GameStop
GMEEquityContagion
92/100
GameStop (GME) — a narrative-driven contagion (score 92/100). A 57.4% move over 1 session on 18.2× volume; the social signal led the price by 9 days across 6 languages.
Index case
Jan 4, 2021
r/wallstreetbets
Signal → event
9 days
shock Jan 13, 2021
Move
+57.4%
18.2× volume
Cross-language
5 jumps
7 countries
Transmission — communities · countries · languages
index case early peaklanguage / country jump
Each row is a community/country; every dot is a real post placed on the UTC timeline and shaded early → peak; cyan lines trace the narrative jumping across a language or border. The dashed shock line marks when price actually moved — dots to its left are the contagion forming before the market reacted, which is the lead this autopsy is built to expose.
Spread-rate
communities languages
Price
Case report
01
Outcome
GameStop (GME) — a narrative-driven contagion (score 92/100). A 57.4% move over 1 session on 18.2× volume; the social signal led the price by 9 days across 6 languages.
02
Index case
Patient zero: a retail post in r/wallstreetbets (English, US) at 2021-01-04T14:35:00Z.
“GME short interest is 140% of the float. This isn't a meme — it's mathematically a powder keg. When this many shares are sold short, a squeeze isn't speculation, it's a question of *when*. I'm holding 🚀”
03
Transmission timeline
The narrative touched 12 communities, 6 languages and 7 countries: 11 cross-community and 5 cross-language jumps, median language-jump latency 23.4h.
04
Spread-rate curve
Cumulative reach grew to 14 posts across 12 communities and 6 languages by 2021-01-28.
05
Signal → event offset
Signal onset (2021-01-04) led the 57.4% move (2021-01-13) by 9 days.
06
Early-warning
With 5 cross-language jumps forming, an early-warning would have fired ~9 days before the move.
07
Verdict
All three discriminators clear: a qualifying shock, a leading signal, and cross-language spread.