It's not like they are getting companies to fix the price.
It's not like they are getting companies to sell their products below cost.
Getting a group together to buy the same stock at the same time is no different than getting everyone to flock to movie theaters on opening day for the newest Avengers movie. The company stock goes up just the same.
The problem is with the short sellers, not the long buyers. At least the buyers are trading cash for shares. The short sellers are selling shares they don't own on the bet that the price will fall and they can buy it back at a lower price. It's "buy low, sell high" in reverse order.
Now the shorters are forced to buy the appreciated shares that the gamers legitimately own to stop their own losses.
What kinds of regulations can be put in place? Would it be limits on how much can be shorted by one entity? Would it be limits on the total shares shorted that can't exceed total shares outstanding, or a percentage of that?
Because I don't think limiting the amount of shares one can own is constitutional. It would be an infringement on the freedom of association and free commerce to block the actual purchase of private property, but not the speculation on someone else's private property.
-PJ
Limiting who can buy and sell a stock, and the way in which they can do so. Say a stock trading license. Similar to paying someone for a hair cut.
Kind of funny how the license guilds work.