GameStop, The Second Surge: Anatomy Of A ‘Gamma Swarm’
George Calhoun, 10 March 2021
GameStop GME -0.7% is not following the script. Despite the confident predictions by almost all the sideline observers (including myself) that the January frenzy in GME shares would end predictably, and badly… this “Stonk” has suddenly surged a second time, embarrassing the conventional wisdom once again.
When GME first erupted in January, I thought it looked like just a clever way to accelerate a conventional short squeeze. (The mechanics of a short squeeze, and the “gamma” accelerant using call options, are described in my previous column.) On that basis, I expected that it would soon deflate and “return to normal.” The battlefield would be littered with the carcasses of small investors who bought at the top. We’d hear the distant sound of champagne popping in the proud towers of Wall Street and Chicago, and the scolds in the press would treat us to another round of lectures on thrift and the Madness of Crowds.
That’s not what happened. The stock did come down as low as $38, but the deflation didn’t stick. As of this moment mid-day (March 10), GME is again trading above $300 a share. [Things are moving fast. See the Update at the end of this piece.]
