1110: The prize and peril of GameStop for amateur investors. @GZuckerman, @WSJOpinion
Image: Stock Exchange Gregory Zuckerman, @GZuckerman, @WSJOpinion; Wall Street Journal Special Writer, in re: Anu Bajaj Guha (Anubhav Guha), a 24-year-old grad student in mechanical engineering at MIT. Has been on student income till he decided to put $500 into the stock market. One of GameStop’s biggest winners; put in $4k, lost half, then found subReddit; put $500 at $20 a share for GameStop. Bought options. From $500 to $203,000; 40,582%. In climbing from $60 to $400 (he gets a $36,00 annual stipend), he buys 7 lbs of chicken thighs every Sunday, cooks it up with rice and some frozen vegetables—that’s all he eats all week long. Recall that there’s a tax bill coming. A hedge fund made $700 million. He may be tempted to go back in; it’s not just the money but the community. People are looking for companionship, purpose. . . . I don’t know anyone who still uses a Blackberry. https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-one-gamestop-trader-the-wild-ride-was-almost-as-good-as-the-enormous-payoff-11612348200?reflink=desktopwebshare_twitter