Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has deemed himself a leader of the small investor revolution, but the title doesn’t fit.
- Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has deemed himself a leader of the small investor revolution. The title doesn’t fit.
- A mysterious June 10 trade may have led to Portnoy’s ban from E*TRADE.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is leading targeted harssment on Twitter, against the site's policies.
With live sports entertainment in the US on hold for now, Dave “El Prez” Portnoy of Barstool Sports has been scratching his gambling itch with good old fashioned securities speculation. In the same scornful tones Portnoy usually reserves for the opponents of his beloved Michigan Wolverines, he has spent the last few weeks taking on his perceived rivals in day trading, including Wall Street overlords like Warren Buffet and even the major trading platforms themselves.
- 2 days ago An unapologetic Dave Portnoy spoke out about sports and politics in an interview with Ben Shapiro, as the Barstool Sports founder explained why he continues to fight back against detractors.
- Dave Portnoy's leaked video surfaces online and he decided to break his silence on the same. On April 6, David took to Twitter to comment on the leak.
Portnoy - now calling himself Davey Day Trader - has been live-streaming his trading sessions over the last few weeks, waxing poetic about his status as leader of a fearless crew of amateur investors. Until recent events, Portnoy’s platform of choice was E*TRADE ($ETFC). The company’s Twitter traffic has consistently risen since quarantine began (with 4,300 new followers since the beginning of 2020), matching a big recovery in its stock price. These figures are indicative of the current “day-trading revolution”, buoyed by idle quarantiners with time and money to burn.
On his streams, Portnoy alternates between winning and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money, sometimes dozens of times over the course of just a few hours. For the discerning Thinknum reader, I’ve compiled some recent highlights from the Davey Day Trader Saga, with commentary.
The Free-Thinking Free Agent
Most recently, we have El Prez’s falling out with E*TRADE. Portnoy announced on June 25 that he had been kicked from the platform. E*TRADE has yet to put out a statement, leaving the reasoning of the ban up for debate.
Portnoy’s theory is that he was banned when he called out E*TRADE for a server glitch that lost him a few thousand dollars. In his own estimation, his powerful voice was just too dangerous for the platform.
E*Trade couldn’t handle the pressure of #DDTG. They’ve officially kicked me off and I’m now a trading platform free agent. pic.twitter.com/ovgMtnpzAq
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 25, 2020Some Twitter users and analysts quickly put forward a competing theory. Twitter user Matt Kirchner (@LIGBeyond) replied, 'They kicked you off for front loading (sic) penny stocks dummy.'
This next tweet references Portnoy’s stock performance on June 10, when he made a killing off of an obscure US-listed Israeli medical company called InspireMD. In a very confident and not-at-all stilted explanation, Portnoy says he got the stock tip on a date, and put $400,000 down on a barely-touched nanocap just to impress the lucky woman.
I expect rocket ship stock tips on all dates I go on now. #ddtg$NSPRpic.twitter.com/MmatsFbDqL
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 10, 2020The ethics of broadcasting that tip on his show, in the minutes after the market opened and several more instances from there, are hard to pin down. After Portnoy told his audience he sold out of InspireMD for a cool $100K on Wednesday at the closing bell, the company’s stock plunged Thursday morning. Jamie Powell from FT Alphaville responded with a largely overlooked June 12 article that treated Portnoy’s position with some wariness.
it turns out #ddtg isn't just buying Delta, Carnival and Alibaba but also...<checks notes>...a US-listed Israeli nanocap that he heard about on a date. apparently. https://t.co/fCDsvXhJGZ
— Jamie Powell (@ajb_powell) June 12, 2020Frat Boy Braveheart
El Prez’s overarching concern is that we don’t let “The Suits” win. The Suits are the stock analyst dinosaurs that have traditionally benefited from day trading, and have an interest in normal people like YOU failing at it.
