Morning Politicadoes!
Wall Street has been dealing with some interesting problems lately. As best as I can summarize it, users on the reddit board r/WallStreetBets have taken it upon themselves to artificially increase the value in companies like GameStop and the AMC theater chain, that many hedge funds had bet large money would see their stocks fall. If this activity continues through to the end of the week, Hedge Funds like Melvin Capital will owe enough money that they will have to go into insolvency. I am no broker of stocks so take my rather broad explanation with a grain of salt. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/business/gamestop-wall-street-bets.html
What’s really interesting here is that while SEC has been observing the reddit thread (which has since been locked, and it’s Discord server suspended) for possible market manipulation, some believe that what the users are doing is not technically illegal.
“If it’s simply garnering enthusiasm for people to go out and push the price up, I mean on its face, without something more, I don’t think that’s illegal,” said Andrew Calamari, a securities lawyer at Finn, Dixon & Herling, and the former director of the New York office of the S.E.C.
Users are beating Wall Street at it’s own game. The outcome is unclear at the moment but many see that the hedge funds who lose big having to sell all or part of their portfolios to cover the losses; barring some action from the government. Which, ha, may well end up being the case. I don’t think we have to imagine that the first bIpArTIsAn legislative action of this administration would be to prevent people from realizing that money isn’t actually real and Wall Street’s just a different sort of gambling.
Meanwhile, in insurrection news, Marjorie Taylor Green, congresswoman from Georgia is making it clear that she’s a particularly dangerous sort of conspiracist. Not only is she a Qanon goon, but video has come to light of her as a Parkland Truther confronting survivor David Hogg
Oh, and then there are the Facebook posts that she endorsed insisting Hillary Clinton and Huma Abadin are cannibalistic pedophiles.
Representative Johnny Gomez (CA-34 Los Angeles) has introduced to a resolution to expel her from congress.
Please get her out of there. Please.
Please be excellent to each other in the comments. The Mayor McSquirrel Rule remains in effect. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, please continue to maintain social distancing measures, wear masks in public areas, and practices sanitation policies as circumstances dictate.
