The Larger Impact of the GameStop Investor Wars

“…However, there’s an overarching issue that looms larger in this stock market saga and subsumes even the issue of protecting large inside players at the expense of the small investor.

What happens when you allow a small group of individuals or institutions—government figures and regulators, certain hedge funds, and Wall Street investment houses (perhaps acting on behalf of government regulators)—the power to determine the appropriateness of decisions made in the broader financial markets? And if certain players are given free rein in determining what constitutes appropriate valuations for a given company, where does that influence stop?

This “We know better than you” mentality quickly leads down a path toward greater government influence and determination on which companies are successful and, perhaps more importantly, which industries are successful.

Although it might seem far-fetched now, what happens if the government takes a dim view of an initial public offering (IPO) and effectively says, “No, we disagree. That IPO is being priced at too high of a level.”

What if the government doesn’t think a particular company—or a particular industry—deserves funding at all?

In effect, the government begins to decide where and how capital should be allocated. In many respects, this is already being done. Look no further than the billions already being spent in the name of “Climate Change.”

If a proverbial red line on outside intervention isn’t quickly drawn, we may find ourselves occupying a world in which the federal government believes it should be doing the capital allocation in place of open financial markets.

In some respects, the market has served as the ultimate arena of opportunity and free speech. Theoretically, it doesn’t matter what you look like or where you come from. We can all invest in companies we deem attractive, and if we’re wrong, the market quickly shows us the error of our ways.

But these recent events have exposed the extent to which this belief may be unfounded and the manner in which the financial system has been systematically weighted towards certain players, at the expense of others. And that’s what these small retail investors currently are fighting over.

The fundamental issue currently being fought over is who gets to have a role in determining financial value, access and outcome—who gets a seat at the proverbial table. Is it all the participants that make up the market? Or is it only the entrenched Wall Street players and the government regulators who want to step deeper into their role, exerting greater control and shaping desired outcomes.

Fox’s market analyst, Charles Payne, observed that “the stock market is not in turmoil—billionaire hedge funds are in turmoil.” And he’s 100 percent correct. The hedge funds got caught offside in this mess, and now that they’re feeling financial pain, they want to change the rules.

Instead of placing blame on the multitude of small investors, we should be looking at the risk management policies of the big hedge funds. Their risk controls—or lack thereof—allowed them to get into this situation.

And make no mistake, it’s completely normal for hedge funds to go after the weak or vulnerable positions of other hedge funds. They specialize in this. Using financial derivatives and other such instruments, they constantly stress-test situations and other firms’ holdings, even push companies into technical bankruptcies. This game has always been played.

But this time, it’s suddenly different because it’s the retail investors—the little guys—who are doing the pushing…”

How the Hydroxychloroquine Scandal Wrecked America and the World Along With It

Roger L. Simon:

“…I accuse—in no particular order—Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ nominee and frequent Wuhan, China visitor/collaborator Dr. Anthony Fauci; the Democrat Party (aka the “party of science”) and their nauseating, self-congratulatory leadership; the mainstream media and all their pompous, even more self-congratulatory “ships at sea” from the New York Times to CNN; Dr. Birx and whatever bureaucrat from the CDC was showing his/her face this week; the endless echo chamber in practically every health department in all fifty states; the foreign health departments that largely echoed that echo chamber; Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York (more of him in a moment); Governor Whitmer of Michigan; that atrocious governor of Nevada whose name I can’t remember or bother to look up…. I could go on… all of whom participated in what has emerged to be what is indisputably the greatest national, no, international, health disaster of our time—the Hydroxychloroquine Scandal.

This shameful distortion of medical science was emblematic of how politics not only crept into the treatment of the CCP virus, it bludgeoned that treatment and resulted in untold thousands, perhaps millions, of deaths while simultaneously making life unbearable for an even greater number across the globe—in fact, for practically everyone.

All of those mentioned above either dismissed or heavily downplayed “hydroxy”—a cheap anti-malarial drug, also used for lupus, that had been around for decades and is known to have minimal side effects—for the treatment of COVID-19.

Why? As most of us are aware, a man they thought an ogre, whom they despised, who knew nothing of science, recommended it—President Donald J. Trump—so it had to be disdained.

And yet hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) apparently did and does work in many instances, if taken early in the illness.

This was known way back in June 2020 when the esteemed British medical journal Lancet retracted its support of a dubious study it had published opposing the use of HCQ.

“We all entered this collaboration to contribute in good faith and at a time of great need during the COVID-19 pandemic. We deeply apologise to you, the editors, and the journal readership for any embarrassment or inconvenience that this may have caused.”

This apology, made eight months ago, was largely ignored by the mainstream media because it didn’t fit their narrative. And, worse yet, it might have benefited the nefarious Trump.

At the same time, many independent doctors were insisting that HCQ was working for them with real patients. They were similarly dismissed by a rabid press that had neither the inclination nor skills to investigate. (Laura Ingraham, to her credit, featured several of these doctors on her cable show.)

Meanwhile, thousands, if not millions, died across the globe who needn’t have.

How many we will never know but it’s a safe assumption a good number could have been spared.

The pervasive use of this drug might not have entirely saved us from COVID, but it could arguably have reduced the pandemic to the level of a bad year of flu.

Whatever the truth, an apposite description for what happened might be outrageous.

