Insider Finance - Business - Insider Today: GameStop goes Hollywood

September 29, 2023 • 5 min read

with Dan DeFrancesco

Happy Friday and happy National Coffee Day! I’ve always thought the Northeast was pretty caffeinated, but a recent ranking of the best US cities for coffee lovers indicates otherwise.  

In today’s big story, we’ve got a review of “Dumb Money,” the movie based on the famous GameStop short squeeze of 2021.

What’s on deck:

But first, wanna see a movie?

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The big story

“Dumb Money” comes up short

When individual investors sent shares of so-called meme stocks skyrocketing in early 2021, putting billion-dollar hedge funds on their heels, one thing seemed obvious: This would make a helluva movie.

More than two years later, we get to see for ourselves.

“Dumb Money,” which opens for a wide release today, navigates the lead-up, peak, and aftermath of the GameStop short-squeeze, which led short-sellers to lose billions of dollars.  

Full disclosure: I was critical of how the movie was cast. But I went into a recent viewing wanting to like “Dumb Money.” I’m fascinated by Hollywood’s interpretation of finance, from “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Margin Call” to “The Big Short.”

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“Dumb Money” is a classic David-vs-Goliath tale. 

The movie's main protagonist is Keith Gill (Paul Dano), who sparked interest in GameStop with Reddit posts and YouTube videos detailing his investment thesis under the pseudonyms “DeepFuckingValue” and “Roaring Kitty.”

(Like I said, the script practically writes itself.)

The film also follows a series of characters — a pair of college students, a nurse, and a GameStop employee — who invest in GameStop along with Gill, hoping to make money and stick it to the Wall Street firms betting against the company. 

Their inclusion is a smart device — the GameStop saga was a community-led movement — but feels underutilized. While Gill was the engine of the short squeeze, individual investors fueled him. A piece of the story falls flat without some meaningful development from them.

And then there’s the movie’s antagonists. The depiction of hedge fund managers Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman), Steve Cohen (Vincent D'Onofrio), and Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), whose firms' GameStop short positions put them in Reddit traders’ crosshairs, came across as too over-the-top and cartoonish. 

That’s not a defense of them. God knows they don’t need my help. Griffin reportedly raised hell over his portrayal in the movie.

But if satire was the direction the movie wanted — à la “The Wolf of Wall Street” — it should have pushed harder. Instead, Gill’s stoner brother (Pete Davidson) has to carry the comedy load, but most of his jokes come up short. 

What’s left is a somewhat mediocre movie that’s neither too serious nor too funny.

So, to tweak a phrase made famous by Gill: For me, I don’t like the movie. 

3 things in

Markets

🔔 Before the opening bell: US futures rise early Friday as investors await the upcoming PCE reading — the Fed's preferred inflation metric. 

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; iStock; Rebecca Zisser/Insider

1. No more “Easy Street” for investors. The stock market’s long-running growth trend since the 2008 crisis isn’t guaranteed to continue, according to a note from Richard Bernstein Advisors. Dan Suzuki, RBA’s deputy chief investment officer, highlighted three tenets of stock investing to give investors pause before piling into crowded trades.

2. The cracks are starting to show in the US consumer. It’s been a key component of keeping the economy afloat, but the ever-resilient US consumer is facing significant pressure. From the student-loan payment restart to soaring gas prices, consumers face an uphill battle.   

3. JPMorgan <3 startups. The bank is nabbing Silicon Valley Bank alumni as it grows a team focused on working with startups. This year, it has doubled the head count of the commercial-banking unit focused on young companies. JPMorgan executive Melissa Smith detailed the plan to fill the void left by SVB.

3 things in

Tech

Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media

1. A first-hand look at X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s disastrous coming out party. There would be no questions from the crowd as a clearly shaken Yaccarino sat on the stage. One audience member described it as a "dumpster fire." Another likened it to watching a car crash.

2. Internal memo: Salesforce Chief Trust Officer leaves after less than 18 months on the job. Vikram Rao is the third — and perhaps most high-profile — cybersecurity executive to leave the company within the past year. The chief technology officer of security bounced in February, while an executive vice president departed in November.

3. A leaked screenshot revealed that Amazon is tracking individual employee office attendance records. This is a reversal from its anonymized data policy — and it’s the latest move to force employees back into the office.

3 things in

Business

California Forever

1. “I looked at the plans for the new city proposed by Silicon Valley elites. They’re really terrible.” It’s called California Forever and it presents an idyllic vision of city life. But the design is completely clueless about how cities actually work.

2. Insurers and drug-industry middlemen are cashing in on the weight-loss drug frenzy. The drugs — like Ozempic and Wegovy — cost around $1,000 per month. And they’ve been driving up healthcare spending.

3. Leaked memo: Shopify CEO discourages employees from having side hustles. Tobi Lütke said the company requires “unshared attention” and that conflicts of interest could be possible. All employees are soon going to have to fill out a form disclosing side projects or other outside work.

In other news

What's happening today

Patrick Fallon, AFP via Getty Images

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The Insider Today team

Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City. Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

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