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The Game Stop Short-Squeeze Leader Who Changed Wall Street

Written by Staff

Updated 1/26/2023 2 min read

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YouTube streamer Keith Patrick Gill made a bullish case for GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) on his channel titled “Roaring Kitty.”

He made a thesis that the brick-and-mortar retailer could reinvigorate itself as a gaming experience center. His case was well thought out and documented. He believed in the retailer.

So in June of 2019, he started buying shares of GME for about $5 per share. As his position grew so did his profits.

He would share updates on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets under the legend “DeepF***ingValue.” He called the posts his “GME YOLO.”

YOLO stands for “you only live once” and is used to encourage users to take massive bets in the stock market and go for broke. Many users hit it big but just as many lose it all.

One of his posts in 2019 showed a gain of $53,000 on GME.

Gill was a fairly typical middle-class guy. He’s 34-years-old, lives near Boston, and worked in marketing at a life insurance company.

He put his thoughts out for all to see in on his YouTube channel. His stream wasn’t loaded with excitement — his videos were fairly boring and lasted for hours.

But people were attracted to his profits and began to buy GME stock based on his research.

More Breaking News

When the stock finally broke out in 2021, short sellers thought it would crash back down to earth quickly. But the buying didn’t stop and short sellers got squeezed hard.

The volatility in GME and other stocks being driven by WallStreetBets has drawn the eyes of regulators and even Congress.

According to reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Gill’s account was over $33 million on Thursday afternoon.

And while Gill has amassed a personal fortune, short-sellers have lost nearly $20 billion in the ordeal according to Friday afternoon reports.

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* Results are not typical and will vary from person to person. Making money trading stocks takes time, dedication, and hard work. There are inherent risks involved with investing in the stock market, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk. See Terms of Service here

The available research on day trading suggests that most active traders lose money. Fees and overtrading are major contributors to these losses.

A 2000 study called “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors” evaluated 66,465 U.S. households that held stocks from 1991 to 1996. The households that traded most averaged an 11.4% annual return during a period where the overall market gained 17.9%. These lower returns were attributed to overconfidence.

A 2014 paper (revised 2019) titled “Learning Fast or Slow?” analyzed the complete transaction history of the Taiwan Stock Exchange between 1992 and 2006. It looked at the ongoing performance of day traders in this sample, and found that 97% of day traders can expect to lose money from trading, and more than 90% of all day trading volume can be traced to investors who predictably lose money. Additionally, it tied the behavior of gamblers and drivers who get more speeding tickets to overtrading, and cited studies showing that legalized gambling has an inverse effect on trading volume.

A 2019 research study (revised 2020) called “Day Trading for a Living?” observed 19,646 Brazilian futures contract traders who started day trading from 2013 to 2015, and recorded two years of their trading activity. The study authors found that 97% of traders with more than 300 days actively trading lost money, and only 1.1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage ($16 USD per day). They hypothesized that the greater returns shown in previous studies did not differentiate between frequent day traders and those who traded rarely, and that more frequent trading activity decreases the chance of profitability.

These studies show the wide variance of the available data on day trading profitability. One thing that seems clear from the research is that most day traders lose money .

Millionaire Media 66 W Flagler St. Ste. 900 Miami, FL 33130 United States (888) 878-3621 This is for information purposes only as Millionaire Media LLC nor Timothy Sykes is registered as a securities broker-dealer or an investment adviser. No information herein is intended as securities brokerage, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security or fund. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes cannot and does not assess, verify or guarantee the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, the suitability or profitability of any particular investment, or the potential value of any investment or informational source. The reader bears responsibility for his/her own investment research and decisions, should seek the advice of a qualified securities professional before making any investment, and investigate and fully understand any and all risks before investing. Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes in no way warrants the solvency, financial condition, or investment advisability of any of the securities mentioned in communications or websites. In addition, Millionaire Media LLC and Timothy Sykes accepts no liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this information. This information is not intended to be used as the sole basis of any investment decision, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the investment needs of any particular investor. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future returns.

Citations for Disclaimer

Barber, Brad M. and Odean, Terrance, Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors. Available at SSRN: “Day Trading for a Living?”

Barber, Brad M. and Lee, Yi-Tsung and Liu, Yu-Jane and Odean, Terrance and Zhang, Ke, Learning Fast or Slow? (May 28, 2019). Forthcoming: Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=2535636”

Chague, Fernando and De-Losso, Rodrigo and Giovannetti, Bruno, Day Trading for a Living? (June 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: “https://ssrn.com/abstract=3423101”