WSB vs Wall Street / Gamestop Stock and others blown up by Subreddit

[Revan]

r/wsb has gone private at the moment. Would not be surprised if the subreddit ends up getting banned.

Yup. They'll probably get banned for using hate speech against gay bears or some other bullshit reason. Same as what happened with their discord channel.

 

[Smores]

Some of you have seriously drank the kool aid at this point. It's exactly why this social media run is terrifying, thousands will lose what they can't really afford to lose. The hedge losses will be many times more but if you think they'll be suffering as much as retail you're off your head.

 

[Snowjoe]

when the shorts finally die, the price will go down, and those who bought high in this exuberance and are unable to sell in time, are going to get screwed too.

you just know that these WSB investors holding huge amounts who are pushing everyone to hold and keep the price rising will happily leave everyone else high and dry if they can take their opportunity to cash out for a massive sum

 

[Berbasbullet]

Apparently something similar happening with AMC? I don’t really understand this but I have been told this by a friend.

 

[11101]

It's a little ironic that hedge funds are the ones who fecked up here and are getting hurt, but somehow it's the retail investors who are going to feel the burn. Retail investors are smart, they can judge risk and they're investing responsibly with money they can afford to lose if need be - something that Melvin and co should probably have thought about doing themselves. This whole thing came about on the back of an enormous look at the situation and the numbers. The molly coddling of the every man by those who think they're privileged, sophisticated and superior whilst shorting a company 140% like fecking morons is on full display. It's really weird to ignore the fact that a hedge fund put themselves in a position of bankruptcy and then talk about how normal people will lose money as if that's somehow the issue.

In most cases they're not, they're jumping on the bandwagon. Look how may people on Reddit and even here are buying in at $80, $100+. This is a single digit stock in reality. It's going up and will continue to go up, it might very well hit $1,000+ but it will only be up there for minutes or hours at best, and when it comes down it will be so fast virtually none of them will be able to sell in time. Their orders on the retail platforms are not the ones that are going to be filled. They might see massive percentage gains briefly but by the time they can all sell most will be red. VW was the last big well known short squeeze and it was all over in a matter of minutes.

 

[Adisa]

That Scott Wapner dude isn't wrong though. A lot of retail investors will be the ones getting hurt when this game of musical chairs stops.

Yes. Doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to play the game.
The principle is what Chamath is arguing. The CNBC guy is basically saying institutional investors should be the only ones allowed to take risks. What kind of society is that?
The tesla comparison is very apt. Why should in institutional investors be allowed to prop up tesla stock but joe public can't prop up gamestop?
The CNBC guy's argument doesn't hold water. He says the fundamentals are different.
Yes, brick and motar stores are going extinct but that is in the long term. In the short term, gamestop is still a good business. Xbox and playstation just released their consoles. The demand for those consoles is still far greater than supply. Gamstop is developing a decent online business. The fundamentals of the company are not that bad.
Why should traders be allowed to ruin the company?
The guys on WSB love the stock and feel it is a good business. Same as institutional investors and tesla. If one set can be allowed to prop up the stock by momentum investing, so can the other.
The idea that joe public are idiots and doesn't know what they are doing but the wallstreet traders do, so they should be the only one making these calls is wrong.

 

[Zarlak]

I don't totally agree here. There were people in WSB who were putting everything they had. There was that kid in high school who convinced his parents to put all their 401k (it was roughly 300K) in GME. Countless other examples.

I think it is nice that in this zero-sum game, the shorts are the ones who are paying. But it might change, especially when the other smart investors get out. GME is never a $300 stock, when the shorts finally die, the price will go down, and those who bought high in this exuberance and are unable to sell in time, are going to get screwed too.

There are people who do that regardless, on the lottery, on payday loans, on the stock market at the best of times. On a 2 million person sample size you will have a few people with 0 sense but that's nothing out of the ordinary. Not to mention, it's ridiculously hypocritical by those who put themselves in this situation.

 

[Zarlak]

In most cases they're not, they're jumping on the bandwagon. Look how may people on Reddit and even here are buying in at $80, $100+. This is a single digit stock in reality. It's going up and will continue to go up, it might very well hit $1,000+ but it will only be up there for minutes or hours at best, and when it comes down it will be so fast virtually none of them will be able to sell in time. Their orders on the retail platforms are not the ones that are going to be filled. They might see massive percentage gains briefly but by the time they can all sell most will be red. VW was the last big well known short squeeze and it was all over in a matter of minutes.

