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HODL, Stonks, Tendies – A guide to Wallstreetbets Slang
Apes HODL’ing their Diamond Hands to the moon, or 🦍💎👐🚀.
That about sums up Wallstreetbets. No idea what that means? Here’s a guide to Reddit’s Wallstreetbets slang.
Popular Wallstreetbets slang:
YOLO
You only live once. This is a term frequently used for large, bold investing moves. And that doesn’t include buying $100 worth of AMC or Gamestop shares. Some individuals have cashed out their 401ks and IRA’s, only to spend it all on Gamestop shares. Roaringkitty is often considered the king of yolo’s, as he spent every penny he had on Gamestop shares.
HODL
The term HODL originated from a forum post in 2013 written by Gamekyuubi. This user titled his post “I AM HODLING.” While the user was apparently intoxicated at the time of writing the post, the phrase stuck. It is still a common phrase today.
Hodling means holding, or not selling shares. For example, many Wallstreetbets members held their shares during the recent Gamestop fiasco – even as the value kept dropping.
To the moon 🚀
This phrase outlines a promising outlook. It’s often used when the valuation of a stock or cryptocurrency is virtually unlimited. Dogecoin, for example, is only worth pennies. Yet, those that “HODL” expect the cryptocurrency to “Go to the moon.”
Diamond hands 💎👐
This phrase is often used for individuals who hold stock shares or cryptocurrency, despite losses. An example would people who unfortunately bought Gamestop at its recent peak but will not consider selling, despite their loss.
It’s not a loss until you sell
This means that until you sell, you don’t officially make it a loss. Or in other words, there is still hope. For example, say you buy a share of Company A for $100. If a month later that share is worth $50, you could look at it as if you “lost” $50. But, others look at it differently. Until you sell, you do not realize the loss, and things could still come around.
Apes together strong 🦍🦍🦍
Wallstreetbets users often refer to themselves and other Wallstreetbets users as “apes.” This term derives from the popular movie planet of the apes. One ape isn’t capable of much. But an army of apes can change the world.
Thousands of Wallstreetbets members view themselves as an army of apes that are up against billion-dollar hedge funds. This leads to a wide variety of memes and gifs that keep the connection among each other strong.
Tendies
Tendies is short for “chicken tenders.” The phrase is used for financial gains from a particular stock or cryptocurrency move. For example, if you were to make a trade that results in exponential returns, you’ll be “getting tendies.” Like much of Wallstreetbets language, the phrase has self-deprecating humor.
Stonks
A stonk is a purposeful misspelling of stock. It’s often used as a term for alternative stocks that seem like unusual or clearly bad picks. Elon Musk made Gamestop move in the green one day by tweeting “Gamestonk.” It was a clear message to Redditors that Elon supported the Gamestop movement. Thousands of others turned to google to no avail.
Gamestonk!! https://t.co/RZtkDzAewJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2021
This is the way
A phrase commonly used to support certain actions or behavior of a fellow member. It is often used when the move resulted in serious losses or when a theory makes no sense.
Buy high sell low
In any investment, the goal is to walk away with gains eventually. But on Wallstreetbets, people love seeing and sharing losses. Of course, no one purposefully loses their investment, but at Wallstreetbets, they like to turn something devastating into humor. Like losing 90% of your portfolio value overnight.
I like the stock
A common phrase used when buying or holding a stock seems like an unpopular or odd choice. For example, I bought 10 shares of Gamestop at $200/share because “I like the stock.”
DD
An abbreviation for Due Diligence. On Wallstreetbets, when users post their take on a stock or a move, they often recommend that you practice DD. Just because they feel like it’s valuable information, it’s recommended you still do your own research or, Due Diligence.
It’s also used to mock a horrible move – “Great DD on that one.”
What is Wallstreetbets (WSB) on Reddit?
I personally came across Wallstreetbets when I was looking for forums that involved stocks. This was before all the hype around Gamestop. Like most rookie investors, I was eager to learn, and what better place to do so than on forums? Users tend to share their real opinion, advice, and experience on forums.
Wallstreetbets is most definitely not the place to learn about investing. “Dumping” your entire life’s savings into the stock of a company that is on the edge of bankruptcy traditionally makes no sense at all. And to be “rewarded” with “badges” by doing so, well, in a way, that’s what Wallstreetbets is about.
It’s an outlet for investors. It’s a community of like-minded individuals who are just looking for a laugh more often than not. If you made a “Yolo” move, and it resulted in a massive loss, well, you may as well post it on Wallstreetbets and get entertained by the comments!
Is there any valuable advice on Wallstreetbets?
As surprising as it sounds, especially if you read the regular used “slang” mentioned above, yes. As a rookie investor, I’ve definitely learned from Wallstreetbets. But not in the way you would imagine. Rather than following what other people promote, you can learn from the mistakes of others.
I recall one individual that bought over $100,000 of calls that expired the next very day. Needles to say, the majority of calls expired worthless.
Or, buying GameStop at $400+ a share, for example. Sure, the movement was appealing. But if you take emotion out of it, why would you buy a share of a company on the brink of bankruptcy at $400?
So in a sense, reading posts on Wallstreetbets helps you take the guesswork out of the “what if’s.” And, if you read between the lines, you can actually learn a thing or two as well – be sure to do your own “DD.” 😉
As much as Wallstreetbets is about making fun of each other or themselves, some seasoned investors have had exponential growth as well.
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