Ask HN: How is GME not a pump-and-dump?
If the stock was &lt;100% shorted, it would be a pump and dump.  The moment it was &gt;100% shorted, the hedged fund exposed themselves to financial risk.<p>No matter how much people buy, they can&#x27;t buy &gt;100% of the shares on the market unless GameStop issues new shares.  The people buying are betting that when these hedge funds need to cover, they will be covering ~120% of the number of shares (the amount of shorted stock) on the market.  That covers everyone that has shares right now.<p>So right now, its a tug of war (hence the volatility).  Its a zero sum game where one side will definitely lose.  You can argue that the company isn&#x27;t worth anything and that buyers will get hurt, but only when &lt;100% of the stock is shorted.<p>edit (below):<p>The loser will be the one holding 100% of the stock.  At that point the stock would plummet because all the buyers have left.  Meaning if the hedge fund loses, they are not just covering at a higher price (and thus continuing to drive it up even more), they will effectively be buying worthless stock.<p>I consider this a battle of trading strategies.  The fundamental value of the company is beside the point.  Hedge funds have done this to each other before, that&#x27;s why there&#x27;s an existing term for it - short squeeze.  Its definitely covered in a textbook for first year business school students.