And now the equally-esteemed American Journal of Medicine in its January 2021 edition has finally admitted the same thing. HCQ often worked. Immediate administration of the drug while the patient was still at home showed significant benefits, they said.

Where were they during the Year of the Pandemic?…”

They were lumbering under the symptoms of advanced Trump Derangement Syndrome. Their hatred for Trump was all consuming. Trump exposed our credentialed global elites for the self-centered, cliquish fools they are.

After Months of Rioting and Looting, Black Lives Matter Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

I posted on this the other day, but it is worth a repost. The nitwit left will say anything, the biased media with trumpet it like God’s truth.

India: Pro-Iranian Terrorist Group Takes Responsibility for Friday’s Israel Embassy Blast

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Biden’s New Iran Envoy Robert Malley Has Tainted History Of Weakness Towards Mullah Regime

I don’t think it could be more obvious; Iran senses U.S. weakness and immediately goes back to its previous tricks. Biden’s picks on Mid-East policy confirm the Mullahs are correct in their calculation. The only question left is how much Biden gives away for a meaningless agreement in Iran’s interest.

Check out this amazing drone video of #Hwy1 washout at Rat Creek about 15 miles south of #BigSur. Our crews are on site securing it, assessing damage & starting clean-up/ repairs. Reminder: the road is OPEN from #Carmel thru town of Big Sur. @bigsurkate @BigSurCC @CHP_Coastal pic.twitter.com/rB193DzXhL

— Caltrans District 5 (@CaltransD5) January 29, 2021

The spiralling environmental cost of our lithium battery addiction

Electric cars are about as green as internal combustion cars. Nothing is free. Nothing is without consequences. The rush to green is a fools’ errand, like wearing two or more masks to protect against Covid. The draw is virtue-signaling for the young and stupid or old and self-hating.

NIH spending $2.5 million attempting to make adults less nervous about the dentist

Dr. Bastiat, at the link, provides some interesting commentary and observations relating the video to American Democrat politics. Here is a short snippet:

“…This increasing difficulty experienced by those who endeavor to appear strange paradoxically makes increasingly strange behavior appear increasingly boring. We become jaded, and those who seek our attention tend to get ignored.

And people willing to do ridiculous things to attract attention to themselves really can’t stand being ignored. The woman at left [below] demanding congressional respect while wearing a vagina costume must wonder why nobody is paying attention to her.

I feel bad for them, really. This has always worked before. A man wearing mascara in 1986 attracted attention. Now, he has to surgically mutilate his genitals to attract attention. And even that is becoming blasé. Again, strange is a moving target. And it only moves in one direction.

Which presents a problem for the left, who present themselves as champions of the outsiders of society. Even those who go to great lengths to make themselves outsiders. Would the heavy metal knitter from the video who dressed up as a Viking bride (I think) have a chance at being nominated to President Biden’s cabinet? Probably not – she is still white, after all. On the other hand, she’s obviously putting a great deal of effort into conforming with the non-conformity which is so trendy now, so maybe Assistant Secretary of Education or something?

I don’t know. It’s complicated. President Biden is doing his best. Under difficult and ever-changing circumstances.

Joe Biden recently nominated Dr. Rachel Levine [below] to become the first transsexual something-or-other to serve as federal something-or-other in the Department of Health and Human Services. GLAAD praised this courageous choice by President Biden, pointing out that 19% of trans-sexuals have no health insurance. Which obviously explains Mr. Biden’s selection of Dr. Levine. I mean, there you go.

On the other hand, it’s also possible that he’s less interested in transsexual health insurance than he is in the perception of diversity in his administration, which these days, has become much more complex than having a certain percentage of blacks in every photo-op.

Is Dr. Levine sufficiently diverse? I don’t know – he or possibly she is still white, after all. On the other hand, she or possibly he is obviously putting a great deal of effort into conforming with the non-conformity which is so trendy now, so maybe Assistant Something-or-Other in the Department of Health and Human Services is reasonable.

I don’t know. It’s complicated.

I’m not sure anybody on the left plans past next week. But if they do, I wonder where they see this going? What will a diverse presidential cabinet look like in 10 years? 20 years? Once David Bowie is president, who the heck do you nominate as Assistant Something-or-Other in the Department of Health and Human Services?

And at what point do people just lose interest in all this, jaded from decades of increasingly earnest efforts at ridiculous insincerity? Will we return to the ’80s, when such people would earn a roll of the eyes rather than a presidential cabinet appointment?

I don’t know. It’s complicated.

Strange is a moving target. And it only moves in one direction.

I can’t help but wonder where all this is going. I wonder if Democrat leaders wonder, too?…”

Tom Elliott of Grabien Media has put together a supercut of CNN’s Jake Tapper spreading the word that Blake was unarmed. You can argue that Blake shouldn’t have been shot seven times, but you can’t argue the facts.

Bruh… pic.twitter.com/RarUkuipxr

— Drew Hawk (@1Now2toCome) January 30, 2021

Toyota CEO Agrees With Elon Musk: We Don’t Have Enough Electricity to Electrify All the Cars

I’m so old I can remember that California had rolling blackouts just a few months ago because of a failure to maintain infrastructure and forests.

Liberalism depends on ahistorical children taught nonsense in school and young illegal immigrants who think the U.S. government will care for them.

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