Stonk is a word you might have seen on social media that can easily be confused as a misspelling of stock.
Stonk is a noun that means "a concentrated artillery bombardment" or a verb that means "bombard with concentrated artillery fire."
Stonk is an onomatopoeia that comes from the word stock. Stonk is popular for those who want to bombard a particular stock.
Basically, using the word #stonk refers to making bad decisions with your money or stocks. Stock is a boring word that seems like it should be used by a guy in an expensive suit asking for Grey Poupon. Stonk is the anti-establishment word for stock. The stock market is a gamble, and using the word stonk is a reminder of that.
As far as anyone knows, stonk made its first appearance on Facebook in 2017 as a meme.
The word stonk took off again in March of 2019 when the stock market tanks due to the pandemic. And that brings us to January of 2021 when the word stonk took off like never before.
No one will ever forget /wallstreetbets and how they ran up Gamestop (GME), AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), BlackBerry (BB), and more, essentially wiping out billions from hedge funds, most notably Melvin Capital who were shorting the stock. The popularity of stonk went to an all-time high during this time and might even become a permanent "thing."
The term can be so wildly popular that Elon Musk can drive the price of GameStock or Bitcoin up by just using one word.
And now, for our bring disclaimer or warning.
Most people buy stocks, collect a dividend sometimes, and hold it until someday you hopefully make a lot of money. If you want to get involved in stonks, we need to warn you that stonks can make you rich or destroy your life savings in a matter of days. People buying stonks aren't in it for retirement; they're in it to get rich quick while hopefully sticking it to the old system of legal crooks and thieves.
Honestly, it's some of the worst advice I've ever read on stocks. But, I made some money :)