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GameStop | Munk Debates

SEASON TWO - EPISODE #14

GameStop

Be it resolved, the GameStop frenzy is good for investors and good for financial markets.

Guests
Tom Sosnoff
Danny Moses
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About this episode

By now most people are familiar with the GameStop saga: how a small video game retailer worth less than $1 billion, fuelled by day trader investors and reddit message boards, went on the ride of its life – rocketing its share price from $20 to $400 dollars in the span of a few days. The company’s meteoric rise wiped out billions of dollars from institutional investors who had bet against GameStop. And then, as quickly as it rose, it began to fall again. The company’s shares lost three quarters of their value in just 85 minutes wiping out many retail investors.

Professional traders argue that platforms like Robinhood – no fee stock trading apps of factional shares – are to blame for this market volatility. These platforms are encouraging average people to gamble with their life savings in exceedingly risky ways that destabilize financial market for everyone. Retail investors see the GameStop frenzy is a long overdue populist pushback against Wall Street hedge funds and their predatory short-selling practices. The new platforms are a welcome innovation in financial markets. They level the playing field by allowing anyone to trade the markets at minimal cost, in real time, using options and leverage just like any large market participant.

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Guests

Tom Sosnoff

"The GameStop situation was a transformational moment in the evolution of the marketplace going from passive to active."

Tom Sosnoff

"The GameStop situation was a transformational moment in the evolution of the marketplace going from passive to active."

Tom Sosnoff is a recognized online brokerage innovator and sought-after financial educator. Tom is a true visionary and serial entrepreneur who co-founded thinkorswim in 1999, tastytrade in 2011, tastyworks in 2017, played an instrumental role in the launch of Luckbox Magazine  in 2019, and in 2020 he created the first new futures exchange in 20 years, The Small Exchange. Leveraging over 20 years of experience as a CBOE market maker, Tom pursued a vision to edutain self-directed investors in trading and to build superior software platforms and brokerage firms that specialize in complex financial strategies. His efforts ultimately changed the way these instruments are traded and how digital financial media is produced and consumed. Currently, Tom hosts tastytrade Live and continues to drive innovation and know-how to the do-it yourself investor. 

Tom has been named to Techweek’s Tech 100 list, Crain’s Chicago’s Tech 50, and has spoken at over 500 events across the globe. Tom received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has been featured by prominent publications such as WSJ, IBD, Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago, Traders Magazine, and Barron’s.

Danny Moses

"This will actually backfire and hurt the confidence of investors, potentially turning off a large group of this generation of traders that end up not trusting the market."

Danny Moses

"This will actually backfire and hurt the confidence of investors, potentially turning off a large group of this generation of traders that end up not trusting the market."

Danny Moses' career on Wall Street began in 1991, and he has viewed the markets from many different perspectives: as a Municipal Bond Analyst, Institutional Equities Broker/Trader, and eventually a Hedge Fund Manager. Danny has built a reputation of integrity, inquisitiveness and skepticism that has aided him during his career. The book, and later the movie, The Big Short, chronicled a few of the people, including Danny, who saw the housing bubble forming in 2004 and figured out how to successfully navigate through and participate in one of the greatest trades in Wall Street history. Only months after the release of The Big Short, the infamous "Flash Crash" occurred and Danny once again found himself a character in another Michael Lewis book, Flash Boys. More recently, Danny has been involved as both an investor and advisor to several private companies and co-hosts the podcast On The Tape (@OnTheTapePod) with Dan Nathan and Guy Adami. 

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