Jumping in on the action does not mean bankrupting yourself. The vast majority are jumping on the bandwagon with reasonable positions they can afford to lose, and are again and again encouraging others to do the same. It's really patronizing to jump to assuming that the unsophisticated are incapable of rational thought or action and it should instead be left to the qualified people who just lit themselves on fire and then tried to put themselves out with petrol. Additionally, the actual price of the stock by looking at the fundamentals is completely irrelevant. Nobody is valuing the stock or going long, they're going after the 140% shorters who are obliged to buy regardless and those who don't have to cover the 20 million on Friday still have to continuously stump up capital to avoid their own margins being called.

 

[Eugenius]

Some of you have seriously drank the kool aid at this point. It's exactly why this social media run is terrifying, thousands will lose what they can't really afford to lose. The hedge losses will be many times more but if you think they'll be suffering as much as retail you're off your head.

Exactly. It will be a falling pack of cards once people start to take profits - and there will be the retail people who bought in higher who won't be able to get out in the stampede.

I'm not also sure about the hatred of institutional short sellers. I mean obviously it needs to be better regulated (ie shouldn't be possible to be 140 percent of ff). But they don't exist in a vacuum - the other side of the trade is the actual shareholder of the company who isn't forced at all to lend out their shares (and in fact makes a nice margin for their kindness).

Those who have pensions largely invested in the stock market should be a bit more appreciative of having vaguely efficient markets.

 

[Adisa]

I don't mess with individual stocks but I regret not throwing 500 into it on Friday when I first heard about it. It's been fascinating to follow nonetheless and I'm very curious about what it will mean for the future.

Probably nothing. The idea WSB and the likes can move the entire market is fanciful and perpetuated by the cnuts now crying for regulation.

 

[diarm]

On one hand you have a group of people who a few years ago, gambled with the world's money and lost, screwing us all for close to a decade.

On the other hand, you have a group of people who are gambling with their own money.

Now the first group have had absolutely no issue with the second group while they were betting their savings, or their parents savings over the last few years. But the second they pull a move that hurts the big guys, suddenly they need to be educated and regulated for their own good?

Give me a fecking break.

Some of the retail investors will make money on this, some will lose money. Those that gambled irresponsibly and lose will learn a valuable life lesson. But they deserve to learn that lesson on their own, and not be preached at by the gobshites who bankrupt the world a few years ago.

 

[Eugenius]

On one hand you have a group of people who a few years ago, gambled with the world's money and lost, screwing us all for close to a decade.

On the other hand, you have a group of people who are gambling with their own money.

Now the first group have had absolutely no issue with the second group while they were betting their savings, or their parents savings over the last few years. But the second they pull a move that hurts the big guys, suddenly they need to be educated and regulated for their own good?

Give me a fecking break.

Some of the retail investors will make money on this, some will lose money. Those that gambled irresponsibly and lose will learn a valuable life lesson. But they deserve to learn that lesson on their own, and not be preached at by the gobshites who bankrupt the world a few years ago.

You're confusing hedge funds (now) with investment banks and mortgage lenders (2008).

 

[OleBoiii]

Wall Street can feck off.

 

[Revan]

In most cases they're not, they're jumping on the bandwagon. Look how may people on Reddit and even here are buying in at $80, $100+. This is a single digit stock in reality. It's going up and will continue to go up, it might very well hit $1,000+ but it will only be up there for minutes or hours at best, and when it comes down it will be so fast virtually none of them will be able to sell in time. Their orders on the retail platforms are not the ones that are going to be filled. They might see massive percentage gains briefly but by the time they can all sell most will be red. VW was the last big well known short squeeze and it was all over in a matter of minutes.

Is it though? Even Citron research who were very bearish on it and had shorted the feck out of it, had it at $20. The $4 price was mostly because of the extreme shorting.

When everything settles, it will significantly drop but it won't be in single digits. And anyway, that is entirely irrelevant, the reason why it is in the hundreds is the cause of the shorting. Everyone knows that, but that is a real thing.

 

[diarm]

You're confusing hedge funds (now) with investment banks and mortgage lenders (2008).

They're the same people. They may have different names and live in different houses but they're the same guy.

