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A Gamestop catalyst sets his sites on metals

Michael McCrae

Kitco News

Precious metals are hoping to get a look from the crowd that drove up Gamestop, but one major player is putting his money in EV metals.

On Tuesday Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya said on Twitter that he bought $115 calls on Gamestop. The move was part of a broader short squeeze, a Reddit-driven Wall Street versus Main Street. Palihapitiya has a large social following on Twitter, 974,000 followers.

Gamestop stock has been soaring after the company became a cause célèbre. The company was heavily shorted by hedge funds. Redditors took the other side of the bet, and the run up means the funds will now take heavy losses.

Business Insider estimates that Palihapitiya's 50 out of the money call options on GameStop, worth about $125,000, have soared 300%.

The former Facebook executive and now founder of Social Capital said yesterday on CNBC he took profits from the trade. He also tweeted today that he added to his lithium, nickel and cobalt position.

In the Twitter thread, he further elaborated that he is buying EV material miners.

Electric vehicle materials are set to rise as governments around the world are investing in energy transition.

Mining Twitter wondered what could be if the Gamestop crowd turned its attention precious metals.

A post in Reddit's Wall Street Bets (WSB), the sub-reddit credited with leading the squeeze on Gamestop, has a post on silver with over 2,500 upvotes.

That may reflect too little interest with the top daily posts on the WSB with well over 100,000 likes.

By Michael McCrae

For Kitco News

Contact mmccrae@kitco.com
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