Price capers of the Windeln.de share The dangerous game of gamblers

Status: 10.06.2021 6:24 p.m.

Small investors let shares of the baby outfitter Windeln.de shoot up first – then they crash. This risky game is powered by social media. Newcomers in particular make a lot of mistakes. From Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de From the so-called penny stock to the investor’s favorite: The story of Windeln.de reads so seductively simple at first glance. Within a few days, the paper soared from around 70 cents to 6.92 euros – a staggering price increase of almost 900 percent. The share of the online baby outfitter was not driven by new, positive news about the development of the company, but by a host of gamblers who drum for the company in investor forums such as Reddit and on social media.

Report of loss in April

They drummed for a company that made a net loss of 13.7 million euros in 2020 and officially announced in April that it had suffered a loss of more than half of its share capital. In other words: Windeln.de obviously needs fresh money. The notification of loss was by no means voluntary. Rather, Windeln.de thus complied with an obligation imposed by the legislator: Companies must inform if losses have exceeded a critical limit and there is an urgent need for action.

“Flagpole” as a warning signal

The course of the Windeln.de share seems all the more absurd. Experts speak of such a steep, almost vertical rise in price “Flagpole”. Many stock market beginners are attracted and seduced by such price patterns. One would have loved to have this share, since it would have enabled one to multiply one’s capital in a very short time.

The so-called “Flagpole” is clearly visible in the Windeln.de chart. Image: tagesschau.de For technical analysts, i.e. stock market experts who analyze price developments and other market data, this is the “Flagpole” but one thing above all: symbol of an exaggeration phase on the stock markets – and thus a clear warning signal. The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (VZBV) is also critical of the current price developments at Windeln.de, Nanogate, Clover Health, Gamestop and other stocks with particularly noticeable highs: “This has nothing to do with investing, it is pure speculation”, said Christian Ahlers, speaker in the financial market team tagesschau.de .

A “Fireworks” of investor errors

At Mojmir Hlinka from the Swiss asset manager AGFIF International, the alarm bells are ringing when stocks like Gamestop or Windeln.de are mentioned: “These are pure speculative objects, without any substance.” The Swiss expert makes a whole in this context “Fireworks” on the basis of typical investor errors, especially the neglect of the likelihood that certain events can occur. Experts speak of “neglect of probability”. “The tiny probability of making a profit on such stocks is massively overestimated by investors. In contrast, the great probability of a loss is clearly undervalued”, told Hlinka tagesschau.de .

When emotions are involved

Hlinka’s perspective on the markets is a special one, as he operates asset management on the basis of the so-called “Behavioral Finance”. This economic research direction is based on the findings of the psychologists Daniel Kahnemann and Amos Tversky. Accordingly, the investor does not act rationally, but is controlled by his emotions and typical behavioral patterns. As a result, he makes mistakes that reduce his profits. Such a typical mistake has a lot to do with paying attention to certain papers. “These stocks are widely reported in the media, especially on social media”, emphasizes AGFIF expert Hlinka. “This means that more information is available to them more easily. That automatically makes them more interesting for investors.”

Social media fuel herd instinct

Another problem for the normal investor is the herd instinct: Many people like to do what the masses do. “This phenomenon can be observed in any stock market hype. People feel safer in the herd”, emphasizes Hlinka. “Investors’ herd instinct is currently controlled primarily via social media. Quasi real sects are forming in the investor forums.” Consumer advice center expert Ahlers is similarly critical and warns: “Tip givers and sellers can also be found in social networks, who may do more than exchange investor experiences and may also advertise dubious investments.”

Financial regulators advise caution

The German financial supervisory authority BaFin has now recognized this: “BaFin advises all investors to check the information provided on social media very carefully with the help of other sources”According to the agency’s website. “Chat groups in social networks are often only used to entice investors to buy certain stocks so that the senders can benefit from the rising prices of these stocks.” As new as the influence of social media on share prices may be, the mechanisms behind the current excitement about papers like Windeln.de have been well known for centuries. The first big hot topic in financial history was tulip bulbs. Numerous other bubbles followed – from railways, the South Seas, the Internet industry to US real estate, to name a few. “Each of these bubbles has burst so far”, says Hlinka. “History has proven that. At some point this hype will also burst.”

Massive price drops

Perhaps the bursting of the bubble has already begun with a look at some of the shares: Today the Windeln.de share rushes down by up to 35 percent. Clover Health stocks fell 24 percent on the Nasdaq yesterday. When exactly a bubble will burst is difficult or even impossible to predict, even for experts. But the stock exchange world has also found a technical term for this: the “Greater Fool Hypothesis”, according to which prices will continue to rise as long as there is one in the market “even bigger fools” there who pays even more.

