David v Goliath narrative in GameStop story has serious flaws | Jeffrey Frankel

There are no clear-cut heroes or villains, only some investors who will weather losses better

In the last week of January, the price of stock in GameStop - an ailing brick-and-mortar video game retailer - soared 323% for the week and 1,700% for the month. Nothing happened within the company to drive the increase; its fundamentals remain unchanged. It was a speculative bubble - but with a twist.

With any bubble, investors who get in and out at the right moment make a lot of money, while those who get in too late or stay too long suffer large losses. Participating in a speculative bubble is thus like playing roulette in a casino, with the financial services companies (such as Charles Schwab) and retail investment platforms (such as Robinhood) acting as the house".