YouTuber Arlo claims the stock market isn't real

[Islander]

In a recent video about Ubisoft's poor financial state, Arlo, the popular gamer playing a sock puppet, claims the stock market is a game made up by the rich that doesn't actually exist. It troubles me to see someone of his status perpetuating financial misunderstandings that contribute to financial difficulty, so I posted a rebuttal in the comments section.

Like, I get it. He doesn't like corporations. I don't much care for them myself. But there's a big difference between "Ubisoft is making bad decisions so their stock prices are in the toilet" and "The stock market doesn't exist because rich people are bad". I know people would say I have better things to do with my time than to try and educate a bunch of sheep in YouTube comments about how money actually works, but I want to help people, and I don't see how staying quiet will do any good. It hurts to see someone I was subscribed to spouting nonsense, but if that's his mindset, then maybe I'm better off unsubscribing.

I also posted a lengthy reply to a person in the comments claiming finances are the root of all evil. YouTube hid my original reply, so I broke it into multiple posts in an attempt to break through their BS filter. The third part has since been hidden as well, probably because it mentioned having to break the response into multiple parts thanks to YouTube in the first place. Here's a Google doc containing the rebuttal in its entirety. Feel free to share it with others; I refuse to let Marxist assholes silence what I have to say.

 

[Arnox]

There's so much bullshit in the stock market already. I don't know why he feels like he needs make up shit on top of that. For example, that inane little restriction on day-trading if you don't make above a certain amount. I forget now what it's called.

 

[Signa]

Speaking of which, I still maintain that shorting stocks needs to be made illegal. It's a process entirely designed to strip the value out of companies. It's purely malicious and goes against the spirit of investing in the success of the company.

 

[Phiwise_]

Is, uh, is he under the impression that stockholders get paid the whole profit of the company as dividends? It kind of sounds like it, but no one can actually think that, right? Surely?

In general, though, he's accidentally right. Under an inflating (fiat) common currency, the point of an exchange is basically for the member companies to sell private monies to people and firms that need hard assets. Sure the bond is backed by the profits of whatever all the people employed at the company do, creating the differentiation for competition and pricing, but the undercurrent keeping the party going is the panicked rush from bad money to good of the people like retirement funds who are expected to earn their members value over time while swimming against the current of inflation. In that respect every public company sets its stockholders against the business of its customers, whereas in the good old days stockholders wanted things like dividends and bought because they liked the business.

Speaking of which, I still maintain that shorting stocks needs to be made illegal. It's a process entirely designed to strip the value out of companies. It's purely malicious and goes against the spirit of investing in the success of the company.

>Your appraisal of this stock as overvalued goes against the spirit of my appraisal of this stock as undervalued!

Uh, yeah? That's how the market finds its rate, through upward and downward pressure. You can't just declare every investment to be good. The spirit of investment is to reward people who know how to increase the market's efficiency, which is helpful to everyone. Just wanting to make money isn't helpful to anyone but the "investor" complaining about shorts.

 

[Signa]

>Your appraisal of this stock as overvalued goes against the spirit of my appraisal of this stock as undervalued!

Uh, yeah? That's how the market finds its rate, through upward and downward pressure. You can't just declare every investment to be good. The spirit of investment is to reward people who know how to increase the market's efficiency, which is helpful to everyone. Just wanting to make money isn't helpful to anyone but the "investor" complaining about shorts.

That's not what shorting stocks are. It's where you borrow someone's stocks, sell them, and then at an agreed date, you return the stocks you borrowed with the hope you can buy them again at a lower rate than you sold them for. You're describing normal supply and demand. Shorting stocks is based around devaluing a company's worth entirely for your own benefit.

 

[Houseman]

That's not what shorting stocks are. It's where you borrow someone's stocks, sell them, and then at an agreed date, you return the stocks you borrowed with the hope you can buy them again at a lower rate than you sold them for. You're describing normal supply and demand. Shorting stocks is based around devaluing a company's worth entirely for your own benefit.

What if the price of the stock goes up after you sell the borrowed stocks?

 

[Signa]

What if the price of the stock goes up after you sell the borrowed stocks?

That's why Gamestop was a thing a few years back. Demand and value rose on it, and the stock company (which only exists to extract value as we're discussing.) lost a billion dollars from it.

 

[Houseman]

That's why Gamestop was a thing a few years back. Demand and value rose on it, and the stock company (which only exists to extract value as we're discussing.) lost a billion dollars from it.

The "stock company"? Is that Gamestop itself or some other entity?

 

[Signa]

The "stock company"? Is that Gamestop itself or some other entity?

I forgot the name of it and I'm too lazy to look it up, but yeah, there's a company that only exists to produce money by manipulating stocks. They saw GS wasn't doing good, so the borrowed a TON of stocks and sold them, expecting to make a killing on a sure thing. Someone leaked the move to r/Wallstreetbets (I think it was that sub reddit?) and then all the people there spread the word to "make the stonks go to the moon"

 

[Houseman]

Heh, neat. I only saw some memes about Gamestop stocks but I didn't know why or how.