Jordan Belfort, the former stockbroker and convicted felon, weighed in on Saturday’s GameStop-WallStreetBets-Robinhood saga last week.
Belfort, whose rise and fall on Wall Street was documented in Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, shared his observations during a Fox News appearance “Watters’ World” with host Jesse Watters.
Watters said moves by Wall Street giants to convince retail trading platforms like Robinhood to stop trading in petty stocks like GameStop – which “Average Joe” investors sent shooting through the Reddit WallStreetBets community – were probably illegal.
“I think it goes beyond that,” agreed Belfort – and warned that the implications could be fatal for Robinhood.
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“When I first saw it … when I actually investigated what happened,” he said, “they broke a huge amount of laws …
“I think Robinhood is out of the market because of the number of lawsuits they are going to receive now, from each person on both sides… They will say, ‘Wait, I couldn’t buy what I wanted to buy,’ or ‘ I was forced to sell ‘- It’s over, Robinhood. “
“Someone needs to go to jail, it’s true,” he continued. “At first I wasn’t so upset, but last night I saw that the shorts were still short and … It was time for the little boy to give it to Wall Street. It’s very gratifying to see. I’m still in shock, actually happening.”
“It was time for the guy to give it to Wall Street. It’s so gratifying to see.”
Watters then claimed that Wall Street professionals had received a dose of their own medicine and did not like it – and retaliated by moving to “crush” the “small” investors who were making some money.
Belfort agreed again, noting how quickly retail platforms were closed.
“They closed these platforms to the boys, just as Parler was closed,” he said, comparing the situation with that of a social media site popular with conservatives.
“Now, how about this one?” Belfort continued. “Google eliminated 100,000 negative reviews from Robinhood. … I can’t believe the things that are being allowed now and it’s almost as if Big Tech has impunity, Wall Street has impunity.”
“I can’t believe the things that are happening now and it’s almost as if Big Tech has impunity, Wall Street has impunity.”
Regardless of how things are going to happen in the days and weeks to come, Belfort has issued a clear warning to any novice investor who might be thinking of trying to earn some quick cash.
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“Please be careful,” he warned, “because at some point the party for these actions is going to end and they are going to drop precipitously – and unless you’re careful, you’re going to lose a ton of money.”
He added one last remark as well.
“Until someone goes to jail for that,” he said of last week’s market maneuvers, “this is going to keep happening again and again.”