that a stock will fall in value -- we need not worry about the mechanics) comes to believe their bet has been wrong. The stock will go up at a speed that will ruin them.  They seek to settle their position, which requires purchasing the stock.  If enough speculators are in this position and react that way, then the sudden panicky desire for the stock does drive its price up.    

The MOASS, the mother of such squeezes, would of course be great news for those who own the stock going in. Even if the stock in question is GameStop.

https://slate.com/technology/2024/10/reddit-gamestop-stock-wall-street.html

But the cult is fooling itself.  As cults do.  There is no impending GameStop MOASS.   

How can I know this? Well, first, because the apocalyptic predictions have been coming in for years now.  A bit like the ones about Jesus arriving.  “GOOD MORNING - HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR LAST POOR WEEKEND. MOASS IS NOW🚀🚀🚀” typed one Reddit user in January of this year.  “Good night, apes. Sleep well. We’ll most likely have MOASS in the morning,” another pronounced in July. It happened neither time. There had been a bit of an upward move in April and May, but far short of MOASS levels! The January prediction just quoted came in the midst of a downward drift and the July prediction of another one.  

More importantly: the management of GameStop has figured this out! They know they have a cult and they are making money off of it in a way that makes MOASS ever more distant.

Farhad Manjoo offered a more detailed explanation in SLATE recently.  I commend it to you. 


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  1. Paul D. Van PeltNovember 2, 2024 at 6:26 AM

    Odds are this is probably right. Murphy said anything that can go wrong will...at the worst possible time. This has proven right, occasionally. But, it not anything to bet the farm on. Relax. Have a cappucino. Or a martini.

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