Retail traders are 'a force to be reckoned with': Youtube influencer Matt Kohrs

Yahoo Finance Video
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Youtube Host Matt Kohrs joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the rise of the retail trader and his growing following on Youtube.

Video Transcript

MATT KOHRS: Mood gang. Hello, hello, hello. We are getting into that holiday Christmas spirit. Things are going a little bit crazy in pre-market, and it has all to do with inflation. The Consumer Price Index report just came out, and we're at high value. We are at high, high values. I'm talking, look at Snoop Dogg, and then think higher.

JULIE HYMAN: That was stock market influencer, Matt Kohrs, starting his show last Friday on YouTube. Kohrs's subscribers have gone from about 10,000 before the meme stock retail revolution to more than 370,000 now. And Matt joins me now. Love that you were covering CPI. That's what we were covering too, of course, Matt, the same page. I don't-- maybe I'll start-- I'll begin to start my show that way also with the m-m-m-m. I like that.

So this obviously didn't-- you weren't just going through this as a spectator. You were in it, in terms of the meme stock revolution. What has this year been like for you? I mean, you were just telling me during the break you quit your job back in February to do this full time. So how did that happen? How did this catch fire?

MATT KOHRS: Yeah, definitely, like, we were a little bit talking about there, the definition of life-changing. I mean, for me, before this, I was coding. I had that classic 9 to 5 job. And with it, it got to an opportunity that I had so much passion and interest of what was going on, and tracking the story of-- it started with GameStop, and then very quickly it started including AMC.

And then from there it's just become an entire additional beast of, like, we're talking about market manipulation. We're talking about market structure. It's just so cool to experience it firsthand. For me, I feel fortunate to be at the age that I am and so quickly find what I'm passionate about. But I mean, this stuff has just been nuts. I mean, it started off with the beginning of the year, people were cooped up still because of the pandemic. They heard about GameStop. It started with Roaring Kitty, Keith Gill, and then that started to go crazy. They took away the buy button.

And then once again, similar to the veins of Occupy Wall Street, people started to ask, like, very legitimate and serious questions. And then from there it started to remind people of 2008, 2009, where people, let's say, in a general sense, there is that underlying feeling that people in Wall Street get away with a lot, and no one's really, like, asking them the right questions. And I think this is just kind of a rebirth, and that's what led to the cultural wildfire that is now identified as the Apes.

JULIE HYMAN: Right. I mean, and it feels like people wanted a piece, right? They want a piece of the action. That was part of it. How sustainable do you think this is? How sustainable has it been through this year? And how much do you think it's going to continue?

MATT KOHRS: So the sustainability of this group, I think, is actually immense. I mean, month over month, starting in February, people thought the Apes were going to go away. I mean, that was commonly reported. But right here, a lot of people are still paying attention, day in and day out. I mean, most recently it was just reported, I think, 182 high-level congressional staffers have not been properly reporting their personal stock trades.

And it's millions of people across the globe who are continuing to dig and dig and dig. And in terms of sustainability for the group, fighting for market transparency, and fairness, I find it very, very difficult to bet against that going away any time soon. I think it is 100% here to stay.

JULIE HYMAN: Matt Kohrs, I wish I could talk to you for much longer. Unfortunately, we have to leave it there. But I want to have you back. Come on my show also in the mornings, and we can talk more about all of this. Matt Kohrs, stock market influencer, thanks for being here today. Really appreciate it.