There is no connection between how emotionally validating a narrative is and how well it describes reality.

Mostly the principle applies to conspiracy cults and elections, but there are also a small but extremely vocal number of "investors" who don't get it.

In 2021, institutional investors who expected GME stock to continue its downward spiral were short-selling it. That is, they 'sold' shares of stock they didn't actually own, intending to buy the shares at a lower price in the future when they were required to deliver them. This is common and normally doesn't cause a problem, but the number of shares sold short was more than the number of actual shares available. A group of individuals, discreetly joined by several hedge funds, bought up shares so that the short sellers were forced to cover (buy the shares they had sold without owning) at higher and higher prices. The stock wasn't actually worth those higher prices, though, and gradually moved back toward its fair value afterward.

In 2024, some people are fantasizing about a repeat performance. There's just one problem...instead of 140% of available GME stock being short sold, it's less than 30%. A 2021-style short squeeze simply isn't possible.

But the narrative is so attractive that a bunch of people believe it anyway.

Is it possible to make a bunch of money off the hype if you time your trades right? Absolutely. Is buying and HODLing GME a heroic blow against an ill-defined villain representing evil rich people and a brilliant investment? Absolutely not. It's more like sitting down at a slot machine or buying a lottery ticket. You might hit it big, but you probably won't.