Having fun staying poor

GameStop is a thing again.

For those on some peaceful island away from markets Monday (and boy am I jealous if you were!), shares of GameStop (and AMC, and…) are once again going to the moon based on a single, wordless tweet from Roaring Kitty, aka Keith Gill, one of the architects of the COVID-era YOLO nothing matters shitco rally.

We really don’t have much to go on than that. My personal hope is that Nicholas Rossolillo’s idea that Roaring Kitty’s account was simply hacked turns out being correct. Because who doesn’t love theater of the absurd?

But assuming it is real, I am probably partial to John Authers’ argument that the mania won’t get quite as stupid, or quite as frothy, as last time. It is hard to do sequels, and people have a lot more free time/things to do this time around. There is a case to be made that it could get more frothy this time around because tourists and even professionals will attempt to ride the wave along with the Reddit crowd this time around, bidding shares up even more, at least temporarily. But all in, I tend to think everyone has better things to do.

I do want to object to one line in Authers’ column. This one…

This is false. There is zero downside to ignoring the memestock craze and all of the stupidity that surrounds it. In fact, the danger is in not ignoring it. In getting caught up in it and being left holding the bag if/when the gang moves on.

This goes back to one of the basic arguments we’re trying to make here. In investing, you don’t have to fight every battle. You don’t have to play in every game. There are thousands of investment choices. No one punishes you for missing a craze or not getting in on every successful stock.

In reality, there are some games worth playing and some best avoiding. If you want to buy a lottery ticket, buy a lottery ticket. If you want to try to get rich off of GameStop, go for it. Just understand the risks and the odds for both. But if you’d like to get rich in a way that allow you to enjoy your free time and not constantly worry about every move on a ticker chart, sit this one out.

Sorry John, but it just isn’t dangerous to ignore Roaring Kitty.

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