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retail
What does retail mean?
Everyday individual investors trading their own money, contrasted with institutional 'smart money.' WSB casts retail as the scrappy underdog.
"Retail piled in and caught the shorts off guard."
Origin
Standard finance term ('retail investor'); central to the WSB retail-vs-Wall-Street narrative.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'retail' mean in trading?
It refers to ordinary individual investors trading their own money, as opposed to big institutions like hedge funds and banks.
Why does WSB talk about retail so much?
r/WallStreetBets frames retail investors as the scrappy underdog taking on Wall Street 'smart money,' a narrative that peaked during the 2021 meme-stock squeezes.
Is 'retail' an insult?
No. It's a neutral finance term, though institutions sometimes use it dismissively for small, less-informed traders.
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