Illustration The case involved a YouTuber who had a confrontation with the sheriff’s deputy in Pierce County. After the incident, he filed a Public Records Act request for names, dates of birth, photos, and other information to all deputies and subsequent employees. Often, many of these records are not made public to protect law enforcement from harassment, retaliation, and potential identity theft. However, there is still an exception. Members as “news media,” as defined in state law, may receive records. Although based on media interests, the press is generally opposed to making employees’ birthdays private to anyone. But lawmakers have given the press privileged access, because they believe professional journalists can be trusted to use personal information responsibly. The press becomes the backbone of the public. Illustration For example, a news organization may need a date of birth and a photo to check an official’s past employment in connection with a certain scandal or to verify that a law enforcement officer is acting illegally. . In this, the YouTuber claims he is an “investigative journalist” who is considered a member of the news media based on his YouTube channel called “Libertys Champion”. The relevant authorities disagreed, and the case was referred to the Supreme Court. There, the majority was against him becoming a member of the news media. The court’s analysis focused mainly on the fact that he worked alone, not as a member of a newsroom. The nature of news and journalism is evolving rapidly. There are famous people who have added the label “Press – Press” when attending and participating in protests. People use Twitter to announce what’s happening at local government hearings. Others run reporting websites on focused topics, such as the helpful Seattle Insight City Council. Illustration The Legislature has tried to draw a line when it comes to being repeatedly blurred between YouTubers performing personally or Tweeters howling at perceived injustice. Back then, traditional newspapers and television news organizations had been the mainstay of a vibrant, free local press for decades. However, clarifying this distinction has always been difficult. Most people would trust a trained plumber to fix a leaky pipe that flooded their basement, rather than someone who just had a wrench and said he knew the pipes. Wrench doesn’t make a plumber, and Social Media doesn’t make a journalist. Members of the press are trained and adhere to journalistic ethics and standards. The YouTuber in this case will have a hard time convincing any unfriendly reader that he’s a real journalist. But besides that, there are also a lot of serious journalists today who don’t work for any newsroom.

Former US President Donald Trump has shut down his own new social media platform, which was launched less than a month ago. (Source: KnowTechie) The above information has been confirmed by Mr. Jason Miller, a senior aide to Mr. Trump, to US media. Accordingly, the new media platform called “From the desk of Donald Trump” (From the desk of Donald Trump) has been permanently closed. Channel CNBC “This is just a supplement to the broader efforts we’ve been making,” Miller said. We hope to have more information on the larger efforts soon,” but did not specify a time. Asked if the decision was a “precondition” for Trump to join “another social media platform,” Miller said: “Yes, it really is.” The communication platform “From Donald J.Trump’s desk”, launched on May 4, has a lot in common with Twitter. Twitter and Facebook have permanently locked the account of former President Trump after the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, accusing him of inciting violence. (According to CNBC)

Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging app icon. Photo: AFP/VNA MEITy’s new rules require major social media platforms like WhatsApp to “trace” the origin of specific messages sent on the messaging service. However, according to a WhatsApp spokesperson, asking messaging apps to trace chats is equivalent to asking WhatsApp to track every single message sent on the app. This would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally compromise user privacy. The spokesperson stressed that along with civil society and experts around the world, WhatsApp has always opposed requests to violate user privacy, but the application is owned by this social network Facebook. We will also continue to work with the Government of India to find practical solutions to keep everyone safe, including responding to valid legal requests for the information WhatsApp makes available. Earlier, the press reported that social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Google and Twitter could face legal action in India if they do not comply with a new regulation by the government to strengthen control. control of intermediary platforms, effective May 26. Failure to comply with the above provisions will result in the social media networks being stripped of their intermediary platform status and immunity and will face criminal action under Indian law. The above regulations also require social media companies to appoint a resident grievance officer, regulatory compliance officer and basic contact person, as well as to disclose detailed information about the company. details of these people on their website, along with physical contact addresses. The regulation also requires traceability of the originator of the message and includes a provision for voluntary verification as a way to establish user identity.

