The 75,000 is gone isn't it ?

[Memestockwidow]

My OH has been obsessed with meme stocks , keeps saying he's going to be rich have no mortgage and retire. The stock has crashed to 102 and he's just bought more. There's no diversifying his portfolio he's literally bunged 75,000 in one stock. We have been saving to upsize for a few years but my OH keeps putting it off as he wants to be mortgage free. Whatever I say he won't listen 75,000 pounds has gone into a meme stock it's like a bloody cult. We could have moved already with that money and it's been pissed away.

Is this a gambling addiction ?

You need to do what @trickytimes has suggested, NOW.

I have money in the same type of meme stock, and I'm not selling. The difference is, it's my money, and doesn't affect anyone else. I do expect it to go up, even though everyone else on here thinks the opposite.

The problem with GameStop - and meme stocks is general - is that they're fundamentally not worth the price they trade at (as you know) while ever they are a meme stock .

So it's impossible to put any sort of reasoning into why the stock should move in a given direction, ergo it's gambling.

Your DH's only hope is that there's another short squeeze, driving up the price, but I'd say that's monumentally unlikely given that:

a) hedge funds won't fall for that one twice and hence aren't holding short positions in GME

b) any planned pumping of the stock to squeeze the short holders is going to be monumentally expensive compared to last time it happened - it was pumped up by 2,000% (!) - so there's no incentive for a group to get together and try it again as it would need vast sums of money.

Think of it this way, if on average people bought in at $100 per share, it would need pumping up to $3,000 per share to flush out the equivalent shorts this time - that would value this ailing, has-been company at $240bn - more than Coca Cola

So yes, your DH would be back in the black if the stock price merely doubled (!) but why would would it double other than if part of another short squeeze, which I'd bet my house on can never, ever happen again.

Unless you leave him you'll have a lifetime of this crap from him. Get out whilst you can.

He thinks he knows what he’s doing.

I have tried to discuss this with him the mortgage is unchanged and untouched so thank god it's a very small mortgage as well 92k which isn't even his yearly salary so I'm fairly certain the house will be fine . I will phone the bank and make sure he can't remortgage without my permission, I'm not in the position to outright buy him out but will be in about 6 months I can afford to pay the mortgage and bills solely on my income so I'm grateful for that .

His mates have a WhatsApp group where they all discuss GME and they all try to outdo each other on how much they can invest. They have a leader who they think the sun shines out of his backside and follow everything he says in regards to investing it is like I've lost him to a cult.

I could not be with someone that naive. I work in IT in the City too, and I don't invest in any individual, mainly because I can't be arsed with the reporting requirements and would be terrified of missing something. I have admittedly overdiversified by buying shares in about a dozen active funds, so the combined effect is a tracker with high fees, but that's just a dampener on the overall risk with corresponding lack of upside potential. This dude has basically put his chips on red. I'd get rid.

I really think you're taking a massive risk on the house. It's not about being about to afford it, it's about his potential debts. If he has debts, that are for example, as much or greater than the value of you house, if he cant service the debts your house will be repossessed. Is there anyway at all that you could remortgage now, so that the house is in your name only? I think leaving it 6 months is unwise.

I agree with others about protecting the house. IMO you need to see a solicitor and clarify what, if anything, you can do to block any kind of loans/remortgage/sale.

My friend's father developed a gambling addiction. He took out loans against on the family home without the knowledge of his wife. It wasn't an actual remortgage, it was a loan in his sole name with the home as collateral. We still don't know if he forged her signature agreeing with the lien or if it was just some kind of dodgy semi-legal thing. With the help of her son and a very, very good lawyer she was able to divorce him and keep the house without the liens.

Gambling is risking money with no guarantee of return. It doesn't matter if it's playing the slots, the ponies, or some dodgy investment market.

Any investment in the stock market is a form of gambling

That's not true. A diversified approach to stock market investing in safe blue chip stocks is probably safer than putting it in cash.

But this does sound like gambling and moreover your partner sounds like a complete fool. I'd leave him just for being stupid TBH.

He's a gambler. Get out now. Sorry.

He's an idiot and you shouldn't have allowed it if you share finances

I just don't understand your OH's thinking. Surely he must know that the reason the price of Gamestop went up because hedge funds were short selling the stock and then redditors piled in, which raised the stock and then hedge funds joined in as well. Those hedge fund and reddit investors have long gone from Gamestop. Its a loss making company, and hedge funds are now wise to "meme stocks" now, and it still seems over valued. Its dropped 8% in value today alone

@HacerSonarSusPasos

He's an idiot and you shouldn't have allowed it if you share finances

DO tell us how OP could have prevented it @HacerSonarSusPasos?

