For fucks sake some of you are hilariously hyperbolic. What is happening here is really nothing new. Like I remember K-Tel, back in the late 90's or early 00's, and how that thing got pumped to the heavens by message boards. That didn't end well for K-Tel's holders long-term, at all. And I'm sure there are other examples further back in time.
Here's what happened -
1 - A hedge fund went irresponsibly short on a stock that, frankly, probably deserved to be shorted long term. GME has a shitty business model afterall. Not saying short was the right play short term. But long term that was a fair play. The real issue is Melvin shorted the ever living fuck out of the thing - to the tune of 136%. That's not a wise move.
2 - A bunch of little guys on a message board (and maybe not all of them were so "little" given the anonymous nature of message boards) saw this and decided to go long hard.
3 - Melvin got fucked.
4 - Some of the guys on the message board made a mint.
5 - Now a bunch of people are piling in (still today). And that's after Melvin bought out their short and took it in the shorts big time. Many of them think they are still hurting the long/short hedge funds. They aren't. And many of them will get left holding the fucking bag.
What will really come of this?
A - The market is now going to value picking individual stocks again. That's good for retail.
B - Long/short equity hedge funds are now going to spread out their bets and be much more careful about how they approach any one company. They aren't fucking stupid.
C - There will be regulatory changes. The No. 1 change that should be made, IMO, is to loosen rules on who is permitted to park their money in investments normally reserved for accredited investors. Bc much of this anger and frustration is born out of the average Joe not having access to the game in the same way some big pension fund or family office or rich old person has. And that, to me, isn't right. Let people have access to some of these vehicles and let them take the risk.
D - What is happening now with brokerages putting the breaks on certain high risk moves is what our legal system incents them to do. Why? Because if (I should probably say when) GME collapses and RH and other brokerages don't stop people from using leverage right now to pile in, then you know the lawsuits will be forthcoming saying they didn't do enough to prevent folks from hurting themselves. I'm not saying that it is right or fair, but I absolutely grasp why RH would take these steps for their own interests as a company longer term given the legal framework within which they presently operate.