Just to get back to this - FINRA is an entity that tracks each individual investors trades. I get their reports as part of my job and have been part of the circulation and review of them. They watch for insider trading, odd trades, etc and have some pretty incredible data at their fingertips. I have personally seen people get nailed on insider trading through these reports. They can tie some amazing stuff together.
It is illegal to coordinate and participate in stock price manipulation. That is very clear in the laws.
It’s great if you are in and out on this stuff on the way up. But there are going to be stories of bag holders and that is when the fun stops and reality sucks. There are going to be some folks who don’t know what is going on and will buy late and when the main players on WSB (who also trade for a living so don’t think these guys are not in it for the money either) pull the plug on the fun, the bag holders will lose. Someone always ends up holding the hot steaming bag of shit and that’s why this stuff is illegal.
Hedge funds who short 140% of the outstanding shares definitely are risking a ton all while pushing stock prices down - too far down which chokes some companies of needed capital (FTR I don’t like shorting) - they will survive this. If people think these billionaires don’t have access to more capital and will short these same stocks on their way back down - and they will go down - and make quadruple of what they were already making already - they are sadly naive IMHO.
By the way - “they” don’t halt trading. Algorithms do. The systems are set up in a way to slow down this kind of volatility. It’s not some room of suits monitoring each stock who are smoking $1k cigars laughing at retail investors all day. It’s an automatic set up - like anti-lock brakes on a car, not a conspiracy. Just a system function built into all trading platforms as required by law.
Once the bag holders are fucked, the SEC will investigate. The Wolf of Wall Street will be repeated. It’s all fun and games until people on the back end lose their shirts and the regulators review what happened. And they take their time. The market is irrational and the regulators are there to try to keep as close to rational as possible.
This “us vs them” shit is getting fucking old. No one is sticking it to the man. It’s about greed on both sides if this is how you choose to play it. There is no Robin Hood; there is no good vs bad here. It’s all about the gains. Capitalism at its worst.
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