What you need to know about Redditors vs GameStop

Every week, Maddyness curates articles from other outlets on a topic that is driving the headlines. This week, we look at the developing situation involving r/WallStreetBets, GameStop, hedge funds, regulators, and a lot of other people.

Temps de lecture : 3 minutes

GameStop: What is it and why is it trending?

You've probably stared blankly at your WhatsApp chat as the words "GameStop", "Reddit" and "stock market" get thrown around the way "pub" and "meet at 8" used to. Your friends have become Jordan Belfort from the Wolf of Wall Street overnight, and you have no idea what they're on about. Well, we see you slyly Googling "What is a GameStop?" and we're here to help. Everyone loves a story of plucky underdogs and sticking it to "The Man" - and this one is a belter. Read the full article via BBC News.

An explainer on how Robin Hood is involved in this GameStop/Reddit fustercluck

How does Robin Hood (spelled Robinhood in this context) fit into this whole GameStop/Reddit mess? Well in the days after all this kicked off, things have escalated further as the hype over GameStop on Reddit has spilled out over to other companies like Nokia, BlackBerry, and AMC Entertainment. The dramatic jumps in stock prices of all these companies has drawn scrutiny from the US government and regulatory bodies. Popular stock trading app Robinhood – which has many users who own GameStop stock – has blocked users from buying more GameStop stock due to “recent volatility.” Read the full article via The Brag.

Reddit’s run on GameStop shuts down European trading apps

Like many people, UK-based Sayem Ahmed saw an opportunity to strike it rich on social media this week. Ahmed, a marketing specialist, saw people talking on Twitter and Reddit about the rise of troubled US video game retailer GameStop. Now, European trading apps like Trading212 have been hit by outages amid frenzied activity around GameStop shares driven by Reddit users. Read the full article via Sifted.

GameStop staff on minimum wage hit out at Reddit stock war

GameStop staffers who keep their jobs typically make around $11(£8) an hour, according to Salary.com. That's lower than at Walmart. Retail sales positions on GameStop's site ask for a high school diploma and six months of regular work experience. Against that backdrop, the stock run up, egged on by the Reddit subgroup r/WallStreetBets, has left a bad taste in the mouth of some. Read the full article via the Independent.

GameStop may be a game, But Nokia sure isn’t

The Reddit trading target we really need to talk about isn’t GameStop Corp. or AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. It’s Nokia Oyj. While shares of GameStop and AMC have surged as bands of Redditors have piled in, Nokia stock is the biggest gainer in Europe this week for the same reason. At one stage yesterday, shares in the Finnish company that are listed in the U.S. jumped 63% before falling again. That’s a far more worrisome phenomenon. Read the full article via Bloomberg.