They went to the same schools and they drink in the same bars. Their sense of entitlement and superiority is the same and their shills on the news networks and online media are reading off the same playsheet.

 

[Revan]

you just know that these WSB investors holding huge amounts who are pushing everyone to hold and keep the price rising will happily leave everyone else high and dry if they can take their opportunity to cash out for a massive sum

Well, it is the stock-market, a zero-sum game. For someone to win, someone else has to lose. I believe everyone knows it and make their adjustments. Most of people in WSB are screaming about it, don't tell when you are getting out, just get out when you think you should get. Waiting for DeepfeckingValue* or Michael Burry to get out is stupid, considering that by that stage it might already be too late. Though right now, the only losers are the shorts, and this is going to continue as long as the company remains crazily shorted.

* He has been already slowly getting out. Out of his 47M or so, 11M are already in cash.

 

[11101]

Jumping in on the action does not mean bankrupting yourself. The vast majority are jumping on the bandwagon with reasonable positions they can afford to lose, and are again and again encouraging others to do the same. It's really patronizing to jump to assuming that the unsophisticated are incapable of rational thought or action and it should instead be left to the qualified people who just lit themselves on fire and then tried to put themselves out with petrol. Additionally, the actual price of the stock by looking at the fundamentals is completely irrelevant. Nobody is valuing the stock or going long, they're going after the 140% shorters who are obliged to buy regardless and those who don't have to cover the 20 million on Friday still have to continuously stump up capital to avoid their own margins being called.

Fair enough to all those points but what I'm saying is that most of these people don't know that when the squeeze is over the crash will be so fast almost none of them will be able to sell in time, and the price will end far below where it is now and where they bought it. You could pick $1,000 as the exact top of the market and click sell but you likely won't actually get your order executed until it's about a tenth of that.

Most aren't betting their houses, but there are still thousands that are (check reddit), and whether they are or not most are in it just because they've read about it on social media or seen it in the news. That's not responsible investing in my book.

Is it though? Even Citron research who were very bearish on it and had shorted the feck out of it, had it at $20. The $4 price was mostly because of the extreme shorting.

When everything settles, it will significantly drop but it won't be in single digits. And anyway, that is entirely irrelevant, the reason why it is in the hundreds is the cause of the shorting. Everyone knows that, but that is a real thing.

Well, maybe not exactly single digits but you know what i mean. It's been a $10 stock for years, i don't know much about them but it's hard to get behind a second hand video game retailer that shuns online business.

 

[Smores]

On one hand you have a group of people who a few years ago, gambled with the world's money and lost, screwing us all for close to a decade.

On the other hand, you have a group of people who are gambling with their own money.

Now the first group have had absolutely no issue with the second group while they were betting their savings, or their parents savings over the last few years. But the second they pull a move that hurts the big guys, suddenly they need to be educated and regulated for their own good?

Give me a fecking break.

Some of the retail investors will make money on this, some will lose money. Those that gambled irresponsibly and lose will learn a valuable life lesson. But they deserve to learn that lesson on their own, and not be preached at by the gobshites who bankrupt the world a few years ago.

It's not preaching it's called a duty of care and the whole idea of unsophisticated investors is built into regulations for this very reason. You're a little confused if you think the regulators only care because it's protecting hedge funds.

The level of protections for funds is absurd because they reflect it's a retail investor. Stock trading is way behind on this because they're not really intended for unsophisticated investors on mass, there just isn't the same protections for all those caught up in the kool aid of reddit forums.

Great for those that make bank it is what is is no matter the WSB pitch.

 

[Zarlak]

Well, it is the stock-market, a zero-sum game. For someone to win, someone else has to lose. I believe everyone knows it and make their adjustments. Most of people in WSB are screaming about it, don't tell when you are getting out, just get out when you think you should get. Waiting for DeepfeckingValue* or Michael Burry to get out is stupid, considering that by that stage it might already be too late. Though right now, the only losers are the shorts, and this is going to continue as long as the company remains crazily shorted.

* He has been already slowly getting out. Out of his 47M or so, 11M are already in cash.

Also this all started because a new CEO who specializes in taking companies from physical to digital came on board - so to say it's a single digit stock because it used to be is also a bit disingenuous.

 

[Revan]

Apparently something similar happening with AMC? I don’t really understand this but I have been told this by a friend.

