Shares of GameStop (GME) are spiking higher today, up $1.97 or 5.2%. Although there is no news which is directly causing the spike, I surmise that it's due to analysts' expectations of strong May video game sales, strong sales of Nintendo products, and news that GME is looking to expand in Europe.

They used to say as General Motors goes, so goes the American economy. Well, I think you could say, as GameStop goes, so goes the video game industry. It's the canary in the coalmine, the barometer, the thermometer, the sphygmomanometer, the nurse taking the pulse of the game industry. Ahh, that was fun.

UPDATE 1 - Am I right, or am I right? (those are the only choices you get) CNN Money