Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has recently taken on the nickname “Davey Day Trader.” He has been posting videos talking about how he intends to play the Stock Market each day. He has had some real success, and it seems that one financial expert has taken notice.
Peter Cecchini, the former Global Chief Market Strategist for Cantor Fitzgerald, has named a theory after Portnoy. He calls it “The Portnoy Top.” He calls Portnoy the next generation of investors that started with day traders in the 1990s and continued with house flippers in the mid-2000s.
“His attention-getting, wild style is emblematic of just how emotional and extreme equity markets are now,” Cecchini writes in a column for Creative Destruction Media. “Even more important is the fact that this emotion can be translated to action with a click anytime and anywhere. It’s both impulsive and compulsive. His behavior really just explains everything. It doesn’t even matter if he’s serious or not. His behavior ‘represents.’”
Portnoy’s trades are driven by emotion and a desire to turn a quick profit. They also can also motivate thousands of fans to make the same move. Cecchini writes that it is an indicator that equity markets are experiencing “a bear market bounce,” and will likely fall again.
Large, Barstool’s finance blogger, facetiously writes that “having your name tied to a Wall Street term is probably the highest honor that can be bestowed on an individual.”
Taking financial cues from Dave Portnoy isn’t necessarily a terrible idea. The guy has done very well for himself. But anyone following Davey Day Trader should remember that he is a millionaire many times over, and you’re probably not. Also, the trades he makes are more for entertainment value than anything else.