The above proposal is one of several to address a shortcoming in the Voluntary Code of Practice on Misinformation released in 2018 and signed by Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Mozilla and TikTok. this switch. Google and other big tech firms will have to commit to limiting ‘ad embedding’. The EC wants platforms to tighten eligibility requirements and content review processes for programs to monetize content and share advertising revenue on its service to prevent the participation of competitors. posting content that is systematically considered disinformation. In contrast, ad technology companies must define the criteria used to place ads and apply measures to verify ad placement. The EC also wants companies to clearly and specifically label advertisements (related to politics or other areas, etc.), and distinguish them as paid content. The newly updated code also provides for the first time key performance indicators to allow authorities to verify that these companies are living up to their commitments. The EC will publish the updated Code of Conduct on May 26.

Facial recognition technology. Photo: https://towardsdatascience.com/ According to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Ottawa, in a recent speech to the Canadian House of Representatives, Daniel Therrien, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, said that bill C-11 is not enough to protect people from identity technology. face and need to include “significant modifications”. This measure proposes to amend private sector privacy laws. Regarding facial recognition technology, Mr. Therrien mentioned US technology company Clearview AI. In February 2021, Daniel Therrien’s office, along with three provincial privacy commissioners, concluded that Clearview AI violated Canadian privacy laws by providing facial recognition software. for the police. What’s interesting is that Clearview AI’s (New York-based) software works by comparing photos with a massive stockpile of billions of photos the company has amassed, collected from various sources. popular social media sites without the consent of individuals. “While we found that Clearview’s practices violated Canadian privacy laws, the company refused to follow our recommendations, such as removing photos of Canadians,” said Mr Therrien. Meanwhile, the new administrative penalty regime in C-11 is not applied to such violations of the law. Therrien noted that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is investigating whether online website Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek (based in Montreal) violated Canadians’ privacy rights. MindGeek is accused of regularly sharing videos of child pornography and sexual assault, as well as content that was filmed/or posted without the subject’s consent. Within the framework of the bill, for the most serious violations, fines could be up to 5% of revenue or CAD 25 million (whichever is greater). These measures have been assessed by Canada’s Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development as the strongest penalty framework among the world’s Group of Seven (G7) privacy laws. Therrien recommends that when there is a conflict between commercial goals and protecting privacy, the privacy of Canadians should take precedence.

By comparison, Trump’s tweet last October was retweeted hundreds of thousands of times and received more than 1.5 million likes. After the US presidency, Mr. Trump is no longer an Internet celebrity. Photo: Business Insider. In other words, the number of interactions on a single post by Trump in office is more than the total interaction of the new blog. According to the Business Insider , a personal page launched last week that allows Trump to communicate with his fans. He can post statements, videos and pictures. So far, the site works a lot like the timeline on the old Twitter account. That is, Mr. Trump mainly uses it to post statements against his critics. The former US president was banned from Twitter and other major social media platforms after the attack on the Capitol on January 6. He was impeached for his role in inciting riots through false statements about the 2020 election. Mr Trump regularly uses social media to spread one-sided personal assessments, including the “stolen election” comment. Polls show that many Republicans believe in Donald Trump’s disinformation campaign. The fact that the former US President’s personal website has been estranged from the online community shows that the ban on Twitter and other social networks has had a great impact on Mr. Trump’s ability to communicate with the public. The largest social network in the world before Facebook was born The video shows the popular social networking sites from 1997-2020. The rankings are referenced, using data from Wikipedia, the Internet Archive and Google Books.

