jakiro
Author: Shenchao TechFlow
Roaring Kitty, one of the best retail traders of all time, turned $53,000 into over $46 million on $GME.After three years of hidden life, he came back and led a new round of MEME frenzy. Whether it is US stocks or cryptocurrencies, $GME has reopened the moon landing mode. This is his story and revelation.
Roaring Kitty, whose real name is Keith Gill, was born in 1986. His family was neither rich nor graduated from a prestigious university.When he was in college, he was a track and field star.After graduation in 2009, I first worked in a startup company that does stock analysis software in my relative’s house. Later, I jumped a few times and started working for Mass Mutual in 2019.
In 2014, he created his own Twitter with the goal of “finding stocks and seizing investment opportunities.”In 2015, he also joined YouTube, performing regular live streams to showcase his trading and market research.He also joined Reddit in 2019 under the username DFV (DeepFuckingValue).
In today’s popular words, Keith Gill is a US stock KOL.
The legendary twist occurred in 2019, when Gill started buying GME’s stock, which he allegedly felt was severely undervalued.
At that time, there was also Wall Street tycoon Michael Burry, who was the protagonist of “Big Shorts”. He fought Wall Street with his own strength and shorted the subprime debt of US real estate.But later everyone learned that Burry cleared his position before GME stock went crazy (4th quarter of 2020).
Initially, Gill bought a GME worth about $53,000, with a $5 position build price, and then began publishing his position on the WallstreetBets sub-forum of the Reddit forum, and hyped it on YouTube and Twitter, live streaming his portfolio and investment strategies.
At that time, GameStop was still a “bad company” that was deeply trapped in the financial quagmire: it lost more than $80 million in the quarter, and sales fell 25% year-on-year, which was useless even if it layoffs and store closures were not helpful.
Someone left a message under his post: “Brother, what made you invest $53,000 on GameStop?” Gill said that he always believed in the company’s future potential.
In July 2020, Gill made a discovery that was enough to change his destiny: GME’s short-selling stocks were 150% of the outstanding shares.
Generally speaking, when shorting stocks, institutions must borrow and sell the stocks, and then buy and return the stocks on the specified date.If the stock price falls, hedge funds can “sell high and buy low” to earn the difference.But if the stock price rises and the short sellers have to buy the stock and return it, it may push up the stock price and cause a “short squeeze”.Players who hold these stocks can in turn earn profits.
Gill discovered the opportunity, and short sellers may have the risk of short squeeze, and longing has the opportunity to make money.
He also posted this discovery on the WSB section and called on netizens to participate. For Reddit users, GameStop also has special significance: it was once a place where many people bought games in their childhood.
Their biggest rival is Melcin Capital, a hedge fund known for shorting.
In January 2021, the famous e-commerce company Chewy announced its acquisition of GME. Co-founder Ryan Cohen joined the GME board of directors. Stimulated by the positive news, more and more retail investors flocked to buy GME stocks, and the stock price rose by up to 50% in a single day, with a monthly increase of nearly700%.
Under the huge rise, Melcin Capital is almost unable to withstand it. Legendary short-selling fund Citron provides assistance, injects investment in Melcin Capital, and announces shorting together…
Wall Street’s counterattack has increasingly aroused retail investors’ resistance, which is also a war. The WSB has a loud slogan: The bears must die!
On January 27, Melcin Capital announced its closing position and gave up short selling. The asset size in one month evaporated by more than 50%, with losses of up to US$6.8 billion, and became the craziest hedge fund for net value retracement after the 2008 financial crisis.
At this point, retail investors won a period of victory, but suddenly, Robinhood, a trading platform commonly used by retail investors, announced restrictions on trading, and retail investors were unable to buy GME stocks, and the stock price fell accordingly.
This is seen as Wall Street began to cheat and did not abide by the rules. The GME long-short war gradually evolved into Wall Street VS retail investors, a struggle between the two classes.
In this process, Gill was regarded as the leader. Although later everyone discovered that behind this GME was not a simple retail investor force, GIill, who was pushed to the forefront by the times, became a banner. The leader of the retail investor movement also gained life because of this.The largest pot of gold.
In 2019, $GME was built at $5; in 2021, $GME peaked at $483.In January 2021, Gill posted a screenshot of his performance on WSB, which showed that the total revenue of its GME stocks and options exceeded US$31.47 million, with a cumulative holding of US$46 million.
This legend is enough to become a “bragging” material for life.
This is the story of the US stock market in the past. Is the crypto world today familiar?
A large number of VC coins poured into the market, and retail investors became the exit liquidity of VCs. Therefore, not taking over each other became a hidden rule. Not buying VC coins is like the collective short squeeze of WSB retail investors a few years ago, which is a kind of class resistance.
Retail investors turn their attention to MEME, Ansem and other MEME KOLs rising in this cycle, and their contribution to $WIF’s “pyramid scheme” is obvious to all.
Just as $GME is supported by financial tycoons, the times and cycles still chose Gill as the spokesperson, and $WIF also chose Ansem as the spokesperson, and the two achieved mutual success.
In a mainstream market with MEME, powerful KOLs (or influencers) have the ability to influence the market. Whether it is Musk, Keith Gill, or Ansem, they are superstars in the MEME cycle.
Content and influence are leverage, and retail investors still have the opportunity to become super KOLs, stir up the market, and create new worlds.