I have a small position there but it is way way riskier than GME ever was. Essentially, GME is the bitcoin, the other meme stocks (AMC, Palantir, BlackBerry, Nokia) are altcoins. Some can go nice (nice pump cause of shorting and then actually doing better), some can go tits up. All have massively increased a lot in the last week, so be warned that they might have already had their peak.

Neither of them is nowhere as shorted as GME, so the risk is way higher.

 

[Zarlak]

Well, maybe not exactly single digits but you know what i mean. It's been a $10 stock for years, i don't know much about them but it's hard to get behind a second hand video game retailer that shuns online business.

They're a company who last year brought on a CEO and two of his associates that made waves with digital business. There are long term plans for Gamestop to navigate them out of this space. Obviously they're not worth the value of their stock right now but nobody buying it is basing it on that it's simply targeting the shorts.

 

[Revan]

Well, maybe not exactly single digits but you know what i mean. It's been a $10 stock for years, i don't know much about them but it's hard to get behind a second hand video game retailer that shuns online business.

It's been a $4-10 because shorts shorted it like mad and put pressure on it. It actually was a $60 stock at its peak, and $40 before it got shorted. It will probably be again in that range.

Also this all started because a new CEO who specializes in taking companies from physical to digital came on board - so to say it's a single digit stock because it used to be is also a bit disingenuous.

I think you quoted my wrong post, but yes, Ryan Cohen might actually revive the company. Though right now, he is not the CEO, he is just on the board (there are rumors that he might become CEO during the summer).

Mind you, I still think it is a bad business. Wouldn't keep it long-term.

 

[diarm]

It's not preaching it's called a duty of care and the whole idea of unsophisticated investors is built into regulations for this very reason. You're a little confused if you think the regulators only care because it's protecting hedge funds.

The level of protections for funds is absurd because they reflect it's a retail investor. Stock trading is way behind on this because they're not really intended for unsophisticated investors on mass, there just isn't the same protections for all those caught up in the kool aid of reddit forums.

Great for those that make bank it is what is is no matter the WSB pitch.

Spoof.

There have been idiots on wallstreetbets yolo'ing their life savings into stocks for 2 or 3 years and never once have we heard grown men on CNBC and Bloomberg crying about a duty of care to anyone.

We'll see what the regulators determine after all this but it is not the SEC or any regulator that I'm talking about. It's the establishment machine that has kicked into overdrive to attempt to bury retail investors because they have caught them with their pants down.

 

[Berbasbullet]

I have a small position there but it is way way riskier than GME ever was. Essentially, GME is the bitcoin, the other meme stocks (AMC, Palantir, BlackBerry, Nokia) are altcoins. Some can go nice (nice pump cause of shorting and then actually doing better), some can go tits up. All have massively increased a lot in the last week, so be warned that they might have already had their peak.

Neither of them is nowhere as shorted as GME, so the risk is way higher.

Hmm thanks for this! Might not bother then.

 

[Grinner]

Are people struggling to sell it currently? Surely on Friday it will be carnage.

 

[balaks]

I have a small position there but it is way way riskier than GME ever was. Essentially, GME is the bitcoin, the other meme stocks (AMC, Palantir, BlackBerry, Nokia) are altcoins. Some can go nice (nice pump cause of shorting and then actually doing better), some can go tits up. All have massively increased a lot in the last week, so be warned that they might have already had their peak.

Neither of them is nowhere as shorted as GME, so the risk is way higher.

Yeah the time to get in on this was a week ago - now its all over the media and the only way its going is probably down. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole now.

 

[Revan]

Yeah the time to get in on this was a week ago - now its all over the media and the only way its going is probably down. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole now.

GME is probably going to go up again, and actually if you bought it at Tuesday it would have still doubled.

Pre-market is being brutal for all of them. If this reflects when the market opens, there is gonna be some panic today.

 

[Zarlak]

I think you quoted my wrong post, but yes, Ryan Cohen might actually revive the company. Though right now, he is not the CEO, he is just on the board (there are rumors that he might become CEO during the summer).

Ah no I meant to quote you but it was adding to, rather than correcting you.

 

[11101]

They're a company who last year brought on a CEO and two of his associates that made waves with digital business. There are long term plans for Gamestop to navigate them out of this space. Obviously they're not worth the value of their stock right now but nobody buying it is basing it on that it's simply targeting the shorts.

