GME, BTC, 2020.

Photo: Wall Street Subway Station

Coming back to this blog after an almost 12-month hiatus feels embarrassing.

Truthfully, 2020 was a demotivating event. Writing about freedom of choice and then being happy to oblige with a state-sanctioned lockdown? Yes, that was me. There were a lot of terrible things, both related and unrelated to the pandemic, that I found myself facing. If the last 2 years have taught me anything, it’s that I am, and will constantly be, working and pushing through life for as long as I’m here. I enjoy the introspection. It’s nice to be in your own head.

While we were all fighting with our family and friends over COVID prevention measures, whether the government was doing too much, whether the government was doing enough, whether the sky was caving in on us, or whether this was all a big hoax, I came to a realisation. Is it really so bad to just do what we’re told? I was quite happy to obey the orders provided, probably because I’d been fear-mongered to within an inch of my sanity. I enjoy rigidity, rule-following, process-oriented tasks, and being creative within a framework, so it’s no real surprise that I’d be of the compliant type. I told my boyfriend, jokingly, that I’d fare well under a dictatorship.

Three years ago I bought some bitcoin at the height of the last crypto bubble, inspired to learn about trading and hone my skills. I ended up being lazy with it, abandoning my Baby Pips training program and largely forgetting about my holdings as the price plummeted. I was more in tune with the market this time around as the second crypto bubble grew. One Saturday morning, I woke up and decided to sell my holdings. After figuring out which broker I had an account with and resetting my password, I immediately sold and processed a withdrawal. It took me a while to realise I’d made a profit of around 250%. My first legitimate trade, and my most profitable one too. If only I’d bought more to begin with.

The current GameStop phenomenon is something I don’t care for analysing in depth. I admire the way the general public has been able to conduct themselves in the market. I admire the way people have gone out of their way to share trading and financial knowledge with one another. It’s one of those power-to-the-people moments, that’s for sure. I enjoy talking about the situation with my colleagues, all seasoned institutional financial professionals, my family, my friends. I overheard two people conversing about GameStop at a cafe today. I enjoy the airtime the situation has received on TV and in newspapers, and checking WSB every morning when I wake up to see what’s transpired in the NY market hours while I’ve been slumbering (oh, to work the NY night shift again!).

There is one thing that niggles at me, though. It probably shouldn’t bother me so much, but in a world full of Google and YouTube and social media and forums, there are few excuses for ignorance. Seeing influencers on Instagram whine about how they don’t understand the situation is annoying. Maybe I’m not any better for whining about them.

  • Step 1: Go on Google.com or your search engine of choice.
  • Step 2: Type in “gamestop”.
  • Step 3: Get your reading glasses ready.

It’s really that simple. We have the world at our fingertips, and WSB have the market at theirs.

I think I’ll be back again soon. I bought a new car, and I want to tell you about it.

Sincerely, Siomi