By ROBIN POWELL
I watched Dumb Money, the new movie about the GameStop saga, the other day. I must say I enjoyed it. But it tells us much more about social media and, in particular, the power of the smartphone, than it does about finance or investing. My latest article for Timeline explains why.
Dumb Money is one of the better movies you will see this year. It’s a comedy drama, directed by Craig Gillespie, about one of the most remarkable financial events of recent times — the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021.
It’s certainly entertaining, and Paul Dano has rightly earned plaudits for his portrayal of the nerdy YouTuber Keith Gill. AKA Roaring Kitty, Gill amassed a huge internet following by incessantly arguing that shares in the retailer GameStop were undervalued.
As the stock’s share price grew, so did Gill’s fame. Like several other companies around that time, GameStop became a “meme stock”, constantly discussed on social media and, in particular, the Reddit bulletin board r/wallstreetbets. Things came to a head when, over the course of just two weeks, GameStop shares soared by a mind-boggling 1,500%.
However, although it’s very watchable, I do have a major gripe with Dumb Money when it comes to its interpretation of events
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ROBIN POWELL is the editor of The Evidence-Based Investor. He works as a journalist, author and consultant specialising in finance and investing. He is the co-author of two books, Invest Your Way to Financial Freedom and How to Fund the Life You Want, and his company Regis Media provides high-quality video content for advice firms and other financial businesses.
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