From YOLO to diamond hands, here are 9 pieces of lingo you need to learn before diving into Wall Street Bets
- Wall Street Bets has ballooned in size to more than 10 million members amid the GameStop frenzy.
- The members have their own lingo to discuss stocks. Or as they call them, "stonks."
- Before joining the group, here are the nine terms you need to know.
YOLO
YOLO, the acronym for "you only live once," was popularized a decade ago by rapper Drake. Now, on Wall Street Bets, the term is used for a trader who goes all in on a stock.
"A YOLO should be at least 4 digits and represent 98-100% of your account," said one Redditor who posted a "basic guide" to Wall Street Bets terms in March.
MOASS
MOASS stands for the "mother of all short squeezes," a likely reference to short-sellers who have lost billions on their bets against GameStop. The stock has rallied roughly 850% this year, largely thanks to hype from day traders on Wall Street Bets. The company, which has remained largely silent on its meme-stock status, made a nudge to Redditors last week in a tweet in which it used the term, "MOASS."
Diamond Hands
As Vox once described it, the term "diamond hands" compares the strength of diamonds with a "user's strength to last through big market swings." A trader with diamond hands never sells, one Redditor said. On the opposite side, a trader with "paper hands" sells easily.
DD
DD refers to a person doing his or her "Due Diligence," or homework on a subject. When a Redditor posts a DD, that means he or she has done research on a stock or market trend. For example, one Redditor said Wednesday, "this is only my second DD," before diving into pages of research on ICE Clear Credit, or ICC.
ATH
Market Realist reported in February that "ATH" stands for "all time high." It cited one post in which a Redditor said "Me and the boys after the Dow hits ATH" with a video of Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and a cat dancing.
Buy the dip
Buy the dip, which is often abbreviated to BTFD - with the extra F signifiying a popular curse word - tells investors to buy into a stock after it's fallen, in the hopes of it rising out of its slump.
To the moon
When users say a stock is going "to the moon" or "mooning," it's often accompanied by rocket ship emojis. They're referring to a stock rising in price or their belief that a stock will rise in price. Amid the initial GameStop craze in January, Redditors on Wall Street Bets said GameStop would go to the moon, meaning the stock price would have no limit in gains.
Tendies
"Tendies" is a slang term for Redditors collecting money after their investment made a profit. At that point, an investor could collect his or her "tendies."
Stonks
Stonks is just a rif on the word stocks. The term gained popularity with the stonks meme, which shows a bald mannequin in a suit in front of market data. Reuters reported previously that the term refers to volatile stocks hyped up on Reddit.