This is not a game.

Have you seen the advertisement with a financial advisor saying to the client, “this is a long-term game” and the client’s response back, “this is my financial future, it is not a game!”? The ironic thing is the same people that have created these ads are the same people that are turning the market into a game. Recently, we have seen the effect that short-term, retail investors can have on the market. Remember, it’s a short-term effect, not a long-term impact. The current issues with GameStop, and other companies like Blackberry and AMC, are great examples of how people can take advantage of the free markets. In reality, GameStop had the biggest effect on the hedge fund managers that were “short” on the stock. Taking a “short” position means you are making a bet on the company to go down in value. Whenever you short a company, you take on an incredible amount of risk. Short sellers continually “play the game”, and someone beat them at their own game. In my opinion, if we take a step back, we’ll realize that all of the noise we are hearing is not investing. It is literally a form of wagering. Superbowl Sunday is coming up and I may make a few wagers with some close friends, but this is certainly not my investment strategy for retirement.