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Matched Betting Extra Place Horse Racing - January 21 Profits - £4,707 on top of Full Time Job
Hi all, I thought I would share my profits for Matched Betting Extra Place Horse Racing for Jan 21. January 2021 has turned into my best month of Matched Betting since I started way back in Summer 2018. This months profits are roughly £4,707. A life changing figure for many and a great figure seeing this is achievable on top of a full time job. Matched Betting is the only decent side hustle I have actually found, compared to doing hundreds of boring online surveys...yuck! (Unless you are a good business person / have 5 lodgers / lots of family money etc.) To see some of my other Matched Betting profits you visit my site: https://cashontheside.co.uk/ I will be investing some of my profits this month in ETF/Shares and putting into house improvements like a new drive way. In addition with Cheltenham horse festival coming up in March, I will be increasing my bank to cover liabilities. The bulk of my profits came from Extra Place racing, large underlayed winners and BOG (best offer garuntee). Variance was certainly on my side this month and I must have had at least 10 large winners which won upwards of £1600 pounds per bet. As I underlay my bets I made more profit than If I had fully layed of the bets. About 5% of these profits came from low risk casino. After you have completed all welcome offers...in Matched Betting. Ep's become a gold mine...and I truly recommend them to anyone. Some more of my bets this month illustrating underlayed bets and ep: https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/winnings4.jpg https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/winnings.jpg https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/another-winner.jpg Images of one of my bets illustrative of Best offer guarantee: https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/136707133_10159536662702922_8507610622687908137_o-1.jpg?w=544 For those who are starting out on their Match Betting journey in 2021 these sort of figures are achievable to you once you have experience….unfortunately this will not come overnight! I do put a lot of time into it..between 2-5 hours a day, 7 days a week sometimes. For the average person you could earn at least £500 a month. To learn more about Match Betting please visit my article Boost Your Income with Matched Betting. Alternatively you can start an Odds Monkey free trial where they will teach you step by step and give you the calculators you need: odds monkey trialhttps://www.oddsmonkey.com/affiliates/affiliate.php?id=64754(affiliate) or www.oddsmonkey.com. (non affiliate) To those with a little more experience who want to learn about Matched Betting Extra Places you can visit my guide here Extra Place Match Betting tips hereor I have copied and pasted it all below. For those with Matched Betting Experience - my guide and tips to Extra Places: What is Extra Place Matched Betting? Extra Places can be a very lucrative technique to learn. Extra Places are available for us to do pretty much every day, increasing the appeal. Extra Place Offers are available to all customers. This means that even if you get gubbed with a bookmaker, in most cases, you can still make money with them by Matched Betting on their Extra Place Offers. Extra Places are considered an advanced reload offer, as they not risk-free. However once you have gained some experience on more basic horse racing offers, you can start to take advantage of the lucrative profits available. It may sound complicated but as soon as it ‘clicks’, it becomes simple. Essentially we are taking advantage of the bookies and exchanges paying out if the horse you have backed comes a certain ‘place’ in a race e.g. 4th. Extra Places combined with additional offers such as BOG (Best Offer Guarantee) can mean additional profits. For example, you back a horse at odds of 15 and then the starting odds move up to 23. If that horse wins you win an extra x8 on your bet. You can see some real life scenarios I found of Extra Place combined with BOG below. Depending on the size of the underlay, profits below would range up to £3,000+
What is a ‘place’ in horse racing?
Quite simply a ‘place’ is the position the horse finishes a race in. For example if a horse wins a race it comes 1st, if a horse comes 2nd its 2nd. In some races with a large number of horses some bookies will pay out if a horse finishes the race in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th position. Horse Racing festivals such as Cheltenham or Ascot are particularly well known for this.
What is an ‘Extra Place’ in horse racing?
Now we’ve understood what a place is in horse racing you may have probably already guessed what an ‘extra place’ is going to be! An ‘extra place’ is where the bookies add one (or more) additional places to their standard place classification on a particular race. For example they may offer to ‘pay 7 places on a race’ instead of the standard 3 places. The ‘extra place’ in this instance cover 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. What are my Extra Place top tips?
Some of my biggest profits have come from big underlayed winners and BOG. I typically underlay most of my bets by about 20% sometimes more. If you are starting out I would underlay on the place only by about 10% to play it safe until you learn more.
Don’t bet on more places than a bookmaker is offering. E.g. If the bookmaker is offering 4 places don’t bet on more than that.
Whilst your learning, take horses on implied odds of at least 12 or more on a match of 80%+.
Look to keep qualifying losses down. E.g. for £100 profit, £5 ql.
Please note, the best odds are typically found between 10 minutes up and to race time. You have to be quick on your ‘toes’…learn to walk before you run etc. Start out on easy horse racing officers before doing extra places.
You will need a bank of at least £1000+ for your exchanges, ideally more. The more you have the more of the field you can cover. You can do EP with several hundred in your exchange but you won’t be able to make bigger profits.
Be consistent, don’t take risks, don’t chase your losses and learn from matched betting extra place forums.
Keep the Odds Monkey up throughout the day...and check for good matches.
Use Bookies Boosts to increase your odds and matches.
Do not give in to your fear of missing out on offers…Tomorrow is another day.
Have at least a dual monitoscreen setup. It is important to be able to see exchange, books and calcs.
How do I find Extra Places offers? I use the the Odds Monkey Extra Place Matcher to find the best opportunities for profit. The Matcher is explained in the below video. https://youtu.be/oOKAdiSJidg I am also a regular visitor of the active Odds Monkey community forums. You can sign up for an Odds Monkey free trial today here today https://www.oddsmonkey.com/affiliates/affiliate.php?id=64754www.oddsmonkey.com (non affiliate). Odds Monkey provide you with the all guides, calculators etc. I have been a member for over 2.4 years now. Feel free to get in touch or ask below if any questions.
Albeit a week late, I want to share my 2021 portfolio for documentation purposes and for whoever is interested. I aimed to balance risk in this portfolio with some growth names and legacy plays. Down to brass tacks, I am putting my money in the highest quality companies (in my view) across a diverse set of industries I find attractive. Some of these names are overvalued in the short term. However, I have realized I am not in the business of beating Wall Street’s pricing, but would rather hold high-quality companies that I believe will grow faster that the market in the long term. In other words, I am totally fine paying a short-term premium for growth and quality. Below is a summary of the portfolio and big picture reasoning behind each investment. I'm definitely open to any feedback.
Company
Ticker
Entry Price
Exposure
ARK Genomic Revolution ETF
ARKG
$93.26
6.60%
CrowdStrike
CRWD
$211.82
11.78%
Disney
DIS
$181.18
10.53%
Enphase Energy
ENPH
$175.47
7.98%
Evolution Gaming Group
EVVTY
$101.02
12.77%
Facebook
FB
$273.16
11.05%
Redfin
RDFN
$68.63
10.41%
Teladoc
TDOC
$199.96
9.60%
Sea Ltd
SE
$199.05
14.09%
Waste Connections
WCN
$102.57
5.19%
ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (BATS: ARKG) - Invests in companies advancing genomics. The companies held in ARKG may develop, produce or enable: CRISPR, Targeted Therapeutics, Bioinformatics, Molecular Diagnostics, Stem Cells, Agricultural Biology.
Innovative industry. Since 2003 the cost to sequence a human genome has dropped from nearly $3bn to less than $1,000. ARK believes that as costs continue to drop, genomic sequencing will become a standard of care in oncology. It will introduce more science into healthcare decision making, enable personalized medicine, and accelerate drug discovery. ARK estimates that genomic sequencing revenues will grow 43% at an annual rate, from $3.5bn last year to $21bn in 2024.
Cathie Wood. She’s a beast stock picker. Out of all the ETFs she runs, her closest competitor trailed by 60%. Her worst ETF still doubled investors' money. Her strategy is to make investments into companies that she considers incredibly transformational and she has seen success doing it.
CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) - Cybersecurity technology company that provides endpoint security, threat intelligence, and cyber attack response services.
