GameStop: It's Wall St vs. the internet... and the internet is winning

1/26/21 7:00PM

It's hard to ignore what is going on right now with GameStop's (GME) share price. In the last 2 weeks the shares of GME have gone up almost tenfold... mostly thanks to a ragtag collection of amateur traders on r/wallstreetbets — the always chaotic and often offensive forum dedicated to outlandish trading of financial derivatives on reddit.

The background

‍For the last few years GameStop has been a business in decline as a predominantly brick-and-mortar gaming retailer. Within the financial community the consensus view was simple: GameStop probably wasn't long for this world — and its share price had long reflected that view.

As GameStop shares really began to scrape the barrel (at around the $4-5 mark), a few investors began to see an opportunity. Among the more notable believers was Michael Burry, which is a name you might recognise from 2015 film The Big Short. Less notable investors included a reddit user who had bought $53k worth of call options back in the middle of 2019. We'll call him DFV.

Throughout 2020 a few other investors jumped on the GME bandwagon, including Ryan Cohen, and by late last year GME's share price rice had risen to the mid-teens, closing out 2020 at just under $19. That uptick in fortunes resolved more of the financial elite to bet against GME, buying put options or selling the stock short, anticipating it would eventually resume its downward trajectory. GME was among the most shorted stocks in the entire market.

‍The big squeeze

‍What those hedge funds didn't bank on was just how determined, stubborn, and reckless a group of hundreds of thousands of amateur investors could be. DFV's regular updates on his GameStop bets often revealed greater and greater profits — and reached a greater and greater audience. Inspired traders jumped on the GME train, and over the last few weeks this has coalesced into an enormous movement with 2 primary goals. The first is to make $$$. The second is to screw over the wall street elite that's betting against GME.

As traders buy call options (betting the price will go up), market makers hedge their own exposure by buying shares in the open market. If there's enough demand the price will move higher. That's good for everyone except the funds betting the other way — whose short positions begin to show huge losses. If they run out of courage, or money, they have to hedge that short exposure by... buying shares — that sends the share price even higher, triggering more short sellers to cover their position and starting a vicious feedback loop known as a short squeeze.

One hedge fund, Melvin Capital, that had been betting against GME, had to have almost $3bn of capital injected into it to shore up its finances on Monday. Reddit user DFV was up almost $23 million according to his latest update and as we write this, GameStop shares have opened trading at $308, up another 108% on the 93% they jumped yesterday. It's wall street vs. the internet and — for now — the internet is winning big.

Tom Jones6/24/26

Prime Day is here again and Amazon’s subscription service has never been more popular

Well, it’s that time of year again: many have made their wish lists, people are scraping together the money they’ve saved to pick out a perfect gift, some are presumably leaving out refreshments for the weary delivery drivers and, more and more, drones.

It’s Amazon Prime Day — meaning that it’s the second day of the four-day promotional event that Amazon still calls Prime Day — of course, and it’s even come early this year, with the company bringing the period into late June from July, when it’s been traditionally held for the last five years.

The Prime Age

Alongside the eyes and endless clicks that the arbitrary stream of listicles on “The Best Prime Day Deals” that almost every media outlet pours into, Amazon will also be cheering the fact that there’s now more Prime users than ever before to devour the retailer and its sellers’ sometimes-contested “discounts.” Indeed, according to the latest annual estimates from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), there were just over 200 million American shoppers using Amazon’s massive subscription service at the end of 2025.

Max Knoblauch6/15/26

Electronic Arts launches a platform to put more ads in its games

Video game publishing giant EA launched a new platform on Monday designed to make the process of selling immersive ad space in its popular games easier.

The company says the platform, called EA Advertising, allows brands to “integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content.”

More so than other studios, EA has incorporated advertising into its most popular titles. As Kotaku points out, the company’s ad efforts stretch as far back as 2006. Several of its sports franchises already feature partnerships with brands like Visa, Lowe’s, Red Bull, and PepsiCo.

In-game advertising hasn’t exactly been embraced by fans, but industry experts expect it to ramp up as companies seek more revenue to offset higher games budgets and surging memory costs. EA rival Take-Two has taken a different approach, with CEO Strauss Zelnick recently saying the company was “not at risk of doing brand partnerships” in the forthcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and that ads in full-price games seems “unfair.”

The $55 billion deal to take EA private, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is set to close at the end of this month. Being the largest leveraged buyout in history, EA will likely look for more ways to boost revenue to cover interest payments.

Electronic Arts Makes Push for Ad Dollars Tied to Sports

Millie Giles6/11/26

JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”