Overview

MOASS, which stands for the Mother Of All Short Squeezes, is a possible event prophesied by retail traders associated with WallStreetBets and speculation in GameStop stock. A short squeeze refers to a situation in which investors who have bet against a stock's success (called "short sellers") are trapped into paying out large sums of money as the stock continues to increase in value. The MOASS is, theoretically, the ultimate short squeeze on GameStop (or GME). Believers of the MOASS theory argue that the 2021 GameStop Short Squeeze did not close out all of the options and short sales of the stock, and the true short squeeze will come later on. Many argued that following the return of investment guru and GameStop backer Roaring Kitty in the spring of 2024, the MOASS was imminent, causing a resurgence of discussions, memes and other content surrounding it to appear online.

Background

Retail traders coordinating online, particularly through the /r/WallStreetBets subreddit, worked to trap hedge funds in a short squeeze on the GameStop stock in 2021. The stock's price shot through the roof as hedge funds that had bought borrowed shares of GameStop believing that they could then return them and pay a lower amount than the original value when they borrowed it, learned they were actually trapped into paying an even higher amount as the stock's price went up. The price of GameStop continued to go up because retail traders bought and held it.

Following the events of 2021, the streamer Roaring Kitty (aka Keith Gill) who largely spearheaded the GameStop movement went silent and the price of the stock did not see as much volatility. However, on subreddits including /r/SuperStonk, users posted theories proposing that many of the short sellers in 2021 had actually kept their positions open, seeking to ride out the storm.

These theories rested on a reading of trade volume in January 2021 during the short squeeze, arguing that measures taken like removing the "buy" button on particular stock-trading platforms and other strategic choices allowed short sellers to keep their positions open, meaning the "squeeze was not Squoze."^[2]

The earliest version of a post-GameStop Short Squeeze MOASS theory was posted on May 26th, 2021, by Redditor u/HCMF_MaceFace to /r/SuperStonk (seen below), where it received over 22,000 upvotes and nearly 800 comments over the course of three years.^[1]

Developments

Roaring Kitty Return

Following Roaring Kitty's return to streaming after largely going quiet online for years, many on the /r/SuperStonk subreddit believed that this marked the coming of the MOASS.

On June 7th, 2024, Redditor /u/jxp497 made the post (seen below) asking others to upvote if they believed the MOASS "was still coming." The post received over 29,000 upvotes and 1,600 comments in five days.^[3]

Online Reactions

Memes were posted continually about the MOASS over the years since the theory appeared in 2021, with some expressing continued faith in its coming arrival and others expressing doubt. For example, Redditor /u/ButtfUwukker made a post to /r/Superstonk (seen below) on February 5th, 2024, about how the MOASS would arrive soon, receiving over 220 likes in four months.^[4]

On October 1st, 2023, YouTuber Folding Ideas (real name Dan Olsen) uploaded a video essay titled "This is Financial Advice", in which he explains and analyses the MOASS movement in depth, especially its evolution over the years and how it came to involve other companies and personalities. He compares the movement to a doomsday cult built around misinformation and conspiracy theories. The video gained 4.5 million views in 9 months.

Related Entries

WallStreetBets GameStop Short Squeeze

WallStreetBets GameStop Short Squeeze refers to the massive surge in the price of GameStop shares in the stock market in January 2021, when it rose from $17 to over $500, in a significant degree due to a campaign by users in the /r/WallStreetBets subreddit. The hype resulted in GameStop (GME) becoming of the most traded stocks on Wall Street that month, with a massive number of retail investors buying the stock in an attempt to force hedge funds betting against it into large losses.

As GameStop stock garnered attention globally and became one of the most-discussed topics online in late January 2021, the events were followed by a several movie announcements and a number of controversies, including restrictions on trading the stock imposed by several brokerages, and stock market as a whole being put under government scrutiny.

Roaring Kitty

Roaring Kitty, also known as u/DeepFuckingValue, or by his real name Keith Gill, is a streamer, financial analyst and content creator famous for his central role in the WallStreetBets GameStop Short Squeeze, as well as for his clout on the WallStreetBets Reddit community. He published an analysis of the GME (GameStop) stock in 2019, making an argument for its value and leading Redditors to hodl the stock as it became a viral sensation. Throughout 2020 and 2021, he continued to advance a pro-GameStop line of reasoning and helped to sustain the momentum of the WallStreetBets movement, becoming a major figurehead and spokesperson. Gill is also notable for aiding in the popularization of meme stocks in the 2020s.

Search Interest

External References