Exactly, and nobody (or very few) buying it now knows how a short works and the many ways to get out of it. They're doing the equivalent of listening to a stock tip in the pub.

Even WSB where there are some very smart people have convinced themselves Melvin Capital lied about closing their short positions. They don't know definite short interest ratios, just what a private data company says. They don't know if somebody else has sold them stock off exchange or taken their short over, for example a big bank/s who can sit on them and ride this out for as long as needs be. If it comes out that JPM for example has taken them on, GME stock goes back to a normal price in an instant, regardless of what the short interest says.

 

[Adisa]

Yeah the time to get in on this was a week ago - now its all over the media and the only way its going is probably down. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole now.

Imo, you have to be an idiot or have balls of steel to go long on this stuff now. But the company itself has real value. There's no chance it is a single digit stock.

 

[Smores]

Spoof.

There have been idiots on wallstreetbets yolo'ing their life savings into stocks for 2 or 3 years and never once have we heard grown men on CNBC and Bloomberg crying about a duty of care to anyone.

We'll see what the regulators determine after all this but it is not the SEC or any regulator that I'm talking about. It's the establishment machine that has kicked into overdrive to attempt to bury retail investors because they have caught them with their pants down.

Well that would be because this really is the first one to go viral. CNBC and Bloomberg should be contextualising this with warnings anything else would be grossly irresponsible.

I don't think there's anything wrong with them taking on the hedges, clearly they did their research. It's the last few days where its hit social media frenzy with people who don't even understand what a short is rolling on, you need extra protections to kick in for these folk.

Do the hedgefunds also need greater regulation? Without a doubt.

 

[Zarlak]

Exactly, and nobody (or very few) buying it now knows how a short works and the many ways to get out of it. They're doing the equivalent of listening to a stock tip in the pub.

Even WSB where there are some very smart people have convinced themselves Melvin Capital lied about closing their short positions. They don't know definite short interest ratios, just what a private data company says. They don't know if somebody else has sold them stock off exchange or taken their short over, for example a big bank/s who can sit on them and ride this out for as long as needs be. If it comes out that JPM for example has taken them on, GME stock goes back to a normal price in an instant, regardless of what the short interest says.

Days to cover make them grabbing the shares from the market extremely unlikely, I would be gobsmacked if a big bank comes in and takes it from them but I guess it's not out of the realms of possibility which is why as with any financial investment you make you ensure you're doing it responsibly with money that you're willing to lose.

 

[11101]

Days to cover make them grabbing the shares from the market extremely unlikely, I would be gobsmacked if a big bank comes in and takes it from them but I guess it's not out of the realms of possibility which is why as with any financial investment you make you ensure you're doing it responsibly with money that you're willing to lose.

A bank will definitely take them on if the spread is big enough, and the whole days to cover thing is a bit of a red herring. They won't be doing big volumes like that on a lit exchange.

 

[OleBoiii]

Speaking as a finance noob who only really invests in global index funds... Is this the simple version:

1. GameStop is obviously gonna tank.
2. WSB knows this, so some community members decided to short it(i.e. betting on its failure).
3. Then a bunch of other community members started investing in GameStop, knowing full well what's going on.
4. Because the stock grows, a bunch of other people who don't know about the ploy started jumping on the ship.
5. Now the GameStop stock is massively overvalued and essentially a ticking time-bomb.
6. Wall Street people are whining because it's not OK when redditors play the game.

If I'm right up until this point, I have a few questions:

1. The people who knew about the ploy and bought shares early: will most of them be fine if they jump ship soon? Or are they prepared to lose money, and it was all just for the memes?
or
2. Have I misunderstood and it's actually the people who tried to short the stock that will suffer?

 

[Grinner]

I'm wondering what happens when the first big shareholder dumps their stock to cash out.

 

[Adisa]

I'm wondering what happens when the first big shareholder dumps their stock to cash out.

The rest probably follow. I would be looking to sell by Friday if I had the stock.

 

[altodevil]

The amazing thing is DFV, and people following his move. Lads by the time he posts he has sold the price will have tanked.

 

[RedC]

One thing I'm finding very funny about all of it, is that the underlying motive of nearly all of these joe public saviours of the free market is greed and personal gain. The Trumper-esque rhetoric about sticking it to the man and blah blah blah, followed by another post talking about how much they're up, and how much they hope to gain from selling. Put any of them in the same position as these evil hedge funds and they're doing the exact same thing. It reeks of hypocrisy.

