What’s going on with the Square cash stock trading app? Why are users jumping from Robinhood to this user-friendly investing and trading application? They now allow trading and don’t restrict your trades. After the GameStop debacle, this will be a boon for Square.
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Square Cash Stock Trading App Introduction
So why is the $SQ app more popular now? That may be because Wall Street got flipped upside down this past week. Everyone’s talking about the story on the news, on social media, and anywhere you look is about GameStop (NYSE: GME).
But what’s going on with the Square cash stock trading app? We’ve written about the Reddit subgroup r/WallStreetBets here on Bullish Bears before. But they’ve quickly become the most disruptive financial group on the internet.
The current chaos on Wall Street revolves around r/WallStreetBets or WSB, identifying certain stocks with a high percentage of short positions against them.
Most of these short positions have been by financial investment firms, specifically, the dreaded short sellers that prey on the price of a stock going down.
WSB has made it their mission to squeeze these shorts until forced to either buy out of their positions or take a substantial loss, which is great for the Square stock trading app.
This action has attracted the attention of many on social media, including WSB support from Elon Musk, Chamath Palihapitiya, Jon Stewart, Dave Portnoy, and even AOC herself.
Much of social media is behind WSB and the so-called 99%, who are finally using the wealthy 1%’s financial instruments against them in this coordinated short squeeze of epic proportions.
What Is a Short Squeeze?
Many people don’t understand the financial side of what is happening here. Yes, WSB and the millions of retail investors are throwing their money into GameStop to stick it to the man! But why?
A short squeeze is what happens when a lot of short positions get stuck in the wrong direction. A short position is a bet on the price of the stock falling in the future.
These stocks, like GameStop, AMC (NYSE: AMC), BlackBerry (NYSE: BB), and Express Inc. (NYSE: EXPR), all had large short positions by institutional investors.
So what happens when the stock price rises and moves against the short positions? Well, those positions become less valuable.
Then, eventually, the short position holder needs to buy out of that position or risk losing everything. What happens when buyers are buying the stock while a short seller has to buy shares of the stock to hedge?
It creates a massive upward movement of the stock’s price as the influx of shares bought skyrockets, which is why GameStop’s stock price hit orbit at a ridiculous \$483.00 per share.
Is GameStop a company that needs a \$13 billion market cap and \$483.00 stock? Not. However, the mechanism of the short squeeze and supply and demand forced the price to rise higher.
The best part is that this is far from over, which means great things for the Square cash stock trading app.
Short Sellers Get Roasted by WSB
Perhaps one of the most satisfying angles of this whole thing is the fact that institutional short sellers who thrive on stocks and companies performing poorly are the ones who are getting hammered.
Not that we’d ever wish people to lose money, but if we did, short sellers and hedge fund managers would profit off the 99% seeing their portfolio in the red.
Two notorious short-selling firms, Melvin Capital Management (MCM) and Citron Research, reported losing 100% of their initial investments.
MCM had short positions valued at nearly $55 million. And to fill those, MCM had to take a loan from Citadel, amongst others, for $3 billion.
The loan was to keep the hedge fund afloat. Melvin Capital was the first victim of the WSB onslaught. You can be sure they won’t be the last.
Citron closed out their position at a complete loss. Managing partner Andrew Left wrote a scathing letter on Twitter that has since been deleted.
Left claimed that members of WSB had openly harassed and even threatened his family. While watching Citron lose is entertaining for most retail investors, threats against anyone’s family shouldn’t be tolerated.
Citron famously releases short seller reports that list things that are wrong or could go wrong with a company to push the stock price down. Notable Citron reports include Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), and NanoX (NASDAQ: NNOX). What does that mean for Square cash stock trading app?
The Empire Strikes Back!
Investors woke up to some confusion on a Thursday in 2020. Several brokerages, including the popular Robinhood app, halted the ability to buy more of these WSB stocks.
As can be expected, WSB and social media were outraged by this. They called Robinhood out for illegal trade manipulation. Heavy online heat from Dave Portnoy and others caused a migration of users away from Robinhood by the end of the trading day.
Yes, you heard that correctly. Robinhood halted buying these stocks. Not selling, just buying. Why would they do this?
A majority investor in Robinhood stands to lose quite a bit from this: the Citadel above. The news reported that Citadel re-entered their short positions before ordering Robinhood to halt trading.
They are essentially locking in the fact that the price of GameStop would plummet as investors could only sell their positions. Wait, that doesn’t seem right.
It’s not. It could very well be illegal if it comes to light that this is what happened. But this is exactly the type of backroom shenanigans and corruption WSB is waging war on.
It’s not just to cost these institutional investors money on their short positions; it’s creating a voice and a movement for the 99% tired of having the stock market manipulated against them.
Much has been made about Robinhood turning its back on the retail investors who made them who they are today. Its homepage cites its “mission is to democratize finance for all.”
However, what we’d seen from Robinhood over those 24 hours is hardly the case. With WSB and retail investors around the United States frustrated with how Robinhood has handled this, many have decided to move on to a new mobile trading platform. What about Square cash stock trading app?
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Square Cash Stock Trading App to the Rescue
The mobile platform is fintech industry leader Square (NYSE: SQ) and its popular Cash App, i.e., Square cash stock trading app. With the large migration to its platform on Thursday, Square did have to impose some restrictions on its trading platform.
