display
New York (AP) - The excitement about the ailing video game retailer Gamestop does not end on the US financial market.
After heavy losses in the previous weeks, the share of the US company, which has become a pawn for speculators, went on sale with a price increase of 85 percent.
The price had more than doubled the day before, without a clear reason being immediately apparent.
In view of the conditions on the US stock exchanges, the long-time partner of star investor Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, warned of excesses.
The vice chairman of Buffett's investment company Berkshire Hathaway sees the recent turmoil in the US financial market with great concern.
Capricorn prices like the shares of Gamestop are signs of an "irritating bubble" that has to come to a bad end at some point, said the 97-year-old at the annual general meeting of the US media group Daily Journal Corporation.
display
The shares of Gamestop had already been temporarily suspended from trading on Wednesday and had ultimately closed with a plus of 104 percent at almost $ 92.
After the trading hours it continued with violent fluctuations, at times the price shot up by another 100 percent.
The day before, Gamestop had announced the departure of CFO Jim Bell without giving a reason.
US media later reported that the manager had to resign under pressure from influential shareholders because there had been disagreements about the strategy.
Investor Ryan Cohen is said to have played a key role in this, having taken on a position on the board of directors in January.
Many speculators consider him to be the bearer of hope for a comeback, because he had already successfully turned the pet supply retailer Chewy inside out.
Old stock exchange master Munger thinks nothing of the gamestop hype.
According to his criticism, the frenzy of speculation reveals a dangerous new culture in which people are encouraged by cheap brokers such as Robinhood to gamble with stocks, as in horse betting.
In fact, Gamestop has been in crisis for a long time, but driven by hobby investors organized on the Internet, the company's shares had rallied breathtakingly last month.
display
That in turn broke several hedge funds that had bet on a price decline, billions in losses.
At the end of January the stock had hit a record high of over $ 483, but the soaring was quickly over.
The price turbulence around Gamestop and a few other companies on the US stock exchanges has already had an aftermath that continues.
US authorities are investigating the incidents and investigating possible market manipulation.
The discount broker Robinhood, which is particularly popular with younger investors, came under the crossfire of criticism with its easy-to-use app.
In particular, the fact that Robinhood restricted trading in hot stocks like those of Gamestop during last month's price explosion so that they could only be sold caused a lot of trouble.
Robinhood firmly denied the suspicion of collusion with hedge funds.
Charlie Munger now also sharply criticized Robinhood, not because of the trading restrictions, but because he considers the app to be more of a kind of gambling provider than a reputable broker.
Robinhood runs a "dirty" business, in which users are lured with free of charge, while the company receives money from Wall Street actors for the mediation of their transactions and therefore encourages as much and risky trading as possible.
display
Robinhood denied the allegations on Thursday.
Munger attacked a whole new generation of investors in one fell swoop, and his criticism was "disappointing and elitist," said a company spokesman for the US financial broadcaster CNBC.
Robinhood was created to open up the stock market to people who had no access to inherited wealth and resources.
In fact, the new diversity of investors in the financial market is cause for joy.
Munger has nothing to do with the heights of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the digital currency Bitcoin.
He doesn't know which price rally he thinks is worse, said the Berkshire vice-president.
Bitcoin is unsuitable as a means of payment because of its strong price fluctuations.
Tesla boss Elon Musk is a big fan of crypto currencies, the company had last bought bitcoins for 1.5 billion dollars and thus fueled the rate of the most famous digital currency.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210225-99-594554 / 2