A Meme Stock Strikes Gold, Nickel Goes Parabolic, and Gaming Wall Street Is Awesome.

03/15/22 • 41 min

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the seventh episode of Season Two.

John, who regularly appears on financial news networks, and Burke, who runs the Capitalism Maven site for TheStreet.com, have a long history together discussing markets, politics and contemporary subjects. These discussions sometimes get made into films such as Betting On Zero, and now... another one! Gaming Wall Street!

OK, so the secret is out. Biltmore Films, the company founded by Betting On Zero producers Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn, is excited to announce a new documentary film, Gaming Wall Street, about the GameStop and meme stock trading frenzy and light it cast on the dark plumbing of Wall Street.
The two-part documentary debuted on March 3 on HBO Max. The film is an HBO Max Original, produced by our little old Biltmore Films, Prodigium Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky. The film was directed by Tobias Deml.
In this episode, we are still basking in the warm afterglow of getting the documentary out into the world, and of course, since Gaming Wall Street is about Wall Street shenanigans and bizarre behavior, it will always be current. Accordingly, our discussion starts off with how AMC Entertainment is acquiring a 22 percent stake in a gold mining company. Meanwhile GME Chairman Ryan Cohen has bought almost a 10 percent position in Bed Bath & Beyond. What does this mean for shareholders?
And if you thought trading in GameStop was rigged or at least favored the big guys, you'll likely enjoy our discussion of how the London Metal Exchange has closed trading in nickel for the last five days so a fat cat can wriggle out of an actual bona fide short squeeze.
Of course, we talk about the recent volatility in the markets and what it means for stocks. Are there opportunities out there?
And if you haven't streamed Gaming Wall Street, go do it!
Gaming Wall Street shows how the self-proclaimed "apes" set off to take down Wall Street bad guys, only to discover a game that was far more rigged than they could ever imagine. And in the process, they almost took the whole system down.
Enjoy this episode!

Previous Episode

Exclusive! Interview with Gaming Wall Street director Tobias Deml

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the sixth episode of Season Two!

OK, so the secret is out and the exciting hour is almost upon us. Biltmore Films, the company founded by Betting On Zero producers Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn, is excited to announce a new documentary film, Gaming Wall Street, about the GameStop and meme stock trading frenzy and light it cast on the dark plumbing of Wall Street.
The two-part documentary will debut on March 3 on HBO Max. The film is an HBO Max Original, produced by our little old Biltmore Films, Prodigium Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky. The film was directed by Tobias Deml.
This is perhaps our most fun episode in two years. It's a celebration of the hard work put in by Toby and his team, including producer Tessa Byford, which resulted in a documentary on HBO Max that we happen to think is first rate.
We discuss how Toby first got involved with the GameStop story, prowling around on Reddit and drinking the stock market Kool-Aid. Then, after the GameStop story began to take shape, we started chatting and soon enough we were crafting a narrative, meeting characters, and going down rabbit holes. Soon enough, we were in bed with HBO and racing to get a quality project out into the market. And we succeeded.
Gaming Wall Street shows how the self-proclaimed "apes" set off to take down Wall Street bad guys, only to discover a game that was far more rigged than they could ever imagine. And in the process, they almost took the whole system down.
Tune in starting on March 3 to see how it all played out, and how it continues to play out. And enjoy this episode!

Next Episode

Bill Hwang Is In Jeopardy, Along With Free Speech, Free Money, and Maybe Even Food

Burke Koonce and John Fichthorn discuss the latest topics of interest in politics, financial markets, and the cultural forces that shape the world around us. This is the eighth episode of Season Two.

Gaming Wall Street is an HBO Max Original, produced by our little old Biltmore Films, Prodigium Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky. The film was directed by Tobias Deml. The two-part documentary explores the GameStop and meme stock trading frenzy and the light it cast on the dark plumbing of Wall Street.
In this new episode, while are still basking in the warm afterglow of getting the documentary out into the world, there is still the seemingly unlimited supply of Wall Street shenanigans to discuss, starting with this week's arrest of former trading superstar Bill Huang. The enigmatic Huang, who once ran Tiger Asia, was picked up by federal authorities for a long laundry list of no-nos, including racketeering and market manipulation. Turns out when you lie to your federally-insured bankers about how much of their capital you have put at risk they don't like it very much. Huang's leverage at his family office Archegos was like nothing we've ever seen.
Our discussion of Huang's downfall leads into a discussion of the broader Chinese market downturn, which apparently reflects the growing lockdowns in Shanghai and possibly additional Chinese cities, which of course has massive implications for the rest of the world's economy. Unfortunately, the freedom of the Chinese people to talk about what's happening there is limited, which limits our own understanding. This censorship is the same tool used by Putin to support his terrible war in Ukraine--anywhere freedom of speech is impaired, really bad things tend to happen.
And of course, this leads us to Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter! We'll see what happens!
Rates are up, stocks are down. Tune in to hear more about what's happening in the always exciting financial markets, and enjoy!