Economy
Fmr. SEC commissioner compares GameStop short squeeze to Capitol riot
On Thursday a former commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while discussing the ongoing short squeeze involving GameStop, compared the situation to the deadly January 6 Capitol riot.
Former SEC Commissioner Laura Unger made the comparison while talking to CNBC on Thursday afternoon about the market volatility and short squeeze sparked by users on the Reddit community r/WallStreetBets. To briefly explain the complex situation, some users on the subreddit had encouraged other retail investors in the forum to purchase stock in GameStop—a failing video game retailer—through entities and calls, which caused its stock price to skyrocket and fluctuate dramatically within the span of more than a week.
MORE ON GAMESTOP, ROBINHOOD: Class-action suit filed against Robinhood app for blocking trading of GameStop, other stocks
“Everybody is scratching their heads about this: ‘What should happen? What is the right thing to do to control this or stop this?'” Unger said
She then said that the ongoing GameStop debacle is “[n]ot unlike what we saw on January 6 at the Capitol.”
“If you don’t have the police in there at the right time, things go a little crazy,” Unger continued.
Watch the full CNBC interview here.
“And that kind of feels like what’s happening with this,” she added but quickly walked back from her comparison, saying the Capitol riot was “much different, much lesser degree; it’s financial harm, not personal bodily harm.”
Though, Unger called the short squeeze of GameStop “the same kind of platform-created frenzy that people are operating under, and these are very trying times.”
Here, the former SEC commissioner is most likely referencing the litany of reports detailing how rioters utilized platforms such as Parler and Telegram to plan the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Unger, a Republican, was appointed to the SEC as a commissioner by then-President Bill Clinton in 1997 and served until 2002, once briefly serving as the acting chair. Currently, Unger sits on the board of CIT Group, which she joined in 2010, according to her biography on CIT’s website.
MORE ON GAMESTOP, ROBINHOOD: ‘You almost had me murdered’: AOC doesn’t want Cruz to join bipartisan push to investigate Robinhood
You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.
More Democrat leaders from non-border states are wising up to the immigration crisis our nation faces. Woburn mayor Scott Galvin, of the progressive state of Massachusetts, is hoping that lawmakers will overturn a 40-year-old law because the reality of being “bleeding heart liberals” is resulting in the demise of his town.
The 40-year-old “right-to-shelter” law has got to go, says mayor Galvin, because of the immense strain the thousands of migrant families are putting on the area’s residents. By Friday, there were about 150 families living in the city’s hotels, an “unsustainable” arrangement for his 40,000 constituents.
Galvin told the New York Times the right-to-shelter law, which only exists in Massachusetts, was “passed at a different time, and was not meant to cover what we’re seeing now.”
National Review reports:
Under the 1983 right-to-shelter law, Massachusetts officials are legally required to offer housing to any homeless families seeking shelter in the state. The law now covers a rising influx of migrant families, although individuals are not covered under its provisions.
“We’re going above and beyond, while some communities around us are not being impacted, and we don’t have endless capacity in our schools,” said Galvin. “The benefits that are bestowed on migrants make the state a very attractive destination, and without some changes, this challenge is not going to abate.”
Massachusetts Democrat Governor Maura Healey already declared a state of emergency on August 8th, requesting help from the federal government. On August 31, Healey activated up to 250 Massachusetts National Guard members to assist the more than 6,000 migrant families already in the state’s shelter system.
Approximately 6,300 families are living in emergency shelters and hotels across the state, up roughly 50 percent from the year prior. The cost for such accommodations for all the migrants is approximately $45 million per month, National Review reports.
-
War on Drugs1 day agoKilo of fentanyl found on children’s mats at Bronx daycare, 4 children overdosed, 1 year old boy dies
-
China4 days agoElectric Vehicle company with Chinese ties awarded $500 million of taxpayer money for 2nd U.S. plant
-
War on Drugs2 days ago
Children under 14 dying from fentanyl poisoning at ‘faster rate than any other age group’
-
Healthcare4 days agoNebraska woman who detransitioned sues doctors who facilitated removal of ‘healthy breasts’ when she was a teen battling mental health
