02/16/2021
Here is a tale of armature investors relying on hype and not having a solid fundamental education. This is from the WSJ in today's edition. IF you would like to get further information from Pure Investment Education, please call or email
Salvador Vergara was so enthusiastic about GameStop Corp. in late January
that he took out a $20,000 personal loan and used it to purchase shares. Then the buzzy
stock plunged nearly 80%.
GameStop’s volatile ride is hitting the portfolios of individual investors like Mr. Vergara
who purchased the stock in a social-media-fueled frenzy. These casual traders say
GameStop was their “YOLO,” or “you only live once,” trade. They bought around its late
January peak, betting it would continue its astronomical climb. While some cashed out
before it crashed, others who hung onto their shares are in the red.
Listen to this article
5 minutes
GME -1.49%
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2/16/2021 GameStop Investors Who Bet Big—and Lost Big - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gamestop-investors-who-bet-bigand-lost-big-11613385002?mod=itp_trending_now 2/7
Mr. Vergara, a 25-year-old security guard in Virginia, started investing four years ago
after deciding he wanted to retire young. To save money, he drives a 1998 Honda Civic,
eats a lot of rice and lives with his dad. He stashed his savings mostly in diversified index
funds, which are now valued at about $50,000. Then Mr. Vergara, a longtime reader of the
WallStreetBets page on Reddit, saw others posting about buying GameStop shares and
the stock’s colossal rise.
He didn’t want to touch his index-fund investments, so instead he got a personal loan with
an 11.19% interest rate from a credit union and used it to fund most of his GameStop
purchase. He bought shares at $234 each.
GameStop’s volatile ride is hitting the portfolios of individual investors who purchased the stock in a social-media-fueled frenzy.