Everything You Need to Know about the GameStop Frenzy and Key Players, including Robinhood, Citadel, Reddit, Roaring Kitty & Rigged Markets
April 1, 2021
The frenzied trading in GameStop, Bed Bath & Beyond and other stocks in early 2021 resulted in lots of media coverage, hearings on the Hill and international attention. The events raised critical questions about the fairness of our markets, the treatment of retail investors, the gamification of trading, the role of certain trading strategies, conflicts of interest, interconnectedness, and many related issues.
While some of these issues are new to the public, Better Markets has been working on them for many years. Because of our expertise, we have been in the forefront of explaining them to regulators, legislators, policymakers and the media.
To help inform the conversation, Better Markets developed various materials on these important issues (see below under Issue-and-Firm-Specific Fact Sheets and Resources). In addition, Co-founder, President and CEO of Better Markets Dennis Kelleher testified before the House Financial Services Committee's second hearing on Wednesday, March 17, to examine the recent market volatility involving GameStop and other stocks.
CITADEL FACT SHEET: Who is Citadel and why should you care?
PAYMENT FOR ORDER FLOW FACT SHEETS: What is payment for order flow & how it rips off retail investors. Short Version and Long Version
CAT FACT SHEET: Stands for consolidated audit trail, a long overdue, transparency and accountability measure to protect investors and the integrity of the U.S. securities markets.
FEB. 18 POST-HEARING FACT SHEET reviewing the highlights of the hearing.
FACT SHEET OF THE KEY ISSUES raised by Robinhood, Reddit, Citadel, GameStop and rigged markets.
OTHER RESOURCES:
WHITE PAPER: Detailed analysis on select issues raised by the speculative frenzy in GameStop and other stocks.
BLOG POST—MARKET STRUCTURE: A detailed blog post of Better Markets' advocacy over the years on market structure.
PRESS RELEASE: Better Markets' Letter to House Financial Services Committee on Key Issues for the Feb. 18 Hearing on GameStop Trading and the Role of Robinhood, Citadel, Reddit.
HEARING HIGHTLIGHTS: The Feb. 18 HFSC hearing lasted more than 5 hours, but you don’t have watch it all to see some of the key highlights – we’ve got them here in just 23 minutes! See Chair Maxine Waters, AOC, Jim Himes, Ritchie Torres, Al Green, Cindy Axne, Rashida Tlaib, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and more!