The suits came to play, I’ll give them that. I’ve made and lost $100k a dozen times already today.pic.twitter.com/vqHCaJqA8f
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)June 29, 2020In this next tweet, Portnoy has found a decent wedge issue to push. Warren Buffet and others have recently warned small investors to stay out of the current market, even asAmerican billionaires have gotten $434 billion richer during the pandemic. This reality, combined with condescending network news coverage and out-of-touch, scolding op-edslike this one from FOX, has just made it easier for Portnoy to style himself as a rebel in finance.
The public shouldn’t be trading in the market? Do these idiots realize what they’re saying? Who do you think you are?#DDTGpic.twitter.com/wFuFFLxtcu
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)June 26, 2020Here he is as William Wallace, taking on the hoards of Wall Street overlords, represented by... charts.
HOLD. HOLD. HOLD.#DDTGpic.twitter.com/LFoHuaVGwc
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)June 24, 2020The populist message is respectable at face value, but we really need to consider the messenger. Anyone who has followed his pre-trading career knows that Portnoy is anything but the everyman he is claiming to be. Rather, he is an infamously vengeful, exacting boss who hasthreatened Barstool employees who stuck up for themselvesat work,andmocked others in his industry for losing their jobs.
Barstool Sports boss Dave Portnoy gloats as rival Deadspin suffers mass exodus, offers fired editor ‘butler’ position | Fox Newshttps://t.co/fib8ZczIF3
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente)October 31, 2019All his bluster elides the fact that he is just as much a Suit as any finance kingpin - even in a Barstool-brand golf visor and a Patriots jersey.
The nature of Portnoy’s E*TRADE ban is still unknown. Thinknum has reached out to E*TRADE for comment and will update this story with the response.
We're eagerly waiting to hear about Portnoy’s next game-changing move, whether it's onto a new trading platform, or back to sports betting when the big leagues return in Fall.
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© Provided by RADIO.COMBrooks Koepka, a four-time major winner and the world’s 11th-ranked golfer, hasn’t been at his best this season, missing the cut in four of his last seven events including the Masters Tournament held earlier this month. The 30-year-old played Augusta at much less than full strength, toughing it out despite undergoing knee surgery just three weeks earlier.
But even in his injury-diminished state, Koepka is still confident he’d have no trouble annihilating Barstool boss Dave Portnoy (best known for his prolific pizza consumption and strong takes on the GameStop Short Squeeze), wagering $250,000 he could beat El Pres golfing left-handed.
I could beat you lefty https://t.co/ruQpsQdTqmpic.twitter.com/9QIMWuAbx7
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) April 22, 2021Alright bud 250k to @bkcharityfund or @BarstoolFund if you somehow win. Date TBD. @BarstoolBigCat & @PFTCommenter on my bag. https://t.co/NSm7VLJPoT
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) April 22, 2021Koepka, a recurring guest on Barstool’s popular Pardon My Take podcast, made an appearance in Portnoy’s Twitter mentions Thursday, commenting on an autographed plaque from the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, which Koepka won for his second career major. Portnoy countered Koepka’s wisecrack with one of his own, making the delusional claim he actually posted a lower score on the same course.
Buddy I beat you by like 20 strokes https://t.co/G83Jftgvfb
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 22, 2021Pres is likely referring to the -3 67 he carded at Shinnecock three years ago, which in no way reflects how he actually played (his score was inflated by the help of unlimited mulligans). No stranger to shameless publicity stunts (remember, this is the man who once paid Jose Canseco over $1 million for a fight that lasted roughly five seconds), Portnoy quickly took Koepka up on his offer, then pounded his chest with a series of taunting tweets, striking the tone of a wrestler cutting a promo for WWE.
Done and done. https://t.co/TDF9PyFNZ8
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 22, 2021Dave Portnoy New Girlfriend
Who is that? pic.twitter.com/PLZwHSur9c
Dave Portnoy Twitter Blues
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 22, 2021
Dave Portnoy Twitter Bff S
Blake Koepka is good at golf. I was actually the first one to say that. But in general golfers are mentally weak. I am a mental Armageddon. Very different ball game.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 22, 2021It’s unclear when or where this proposed showdown will commence, but knowing the Barstool founder’s MO, Portnoy will milk his 18 holes with Koepka for all they’re worth.
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