Best in class technology. Remember about a week ago a bunch of Russian hackers breached SolarWinds? The same hackers also tried to hack CrowdSrike at the same time but were unsuccessful. I’ve wandered on to a bunch of cybersecurity forums, and the general consensus is CrowdStrike has developed the best cybersecurity solution by miles. CRWD is the undisputed leader in cybersecurity.
“Pick-and-shovel” investment into the world’s increasing digitization. Even in the absence of COVID, cybersecurity remains a key component of the world’s increasing digitization as cyberthreats have been an ongoing issue from the onset of the internet. In the last decade we have seen a bunch of hacks where companies have exposed sensitive customer information. It seems companies are just starting to realize the importance of cybersecurity.
Disney (NYSE: DIS) - Worldwide entertainment company that you all are probably familiar with.
Reopening trade. In 2019, parks generated 45% of total operating income for DIS. Full reopening and attendance in parks will be slow, but certainly benefit DIS when it happens. The company has been executing on several other segments in the meantime (i.e. streaming). It has proved competitive, increasing the margin of safety if parks take longer to reopen.
Fast-growing streaming division. DIS has proved agile as it successfully launched a streaming service, Disney+, that has already gained 86mn+ subscribers which was the company’s original 5 year target. This is promising as it shows management can adapt to rapidly changing technology trends.
Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH) - Designs and manufactures software-driven home energy solutions that span solar generation, home energy storage and web-based monitoring and control.
Shift to clean energy; ENPH emerging as market leader. Going into 2021, sentiments towards solar have been at an all time high. This trend is expected to continue, especially after the Georgia run-off results. Solar firms are expected to benefit from extended tax incentives on both the consumer and producer ends.
Technological advantage. ENPH has developed the industry leading solution and is rapidly taking market share from its primary competitor, SolarEdge. Pricing reflects this, but it's expected to continue. Among key competitors, Enphase has been one of the lowest cost producers. Its low-cost structure is a major contributing factor to its improving margins.
Evolution Gaming Group (OTC: EVVTY) - Swedish company that develops, produces, markets and licenses integrated B2B live casino solutions for gaming operators.
Early mover advantage. Evolution’s lack of competition enables it to rapidly grow in new markets and create a loyal customer base, with high switching costs. The company has effectively grown EBITA margins from 41.6% in 1Q18 to 64.8% in 3Q20. Margin expansion is expected to continue.
Massive untapped markets. Europe is estimated to be around $2.5bn (EVVTY has 50% market share), Asian market is ~15x the size of Europe (150% YoY growth for EVVTY in Asia). North America’s market is ~$210mn, a 42% increase YoY, with NJ and PA the only states currently operating (NY looks promising). Management thinks the US will be the largest in the long-term.
Undetected from Wall Street. Evolution has almost no analyst coverage in the US and very minimal coverage in Europe, presenting opportunity for additional growth as institutional money managers recognize this opportunity and draw attention to the stock. Additionally, Evolution has a founder-led management team that is highly aligned with shareholders (mgmt owns over 30% of the stock).
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) - Enables people to connect through devices. It’s products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus.
Zuck. It’s not a question of who is the next Jobs/Bezos/Gates/Zuck, because Zuck is super young. He has a history of being able to execute: IG acquisition / transition from desktop to mobile / denying multiple acquisition opportunities in his twenties.
Undervalued. FB is the cheapest among the FAANG stocks, yet has some of the highest growth rates. This is mainly because of its continuous political scandals. With Trump out of office, I think FB has a chance to stay out of trouble and start to realize higher multiples. The antitrust lawsuit is not a threat imo, it is actually an opportunity. If the govt forces FB to break up, we would get shares in the spin-offs, which would be valued at a higher multiple than FB. For example, if Instagram spun off from FB and traded at the same multiple as SNAP, Instagram’s market cap would be larger than FB’s.
Digitization of Real Estate (i.e. “iBuying”). Technology in RE is moving from being informational to transactional. Redfin’s iBuying service is dubbed “RedfinNow.” The service basically buys homes from sellers looking for a quick and convenient sale (close deals within 10-30 days). This segment isn’t profitable yet as it is just getting started, but promising as the management adapts to technology trends.
Inter-US Migration and housing outlook. People are moving out of the cities because of COVID / trying to avoid taxes / etc. which increases demand for Redfin’s services. With interest rates extremely low (and no expectation for them to increase), homebuying demand should continue to grow.
RDFN most attractively valued compared to Z and OPEN, with the most upside potential given its market cap ~$7bn. Some are predicting RDFN might start offering rental services as well. RDFN has the best LT margin potential.
Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC) - Provides virtual healthcare services on a B2B basis to its clients and provides services to consumers directly and through channel partners.
Competitive positioning in industry ripe for disruption. Healthcare is a huge market yet to be significantly disrupted. COVID has accelerated this disruption. Providers who were once opposed to telemedicine now realize its benefits and several regulatory changes are promising for telemedicines growth potential. Medicare and other government-sponsored coverage is expected to include telemedicine benefits, increasing TDOC’s TAM.
Livongo acquisition. From the consumer POV, this will increase access to healthcare at a lower cost. Teladoc will have access to a larger amount of data it can interpret to refine its services and monetization strategies.
Sea Ltd (NYSE: SE) - Digital entertainment, electronic commerce, and digital financial services. The Company operates three business segments: Garena, Shopee, and SeaMonkey. The Company’s digital entertainment business, Garena, is a global game developer and publisher with a presence in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Latin America. Garena provides access to mobile and personal computer online games. Shopee provides users with a shopping environment that is supported by integrated payment, logistics, fulfillment, and other value-added services. SeaMonkey business is a digital financial services provider. SeaMonkey offers e-wallet services, payment processing, credit related digital financial offerings, and other financial products.
Diversified consumer internet company with market-leading position. Sea caters to Southeast Asia and Taiwan, providing its online gaming, e-commerce, and payment platforms. Shopee has overtaken competitors, it is widening its market share lead. ESports is a rapidly growing market (15.7% YoY to $1.1bn in 2020) and Sea is outpacing market growth.
Pay for quality. The best companies keep going up for years in a row, and I think Sea is in the early stages of being classified as such a company. It’s worth $100bn but has effectively proved its ability to identify opportunities and expand business lines.
Still early stages of developing its consumer banking business, so we get the security of a bigger, established company with upside for an additional, lucrative business line such as fintech.
Waste Connections Inc. (NYSE: WCN) - Waste services company that provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services.
Recession resilient; re-opening trade. The waste management industry is recession resilient, it will always be around.
Non-hazardous waste collection. With a progressive government likely to push climate initiatives, recycling and non-hazardous waste collection are likely to benefit on the back end.
WCN has a large moat; there isn’t much of a competitive threat the way the industry operates. Management’s strategy is to generally only spend what FCF is available. This enables the company to make acquisitions while handling its debt load. Great for stable growth.
P.S. I have two other accounts - one with about 40 growth stocks and another with about 10 big names / ETFs. However, this portfolio has the largest allocation for 2021. My first time trying a more concentrated approach.
Hey guys, it’s Cooolin !! How’s everyones Tuesday comin along? Let me knoww, doownn belooww!!! Today is the LAST TUESDAY OF JANUARY! WOW! Can you believe it guys? Wild! Here’s the new cards for today, Thanks EA!!! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAYNE GRETZKY!