I for one am all agog, & have my time machine on standby so I can go back & help her put your excellent advice into practice. Once you are able to divulge it ...

@Memestockwidow

I have tried to discuss this with him the mortgage is unchanged and untouched so thank god it's a very small mortgage as well 92k which isn't even his yearly salary so I'm fairly certain the house will be fine . I will phone the bank and make sure he can't remortgage without my permission, I'm not in the position to outright buy him out but will be in about 6 months I can afford to pay the mortgage and bills solely on my income so I'm grateful for that .

His mates have a WhatsApp group where they all discuss GME and they all try to outdo each other on how much they can invest. They have a leader who they think the sun shines out of his backside and follow everything he says in regards to investing it is like I've lost him to a cult.

You have lost him to a cult. He has no idea what he is doing. Gamestop was a year ago. I was skint but have been a member of r/wallstreetbets for a long time. I placed £400 that I was prepared to lose, got in and out at the exactly right time and made money.

With a partner and a child he can't afford to lose $1000s. He is deluded in the extreme, Gamestop was a year ago! He missed the boat massively and is hoping to claw back his stake.

I would split up with him immediately. Especially a gambler who thinks he is cleverer than other people: Wait until he runs out of money to bet with - they get nasty - really nasty. They lie, cheat and steal, and if they can't get money to bet and they feel they would have won, guess whose fault it all is? You cannot win, as with a drug addict or an alcohol abuser.

Honestly, I’d be making it very clear to him that this is marriage deal breaker. It doesn’t matter how much he earns or how much the mortgage is. You are in a partnership and he is spending money on something that you are not on board with and has a very high risk of failing. Whilst you are financially linked to him via the mortgage this could really affect you and you have no say it in whatsoever. Fuck that.

If he can’t or won’t stop it’s a problem. I had a gambler in my life, they lie and hide things constantly. The only way I got it to stop was a serious ultimatum - to leave with DC if they didn’t seek addiction help and stop.

@ChargingBuck the 75k sounds like a recent investment and OP knows he has form for that. I would have moved the family savings to an account he can't access before he had a change to waste more.

@Memestockwidow

I keep my own savings in my own accounts so I'm not worried about my money going. I can afford our current house on my own . I'm pissed off that this money isn't being used for the betterment of the family it's being used to gamble on the stock markets.

It's not even the stock markets though is it??

He’s a gambler chasing the sunk cost fallacy. I couldn’t be with someone like that.

He also got let go from his previous job in banking due to not disclosing his trading positions.

It’s actually quite hard to get sacked for this - you need to repeatedly fail to get pre approval for your trades, and receive and ignore a number of warnings. You’re let go for misconduct but it also indicates a terminally thick individual.

Unfortunately there is no way to turn back time. But the warning signs were there, he was aware you were not on board with it and he’s carried on anyway. No matter how confident he is in his “investments”, this is sending a very clear message that your opinion is not important. And that’s the very least of the your problem unfortunately.

I know how you feel

The problem with all the gambling analogies is, people who don't gamble recognise that the money is no longer there (or theirs) the moment the bet is placed. Traders know this, that's why they hedge their trades to offset any losses. And even the most hardcore of gamblers know when they've actually lost.

OP's DH still thinks the money is a sure thing. He doesn't understand that it is gone.

He’s never going to agree there is a problem until it eventually sinks in, probably when his mates get bored and start leaving the WhatsApp group and he doesn't have the comfort of the echo chamber telling him everything will work out ok.

Jesus, capitalism is a shitshow...

The fact he moved jobs just so he could continue to do this is a massive red flag... Yes he has a problem

@Londongent

I just don't understand your OH's thinking. Surely he must know that the reason the price of Gamestop went up because hedge funds were short selling the stock and then redditors piled in, which raised the stock and then hedge funds joined in as well. Those hedge fund and reddit investors have long gone from Gamestop. Its a loss making company, and hedge funds are now wise to "meme stocks" now, and it still seems over valued. Its dropped 8% in value today alone

He doesn't believe the hedgefunders have finished trying to get the money back out. He believes the stock is dropping because the hedgefunders are getting rid to do a short then the squeeze will happen and the share price will rocket . I have no idea I'm not a stockbroker and very boring so I don't know what it all means but to me it sounds like he's listening to a cult leader .

Very scary I will look at remortgaging the house solely in my name if he will agree. He doesn't have any debts I've seen his credit card statements we do have a high income and low outgoings I'm more worried about if he keeps chasing his losses it could escalate. I've told him to keep the money in now there's nothing we can do don't expect a win though but he cannot invest anymore money at all. It's like he's fallen for a get rich scheme.