Photo: Dev Chatterjee (Shutterstock)

You might have headlines this week about the sudden surge in stock prices for dying companies like GameStop (by 400%) and AMC (plus 375%). But what about blockbusters? Yes, they still exist as penny stocks – and they’re over 2000% from the beginning of this week too. What’s happening?

Rise of the private investor

In traditional value investing, you find an undervalued company, buy the stock while it’s cheap, and then make money when it increases in value. With these stocks, the valuation does not matter. After all, nobody expects much from GameStop – a chain of brick and mortar stores battling their way through the pandemic with an outdated business model – let alone the mummified shell of Blockbuster.

Why are these companies’ stock movements not driven by their fundamentals? Because we are really dealing with a Short sales Fight between big hedge funds and increasingly powerful and organized retailers whose influence comes from commission-free stores, the use of individual investor apps like Robinhood, and the power given to them by social media and the internet – including the popular noisy subreddit r / wallstreetbets (Self-billing: “4chan found a Bloomberg terminal”) – to work together.

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A series of short sales

To understand what is happening, you need to know how Short sales works. Often used by large institutional investors, short selling involves a short-term bet that a company’s stock will fall. Essentially, these investors borrow the company’s shares from a broker-dealer, sell them instantly in the market, and then buy them back when the price falls. At that point, they pocket the difference and return the shares to the broker-dealer. These are risky investments as the stocks will have to be returned to the broker-dealer at some point and there is no guarantee that a stock price will ever fall.

These institutional investors got greedy with their short sales as they shorted more than 100% of their outstanding shares for these companies (139% in the case of GameStop). This means that investors are betting more stocks than they actually have, which is very unusual. This caught the attention of retail investors and gave them the opportunity to both make money and have some pride at the expense of the big hedge funds.

The retail investor’s squeeze game

So what if a group of recreational investors invested in a short stock and raised its price? The short sellers lose a lot of money. Worse still, the original broker-dealer may request that their shares be returned immediately under a Request for additional funding – Forcing the short seller to buy back stocks that have already been sold, even if they now cost much more than they sold. And when they do, the stock price continues to rise – part of a feedback loop known as “short press.”

In what has been dubbed “The Nerds’ Revenge,” individual investors are actually making money from these brief shortages, and it is simply unprepared that hedge fund managers are unprepared. Just like short selling, making money from a squeeze requires good timing and discipline, as an investor will want to sell when the short sell-back frenzy has peaked. Another strategy approved by Reddit was to call brokers and insist that they not loan out stocks to sell short – a standard customer right – which propelled the stock price even higher.

In theory, the speculation ends when enough short sellers finally cut their losses and dump the stock – but in theory, Reddit could keep a “memestock” like GameStop up for as long as they want.

Is it illegal?

According to Bloombergthe SEC is likely to “scrutinize” the trade, and the Finance Department says They “monitor” the situation. However, charges of market manipulation usually require evidence that investors are knowingly providing false information in order to induce other traders to buy or sell a stock. In that case, one could argue that Redditors’ dizzying YOLO motifs were actually quite transparent.

James Cox, a professor at Duke University School of Law, told Bloomberg:

“It’s an enforcement nightmare for the SEC. The question is: where does the manipulation begin and when does the trading of your own premonitions and publicizing your premonitions begin? ”

Typically, successful enforcement cases depend on the SEC, which shows investors are knowingly disseminating false information in order to induce other traders to buy or sell a stock.

As Bloomberg’s Matt Levine points outTo prosecute such a case here, the SEC would have to take unprecedented action – if they do anything at all.

Will this affect your investments?

All investments in the stock market carry some risk, and the volatility of stocks is part of that risk. However, it is not yet clear how these retail investor movements will affect traditional investors with long-term value. The more immediate concern could be that FOMO retail investors will take risky bets and lose money that they cannot afford to part with. The bottom line is that individual investors should be fully aware of the risks they are taking, especially for any investment phenomenon described in terms such as “frenzy” and “insanity”. And if you feel like using an investment app like Robinhood, check out this one CNBC post about the risks first.

Photo: Eugenio Marongiu (Shutterstock)

Conventional wisdom when it comes to streaming music goes something like this: Spotify rules all the rules, and people with slightly different tastes on the platform they choose will go for Apple or some other service devoted solely to music. The big music players are all technological marvels in their own right, revolutionizing the broader music industry and bringing unbridled comfort to listeners everywhere. And I’m here to tell you to stream your music elsewhere.

YouTube is part of Google’s far-reaching business. So using the platform to stream music doesn’t exactly support an upstart waging war against the American company, but YouTube is a treasure trove of dark and wonderful depths of cut that you can use to expand your musical tastes into unexpected areas. I’m also not talking about YouTube music, but old YouTube.

If your musical exploration feels stale, this is where you should get back to basics.

Playlists that were not created by an algorithm

Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of rare gems on Spotify. But for the most part, the playlists you get are curated behind the scenes by the platform’s architects, which gives these arranged tracks an artificial feel. In one of the final examples of the internet being curated by users, and not just for profit, YouTube is full of playlists and DJ sets curated by people who are motivated to share music organically and distribute it far and wide.