Wayne Gretzky - 91 OVR - NYR / C - BAR1 , LTL2
Silver Master Icons
Yvan Cournoyer - 90 OVR - BAL2 , GLA2 ... 96 SPEEED Mike Gartner - 90 OVR - WAS /RW - SWA2 , SH2 ... 96 SPEED Brian Trottier - 91 OVR - NYI / C - BAL2 , LTL2
Sets
Corn and Gartner - 8 Icons to upgrade Trottier - 9 Icons to upgrade
Primetimes
NHL
Brent Burns - 91 OVR - SJS / RD - HOW1 , GLA1 Marc Andre Fleury - 90 OVR - LVK / G - 6’2” / 180 lbs - DIS1 , SWA1 Jake Muzzin - 87 OVR - TOR / LD - SH1 , GLA1 Pius Suter - 86 OVR - CHI / C - SPE1 , T1 Roope Hintz - 84 OVR - DAL / C - WM1 , T1 Brandon Sutter - 83 OVR - VAN / C - SPE1 , LTL1 .... we are not talking about the sens game ... Colin Miller - 82 OVR - BUF / RD - MAG1 , WM1 ... I like his name Connor Murphy - 82 OVR - CHI / RD - WM1 , SH1 Ryan Donato - 82 OVR - SJS / C - HOW1 , PP1 Tanner Pearson - 81 OVR - VAN / LW - SPE1 , LTL1 Lias Andersson - 80 OVR - LAK / C - H and S1 , T1 Scott Wedgewood - 78 OVR - NJD / G - 6’2” / 207 lbs - SPA1 , H and S1 • • • • • • • • • • - - - - - - - - - • • • • • • • • • • • •
Packs Available
• Jumbo Elite Pack - 50k C / 1k P 20 items, with at least 11 80+ OVR players • NHL Players Pack - 30k C / 600 P 10 items , all Gold NHL Players with at least 4 80+ OVR players • Players Pack - 15k C / 300 P 10 items , all Players , at least 5 Gold Players and 1 80+ OVR player
• SB Season Reset - Wednesday at 5pm EST • Rivals Rewards - Wednesday at 5pm EST • HUT Champ Rewards - Wednesday at 6am EST • SB Rewards !! - Thursday at 5pm EST • NEW EVENT!!! — Friday at 5pm EST ... any guesses on what it will be?! —————
Summary of the day
Quick Read Best Forward of the Day - PT - is PIIUUSS SUTTTTTERRRR OVR 86 with the syn SPEEEDSTERRR AND THIIEFFFF Best Defence of the Day - PT - is BRENNTT BUURNSS OVR 91 with the syn HOOWWITZERRR AND GLAADIATORR • NEW SEASON OF RIVALS! ———— —— ———
Interested in Stocks?
EA’s Stock Price, after hours - Jan 26 $ 146.29 (usd) —- Currency Converter we looked at the stock at $137.54 usd —— That is a difference of ( $8.75 / 6.36% ) — Disclaimer - I am not a financial advisor. It is your money, please do your own due diligence. I am not responsible for your money. This is *not** advice. I added this section for an added educational purposes only. Thanks* —— —— —— —-
NEED A SOUNDTRACK TO LISTEN TO?
I made this for everyone. I’ll update it whenever I feel like it, but its been often!
HALFWAY TO 1.4K SONGS!!! How are you not listening to this playlist already!? Comment songs to add, and please give feedback! It’s much appreciated!! I currently have “Driver’s License” by “Jxdn” stuck in my head.... which you can play, recently added to the playlist! Sidenote - How do you guys like the playlist!? I have a friend who makes music...and I really want to surprise him with some new people listening to his music... if you wanna help me, please click Here!! it would mean a lot to me!! ———-
Sites To Bookmark!
If you click here you will be redirected to bilasport. Bilasport is the best Online Streaming site for your entertainment needs for all sports! (Not affiliated) A great streaming source recommended by NHLStreams is SurgeSport. Click on Hockey and you’ll be good to go! Want to make your dream team, and show others what you’ve been working on, and much more? I will redirect you HERE!. Here’s a helpful pack guide for you! Click! Want to know how the market is holding up? With a simple TAP! you will be on the newly fresh made website for the HUT market, made by one of the guys on the sub! .... what do the stats on a card mean? Is my card I want / pulled good? Click here to find out!! When is my favourite team playing? When do they play!? Here you can click on this link, and tap on your favourite team. From there, tap “Schedule” . You can add this to your homescreen on iPhone by clicking the square with the upwards arrow, scrolling down, and tapping “Add to Home Screen” ——- —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —- —— —-
Fighting a Gambling Addiction?
Don’t feel scared to click here. Winning is SO much louder than losing. Know that you are NEVER alone. We are all here for eachother, and it is never too late to get help. I am here for you. This is a VERY important thread, especially if you are new to HUT. Here! ———
Story Time!!
A frog decided to reach the top of a tree. All frogs shouted IT’S IMPOSSIBLE! ITS IMPOSSIBLE .... Still the frog reached the top... How? HE WAS DEAF!!! and he thought,,, Everyone was encouraging him to reach the top.... BE DEAF TO NEGATIVE THOUGHTS.... IF YOUR AIM IS TO REACH YOUR GOAL! ——- 26 / 365 —— —— —— —- —- ——- —- —— —— Thanks for reading. I’m always welcome to feedback, please let me know what I can improve on. If there’s anything missing, please let me know! Take care, happy gaming! TODAY IS NATIONAL GREEN JUICE DAY!!who is gonna drink green juice today? • Coolin Killin It (Life is like a puzzle, you just have to find the right piece.)
Hey guys, it’s Coooolin! It’s Throwback Thursday, and 2 more days til the weekend!! How was everyone’s day!? Gooodd ? Baadd? Let me know, dooown beloow !! Here’s the new cards today, thanks as always EA!
Silver Master Icons
MARTIN ST. LOUIS - 91 OVR - TBL / RW - BAR2 , WH2 Billy Smith - 91 OVR - NYI / G - 5’10” / 185 lbs - SWA2 , DIS2 *Brendan Shanahan - 91 OVR - DET / LW - H and S2 , SH2
Sets
All these guys to upgrade to their 91 OVR cost their specific 86 OVR card , plus 9 Icon Collectables. 9 ICONS TO UPGRADE - short said . —-
Primetimes
NHL
(Flooded with a team that beat the sens... lets not talk about that game..) Will Update wanting to pump this out with Silver Master Icons Elias Petterson - 89 OVR - VAN / C - GLA1 , PP1 Matt Duchene - 87 OVR - NAS / C - LTL1 , MAG1 Thatcher Demko - 86 OVR - VAN / G - 6’4” / 192 lbs - SPA1 , BAL1 JIMMY Howard - 85 OVR - DET / G - 6’1” / 218 lbs - SWA1 , DIS1 Nick Cousins - 82 OVR - NAS / C - SPE1 , WH1 Jordie Benn - 81 OVR - VAN / LD - SH1 , PP1 Jay Beagle - 81 OVR - VAN / C - LTL1 , GLA1 Kevin Lankinen - 80 OVR - CHI / G - 6’2” / 185 lbs - BAR1 , SWA1 Tyler Motte - 80 OVR - VAN / C - SPA1 , WM1 Jarred Tindroi - 77 OVR - NAS / LD - DIS1 , WH1
Quantity - 1,736 Double PT PACK - 37.5k C / 750 P 13 items, at least 5 Players with 2 guaranteed Primetime Players. — From previous day — 23H / 40M • Jumbo Premium Players Pack - 45k C / 900 P 20 items , all Gold Players, at least 5 80+ OVR Players • Mega Pack - 37.5k C / 750 P 30 items, at least 15 Gold Players, and 4 80+ OVR Players • Jumbo Premium Pack - 15k C / 300 P 20 items, at least 9 Players with at least 4 Gold Players
P.S.
