{"id":145850,"date":"2021-02-18T14:09:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T19:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=145850"},"modified":"2021-02-18T14:43:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T19:43:27","slug":"wallstreetbets-keith-gill-testifies-over-gamestop-saga-what-i-did-no-different-than-discussing-stock-at-a-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wallstreetbets-keith-gill-testifies-over-gamestop-saga-what-i-did-no-different-than-discussing-stock-at-a-bar\/","title":{"rendered":"WallStreetBets\u2019 Keith Gill Testifies Over GameStop Saga: What I Did No Different Than Discussing Stock At A Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwallstreetbets-keith-gill-testifies-over-gamestop-saga-what-i-did-no-different-than-discussing-stock-at-a-bar%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=145850&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231240941.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>WallStreetBets\u2019 Keith Gill testified Thursday during the House Financial Services Committee hearing examining the saga over GameStop shares.<\/p>\n<p>Gill, who goes by \u201cRoaring Kitty\u201d on YouTube, opened the hearing by telling lawmakers that he\u2019s not wealthy, not a hedge fund, and, indeed, not a cat. He defended his activity on the social media platform Reddit in relation to GameStop stocks while expressing strong support for the video game company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I wrote and spoke about GameStop in social media with other individual investors, our conversations were no different than people in a bar, or on a golf course, or at home talking or arguing about a stock,\u201d Gill argued before lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHedge funds and other Wall Street firms have teams of analysts working together to compile research and analyze shares of companies. Individual investors do not have those resources,\u201d he explained. \u201cSocial media platforms like Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter are leveling the playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea that I used social media to promote GameStop stock to unwitting investors &nbsp;and influence the market is preposterous,\u201d Gill asserted. \u201cMy post did not cause the movement of billions of dollars into GameStop shares.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Behind Mr. Gill, who was dressed formally in a shirt and tie, was a displayed poster of a cat with the caption, \u201cHang in there\u201d \u2014 seemingly a play on his \u201cRoaring Kitty\u201d YouTube identity. His signature red sweatband was hanging on the poster, too.<\/p>\n<p>In prepared testimony, Gill echoed the same.&nbsp;\u201cAs an individual investor, I use publicly available information to study the market and the value of specific companies,\u201d his written remarks say. \u201cI consider a complex array of factors and track hundreds of stocks \u2013 all in search of market inefficiencies. Like many people, sometimes I post on social media my thoughts and analysis about individual stocks and whether they are correctly valued.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did that with GameStop. I believed the company was dramatically undervalued by the market. The prevailing analysis about GameStop\u2019s impending doom was simply wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/livecoverage\/gamestop-stock-hearing-keith-gill-reddit-robinhood\">noted<\/a> by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday morning, GameStop \u201cretailer shares soared last month to above $480, from $18.84 at the start of 2021. The surge was fueled in part by an army of bullish individual traders exhorting one another on platforms such as Reddit to buy shares and options and squeeze the hedge funds shorting the stock.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id>\n<p><em>Thank you Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, members of the Committee.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Before I go further, I want to be clear about what I am not. I am not a hedge fund. I do not have clients, and I do not provide personalized investment advice for fees or commissions. I am an individual investor. My investment in GameStop and my posts on social media were entirely my own.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I did not solicit anyone to buy or sell the stock for my own profit. I did not belong to any groups trying to create movements in the stock price. I never had a financial relationship with any hedge fund. I had no information about GameStop except what was public. I did not know any people inside the company, and I never spoke to any insider.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>As an individual investor, I use publicly available information to study the market and the value of specific companies. I consider a complex array of factors and track hundreds of stocks \u2013 all in search of market inefficiencies. Like many people, sometimes I post on social media my thoughts and analysis about individual stocks and whether they are correctly valued.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I did that with GameStop. I believed the company was dramatically undervalued by the market. The prevailing analysis about GameStop\u2019s impending doom was simply wrong.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>A little about my background: I grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. My father was a truck driver, and my mom a registered nurse. I was one of three kids, and the first in my family to earn a four-year college degree when I graduated from Stonehill College in 2009, amid the Great Recession and without a long-term job. My first post-college job was in operations at W.B. Mason, an office supplies company headquartered in my home town of Brockton.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Between 2010 and 2014, I worked for a family friend at a start-up company in New Hampshire, trying to build a software program that would help investors analyze stocks and offer related research. We also tried to start an investment firm, which dissolved not long after it was created. My salary never exceeded $40,000, but I did learn something about investing. I learned how to do the tedious work of digging through a company\u2019s financials and focusing on its real long-term value, not prevailing market sentiment or headlines.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I married my wife Caroline in 2016, and I found a job working operations and compliance at LexShares. I left that job in March 2017, and for the next two years I was effectively without a job. During that time, I began actively analyzing a wide array of stocks to try to keep and increase our limited savings. It was both a way to make money and an interest that I pursued passionately while I lacked a job.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>In April 2019, I accepted a marketing and financial education job at MassMutual. Caroline and I were both happy about our prospects. I had never made a salary over $100,000 a year before, and I was thrilled just to be working and to have benefits again. My title was Director, Financial Wellness Education. My job was to help develop financial education classes that advisors could present to prospective clients. I never sold securities, and I was not a financial advisor.