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For example, here are two mixes that I recently dug up. The first is a mix of tracks by Japanese funk / soft rock artist Tatsuro Yamashita:

The second is a DJ set of Brazilian boogie funk and disco from the 80s:

The latter is a good example of how YouTube can contribute to musical discovery in a simpler way than some music platforms. All of the tracks in this set by DJ Milos Kaiser are rare to use the term vinyl snobs love. I wouldn’t have heard them if this guy hadn’t dug them out of a box somewhere, filmed himself playing, and uploaded the video to YouTube. Of course, there are plenty of playlists curated by algorithms, but you don’t have to be careful.

Its interface leads to a more organic discovery

I understand that Spotify is elegant and that its mobile-first design works seamlessly on the go. However, when you use YouTube to find new songs, you don’t feel bombarded or need to consult special features specifically designed for new artist discovery. Personally, I’ve never heard an artist on Spotify with Shuffle without at some point hearing songs from other artists that I really don’t like.

The YouTube algorithm feels a little less intrusive as it gives you suggestions for new titles at the end of a video instead of immediately switching to a title you didn’t choose. This of course depends on whether or not you turned off autoplay, but the truth is that you are more in the musical range of your choice.

There are real music communities on YouTube

Unlike a traditional YouTuber site, which is associated with the many quirks and headaches that are typical of modern internet culture, sites from record labels and various music communities typically bring less shit. Even before the internet became the company’s hellish landscape today, DJ groups, DIY music publications, and record labels all had their own YouTube channels. While YouTube may not be your passion for music right now, it cannot be denied that many of these groups are thriving despite the convenience and popularity of other platforms.

Take the musical curation group Boiler Room, for example 2.6 million subscribers on YouTube. On Spotify, it’s just a shadow of this robust community with scattered playlists curated by Boiler Room listeners. If you’re into that sort of thing – or any other facet of the DIY music scene – you can subscribe to one of these channels on YouTube and get an email update every time something interesting is uploaded.

Musical discovery is all about being guided by intuition. So you should definitely do what you want. But it certainly can’t hurt to check out some other platform’s waters if your routine feels boring, and plain old YouTube could be a useful place to come back.

Marked today International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 76th anniversary of the liberation from Auschwitz-Birkenau. While it’s an important day for adults to remember the atrocities of the Holocaust and to honor the six million Jews killed, you may also be wondering how much – if anything – you should teach your children. Although most educators believe that the Holocaust shouldn’t be officially taught until middle school, it can show up at your home earlier, or children outside the home can find out about it and come to you with questions.

When do you start the conversation?

Developmental psychologist and author Dr. Dona Matthews writes for Psychology today Depending on your family’s history and experience, the Holocaust may become relevant to different families at different times and in different ways. But sometimes kids learn from it at school or hear details from friends before you think they are ready. As Matthews recalls:

When my grandson was in first grade, his school – a Toronto public school – celebrated Holocaust Remembrance Day by sharing terrible details, including the fact that children and entire families were taken out of their homes and sent to shower where they died. Theo is a resourceful, sensitive, and empathetic kid, and it was a long time before he stopped having nightmares.

I am very happy that educators are beginning to understand the importance of Holocaust education, but 6 is far too young for a child to understand such details. Most of the material produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is intended for ages 11 and 12, and not earlier.

However, if children come to you with questions at a younger age, it is still important Says Matthewsto answer them honestly, but age-appropriately. Ask them what they heard and confirm what is true, focusing on the fact that it was a terrible time for us to remember what happened so that we can make sure it never happens again. Make sure to ask if they have any other questions and follow their directions. Children are good at showing us how much information they want or are ready.

If you can wait until they’re a little older, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum says children from sixth grade begin to process the complexities of Holocaust history. Until then, the museum website says:

Elementary school can be an ideal place to discuss the value of diversity and the dangers of bias and prejudice. These critical issues can be addressed through local and national historical events and heightened during later study of the Holocaust.

The conversations you have with your children when they are young about bias, discrimination, and the importance of inclusivity will form the basis of the discussions you have with children about the Holocaust as they get older.

Resources for families

If your child is learning about the Holocaust at school and wants more information – or you’ve decided to explore its history together – this is it US Holocaust Memorial Museum is a great place to start. It has a variety of resources for children and parents to read and look at together and a Guide for teachers This can also be helpful for parents to help define the Holocaust, use concise language, avoid generalizations, and contextualize the story. I would encourage parents to check out some Videos on the site Firstly, before watching it with your kids as there may be pictures or other content that is too difficult for some.

If your kids enjoy learning through storytelling, here are some titles for your older elementary or middle school age child (I suggest you read the books too so you can discuss them together):

1. I survived the Nazi invasion in 1944: Written by Lauren Tarshis, this is the ninth book in her popular “I survivedSeries of historical stories from the perspective of a child.

2. Number the stars: This historical story was written by Lois Lowry and follows 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen, whose family takes in her best friend Ellen Rosen to hide her when German troops begin their campaign to “relocate” Jews in Denmark.

3. Anne Frank: A young girl’s diary: 13-year-old Anne Frank kept a diary while her family and one other family were in hiding for two years during the German occupation of Holland, until they were discovered and captured in August 1944.

If you want more ideas, Common Sense Media has compiled a complete list of books on the Holocaust for young people to read.