MacGyver

I guess they’re gonna have to kick him out of their basement.

Yours is the one that got me interested in it.

Sweet trench gun. Always thought bayonets belonged on shotguns.

There's an old saying that if something is free - you're not the customer, you're the product. One of the primary firms at the center of (what will be) the investigation is Citadel LLC. They're sort of two businesses in one - they're a giant "alternative asset manager" aka hedge fund - and the other half of their business is one of the biggest market makers out there. Citadel is a major investor in Melvin Capital - one of the hedge funds that got run over by r/WallStreetBets - having invested almost $3B after they got caught in the GME short squeeze. On the other side, Citadel is Robinhood's biggest client. One half of your shop just got run over - the other half looks and says - okay we've got to get this money back. There's some stuff in that "making our money back" that can cross the line from "ethically grey" to illegal really quick. But, Robinhood looking after their biggest customer by offering up the common retail investor is really something else entirely,.

I know this will read as "the little guy getting screwed again." But, I wonder to what extent the brokerages have an ethical burden to act? Basically, if you see Wall Street firms market-making and buying options and other complex derivatives at the same time - you're basically watching folks get screwed. Is it better to have a pissed of customer with some money - or a pissed off customer with no money? I know, I know - free market - everyone knew there were risks. But, if you know the little guy is going to get screwed - because it's literally a setup - do you step in and put a stop to it? Investing isn't for everyone - I get it - but if somebody spent their rent money this morning at $460 and it's trading at $155 right now - where do you put a stop to it? A couple of hedge funds got screwed - likely by another hedge fund. Fine. Everyone needs a hobby. But, this isn't that anymore.

There’s some increasing evidence that Wall Street firms are playing both sides of this and fueling it. A firm could potentially simultaneously see orders and then trade options at prices they can then ensure. As retail investors were increasingly shut out yesterday as their brokerages closed access, the price still rose quickly. Some hedge fund have already figured out a way to make money off of this. Again, this is some billionaires screwing other lesser billionaires - so on one hand who cares. But, a lot of those retail investors are going to be left holding empty bags. GME’s drop is going to be as fast as it’s rise.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned one thing in the last few years it’s that the internet has made the world a much smaller place. From the colored revolutions to BTS Tiktok’rs taking over rallies a lot more marginalized groups are finding their voices through the internet. We should also definitely couple in the fact that Wall Street has some amazing skill at monetizing flaws in market systems - they’re also surprisingly immature in some areas that make them vulnerable to stuff like this.

NASDAQ’s CEO has suggested they might halt trading to allow funds to “recalibrate their positions.” https://www.mediaite.com/news/nasdaq-ceo-suggests-halt-to-trading-to-allow-big-investors-to-recalibrate-their-positions-to-combat-reddit-users/amp/?__twitter_impression=true When 2008 happened, it was the taxpayer that bailed (most of) them out. This is another verse to that same song.

No doubt.

Basically, yes. Oddly, they’re not really equipped for investigations like this. They’re more or less doomscrolling on Twitter like everyone else.

The SEC has released a statement that they’re “monitoring the situation.”

There’s no way they can actually monetize this spike and profit from the volatility in any real way. You’re not going to get a line of credit on that - at least not at terms that aren’t more predatory than the ones they’ve already got. Plus, no management team wants to be in the position of having to explain what’s happening as opposed to the story they want to tell. The team from chewy.com just took a big position in the company and three board seats to go with it. I guarantee you this wasn’t the press they were looking for. When short positions are at 140% you’ve already got the deck stacked against you - mind you by a bunch of hedge funds that want to profit off your failure. This doesn’t change any of their fundamentals in any way that’s meaningful. You have a distressed company with a record of being awful to its employees being pumped up for lulz. I won’t lose any sleep about billionaires getting screwed by other billionaires. And watching hedge funds get beat at their own game is funny. But, GME probably still winds up at zero. If the team from chewy actually thought, “hey we’ve got an ecommerce background - that’s what this company ought to be - we’ve got a team that can do that” - then that job just got a lot harder.

I'd sure hate to be in management at GameStop or AMC right now.

The SEC could always take an interest - although they don't seem to have a lot in the way of teeth over the last few years. This isn't like a typical pump-and-dump scheme - in that it seems far more distributed. Were I investigating this, I'd be interested in some of the bigger 'influencers' in r/WSB. To the extent that anyone is playing with institutional money - that would be problematic. Anytime a company is shorted over 100% bears some investigation. But, whether the SEC will do it - who knows? But, this stock and the market at large are being artificially manipulated. Sure, here it's at a micro level - but it certainly could have larger implications at a macro level.

It's like 4chan got a Bloomberg terminal. The Reddit r/WallStreetBets is actually quite interesting reading. The fact that they've basically bankrupted a couple of major hedge funds is insane - and kind of serves them right. They're currently moving on AMC too. This won't end well, but it's fascinating to watch.

I spent a bunch of time on that thread a few years back. I love seeing what a dedicated hobbyist can do.

Of course I should add that there are lots of good quality billet receivers available on the open market. Tactical Innovations, Kidd, FJ Feddersen, and Volquartsen all come to mind. Heck, Razor (whose quality I can speak highly of) even sells a solid brass receiver.

I built a race dragon 10/22 from an 80% billet receiver. It’s by far my favorite of several 10/22s I’ve had. Quality of a billet receiver is better than the cast halves of the typical cast 10/22. I’ve got a mill and a lathe, but I’ve built one of these with a friend on just a drill press. That doesn’t mean you should build one. If you’re just looking for a 10/22 to bang around with - go with one off the shelf. They’ve got enough factory variants to fit about anyone’s desires. But, if you already know you’re going to change the stock, drop in a Kidd trigger and/or bolt, run a custom barrel, or some combination of those - now you could reasonably talk about doing an 80% build.

Zion is spectacular. We did Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and the Grand Canyon two years ago with the kids. Along with a host of state parks and monuments. If you were to poll my kids, they’d tell you Goblen Valley was their favorite. From my perspective, Capitol Reef National Park was totally underrated- and I’d love to have spent some more time there.

I grew up in Atlanta and had the occasion to meet Aaron several times. You couldn’t find a person who was more worthy of a kid’s admiration. I can remember a bunch of times in the old Atlanta-Fulton County stadium days after he’d retired, where he and Dale Murphy would practically be the last ones in the stadium. He’d stay until he had signed every ball and talked to every kid who wanted to meet him.

A word on the QAnon folks right now - specifically with what we've learned about getting folks out of cults: If you know anyone who has gone down this rabbit hole - their world is falling apart right now. Yes, it makes zero sense. It's based in emotion more than reality. But it's real to them right now - and their world is upside down. If you know someone who's into this - they've probably alienated themselves a lot over the last year. You probably don't want to deal with them. But, if there are people you care about - this afternoon, today, and tomorrow represent critical opportunities to help them get out. And, it's through relationships that they once cared about that will offer a path out. It's worth reaching out to them. Be kind. Lead with emotional connection. It sounds weird, but facts have nothing to do with cults. They're looking for what to do next right now - and you can open the door to what's next. Not everyone will take it - but there are people we deeply care about who are hurting - and some of them might.

Old Jeeps with the doors off are lots of fun. I get it. $9500 sounds a bit rich too me. I’d prefer the inline 6 in any Jeep.

That’s hilarious. After all these years.

This thread is going to last about another 10 minutes...