• Squad Battles Rewards • New Season of HUT RUSH — 3M POINTS FOR FREE ICON COLLECT
Quick Read Best Forward of the Day - PT - is ELLLIIAAASS PETEERSSONN OVR 89 with the syn GLAAADDIIATOORR and PASSSINN PLAYYMAKERRR Best Defence of the Day - PT - is JOORRDIIEE BEENNNNN OVR *81 with the syn SHUUTT DOWNN and PASSSINN PLAYYMAKERRR • Squad Battles Rewards!! • New Season of HUT RUSH! ———— —— ———
Important Notice
Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. Today is a day where Mental Health is in full action and everyone talks about it. You can help Bell Lets Talk Day gain money for Mental Health by; tweeeting #BellLetsTalk , Snapping friends with the Bell Lets Talk Day filter, sharing / liking / commenting their post on Facebook...and many other ways, as well as the obvious - simply donating. Mental Health is HUGE especially with everything going on in the world. Please know you are loved, cared for, and that your someones reason to smile, and wake up. You are a blessing to this world, put here for a reason. You are so strong, capable of anything you put your mind to. I know I am just some stranger on the Internet that does these “Daily Posts” but I am here for anyone in need of just talking about their problems, venting away, or just someone to talk to. Bell Let’s Talk Day is one of my favourite / least favourite days because I personally love talking about Mental Health.... but I personally believe that it should be a week, or a month.. or just seriously for more people to talk about it on a daily basis. Let’s end this stigma around Mental Health. You can make a huge difference to someone’s life. Simply just be nice to one another, smile, and just say “I appreciate you” or some nice positive thing like that. You recieve what you give away... karma goes a long, long ways. I hope your 2021 and years to come are full of love, happiness, kindness, laughs, blessings, and success. You deserve what you give to people. So if you give hate —- I’m sorry, but you’ll recieve that.. Love you all, I’m very appreciated of everyone who likes these posts, and strives me to keep posting. Its so much fun!! My PM / Chat is open to anyone !! Don’t be afraid . We’re all in this together!!! ——
Interested in Stocks?
EA’s Stock Price, after hours - Jan 28 $ 143.01 (usd) —- Currency Converter we looked at the stock at $137.54 usd —— That is a difference of ( $5.47 / 3.98% ) — Disclaimer - I am not a financial advisor. It is your money, please do your own due diligence. I am not responsible for your money. This is *not** advice. I added this section for an added educational purposes only. YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. Happy Investing.* —— —— —— —-
NEED A SOUNDTRACK TO LISTEN TO?
I made this for everyone. I’ll update it whenever I feel like it, but its been often!
TONS OF PEOPLE SEEM TO LOVE THE PLAYLIST!! How are you not listening to it already!? Comment songs to add, and please give feedback! It’s much appreciated!! I currently have “Skin” by “Sabrina Carpenter” stuck in my head.... which you can play, recently added to the playlist! Sidenote - How do you guys like the playlist!? I have a friend who makes music...and I really want to surprise him with some new people listening to his music... if you wanna help me, please click Here!! it would mean a lot to me!! ———-
Sites To Bookmark!
If you click here you will be redirected to bilasport. Bilasport is the best Online Streaming site for your entertainment needs for all sports! (Not affiliated) A great streaming source recommended by NHLStreams is SurgeSport. Click on Hockey and you’ll be good to go! Want to make your dream team, and show others what you’ve been working on, and much more? I will redirect you HERE!. Here’s a helpful pack guide for you! Click! Want to know how the market is holding up? With a simple TAP! you will be on the newly fresh made website for the HUT market, made by one of the guys on the sub! .... what do the stats on a card mean? Is my card I want / pulled good? Click here to find out!! When is my favourite team playing? When do they play!? Here you can click on this link, and tap on your favourite team. From there, tap “Schedule” . You can add this to your homescreen on iPhone by clicking the square with the upwards arrow, scrolling down, and tapping “Add to Home Screen” ——- —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —- —— —-
Fighting a Gambling Addiction?
Don’t feel scared to click here. Winning is SO much louder than losing. Know that you are NEVER alone. We are all here for eachother, and it is never too late to get help. I am here for you. This is a VERY important thread, especially if you are new to HUT. Here!
Story Time!!!
“Happiness” - By Anonymous Person Then I stopped to think, if helping a little kitten could make me smile, maybe doing something for people could make me happy. So the next day I baked some biscuits and took them to a neighbour who was sick in bed. Every day I try and do something nice for someone. It made me so happy to see them happy. Today, I don’t know of anybody who sleeps and eats better than I do. I’ve found happiness by giving it to others. When she heard that, the rich lady cried. She had everything money could buy, but she had lost the things money cannot buy. The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are; but on how happy others can be because of you. Happiness is not a destination, its a journey. Happiness is not tomorrow, it is now. Happiness is not dependancy, it is a decision. Happiness is what you are, not what you have! P.S. - Hope you have a happy fun filled day ——- 28 / 365 —— —— —— —- —- ——- —- —— —— Thanks for reading. I’m always welcome to feedback, please let me know what I can improve on. If there’s anything missing, please let me know! Take care, happy gaming! TODAY IS BELL LETS TALK DAY!! • Coolin Killin It (Life is like a puzzle, you just have to find the right piece.)
NBA Owners' net worth (Dan Gilbert's net worth rose from $7.5 billion to $45.3 billion this year)
...After his company went public. I had to include that in the title. Maybe now he won't be such a cheap bastard with his GMs. I had no idea Gilbert was now the second richest owner in the league. Which made me wonder what other owners are worth (the title of this post was almost "why is Tilman Fertitta such a cheap bastard while Joe Lacob spends money like he thinks the shit's gonna rot?"). Which brings us to this handy Forbes list from March: 1. Steve Ballmer (Los Angeles Clippers): $51.4 billion Ballmer scored a huge win this week for his dream of building a new arena. He bought the Forum for $400 million from the Madison Square Garden Company, which tried to block a new Clippers arena near the Forum in Inglewood, California. 2. Philip Anschutz (Los Angeles Lakers): $11.2 billion Anschutz owns one-third of the Lakers, plus the arena in which they play, the Staples Center, in addition to the NHL’s Kings. \For those wondering, it's hard to find a reliable source on Jeanie's net worth but according to unreliable sources it's in the ballpark of $500 million* 3.Stanley Kroenke (Denver Nuggets): $10 billion The real estate and sports mogul owns teams in the NBA, the NHL, the NFL, MLS and the Premier League. 4.Joseph Tsai (Brooklyn Nets): $9.9 billion The cofounder of Alibaba Group completed his purchase of the Nets last year for $2.3 billion and bought the Barclays Center for an additional $1 billion. 5. Robert Pera (Memphis Grizzlies): $7.1 billion Pera owns nearly three-quarters of wireless equipment maker Ubiquiti Networks. He was the lead investor in the Grizzlies purchase in 2012. 6. Daniel Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers): $6.2 billion Gilbert made his first fortune from Quicken Loans, the largest online mortgage lender, which he cofounded in 1985 at 22 years old.*List is from March, before the IPO 7. Tom Gores (Detroit Pistons): $5.7 billion Gores and his brother Alec are both private equity billionaires. The Pistons opened a new $90 million headquarters and training facility in September. 8. Micky Arison (Miami Heat): $5.3 billion Arison’s net worth plummeted 33% over the past six weeks with the collapse in the stock price of Carnival Corp. The world’s largest cruise ship operator was founded by Arison’s father in 1972. 9. Tilman Fertitta (Houston Rockets): $4.4 billion Fertitta furloughed roughly 40,000 employees at his casino and restaurant empire to curb the economic impact caused by coronavirus-induced shutdowns. His fortune is derived from his ownership of the Golden Nugget Casinos and Landry’s, a Texas-based restaurant and entertainment company. 10. Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks): $4.3 billion Cuban was one of the first sports team owners to commit to paying hourly arena workers for games missed during the coronavirus crisis. He’s invested more than $20 million as a “shark” on ABC’s popular Shark Tank show. 11. Joshua Harris (Philadelphia 76ers): $3.7 billion Harris cofounded private equity powerhouse Apollo Global Management in 1990 with fellow billionaires Leon Black and Marc Rowan. He remains a managing director there. 12. Gayle Benson (New Orleans Pelicans): $3.2 billion Benson inherited the Pelicans and the NFL’s Saints when her husband, Tom, died in 2018. 13. Glen Taylor (Minnesota Timberwolves): $2.8 billion His printing firm, Taylor Corp., generates more than $2 billion in revenue annually. Taylor also owns stakes in Minnesota’s MLS and WNBA teams. 14. Herb Simon (Indiana Pacers): $2.6 billion The real estate mogul bought the Pacers with his since-deceased brother, Melvin, in 1983, for $10.5 million. Simon Property Group is one of the world’s largest real estate investment trusts, with 206 properties in the U.S. 15.Antony Ressler (Atlanta Hawks): $2.4 billion Ressler cofounded private equity firm Ares Management in 1997. He owns a small piece of the Milwaukee Brewers, in addition to his controlling stake in the Hawks. 16. Michael Jordan (Charlotte Hornets): $2.1 billion The NBA’s GOAT sold a minority stake in the Hornets in September in a deal that valued the team at $1.5 billion. Nike pays Jordan more than $100 million annuallybased on growing sales for the company’s Jordan Brand. 