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There was something different about the way that Keith Gill (aka RoaringKitty on YouTube or DeepFuckingValue on Reddit) used to shill GameStop. He’d do in-depth, long, and extensive live streams and videos sharing his thesis, always instructed that people should reflect on their personal financial situation before buying or selling shares, and generally told followers to take profit when they wanted to.
Gill was also quite active on YouTube and Reddit, where he’d show his own portfolio so people knew whether or not he was adding to or subtracting from positions.
But since he’s returned from his social media hiatus, which started with a meme about AMC stock that well-known pump and dumper Zack Morris had used a few days before, the public has witnessed a huge departure from this approach.
This time, Roaring Kitty isn’t sharing his theses or his portfolio positions, nor is he explaining why he likes certain stocks or live streaming for five hours at a time. Instead, he’s shitposting memes, clearly advocating for GameStop as a great buy (despite his previous thesis failing miserably), and basically pumping a stock for no clear reason.
RoaringKitty is no longer a thesis-driven trader — he’s another average pump-and-dumper with a large audience.
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Disappointing Kitty
There are any number of reasons that Gill could give to justify his posting of dozens of vague memes posted from his X (formerly Twitter) account, now boasting over a million followers.
For instance, it’s fair to say that since 2021, when meme stocks first became a concept and Gabe Plotkin blew up his fund, Melvin Capital, very little has changed in the finance world — particularly in regard to the issues that caused RobinHood to shutter all buying of certain stocks and the complexities of capital requirements.
Unfortunately, there is no Gabe Plotkin, Steve Cohen, Vlad Tenev, or Ken Griffin to frame up as the stereotypical villain. No evil VCs or hedgies are openly discussing shorting GameStop, short interest is nowhere near levels seen in 2021, and GameStop is little more than a company walking the thin line between failing business and bankruptcy protection.
Revisiting old Gill live streams and videos, you can listen to his thesis: GameStop will be the Amazon of gaming, it’s apparently going to build a massive digital marketplace, NFTs will play an important role, and locations are important so gamers can trade in old games and buy physical copies.
Needless to say, none of these theories panned out. Indeed, GameStop has closed 200+ stores in three years, it’s not making money, and Cohen has been a terrible CEO.
A new beginning for Roaring Kitty
Am I surprised that Roaring Kitty’s valiant return is to shitpost and pump and dump? Of course not. I imagine that the desire to take the easy road is almost impossible to resist when you know that one single tweet can move a stock 50%+.
I’m not sure how many individuals could stop themselves from doing so, especially if a win was almost guaranteed. But it is disappointing to see someone who spent years proudly shilling his investment the right way to turn around and immediately give in to his every whim.
I don’t know what’s next for Keith Gill, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gary Gensler ask him more questions and scour his tweets for any possible way in which he broke rules and regulations.
I’m not sure what happened to Gill but he’s certainly not the same. Not only that, the new version of him isn’t as interesting, doesn’t have nearly as much to say, and, let’s face it, is a shadow of the hopeful figure he once presented for retail traders.