The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought GameStop in 2020?
GameStop began 2020 trading under $2 (split-adjusted) as a dying mall retailer of physical video games, with short-sellers betting comfortably against it. It was, by every conventional measure, exactly the kind of business the market was busy writing off — which made it the powder keg nobody was watching.
$100 on 2020-01-02, worth today
US$1,380
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of GameStop bought at 2020's open (US$1.58) is worth US$1,380 — 13.8×.
total return · dividends reinvested · USD
How much would $100 of GameStop bought in 2020 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| US$100 | US$1,380 | 13.8× |
| US$1,000 | US$13,800 | 13.8× |
| US$10,000 | US$138,003 | 13.8× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, total return (dividends reinvested, splits adjusted), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did GameStop do in 2020?
Opened
US$1.58
2020-01-02
Peaked
US$5.25
2020-12-28
Bottomed
US$0.700
2020-04-03
Closed
US$4.71
2020-12-31
Levels are dividend-adjusted, so historical figures look lower than the headline price of the day — that's the total-return lens, and it's the honest one.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
US$33,700 deployed as $100 a week from 2020-01-02, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | US$465,071 |
| Steady weekly buys | US$109,609 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | US$78,525 |
| Traded it perfectly | US$414.7M |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
The same $1,000, elsewhere
$1,000 at 2020's open, each valued at the latest close. Hindsight remains undefeated.
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