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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 price of the US company, which had become the plaything of speculators, roughly doubled on Wednesday without a clear reason being immediately apparent.
In view of the conditions on the US stock exchanges, the long-time partner of the legendary star investor Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, warned of excesses.
The vice chairman of Buffett's investment company Berkshire Hathaway seems to be concerned about the recent turmoil in the US financial market.
The 97-year-old said at the annual general meeting of the US media group Daily Journal Corporation on Wednesday, at the annual general meeting of the US media group Daily Journal Corporation.
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Gamestop's shares were temporarily suspended from trading mid-week and ended up closing 104 percent at nearly $ 92.
After the trading hours it continued with violent fluctuations, at times the price shot up by around 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 here, 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 they do 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.
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That in turn broke billions in losses for some hedge funds that had bet on a price decline.
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 some 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 fire from 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 the price explosion last month so that they could only be sold caused a lot of trouble.
Robinhood firmly rejected the suspicion of collusion with hedge funds.
Charlie Munger now also strongly criticized Robinhood, but 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 no fee, 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.
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The Buffett vice-president cannot take anything from the heights of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the digital currency Bitcoin.
He doesn't know which price rally he thinks is worse, says Munger.
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: 210225-99-582305 / 2