Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Woman's Attempt To Explain Current Stock Market Chaos In 'Normal Person' Terms Goes Hilariously Off The Rails

Woman's Attempt To Explain Current Stock Market Chaos In 'Normal Person' Terms Goes Hilariously Off The Rails
@avalonpenrose/Twitter

Los Angeles comedian Avalon Penrose decided to shed some light on the confusing status of the stock market by explaining it in layman's terms in a hilarious Twitter video.

Reddit's push in helping the stock of retailer GameStop's prices soar caused quite the commotion online.


Reddit users drove up the value of GameStop Corp.'s price, which nearly doubled in Tuesday trading with its market value rising to over "$10 billion as its shares soared 685% this year," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The phenomenon is known as "a short squeeze," which we'll get to later.

So when Penrose saw social media users being more confused than ever after seeing several tweets and videos explaining Reddit's involvement in Wall Street, she stepped up to explain the stock market in "normal person" terms.

"I own stock, so I have a pretty good idea of the stock market," she proclaimed before the impending train wreck.

Her conviction quickly devolved into a series of stops and starts but wound up getting nowhere.

"There are these people who have lots of money, and they have hedges around their house. And they go to the market, like, it's not a real market. It's metaphorical, but it's real."

Her uncertainty on the subject became very clear.

"And they go, 'uh-oh, that company's not doing well so I'm gonna make it do worse.' And they pull out some papers, and they say, 'Who wants to make a deal?'"
"'If this company's good... if it stays... if it goes down, and I get money from you and if it goes up then I give you money, but they don't tell you it's not gonna go up.'

The rest of the discourse took a nosedive with unintelligible blabber and she concluded with:

"So yeah, if you have any questions, let me know."

Twitter got a kick out of her "normal person's" take on the stock market.





Her convincing characterization of a clueless person wanting to give advice made some people miss the joke completely.






The 24-year-old comedian filmed the ad-libbing from inside her car in one take and uploaded the clip on Twitter with low expectations.

Within 24 hours, the video gained 13.4 million views and more than 400,000 likes. Soon, Penrose was inundated with calls from agents, managers and a studio exec.

She said of her newfound popularity:

"I cannot tell you how much I did not expect this to happen...I was coming from a place of authenticity of not having any idea what the f— was going on."
"And I think that everyone else was experiencing the same thing."
"They genuinely thought ... that I was actually going to give a legitimate breakdown of what was happening in the stock market ... when they realized it was someone who they could relate to that also had no idea what the hell's going on."

Her video even caught the attention of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who tweeted:

"A hedge fund that shorts is a shrubbery."

Penrose replied:

"This tweet was for business only & not jokes so if u need a financial advisor let me know otherwise keep scrolling."

For anyone wanting an actual explanation of the current stock market crisis, Michael Hilzik of the Los Angeles Times weighed in.

"If you've shorted a stock at $20, your potential gain is $20, again if it goes to zero. (You sold at $20, and you're buying it back, or 'covering,' at zero.) But if the shares keep rising, your potential loss is unlimited."
"This is the phenomenon behind the GameStop action. It's known as a short squeeze. The stock bulls higher, eventually surpassing the capacity of the shorts to remain short."
"They bail out by covering—that is, buying—at a higher price, swallowing their losses. Their buying action pushes the stock even higher, forcing more shorts to cover, until finally all the short sellers are swept out."

More from Trending

Screenshots from @harryl1223's TikTok video
@harryl1223/TikTok

Cynthia Erivo Praised For Calmly De-Escalating Tense Confrontation With Agitated Man Outside London Theater

Cynthia Erivo continues to show just how talented she is as she recently debuted her one-woman production of Dracula in London's West End.

Earlier this week, Erivo appeared in the backstage lot to speak to fans after one of her shows. But before she stepped out, an altercation had occurred, and a man was making a scene.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Nancy Mace and Tim Walz
@Acyn/X

Tim Walz Has Epic Clapback After Nancy Mace Asks Him To Define 'Woman' During Congressional Hearing

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had a splendid response after South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace attempted to claim that his support for transgender women would bar him from recognizing fraud in his state.

Walz's appearance at the hearing comes amid conservative claims—offered with little supporting evidence—that Somali-run childcare centers in Minnesota improperly received public funds intended to support childcare for low-income families. Subsequently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI expanded their presence in Minnesota as federal authorities froze childcare funding statewide.

Keep ReadingShow less
Padma Lakshmi (left) reacts during an appearance on The Daily Show as Vice President JD Vance (right) stands with his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance (right).
@thedailyshow/Instagram; Antoine Gyori - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Padma Lakshmi Hilariously Roasts JD Vance And His Wife Over Atrocious 'Ranch Dressing' Meal

Padma Lakshmi served up a top-tier helping of judgment for Vice President JD Vance’s questionable meal choice for his wife, Usha Vance.

The second lady, Usha Vance (née Chilukuri), is an American lawyer who made history as the first Indian American and first Hindu to hold the role. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Andhra Pradesh, India.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chloe Kim; P!nk
NBC

Olympian Chloe Kim Just Gushed To P!nk About Loving One Of Her Songs—Except It's Not A P!nk Song

Most of us have gotten our pop queens mixed up a time or two, but few of us have done so on national television—while talking to the pop queen in question.

But Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim sure has!

Keep ReadingShow less
Elmo; Zohran Mamdani
Paul Zimmerman/WireImage/Getty Images; Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

Elmo Just Asked His Followers 'Where Have You Been?'—And Zohran Mamdani Had The Purest Response

Elmo, the furry red childlike monster from Sesame Street designed by Caroly Wilcox, began his life as a generic "baby monster" background filler in the 1979-1980 season of the long-running children's television program.

Originally having a gruff voice supplied by various puppeteers, Elmo found his falsetto-voiced, loving persona when Kevin Clash took over in 1985. Elmo was transformed into a three-and-a-half-year-old character designed to connect with the show's audience of preschoolers.

Keep ReadingShow less