Skip to main content
About HEC About HEC
Summer School Summer School
Faculty & Research Faculty & Research
Master’s programs Master’s programs
Bachelor Programs Bachelor Programs
MBA Programs MBA Programs
PhD Program PhD Program
Executive Education Executive Education
HEC Online HEC Online
About HEC
Overview Overview
Who
We Are
Who
We Are
Egalité des chances Egalité des chances
HEC Talents HEC Talents
International International
Sustainability Sustainability
Diversity
& Inclusion
Diversity
& Inclusion
The HEC
Foundation
The HEC
Foundation
Campus life Campus life
Activity Reports Activity Reports
Summer School
Youth Programs Youth Programs
Summer programs Summer programs
Online Programs Online Programs
Faculty & Research
Overview Overview
Faculty Directory Faculty Directory
Departments Departments
Centers Centers
Chairs Chairs
Grants Grants
Knowledge@HEC Knowledge@HEC
Master’s programs
Master in
Management
Master in
Management
Master's
Programs
Master's
Programs
Double Degree
Programs
Double Degree
Programs
Bachelor
Programs
Bachelor
Programs
Summer
Programs
Summer
Programs
Exchange
students
Exchange
students
Student
Life
Student
Life
Our
Difference
Our
Difference
Bachelor Programs
Overview Overview
Course content Course content
Admissions Admissions
Fees and Financing Fees and Financing
MBA Programs
MBA MBA
Executive MBA Executive MBA
TRIUM EMBA TRIUM EMBA
PhD Program
Overview Overview
HEC Difference HEC Difference
Program details Program details
Research areas Research areas
HEC Community HEC Community
Placement Placement
Job Market Job Market
Admissions Admissions
Financing Financing
FAQ FAQ
Executive Education
Home Home
About us About us
Management topics Management topics
Open Programs Open Programs
Custom Programs Custom Programs
Events/News Events/News
Contacts Contacts
HEC Online
Overview Overview
Executive programs Executive programs
MOOCs MOOCs
Summer Programs Summer Programs
Youth programs Youth programs
Instant

GameStop: Hedge Funds vs Amateur Traders?

Finance
Published on:
5 minutes

Is the GameStop Affair a collective action revolting against major hedge funds, or is it just another form of speculation by amateur investors also aiming to become rich? In the course of one week, GameStop’s stock value had catapulted to an impressive 1600% rise from its previous value. This situation had Wall Street trembling, and had hedge funds and individual investors at attention. As GameStop’s stock value continues to fluctuate towards a lower price, its initial steep climb up raises questions on stock market behavior, the actions of hedge fund investors, and the trading technique of short selling. HEC Paris professor of Finance Johan Hombert explains the mechanics behind the GameStop affair and Robinhood trading application.

gamestop

Source: Wikipedia

Listen to the podcast:

 

What are the mechanics behind this affair with GameStop? 

The story has often been presented as amateur traders taking a revenge on Wall Street hedge funds. This view has some superficial element of truth, but I believe that it is fundamentally misleading.

First, let’s explain the part where amateur traders take a revenge on hedge funds. GameStop is a brick-and-mortar video game retailer, which hedge funds deemed was over-valued. A number of hedge funds started to short-sell GameStop. To short-sell a stock, hedge funds borrow the stock, sell it in the market, and expect to buy it back later at a lower price, and therefore make a profit.

Now come amateur traders on Robinhood. Robinhood is an online trading app. Amateur traders on Robinhood coordinated an attack on the short-sellers. They bought massively GameStop’s stocks to push up the price. This generates losses for short-sellers and leads short-sellers to close their short positions, which means buying the stock. By buying the stock, the short-sellers not only lost money, they also further increased the price and contributed to increasing their own losses.

On this part, it is true that amateur traders played a clever trick to the short sellers. This trick is called a “short squeeze”.

It is also true that a few amateur traders, those who started the short squeeze by buying GameStop when the price was low and sold it when it was high, made money.

But many individual traders also lost money. In particular those who bought when the stock price was already very high, thinking they could make quick and easy money at the expense of hedge funds. When the price eventually crashed, because every bubble eventually crashes, people who bought at the peak of the stock price lost a lot of money. Learn more on my blog post, What is happening with GameStop.

So what lesson can be learned from this story? 

The main lesson is that it is naïve to believe that amateur traders can beat hedge funds at their own game. Hedge funds have a lot of resources and brain power, and better access to information than retail traders. Retail traders really stand no chance.

 

The main lesson is that it is naïve to believe that amateur traders can beat hedge funds at their own game.

 

My colleague at HEC Paris, Finance Professor Jean-Noël Barrot, studied the performance of individual traders in France. He shows that they lose money on average. He also shows that more experienced traders perform a little bit better, but even they lose money, they just lose less money than the less experienced traders.

 

hedge fund podcast - HEC social media card

 

In fact, the very business model of trading apps like Robinhood relies on the fact that amateur traders lose money in the stock market. Robinhood does not charge any fee to its customers. It makes money by selling to hedge funds the right to trade with its customers. This practice is called “payment for order flow”.

 

The very business model of trading apps like Robinhood relies on the fact that amateur traders lose money in the stock market.

 

The fact that payment for order flow is a profitable business is very telling: why are hedge funds willing to pay to be allowed to trade with individual traders?

The answer is obvious: it is because individual traders always lose at the expense of hedge funds.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Investing in the stock market is a good idea for long-term investment. For instance, it is a good idea to invest a fraction of retirement savings in the stock market, and it is good practice to buy a diversified portfolio such as a low cost, broad-market Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). 

 

Investing in the stock market is a good idea for long-term investment.

 

However, day trading and stock picking is a money-losing activity, unless you think you can outsmart other traders. But you have to keep in mind two things. First, not everyone is smarter than average, and second, even fewer people are smarter than hedge funds when it comes to trading.

 

Interview conducted for the podcast Knowledge@HEC with Professor Johan Hombert. Learn more on Professor Hombert's "Financial Markets Blog".

Related content on Finance

Source: Frenta on 123RF

Finance

Reaching for the Stars: High Ratings Give Restaurants an Edge with Customers – and Lenders

By François Derrien

iStock-Varsovie_Vera Balacco
Finance

What Incites Companies to Invest in Green Technologies?

By Bruno Biais, Augustin Landier

Sustainable Development
Reshaping Core Courses for Sustainability
Eloic Peyrache - HEC
Eloïc Peyrache
Professor, Dean
Subscribe button for Knowledhe@HEC newsletter

Newsletter knowledge

A monthly brief in your email box and 3 issues of the book per year.

follow us

Insights @HECParis School of #Management

Follow Us

Support Research

Our articles are produced thanks to our reader's support