Minus 21 percent – ​​that was the balance of the Netflix share on Friday evening at the close of the stock exchange.

Earlier, the streaming service announced that its subscriber growth was faltering, expecting just 2.5 million new subscribers from January through March, less than half of what analysts were hoping for.

It is noticeable that the tech values ​​in particular are being hit hard at the moment.

Netflix wasn't the beginning of the tech bear market, nor will it be the end.

If you look at the big American stocks – Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft or Meta – they were all in the red in January.

Alphabet with minus 10 percent, Apple minus 9 percent, Microsoft even 12 percent and Meta 8 percent.

Unsurprisingly, the Nasdaq Composite, which includes many technology stocks, recently fell to its lowest level since early October, down more than 11 percent in January, on course for its worst performance since of the financial crisis in 2008. For the first time since the slump in March 2020, it is also well below the 200-day line. In addition, nervousness has increased noticeably: The Vix index, which measures this, rose to its highest level since October 2020. There are fears that a possible tech bubble could burst. Jochen Stanzl of broker CMC Markets says he believes Netflix "could be symptomatic of what's in store for the stock market in the coming weeks and months."

But what is it that could be about to happen?

No one can say for sure if it's a bubble.

Most of the time you can only see that in retrospect.

What is certain, however, is that the market is at least considered to be overvalued.

This is measured by the so-called price-earnings ratio.

Of course, this is still an "old economy" measurement tool - tech values ​​have always been valued higher precisely because the expectations for profits here are valued higher than the current business.

While it's around 25 in the S&P 500, it's around 120 in the Nasdaq Composite -- almost five times that, despite the January correction.

Whether this is justified remains to be seen in the future.

Were the expectations exceeded?

The – now abating – pandemic is also having an impact.

Investment strategist John Lynch of Comerica Wealth Management puts it this way: “The winners of the pandemic are under pressure, and they are likely to remain so.

When everyone already has Netflix, it's difficult to improve subscriber growth," adding, "Maybe investors' expectations were a little overblown."

The forthcoming turnaround in interest rates is also a major problem.

The investment bank Goldman Sachs is now assuming four rate hikes.

The tech companies are doubly trapped here.

For them, credit is a growth engine.

Their ratings are also based on the future business, which needs to be funded today.

If interest rates rise, the cost of borrowing rises, and with it profits or expectations of future business, or in the worst case: both.

On the other hand, there is concern that the turnaround in interest rates will cause investors to withdraw from equities (which tend to be unsafe) and go into bonds (which tend to be safer).

Many investors are betting on falling prices

Many investors are therefore currently betting on falling prices.

Over 50 percent of daily market letters for technology stocks recommend net short positions.

Anyone who thinks this is a bad sign should be told that in previous times it was always a good time to get started.

And even a longer look shows that you are always right with stocks - despite interim corrections.

In Germany, on the other hand, investors are relatively relaxed.

The Dax had the second worst trading day in the past twelve months on Monday.

However, it still performs relatively well in January compared to the other indices.

While the Nasdaq Composite lost 12 percent and the S&P 500 around 8 percent, the Dax was only 5 percent despite the course correction.

Of course, he has done much worse in recent years.

While it has grown about 30 percent over the past five years, the Nasdaq Composite has gained about 150 percent over the same period.

On Tuesday itself, however, the markets remained calm, and the Dax was even able to gain half a percentage point.

Rising prices were also expected on New York's Wall Street.