LOS ANGELES — By now the entire investing world has been captivated by the story of a few plucky online bandits who took on the big boys of Wall Street and beat them. The Redditors drove up the price of GameStop and other stocks and short-squeezed the life out of some major hedge funds. For one day, David slew Goliath.
Rather than just accept defeat, the hedge funds threw a temper tantrum and demanded government action.
Congressional investigations may be on the way. Newly appointed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ordered online trading companies to crack down. Online investors who tried to purchase shares of GameStop on platforms such as Robinhood and E-Trade were prohibited from doing so.
The entire GameStop episode has reduced both sides of the conflict to laughable hypocrisy.
Reddit is a social media hotbed of leftist social justice warriors who take joy in bullying others.
Reddit is a haven for people who support cancel culture, with conservatives and rich capitalists being the root of all evil. Many Redditors support the tactics of Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and any other group that vows to carry out the Aerosmith “Eat the Rich” agenda.
Now, these same Redditors are arguing for the right to engage in unfettered free-market capitalism. They are upset at being canceled. They are angry that the government is interfering in their right to live their lives and buy and sell things as they see fit.
The Redditors’ GameStop victory will be short-lived
On the other side, Wall Street barons who eat, sleep and breathe capitalism are arguing for massive government regulation.
The same people who objected to overreaching Dodd-Frank legislation want new rules slapped on retail investors holding a few shares of stock in a hobby account.
The government must take appropriate action. By action, that means inaction. The government should do absolutely nothing. President Joe Biden should not cancel COVID meetings to demand hearings on the great financial non-scandal of 2021. It is only the government officials deciding to interfere who should be under restraints.
With stock trading, only one criteria matters. Only one question is valid. Did the Redditors break the law?
The answer is a simple and loud “NO!” They made a legal bet and won. They should not be harassed by the government because the losing side of the trade got their feelings hurt. The big traders lost money, but they have plenty of money. This is about wounded pride and bruised egos.
These Redditors fought the system within the system. The Redditors did not riot or burn down buildings. They bought stock legally. Not from the illegal cocaine and stock dealer on the corner. They opened up a retail brokerage account, filled out the appropriate account paperwork, and risked their money in their account.
Unless anyone can point to an actual crime committed by the Redditors, there is nothing to investigate them for.
The people who should be investigated are the companies who banned the Redditors from trading. This will not happen because it would lead to Biden administration officials being held accountable. Even Massachusetts Senator Liz Warren is defending the Wall Street firms rather than the Redditors. Principles apparently matter less when the chance of a cushy government job is on the line.
The same people who said that Twitter had every right to ban President Trump…
Are now objecting to having their own stock brokerage trading accounts restricted.
The argument that these are private companies who can do whatever they want seems to appear hollow.
Private companies have broad latitude, but they cannot do whatever they want. If any good comes out of this, a few socialists might discover that massive government power should not be used to crush people trying to legally get ahead.
Those who are true free-market capitalists who believe in rules, laws and fair play should tell the government to butt out.
The Redditors had every right to make their trades. If Wall Street hedge fund managers are not savvy enough to out-trade online Pajama traders, the hedge fund managers can quit and do something else.
Conservatives are constantly accusing liberals of being crybabies and brats who run to mommy government rather than accept personal responsibility for their own failures and bad decisions. Now the roles are reversing. The rich conservative capitalists are blaming the system and the angry leftist socialists are demanding the right to be free.
Both sides are hypocrites, but the Redditors have one thing on their side. They have the winning argument.
They are right. It may be the argument stolen from the other side, but the argument itself is what matters. We are a society of laws. The game was fair. The laws were followed. The Redditors won, and they won legally.
Any government investigation into the Redditors should result in indictments and prosecutions of those who started the investigation. To avoid years of retaliation, recriminations, and revenge, the government can stop all of this by doing nothing. The GameStop government message to Wall Street should be brief, unequivocal, and uncompromising.
Game over. Stop. Move on to the next trade.
