Disruption feed 2021 #4 – Gamestop stock rally and updated laws for autonomous vehicles
Gamestop stock rally
Gamestop has been a company on the decline for many years thanks to their outdated business model of selling video games in physical stores and during 2020, it was the most shorted stock on the market. This continued in 2021 until a Reddit group thought otherwise and with its 2 million members began to buy the stock. When the price started to rise, investors who shorted the share had to start buying it back, which led to the share price going straight up and the price raised from $18 to as high as $347. The reddit group’s main purpose was to pressure the hedge funds that have invested in shorting the share and create as large losses for them as possible, and they undeniably succeeded. The question what this will lead to, will we see regulatory changes that stops this from happening or will hedge funds rethink their risk strategies?
RELATED ARTICLE: Explainer why gamestops stock surge
Updated laws for autonomous vehicles
US regulators are issuing new rules for autonomous vehicles, effectively exempting manufacturers of some crash standards that are required of conventional vehicles. Non—passenger vehicles wont need air bags and passenger cars won’t need a steering wheel, for instance. It was estimated that these changes will save manufacturers $5,8 billion in the year 2050. Very interesting to see as these types of regulatory adaptations are key in enabling future innovation and development.
RELATED ARTICLE: US autos autonomous safety