Let's just assume that there are 100 shares of GameStop (worldwide) and go from there. Let's assume that the price per share/stock before all of this was $100 (in a "good" economy, etc.). How would this all work?

A nice timeline, step by step, line by line would be nice. For ex:

  1. Stock is selling at $100 per share (100 shares total). June 20XX

  2. Economy starts tanking, stock now at $95 per share. August 20XX

  3. People start predicting that it will go down further, thus they start "betting" (insert definitions that are accessible and not jargony), etc.

^ something like that would be nice. Thanks!

  • RandyLahey [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Great explanations here, but I keep hearing that maybe the billionaires can still pump more money into the thing and maybe still beat the r*ddit nerds and come out of this ahead. Is that true or does it just reduce their losses? How does that work?

      • RandyLahey [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Thanks, I guess what I was asking was more how that multi billion dollar short would actually work? Like haven't they already shorted more stock than actually exists so isn't there a limit to how much shorting can be done? And does doing more shorting actually lower the price of the stock? Do those questions even make any sense?

        I guess the question is how does throwing billions of dollars at a stock make that stock go down?

        Sorry, pretty ignorant about all this stuff

      • CanYouFeelItMrKrabs [any, he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        There were a TON of GME shares traded today. It's not all Reddit nerds buying it at this point some larger firms are probably involved

          • CanYouFeelItMrKrabs [any, he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            everyone buying the stock today is contributing to the price going higher. The price going higher fucks the short sellers since they bet it would go lower, and will be forced to buy shares at market price to payback what they borrowed