Tag Archives: manipulation

Kill the Messenger

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Every damn day. That’s what it seems like. Every damn day the man seventy-seven million Americans voted back into office does something more outrageous than the day before. It is exhausting.

Trump eviscerates environmental protections. He accuses former President Barack Obama of treason. He rips up labor agreements. He plans to privatize Social Security. He forces the Smithsonian to take down an exhibit that includes his two impeachments. The European Union, Japan, Columbia University, and CBS are all surrendering to him.

And now he fires the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he doesn’t like the jobs numbers.

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GameStop – The Casino at Broad and Wall

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I thought it was a very strange story. “Analysts confounded by GameStop price moves” read the headline in the business section of one of the world’s most widely read newspapers. “Recent volatility in the stock of GameStop has confused analysts following the video game retailor” read the lede line.

That there had been great volatility in the price of a share of GameStop was not debatable. The stock was trading below $20 a share at the end of 2020. On January 29, 2021 it hit $325. That’s a jump of 1,625%. If you had bought 100 shares on December 31, you would have paid $2,000. On January 29, one month later, your 100 shares would have been worth $32,500. If you think you understand the stock market that is a mindboggling increase. Certainly one to “confound” and “confuse.” But as your intrepid reporter wrote in my primer for the National Center for Business Journalism, stock markets are not what they used to be.

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