17. Marc Lasry (Milwaukee Bucks): $1.8 billion Lasry, a hedge fund titan, joined Wes Edens to buy the Bucks in 2014 for $550 million. He was born in Morocco and moved to the U.S. at age 7 with his family. 18. Gail Miller (Utah Jazz): $1.7 billion Miller transferred ownership of the Jazz in 2017 to a family legacy trust to deter her heirs from selling or moving the team. Gail and her since-deceased husband, Larry, bought the team for $22 million in 1986. 19. Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago Bulls): $1.5 billion Reinsdorf led a group of investors who bought a controlling stake in the Bulls for $9.2 million in 1985. Good timing. It was one year after the team drafted Michael Jordan, who led the Bulls to six NBA titles. The team is now worth $3.2 billion. 20. Theodore Leonsis (Washington Wizards): $1.4 billion Leonsis initially built his fortune as a senior executive at AOL, before investing in sports teams like the Wizards and the NHL’s Capitals. *Not included on the list but googled for your edification: DeVos Family (Magic): $5.4 billion James Dolan (Knicks): $2 billion Joe Lacob (Warriors): $1.2 billion Vivek Randive (Kings): $700 million Robert Sarver (Suns): $400 million Jody Allen (Trail Blazers): The sister of Microsoft cofounder, Paul G. Allen, took control of the team after his death. At the time her brother was worth $20 billion though he intended to give most of his fortune away... Boston Basketball Partners LLC (Celtics): An American local private investment group formed to purchase the Boston Celtics Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Raptors): The Raptors are a subsidiary of MLSE The Professional Basketball Club, LLC (Thunder): A group of OKC businessmen "who represent a wide variety of local and national business interests" owns the Thunder Spurs Sports & Entertainment LLC (Spurs): An American sports & entertainment organization, based in San Antonio, Texas owns the San Antonio Spurs
[Videogames] Zhengtu Online, The Original Sinner of free-to-play gaming and lootboxes
Hi everyone, this is my first contribution to HobbyDrama, I hope this is an entertaining read and also to the community's standards. Let's go!! Brief glossary before we begin (and some foreshadowing) MMORPG: massively multiplayer online role-playing game, MMO for short. A videogame genre that generally invites hundreds, or up to thousands, of players to share a space. Depending on the game, anything from general adventure to large-scale war to economy and politics can be simulated. I find it hard to believe that anyone reading this could possibly not know what this is but it's included anyway. Electro-convulsive therapy: ECT for short, it is a form of treatment where electrodes are "carefully" hooked up to a person's head and a "precise" level of electric shock is delivered, in order to treat major psychiatric disorders. Developed in 1938 when most psychiatric treatments was in their infancy, it is still used today occasionally for serious cases of depression, mania, or psychoses. In its early days however, there were widespread claims of abuse associated with its use. Pt1: The Root of all that is bullshit Zhengtu Online (hereafter referred to as ZT) was an immensely popular MMORPG that was developed in China and primarily served a Chinese playerbase. Released in 2006, at its peak it boasted more 2 million players, which while not particularly impressive relative to World of Warcraft (8mil worldwide at the same time), was a truly insane amount of success in a gaming scene that was very much in its embryonic stage. The game itself was an unimpressive Diablo-style top down fantasy setting, and its gameplay loop primarily revolved around improving your ability to kill various things, but what made it special was the overarching metagame: every player population (sharing a server) was divided into 10 kingdoms. Kings and generals were all individual players, and they dictated politics to their neighbors--primarily in the form of initiating player-vs-player (or PVP) warfare. Most contemporary MMOs had an upfront price plus a monthly subscription fee. In China, such pricing models were mostly replaced by paying oney for a set amount of ingame playing time. Unlike all of them, ZT was completely free to play (F2P). Free to play, however, meant pay-to-win: the best weapons and armor, and even leveling up your character, needed you to pay real money. Since so much of the game was focused on PVP, it also created an eternal arms race between players, each paying for the privilege of not being evaporated by a high level enemy. The way they did this was unique at the time. While F2P online games had already seen their rise in South Korea, equipment was generally priced explicitly via in-game currency and bought in virtual shops. ZT fused this with the sweet, sweet taste of gambling: gear in the game was primarily obtained in loot boxes, and you had to pay for keys to open them. It needs to be emphasized that gambling of any kind was illegal in China, but, in an eerie parallel of American CEOS in the future, ZT's developers said it wasn't gambling because, well, you weren't getting your money back. By combining this with multiple other exploitative practices, such as providing a small amount of premium currency like a casino giving you a free bet on the house, or awarding special items to the player with the highest number of lootboxes opened in a day, ZT was making money like taking candy from a candy-hating baby, and made gaming history. As far as what this means for gamers, this was Eve giving Adam the apple, Oppenhemier splitting the atom, Prometheus stealing fire, Caesar crossing the Rubicon, and goddamn Helen Keller signing "water". If you play any kind of videogames today, you've stepped through the long shadow that ZT had cast. Zynga (developers of Farmville) would be founded in 2007 and focused exclusively on free games with real-money integration. Lootboxes made it into Team Fortress 2 in 2010, one of the first major western-developed games to include them. Similar mechanics (with varying degrees of exploitative practices) came to FIFA in 2010, Mass Effect 3 in 2012, Counter-Strike in 2013, League of Legends in 2016, and NBA 2K in 2017, infecting every genre of gaming under the sun, including the most popular MMO, World of Warcraft. As an aside, corporate defense of lootboxes in Star Wars Battlefront II also led to the most downvoted Reddit comment of all time. Finally someone speaks out The System, an article published in the Chinese newspaper Southern Weekly in 2007, was a hard-hitting expose on the exploitive practices of ZT. It chronicled the rise and fall of a gamer who accidentally becomes the monarch of one of these in-game Kingdoms, her addiction to the game, and final disillusionment when she realized that in-game player behaviour was being explicitly manipulated by its designers for the purpose of creating addicts and selling more lootbox keys. The whole article is worth a read, even if it is sensationalist in a way that immediately tells you the writer was clearly a failed novelist of some kind - describing virtual destruction with the kind of prose most people would consider and then discard for a gang rape, for starters. But it had gotten its point across. It created an explosive backlash against the game in China, and was even translated into English and propagated across gaming forums. The fallout In an act of censorship usually reserved for the CCP government, this article--including its English translation--began to be scrubbed from the internet, with speculation pointing to the immensely powerful CEO behind ZT. I mean, who else could it be, right? This article would light the fire of China's first moral panic regarding videogames. In its wake, swift legislation would be enacted regarding internet gaming addiction as well as online proxy gambling. ZT would heed the new laws and remove its lootbox mechanics in the following years and many other similar games followed suit. Most tragically, the panic (which, to be fair, was fueled by a very real problem) allowed unscrupulous characters such as Yang Yongxin, vice chairman of a hospital in Shandong province, to create "internet addiction centres". With its legitimacy established by a docuseries ("Fighting the Internet Monster") on the state-run television channel CCTV, these centres charged terrified parents exorbitant prices in order to keep teens by force in, essentially, private hospitals and asylums, subjecting them to inhumane conditions and abusive ECT in order to "cure" them of their disease. It was estimated that Yang earned the equivalent of more than $6million USD from his addiction centre in the short space of 2 years. While his centre was eventually closed by state order, he received no punishment of any kind. As for ZT, it limped on until 2018. A mobile game reboot was made in 2015. A tie-in fantasy movie was released in 2020. it was not very good. ~~~~~~ Addendum: how we got here: Of Mice and levers In the 1950s, an American scientist named BF Skinner discovered the following: when mouse is put in a box with a small lever that, when pressed, dispenses a food pellet, they will quickly learn to start pressing on the lever as fast as possible. If you then stop the food from dispensing, the mouse will lose interest quickly after pressing a few times and seeing no food coming out. If, however, you hooked up the lever to dispense food at random intervals, the mouse will be practically glued to the lever and hammer on it nonstop, sometimes long after they become full, and long after any food has been dispensed. This discovery, known as variable outcome operant conditioning, formed the foundation of our understanding of addiction and gambling. Skinner would go on to try and fail to make bombs guided by pigeons, but we're not interested in that here. His research tool--the Skinner Box--would become a descriptor you may have come across when discussing exploitive game mechanics. Summary Once upon a time, a game combined the random outcome of videogaming with real-money gambling. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Today in Borderlands 3, we’re activating the Co-op Loot Drop mini-event Addressing some reported concerns, and adjusting various DLC weapons! These changes will be live on all platforms by 12:00 PM PT.