TikTok is growing strongly all over the world. Several tech employees in the UK have refused to pursue jobs at TikTok because of concerns about the company’s harsh, intense and toxic work culture, according to CNBC News. The six said they withdrew from interviews, turned down job offers or left the company after learning that TikTok had a culture of “996” through online reviews or through face-to-face experiences. The 996 culture is the applied pattern commonly seen in Chinese companies. The name comes from the requirement that employees work from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week, and 72 hours per week. Meanwhile, the regulation in the US and UK is about 40 hours per week, depending on the specific work. In the UK, it is illegal to work more than 48 hours per week. Hazardous Environments “The most common problem I found on Glassdoor is the work-life balance, the crazy hours. That situation persists until now, ”said an anonymous candidate. “It doesn’t seem worth it to me. I stopped the conversations pretty quickly knowing they were less flexible in terms of location and work policies ”. Last week, TikTok announced, Chief Financial Officer Shou Zi Chew has been appointed as the new CEO, which could result in the company needing more technical manpower. An anonymous senior artificial intelligence researcher also revealed that he turned down a job offer from TikTok despite being offered a salary of £ 100,000 ($ 139,000 – $ 3.2 billion) a year, plus other treatment. “I looked it up on Glassdoor. It didn’t seem that positive in my work / life balance, which I really value, ”said the person. While Glassdoor is considered by many to be a useful platform for evaluating the insider performance of companies, it is only a source of reference as reviews can be overly emotional at times. However, four former employees told CNBC they had a negative experience at the company whose video-sharing app owns 2 billion downloads. Another former anonymous employee told CNBC that TikTok was the most poisonous workplace they have ever experienced. “Everyone there feels tired, while life is too short. In the first year before the outbreak, there were only 4-5 days of weekends of the year that I didn’t have to work, ”said the person. “Everyone was right when they quit their jobs and I know the company is having difficulty in hiring. But in the end, they don’t care, the staff is just numbers ”. With the same belief, another former employee revealed, the average working day at TikTok is 15 hours. “For them, it is normal,” said the person. “The staff complained, but they still accept it later, maybe because of the good salary”. “Away” TikTok is accused of having a toxic work culture. In a one-star review on Glassdoor, two former employees of Tik Tok urgently warned under the title “Stay away, stay away, stay away”. The article lists 10 reasons why people should “resist the temptation of TikTok and find work elsewhere”. Criticism included “unbalanced work life” to “malicious team” and “bad management”. TikTok has been expanding the workforce around the world as it becomes an increasingly popular social media app. The company needs employees to moderate its content and handle technical and policy issues. In an effort to improve workplace culture, TikTok hired Michal Osman from Facebook as head of culture in Europe in January. But she came only after dozens of people quit her job. “I know TikTok has discussed the work with a lot of people. I don’t think they hire it easily, because there is still a shortage of people who can lead AI labs, ”an AI researcher told CNBC. While some are reluctant to come to work at TikTok, the company has increased the number of employees in Europe from around 1,600 in September to more than 3,000 today, with many joins from Facebook and Google. A current employee told CNBC that they have not experienced 996 culture, meetings are banned on Wednesday afternoon and Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, TikTok is ranked 30th in the list of best places to work by Great Place to Work in the UK. Great Place to Work – often consulting and surveying companies charging prior to listing – rating statements are determined entirely by employee experience and anonymous responses.

Youtube allows to change the name and photo without affecting your Google account Each Youtube channel is associated with a Google account, if you want to change the avatar as well as the name of the channel, it must change from the user’s Gmail account. The accounts have been verified by Youtube, if the name changes on Youtube Studio, the account will lose the verification badge. But now with this new update, YouTube users can change the information immediately without affecting their linked accounts. This becomes more reasonable for any user account when Youtube and Gmail are two platforms with different functions. Synchronizing the same profile as the name of Gmail must be the same as the name on the Youtube channel, leading to an impact on the brand or expertise of these two channels. This feature can be updated from a request from a YouTube creator, and it’s available for both personal and brand accounts on the world’s largest video sharing social media platform. Previously, YouTube also added a feature that checks to verify copyright information before users upload any video. To perform the renaming, users need to log in on a computer and go to YouTube Studio, then scroll to the Custom tab to perform the renaming. For mobile devices, users need to tap on your profile picture, then on your channel, then click Edit channel to perform necessary operations.

Icon of Tik Tok video-sharing application on smartphone screen in Paris, France. Photo: AFP / VNA Former UK children’s commissioner Anne Longfield, and the law firm Scott + Scott, on behalf of children under the age of 13 in the UK and 16 years old in the European Economic Area (EEA) filed a lawsuit against TikTok and the public. parent company ByteDance. The lawsuit alleges TikTok and ByteDance violate the data protection laws of children (GDPR) of the UK and the European Union (EU) and deceive parents about the extent of personal information leakage of the children. kids when they use this app. TikTok’s behavior is believed to affect more than 3.5 million children in the UK. In a statement dated April 21, Ms. Longfield emphasized “TikTok is an extremely popular social media platform that helps children keep in touch with their friends during the past extremely difficult year. Behind the hilarious songs, choreography challenges and the lip-sync movement is something much more damaging. According to her, parents as well as children have the right to personal information, including phone number, physical location and illegally collected videos. The former UK children’s commissioner stated that the lawsuit is intended to force TikTok to “terminate data collection”, and to ask the platform to remove any personal information that has been “illegally processed”. when kids use this app. The lawsuit states that since May 2018, every child using TikTok, regardless of having an account or possible privacy settings, has been illegally collected by ByteDance through TikTok for the benefit of Unidentified third parties. The lawsuit also mentioned recent hefty fines for TikTok in the US and South Korea following cases of child data leaks. In response, TikTok insists the app has “robust policies, procedures and technologies to help protect all users, especially teen users”. TikTok will strongly protect itself, while asserting that privacy and safety are always the “top priority” of this platform.