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I continued analyzing stocks on my own time and investing my family\u2019s funds. In early June of 2019, the price of GameStop\u2019s stock declined on worse than expected earnings, and it began trading at a deep discount, below what I thought was its fair value. I was aware from public reports that a well-known investor, Michael Burry, was interested in GameStop. Because I thought the stock was undervalued, I purchased call options on June 7, 2019. I increased my position throughout much of 2019 and 2020, because as I continued to analyze the company and its<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>prospects, I became increasingly confident that the share price was indeed dramatically undervalued.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Two important factors, based entirely on publicly available information, gave me and many others confidence that GameStop was undervalued in 2019 and 2020. First, the market was underestimating the prospects of GameStop\u2019s legacy business and overestimating the likelihood of its going bankrupt. GameStop, the only major retailer dedicated to gaming, has over 60 million members in its loyalty program and continues to maintain a sizable market share within the gaming industry. Its legacy business, comprised primarily of selling physical video games and related equipment within their stores, was likely to generate meaningful cash flow following the release of new gaming consoles in late 2020. I grew up playing videogames and shopping at GameStop, and I\u2019m looking forward to buying a new console at GameStop. I knew the company had an opportunity to reinvigorate this business by improving customer service for gamers, upgrading its online presence, and offering complementary product lines such as PC gaming and accessories.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Second, I believed \u2013 and I continue to believe \u2013 that GameStop has the potential to reinvent itself as the ultimate destination for gamers within the thriving $200 billion gaming industry. The new console cycle provides GameStop a unique opportunity to pivot from a traditionally brick- and-mortar mindset toward a technology-driven business that excels in gaming products, experiences and services. By embracing the digital economy, GameStop can pursue new revenues streams including larger gaming catalogs, digital content and community experiences, online trade-ins, streaming services, and Esports. While I may be the only panelist here today who had faith in GameStop, I was hardly the only person who advocated these points or ones like them. Investors including Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen, whose purchase of GameStop shares and<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>advocacy with the GameStop board helped positively affect the share price in late 2020, publicly expressed similar views.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I want to pause to note that the investment I made was risky, but I was confident in my analysis, and I was willing to accept the loss if I was proven wrong. My timing was far from perfect, and many of the options contracts I purchased expired worthless because GameStop\u2019s stock price remained depressed longer than I expected.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I\u2019ve been asked why I decided to share my investment ideas on social media. My investment skills had reached a level where I felt sharing them publicly could help others. I also thought that by sharing my own ideas and accepting critiques, I would be able to identify holes in my analysis. Hedge funds and other Wall Street firms have teams of analysts working together to compile research and critique investment ideas, while individual investors have not had that advantage. Social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and WallStreetBets on Reddit are leveling the playing field. And in a year of quarantines and COVID, engaging with other investors on social media was a safe way to socialize. We had fun.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The idea that I used social media to promote GameStop stock to unwitting investors is preposterous. I was abundantly clear that my channel was for educational purposes only, and that my aggressive style of investing was unlikely to be suitable for most folks checking out the channel. Whether other individual investors bought the stock was irrelevant to my thesis \u2013 my focus was on the fundamentals of the business. It\u2019s worth noting that after five months of streaming, my final stream of 2020 topped out at just ninety-six concurrent viewers, with an average view duration of twenty-five minutes. On Christmas morning I had only 529 subscribers on YouTube, and 550 followers on Twitter. These numbers are tiny. There were rarely more than a few dozen folks on the stream on any night. The reality was people didn\u2019t really care about<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span>boring, repetitive analysis of GameStop and other stocks, and that was fine. For those of us who did care, the stream provided us an outlet for refining our fundamentals-based thesis. We were able to analyze events in real-time and keep each other honest.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ultimately my GameStop investment was a success. But the thing is, I felt that way in December far before the peak, when the stock was at $20 a share. I was so happy to visit my family in Brockton for the holidays and give them the great news \u2013 we were millionaires. That money will go such a long way for my family. We had an incredibly difficult 2020. In addition to dealing with COVID, we lost my sister Sara unexpectedly in June. It brought me tremendous joy to share good news with my family for a change. I am grateful to be able to give back to my community and to support my family, most of all my wife Caroline who has stuck with me through very tough times.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>As for what happened in January, others will have to explain it. Threshold lists, order flow, halting purchases \u2013 according to the media these all had a material impact on GameStop stock in January. Here\u2019s the thing: I\u2019ve had a bit of experience and even I barely understand these matters. It\u2019s alarming how little we know about the inner-workings of the market, and I am thankful that this Committee is examining what happened. I believe an analysis of GameStop\u2019s recent price action must start with a discussion of the exorbitant short interest in the stock, as well as an investigation into any potentially manipulative shorting practices and brokers\u2019 reported failures to timely deliver shares and settle trades.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>As for what I expect moving forward: GameStop\u2019s stock price may have gotten a bit ahead of itself last month, but I\u2019m as bullish as I\u2019ve ever been on a potential turnaround. In short, I like the stock. And what\u2019s stunning is that, as far as I can tell, the market remains oblivious to GameStop\u2019s unique opportunity within the gaming industry.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em><span>member<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WallStreetBets\u2019 Keith Gill testified Thursday during the House Financial Services Committee hearing examining the saga over GameStop shares.Gill, who goes by \u201cRoaring Kitty\u201d on YouTube, opened the hearing by telling &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2181496,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231240941.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"WallStreetBets\u2019 Keith Gill Testifies Over GameStop Saga: What I Did No Different Than Discussing Stock At A Bar","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1231240941.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"WallStreetBets\u2019 Keith Gill Testifies Over GameStop Saga: What I Did No Different Than Discussing Stock At A Bar","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2181496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}