 

[diarm]

Well that would be because this really is the first one to go viral. CNBC and Bloomberg should be contextualising this with warnings anything else would be grossly irresponsible.

I don't think there's anything wrong with them taking on the hedges, clearly they did their research. It's the last few days where its hit social media frenzy with people who don't even understand what a short is rolling on, you need extra protections to kick in for these folk.

Do the hedgefunds also need greater regulation? Without a doubt.

Who gets to decide on these greater regulations? The professionals who bankrupt the world a decade ago? The same crowd who have fought for years against regulations for themselves when it suited them?

As Chamath Palihapitiya said yesterday, that just smacks of restricting the ability of everyday people to generate wealth and entrenching poverty. Boomers have already rigged the property game and pulled up the ladder behind them - now they want to do the same with investing.

Everybody knows the risks involved with investing. People are still reading wallstreetbets and assuming that because people share memes and call each other names, they are all idiots deserving of scorn and condescension . Many of these idiots saw what the responsible geniuses you would have given additional investing privileges over them didn't. Obviously there are a minority who are being reckless and they will learn their lesson the hard way, just as in all the other aspects of life in which it is possible to lose a lot of money.

There is nothing wrong with CNBC and Bloomberg warning people of the risks, but that's not what they are doing when they call for regulations restricting retail investment or for investigations into subreddits while at the same time giving a platform to short sellers to badmouth companies or share scare tactics to manipulate markets.

 

[Revan]

Speaking as a finance noob who only really invests in global index funds... Is this the simple version:

1. GameStop is obviously gonna tank.
2. WSB knows this, so some community members decided to short it(i.e. betting on its failure).
3. Then a bunch of other community members started investing in GameStop, knowing full well what's going on.
4. Because the stock grows, a bunch of other people who don't know about the ploy started jumping on the ship.
5. Now the GameStop stock is massively overvalued and essentially a ticking time-bomb.
6. Wall Street people are whining because it's not OK when redditors play the game.

If I'm right up until this point, I have a few questions:

1. The people who knew about the ploy and bought shares early: will most of them be fine if they jump ship soon? Or are they prepared to lose money, and it was all just for the memes?
or
2. Have I misunderstood and it's actually the people who tried to short the stock that will suffer?

1. Yes.
2. No, It was not WSB who shorted it. There were the hedge funds who shorted it (Melvin Capital, Citron Research, Citadel etc), shorting it more than any company ever (in fact, there are more shorted stocks than stocks overall). They artificially dropped their price to $4 and were pushing for it to go bankrupt so they get hundreds of millions and have that 100% bragging.
3. Some people found this out, and instead of shorting, went into it long (bought stocks). One of them was Michael Burry (the protagonist of The Big Short and the guy who correctly predicted the 2008 financial crisis). In WSB forum, DeepfeckingValue found this out and invested around 55K dollars in options (now worth 47M, including 11M or so he cashed out), betting that the price of a share would reach $12 by 15th of April 2021. Some others followed him, most called him an idiot. Until a few weeks ago when the stock jumped to $20 and causes an exuberance.
4. Correct, many people got into it just because the stock is going up. There was that meme of that guy in twitter who asked 'what is GME' and someone replied 'an EV company that is gonna revolutionize autonomous driving'. Many people just are riding the wave not knowing what they are doing. Some know their shit though.
5. Yes, when the short squeeze ends (either by hedge funds being able to close their positions or big institutions like JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, BotA Securities, Goldman Sachs getting those shorts and keeping them forever) the price is going to tank back to reality (or lower). However, it is unclear when that is going to happen. If the price stays above $115 by Friday, some institutions are obliged to buy 7 million shares. The problem is that those shares are not available cause WSB degenerates are HODLing them. Which means that to buy them, you need to offer more money, in turn raising the stock price even further. It is quite possible that the stock (for a short amount of time) will go in 4 digits.
6. Exactly. How dare those peasants are taking money from us, when we built the game with the intention of getting money from them. They should be in the farms (or kitchen, depending on the genre) and pay us billions so we can gamble with the economy of the world, so when it gets tits up, they lose their jobs and homes while we get millions in compensation. How dare they?