Co-op Loot Drop mini-event 🎉
During this event, Badass enemies will drop more loot while players are playing co-op in online multiplayer or in local split-screen. This event will end on January 21 at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET.
HOTFIXES 🔧
Blocked a hole in the floor in Vaulthalla that was sometimes causing players to fall through the map
Prevented players from using Heavyweight Harker’s mount to enter the boss’ bubble shields in Arms Race
Addressed a concern that the Singularity grenade would sometimes cause Heavyweight Harker to fall through the map in Arms Race
WEAPON ADJUSTMENTS 🔫
Slow Hand
🔺 Increased weapon damage
🔺 Increased healing percentage of damage dealt
Cheap Tips
🔺 Increased the amount and drop chance of casino chips
Creamer
🔺 Increased weapon damage
🔺 Increased healing percentage of damage dealt
Embers Purge
🔺 Increased the damage dealt by the pool of lava it spawns
Heartbreaker
🔺 Increased weapon damage
🔺 Increased healing percentage of damage dealt
Boomer
🔺 Increased weapon damage
Lucky 7
🔺 Increased the chance to get bonus effects after reloading
Scoville
🔺 Reduced ammo consumption from 4 to 2
AutoAimè
🔺 Increased weapon damage
ION LASER
🔺 Increased weapon damage
Soulrender
🔺 Increased the amount of damage from spawned skulls
'Looking down their nose at you': GameStop frenzy showed a fresh contempt for hedge funds. Why do Americans hate them? Updated 2:25 pm EST Feb. 11, 2021 In the middle of a pandemic and slow economic recovery, Americans think they’ve identified their Wall Street villain: hedge funds. Their nemesis is summed up in a few searing images: a hedge fund manager who makes millions betting that the subprime mortgage market will collapse, without warning them. Or another relaxing on a yacht as the economy tanks. Years of anger culminated late last month when a group of angry small-time investors on Reddit took on a few of those firms in the GameStop “short squeeze” frenzy. That spurred millions of others to join in, as their effort to drive up the price of a stock perceived as undervalued soon shifted to a campaign to “Stick it to Wall Street." They used the "squeeze" to rally the share price and make profits for themselves while forcing the hedge funds who had bet it would fall to buy it to prevent greater losses. What are these funds, and where does this resentment come from? Hedge funds, known for using higher risk investing strategies, are private investment vehicles that typically wealthy individuals use to get higher returns. They control more than $3 trillion in assets globally. They've angered many Americans by gutting companies such as former American retail icon Sears, causing layoffs and engaging in questionable financial practices that contributed to the near collapse of the U.S. financial system in 2008, experts say. 'This is life changing': Meet the Redditors behind the GameStop saga “Most people see it as guys in suits looking down their nose at you,” says Adam Bixler, 28, an active user on the WallStreetBets Reddit forum, whose members led the charge against the funds. “How I feel is probably how a lot of people feel when thinking about the financial crisis and the massive wealth inequality that exists in this country.” Radio Shack, Toys ‘R’ Us and Payless ShoeSource, along with mall-based retailers such as the Limited, Wet Seal, Claire’s and Aeropostale faced further financial woes after hedge funds and private equity firms loaded them up with debt. A fight is raging in the stock market: Should you worry about your 401(k)? Where to get vaccines: CVS, Walgreens to begin delivering COVID-19 vaccines on Friday “The idea that you can crack open a hedge fund like a piñata and redistribute all this money to people in the form of a short squeeze is very appealing,” says Bixler, who lives in Boonton, New Jersey, and works as a product manager for a company that makes software and tools for the advertising industry. “These are the stimulus checks that everyone wanted.” Proponents of hedge funds say the firms identify and support distressed industries such as retailers and newspapers. These funds are owned by groups of big investors pooling the savings of millions of unionized workers, such as teachers and firefighters, who count on hedge funds to grow and protect their nest eggs. Even so, hedge funds are viewed as vultures by many Americans. Kaysha Apodaca, an emergency room nurse in Dallas, was furious last summer when she lost thousands of dollars after CytoDyn, a biotechnology company she owns, was hammered following a negative report from a “short selling” research firm, about one of CytroDyn's drugs in clinical trials. The post with the research was later pulled. This year, Apodaca thought she missed the opportunity to jump in and buy GameStop or AMC, so she supported the Reddit campaign against hedge funds by investing a few thousand dollars into shares of Nokia, another beaten-down stock discussed on the forum. “I hate hedge funds. Even if this goes to zero, I’m OK with it. I’m not selling, just to prove a point,” Apodaca said. “Hedge funds have unfairly made money off retail investors for years. Now they’re getting a taste of their own medicine.” For Iris Findlay of Orlando, Florida, joining the movement was a way for Americans to show their strength in numbers. “I’m definitely not OK that there are so many billionaires hoarding their wealth while people are struggling, especially during the pandemic,” said Findlay, 31, who is disabled and retired from the Air Force. A large portion of hedge-fund assets are owned by institutional investors, such as pension funds and endowments. Hedge fund research has been critical in exposing an array of accounting fraud scandals in recent decades, including the one involving energy firm Enron. “Hedge funds do play a very important role in the financial ecosystem, but at the same time, they have a PR problem,” says Andrew Lo, a finance professor at MIT Sloan School of Management. They are an easy target, experts say, because some high-profile managers' massive wealth offends Americans who struggle to make ends meet. Michael Burry, founder of Scion Asset Management, is an investor whose billion-dollar bet against the housing market was chronicled in Michael Lewis' book "The Big Short." He personally collected $100 million and made $750 million in profits for his investors. These managers “are seen as multibillionaires that really don’t care about the public good and are focused on enriching themselves and their investors,” Lo says. “But I think that’s a caricature, especially given that hedge funds now have become much more institutionalized as pension funds and endowments are investing in these financial vehicles.” Who do Americans blame? When asked who was the “most in the wrong” in the trading mania that set off one of the biggest short squeezes in history, nearly half of Americans polled said it was either hedge funds (27%) or online brokerage Robinhood (22%), according to a Harris Poll survey conducted Jan 29-31 that was given to USA TODAY exclusively. Just 8% said it was the Reddit retail investors on the WallStreetBets forum, who angered hedge funds that had bet GameStop's stock would remain low. The small-time investors used the forum to help drive up the prices for shares such as GameStop, theater chain AMC Entertainment and several other companies. Many respondents were angry that hedge funds were shorting stocks – betting that the share prices would fall – of companies that average people use and love, according to John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll. “This wasn’t just an attack on a few weak companies,” Gerzema says. “These are companies that are a part of middle-class America and ordinary people’s lives.” How did these funds begin, and how did they grow into such big villains in the minds of so many? What are hedge funds? Hedge funds are financial partnerships between a professional fund manager and investors who pool their money into the fund to earn active returns. Hedge funds can be traced back to the 1940s when Alfred Winslow Jones, an investor, sociologist and former Fortune magazine writer, created a "hedge" by “shorting" stocks he thought were poised to fall. The "hedge" was meant to reduce risk and protect against market fluctuations. It was unconventional at the time but remains the basic strategy for these funds. Hedge fund strategies today are more diverse and run the gamut of extremely risky to fairly conservative. There's another theory about the origin of hedge funds, and this one is connected to a more beloved figure. Some people credit the founding of hedge funds to Benjamin Graham, a mentor to Warren Buffett and the author of "The Intelligent Investor" – the bible of everyone who loves Buffett's method of investing. Buffett, one of the world's richest people and a folksy inspiration to small-time investors, argued that Graham managed a fund with a "hedge"-like strategy in the 1920s. So you made a bundle on GameStop: Get ready to pay the taxes How did hedge funds evolve? Hedge funds have gained in popularity over the past two decades after many of them delivered hefty outsize returns in either up or down markets, an attractive selling point for savvy investors. Some of the world's largest hedge funds include Bridgewater Associates, founded by billionaire Ray Dalio; Renaissance Technologies, founded by billionaire Jim Simons; and Pershing Square, run by Wall Street billionaire Bill Ackman. They have historically charged much higher fees than mutual funds, which are professionally managed funds that invest in stocks, bonds or money market instruments. Since hedge fund managers are nearly always paid a performance fee, or percentage of the gains they create, they have