But nothing like the regulations that Robinhood implemented. Square could emerge from all of this as a real winner.
In 2009, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey founded Square to allow small businesses and independent vendors to accept credit card purchases through their mobile phones.
Square comes from the square-shaped add-ons through which customers can swipe their credit cards. Square eventually evolved into a complete fintech solution. They offer financial services, merchant services, mobile payments, and digital currency transfers.
Square Cash, more commonly called the Cash App, has become one of the market’s most flexible financial apps. Its main rivals are PayPal’s (NASDAQ: PYPL) Venmo and Robinhood trading apps.
People can make payments, invest, and buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as BitCoin and Ethereum.
Square intends the Cash App to be an all-in-one digital financial solution as we increasingly rely on mobile phones. The company also allows instant loans of up to $200 for Cash App users.
Square’s recent quarterly earnings call reported that Cash App transactions doubled since investing and trading stocks were implemented. Over 2.5 million users have used the Cash App to buy stocks.
The Cash App makes money for Square by charging for transactions and credit card purchases using the app. Square has already seen its stock price surge over 166% during the past 52 weeks. The company has also seen its market cap balloon to around \$100 billion.
Is Robinhood Dead?
Well, not exactly. Before this, Robinhood was considered a trading platform for the 99% who could jump onto their mobile phones and make casual stock trades.
But the recent decisions made by Robinhood and Citadel have left a bad taste in our mouths. Other brokerages like Schwab and E*TRADE also halted trading of those WSB stocks.
However, Robinhood was the platform of choice and had become synonymous with everyday investors.
Robinhood had tapped into its massive credit lines to secure up to \$1 billion in loans to help survive the upcoming trading week.
Earlier in the day, some believed teenhood would have to shut down for good. But that has not turned out to be true. Two of the lenders include Sequoia Capital and Rabbit Capital.
A report said a dozen House Republicans sent a letter to the SEC to investigate collusion between Robinhood and several prominent institutional investors.
The timing could not be worse for Robinhood. The mobile trading platform was eyeing an initial public offering or IPO in 2021.
The first round of capital raising had a value of $12 billion. However, with its recent troubles and tarnished reputation, you have to wonder if making a Wall Street debut would be the smartest decision right now.
Robinhood did IPO in 2021. However, the Square cash stock trading app was already public and did not affect how HOOD did.
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What Happens Next?
That’s the question of the hour. WSB has grown by over three million members over the past few days. And one of them is seething at what transpired on 1/28/21.
According to WSB, the plan is to continue to buy and hold stocks like GameStop until all institutional investors are forced to leave their positions.
Is this legal? Absolutely. That is one of the best parts about this whole ordeal; it’s using the billionaire’s financial tools against them.
Judging from the financial assistance that Robinhood has taken, it seems like it’s bracing itself for the incoming tidal wave of retail money heading to these stocks.
It will be interesting to see how long human nature can hold out until greed begins to rear its ugly head. Remember, most of these WSB investors are not millionaires.
So if they see their positions in AMC, Bl, hackberry, or GameStop triple or quadruple in one day, we may see more profit taking than we think.
If this goes according to WSB’s plans, it could go down in history as one of the largest wealth transfers on the stock market. We’re talking billions of dollars from institutional investors into the hands of the 99%.
This, more than anything, is probably why it has attracted so much attention from all over the world. Markets in Asia and Europe opened, and the demand for GameStop and all the other WSB stocks went through the roof.
A Once in a Lifetime Event
As an investor, this has been perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime event that has been incredible to watch from the sidelines. The amount of support WSB receives shows how vast the wealth inequality is in the world, not just in the United States.
WSB supporters from every corner of the Earth have rallied and united over David toppling Goliath at Goliath’s game. The sheer irony and poetic justice are enough to make all of us cheer for the underdog.
A larger point that’s being overlooked, for the most part, is that this whole process has made it transparent as to just how easy the stock market has become to manipulate.
WSB is not the first online group to manipulate stock movement; you can be sure it won’t be the last. Earlier this year, a group on FinTwit made millions of dollars quickly by shortening the U.S. shale industry weeks before any Wall Street analyst could see it coming.
The age of the internet has provided us with more tools and resources than we could have ever imagined. And the most important of those are the communities created in the Internet age.
Final Thoughts: Square Cash Stock Trading App
So, who knows if WSB is going to be successful? I certainly don’t. A myriad of things could go wrong at any minute. And this great cause could deteriorate faster than the blink of an eye.
How many people here are loyal to the cause, and how many are just in it to make a quick few bucks? It’s a fascinating case study of mob mentality and the momentum built using the internet as a platform.
There could be instant millionaires made. But always think about the people who will inevitably get caught buying in at the top and lose everything based on bad timing or greed.
This opportunity may never happen again. And I, for one, will be cheering for the 99% as they go to war on a socioeconomic battlefield of puts and calls.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's a good platform for beginners. It's simple, low-commission trading. Therefore, trade on Cash App before moving to a big-time broker.
Cash App is secure. They use fraud protection and encryption to keep your money safe.
If the stock you're buying is more than $1, Cash App will take the money from your debit card to cover the cost.
Downloading the app is free. If you use it for business, there are fees involved.
