> They're exploitable because they're economically desperate.

I can look around my coworkers, and... they're not economically desperate at all. Still got a meme-stonks problem though.

Its just untreated gambling addictions. These people are willing to lose tons of money on the off-chance of calling someone else "wrong".

Some are, but others, personal friends even, aren't able to be honest with themselves. They're the type who're smart enough to rationalize themselves into gambling, but not smart enough to rationalize themselves out of it.

Reading about stocks, and hype is fun. Reading 10-Ks and building risk models is not.

Even nudging them in that direction is met with the skepticism and ridicule of responses like "Why would I do that?" as if suggesting the idea of doing actual financial analysis has made me grow a second head.

> They're exploitable because they're economically desperate.

2.5k € after taxes doesn't really count as economically desperate in Germany, I'd say.

Sure, housing is expensive - especially in Munich - but education and health isn't.

This is another hype-driven mania where some people gamble away their money. This guy could have just as well played roulette and bet 50k on a number.

I wonder if any kind of investor/debitor protection would help in these cases.

How did he get those loans? Why would a bank approve a 1.5k down payment with just 2.8k income after taxes, leaving just 1.3k for rent and food in Munich? Might be OK when buying a flat - but for gambling on the stock market?

Should more verification be required for risky or high volume trades? I just need to check some boxes with "yeah, I know that stuff" and I could trade derivatives + options with leverage.