a strong incentive to make money for their investors. For the hedge fund managers to earn performance fees, their investors have to make money first. Hedge funds charge an expense ratio and a performance fee. The common fee structure is known as two and twenty – a 2% asset management fee and a 20% cut of generated gains. How did they become villains? While many Americans lost money during the depths of the financial crisis, some big-time investors did astonishingly well, including those who predicted and profited from the buildup and collapse of the housing and credit bubble in 2007 and 2008. For those Americans who had their livelihoods upended in the financial crisis, it left a bad taste in their mouths, experts say. “They’re associated with ruthless financial institutions that are out there to make money and not care where it’s coming from,” says Itay Goldstein, a professor of finance and economics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. A big winner from that time is billionaire investor John Paulson, a hedge fund manager who netted $20 billion in profits when he bet against subprime mortgages at the peak of the credit bubble in 2007. In general, short sellers keep stock prices in check by voicing their opinion on where they believe a stock is valued, says Dennis Dick, head of markets structure and a proprietary trader at Bright Trading in Las Vegas. “I’m concerned with this public image that ‘evil short sellers are betting against America’ and that it’s ‘un-American to short stocks,’” Dick says. “It’s not like every short seller is making bets against America. They’re making calls on whether a stock is overvalued or not.” GameStop: Reddit ran a 5-second Super Bowl ad in honor of WallStreetBets, GameStop stock volatility The hedge fund industry has faced a rough stretch in recent years and underperformed the broader stock market but produced its best return in a decade at 11.6% in 2020, according to data provider Hedge Fund Research. Some received a boost from shares of technology firms and companies that focused on goods that people used when stuck at home during the pandemic. Americans who don’t invest directly in hedge funds still receive a benefit from the returns that hedge funds generate, according to Daniel Smith, a partner at ACA Compliance Group, an advisory firm for financial services. Of the $4.5 trillion in state and local pension plans, about 6.9% is allocated to hedge funds, according to data published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. ”Hedge funds help secure the retirement of more than 26 million teachers, firefighters and other public employees by helping pensions navigate all market conditions and meet long-term financial obligations,” says Bryan Corbett, president and CEO at Managed Funds Association, a hedge fund lobby group. GameStop and questions of power The rollercoaster involving GameStop, Reddit and Robinhood has prompted Capitol Hill’s harshest criticisms of Wall Street in years. Several prominent lawmakers on Capitol Hill have warned of such moments, cautioning that companies and hedge funds have too much power. One of these lawmakers, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is well known for her disapproval of Wall Street, called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to address the dramatic swings surrounding these companies. Warren wrote in a letter that it is “long beyond time for the SEC to act” and asked it to investigate the rallies in GameStop, AMC Entertainment and others that “have seen huge shifts in their share price driven by similar internet reading schemes.” "These wild fluctuations are just the latest indication that many private equity firms, hedge funds, and other investors, big and small, are treating the stock market like a casino, giving little consideration to the companies, communities, workers, and consumers that may be affected by these risky bets," she wrote. The House Financial Services Committee will hold a virtual hearing Feb. 18 regarding “recent market volatility” involving GameStop and the other companies. According to Politico, the CEO of Robinhood, Vlad Tenev, is likely to testify. GameStop-Robinhood stock revolution: Not a secure retirement plan Does the movement have legs? Questions have been raised as to whether the populist movement threatening to disrupt the financial system will be sustained. It’s too early to tell, experts say. “It has the potential to gather momentum. It depends on whether we see other related episodes in the next few weeks that show the same kind of patterns in the financial markets," Goldstein says. "We live in a period of so many unusual things going on that it will probably take the edge off this event." Hedge funds such as Melvin Capital Management took the brunt of losses from soaring stock prices of GameStop and other heavily shorted stocks. Others made a ton of money on the rally, including Senvest Management, which had a profit of nearly $700 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. “Is it sticking it to Wall Street? Only temporarily, but in the long term probably not,” Goldstein says. “At the end of the day, the sophisticated financial institutions will find ways to recuperate and make money out of this.” Lo of MIT agrees. “This incident highlights the growing dissatisfaction, distrust and dislocation that many people feel with respect to the financial sector,” Lo says. “It suggests that people are sick and tired of being disenfranchised and being pushed around by large financial institutions.” Contributing: Savannah Behrmann
[NEWBIE] Learn from My Experience. Try Your 1st Guitar in Person Before You Buy Online
TLDR at Bottom Background: Longtime reader, first time poster. I am a 40 something that failed learning guitar from a cheap Strat copy when young. Decided to take guitar up agin late spring 2020 during Covid lockdown. I was limited to places I could order from (open). So, I could not tryout guitars in person. Left with just going off reviews of gear or from what artists I listen to play. I decided to concentrate on places close to me in case there were problems with the guitar. Also, went with a place that said they did a full setup before sale, which was important to me from my research. The place I settled on was 45 minutes away. The Gear: The first guitar I went with was a Squire Classic Vibe 70’s Custom telecaster. This was a demo model sold at a discount. It arrived with fret buzz on the low E and it appeared the brass saddles were out of whack with the whole bridge rattling. I contacted the guitar shop and sent them videos. They tried have me do adjustments over the phone. No luck in improving. The suggested sending the guitar back. I didn’t want to wait 7-10 days to receive it back. I felt like I was losing time (The irony once you read the rest of the story). They offered to return and exchange for another guitar if I brought it in person. Doing the exchange outside. I jumped on it. As I didn’t want to wait and the telecaster didn’t feel comfortable to hold or play. The guitar I exchanged it with what was available was an Epiphone Les Paul Muse. This again was a demonstration unit. I drove did the exchange. I got it home and to my disappointment there was fret buzz on Low E, A and D strings. Also, this guitar even felt more uncomfortable to play. I kept feeling like I was slouching down around the guitar to play, I’m 6’ 3”. I contacted the guitar shop again and they offered to fix or exchange. I took the exchange option again to save time and it was uncomfortable. With stock they had I settled on a Gretsch 5222. Drove and did the exchange again. This was a demonstration unit as well. This guitar was definitely the best out if the 3 comfortability wise. Sound, Fit and finish was the best too. One thing I struggled with was the thin-u neck. I found that doing chords I could never get my thumb comfortable as it was so thin by the headstock. Later, learning songs I found the bridge rattling when I did power chords and such 10 fret or higher. Sounded terrible. Turned up my amp high to try to cover the noise. I decided to change the strings (wanted to try to go down to 9’s to see if it would make easier to play) and do a beginner setup to see that would help with the help of the internets. No improvement. There are few videos and many forum posts about Gretsch bridges rattling. That is what I would hear. So, I decided to try to get this fixed under warranty going through and approved Gretsch dealer right near my house. I took the Gretsch 5222 do the guitar shop in the dealer network. The person I checked the guitar in with said he felt it was just fret buzz ant the guitar would just need a setup. At this point I’m so frustrated with the sound of the guitar I left it for the full setup for $50. The guitar was finished a week later. I arrived to pick it up and I kid you not, there was still rattle or fret buzz according to them. Although, it was slightly better. They suggested to take it home and try it out through my own amp. If there were still issues bring it back. Well, got it home and I could hear the sounds coming through the amp with headphones even. I brought it back. They worked on the guitar for an hour while I there. They couldn’t get it to stop. They did the old “That is the way it is”, “This is Gretsch’s low line”. The last ditch effort was to move back to a set of factory 10’s. This cleared rattle/buzzing on the E. I still felt like I could hear the A and D string. It was loud in there, hard to tell. I got it home. Through the 2-week holiday stretch and was disappointed that the unwanted sound was still there. I made the decision to investigate if I could trade it in. I didn’t want to be without a guitar for a week or more. Plus, I never felt good with the 5222. Still felt I was slouching over to play sometimes and the neck being so slim up top. I decided to mostly target larger semi-hallow and hollow guitars. Thought they would be better for me being taller. Researched as much as I could and targeted the usual value picks of Epiphone (335, Coupe, Sherition, 339, Casino, Rivera), Ibenez 73, D’ Angelico DC, etc. I thought the Casino was going to be my favorite. Went to Guitar Center first. Had a good selection to look at. Setups were all terrible. One was the worst I ever seen; the frets were like knives. Nothing spoke to me. A D’ Angelico DC was probably the best built there. Still felt small, but better than my 5222. It was hard to flag someone to even get a ladder for me. Couldn’t find anyone to estimate my trade. Decided to bail. There was the original well-known guitar shop I would have gone to way back at the beginning of my Journey if lock down did not happen. I got there and the staff was super helpful and knowledgeable. Totally listened to my situation. They assessed my 5222 and gave me space to look, like I should have done at the beginning. I just went around looked and held all the models. I held Semi-hallows, offsets, telecasters. Didn’t plug them in. Just felt them in my lap and hands. Played difficult chords. Listed to them resonate. It came down to 2 guitars. An Epiphone 335 Figured Blueberry figured and an Ibanez AS73FM Green Valley Gradiation. There was a clear winner side by side by holding them and plugged in. The Ibenez 73 Flamed Maple Green Valley Gradiation was the guitar for me. The shop offered me $120 less than I paid for my 5222 and I took it without thinking twice. My fingers just fit the Ibanez. The thicker neck feels great. It doesn’t make chords harder for me, it makes it easier. The guitar felt like it fit me. The sustain is fantastic, I can play unplugged. The fit and finish was good. Flamed top looks really cool and I never would have pictured me with a guitar like this. Is the tone the best in the world? No. But, I think they are averagely versatile from what I read, heard and seen. I honestly have to let the tone go. I’m such a beginner I don’t know what good tone is yet. I’m just looking for something I want to pickup all the time, makes it easier for to play and therefore learn. I will upgrade later or may be never. I may always love it. TL/DR To beginners similar myself. Don’t just go off reviews/videos and order online. Try out guitars in person first. There is plenty of advice like this that I wished I would have taken from the beginning. The guitar should feel good in your hands, lap, standing, or however you play. I have progressed more in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last 3 months with the right guitar. I really attribute this to the ease of play. I’m not fighting the guitar as much. Going in person will open your eyes to new possibilities you may not have pictured in your head. Plus, you may find issues with the guitar before you purchase. Hope this helps someone.
HOW YOU CAN MAKE MONEY ONLINE IN 2021 It seems this pandemic we have been hit with has had a big effect not only in our health but also with our jobs and income, With lots of us now looking at how to make money online and in particular ways to make money at home. Learning how to make extra money online is more important than ever seeing as lots of people, Me included still are not that keen on leaving the house. Would you like to know how to make extra money online and earn an extra £500 per month on top of your normal wage? If you are looking for ways to make money at home and in particular how to make money online then this is the post for you. All of these methods I have used personally and I have always made money from them. It seems weird writing 2021 but after the year everyone on earth has had in 2020 I think everyone is looking forward to moving ahead. What better way to move ahead than to take on new ways to make money at home and in particular an extra £500 per month on top of your normal wage. Some of my posts may contain affiliate links. This simply means if you purchase something after clicking one of the links I may receive a commission at no extra cost to yourself. Many thanks for the continued support. So without further ado lets jump in and see how we are going to go about making that extra money online. 1: MATCHED BETTING: I have said this before but putting it simply Matched Betting is the number one when it comes to the easiest way to make money at home. If you are not making extra money online by using Matched Betting then you are missing out on some serious extra cash. Matched betting is the action of placing a for and against bet on a football team or other sport and using this to gain the bookmaker bonuses. It is 100% legal and is netting some people up to £1500 Per month. When looking around for how to make money online this comes top of most google searches. There is a mom I know on one of the Matched betting forums who is earning approx. £1200 per month from the comfort of her own home while her children nap. It’s crazy and sometimes I feel people ignore this as they just think it is normal betting or it is not entirely legal but trust me it is. If you are interested in learning a bit more then check out my guide on Matched Betting, it goes a bit more into how it works. This is my main way of how to make money at home and it has worked really well for me. I even taught a friend how to do it and he now makes around £400 extra per month in his spare time. Or if you want to start making extra money online straight away then simply click on the banner below to get free access to Profit accumulator a site which has helped 300,000 customers by showing them how to make money online from Matched Betting. Profit Accumulator literally walks you through each matched bet with full text and video guides to and will have you making extra money online in an hour or so. Check them out. 2: VIRTUAL ASSISTANT So if you do a search on how to make money online I’m pretty sure that Virtual assistant will be close to the top of the search options. There is a very good reason for that. We are now living in an ever-increasing digital age and this is getting more and more common especially with the pandemic as companies are working out that it saves them money having their staff work from home. This also means lots of businesses will need digital assistants or Virtual assistants to assist them with their day to day business needs. So how do I start making extra money online from being a virtual assistant and what will I need to do? A virtual assistant could do any number of tasks online such as answering and replying to emails. Creating Facebook adverts, Decluttering emails, Setting up meetings and or organizing an online diary. There are plenty of virtual assistants who specialize in certain areas and I know of a couple of VA’s that specialize in making Pinterest pins for a blog and scheduling them out. Assuming you have a laptop or pc and a good internet connection as well as some personal skills such as good literacy, typing skills and organizational skills then you should have the basics to get started. Rebecca Lake over at Bosssinglemama.com has a great guide to getting started as a virtual assistant as she has great first-hand experience in this field. Go check it out. 3: SELL GOODS ON EBAY Let me add before I get started that I hate eBay, Don't get me wrong I have made money with eBay and from time to time it is a good way of earning some quick cash but out of all the ways of how to make money online, this is one of my least favorites. The reason is simply that there are lots of stupid people out there who bid for no reason or argue the item didn't arrive or is not as described and this can be annoying as well as very time-consuming. Don’t let this put you off though as it may have just been my experience but it’s not for me. However, if you are looking to get started with ways to make money at home then this is a good a place as any. The best place to start making extra money online with eBay is to have a clear out around the house and get together all the stuff you are probably thinking of just throwing out. Have a search around the site and see what other people have listed these types of items for. Once you have sold your stuff you can then reinvest that money by buying some packing products off the site and then look for stuff to buy and resell. Look around at car boot sales and thrift stores to get your bargains and then relist at a profit on eBay, Don’t forget to add the cost of your eBay fees and Paypal fees into the equation. When I first started looking at how to make money online eBay was one of the first places I came to. 4: CASINO OFFERS Hold on, I’m not suggesting you go down to your local casino. That is not a great way to make money, In fact, your more often than not lose all of your money. This is a cheeky way of gaining profit from the online casino bonuses offered to new customers. It works in a very similar way to Matched betting in that new bonuses are offered out to new customers and with a bit of background knowledge and trickery, you can obtain most of the profit from those bonuses without losing any money. It might sound too good to be true but it is from the brainchild of the guys over at Profit accumulator. Quite a lot of money earned within a day or two. Simply sign up with Bonus Accumulator, and they will walk you through your first couple of casino offers and then you will get access to their site which includes guides for all online casino offers as well as a very good forum for members. Sign up below and see how easy it is to make a good consistent profit. When I was learning how to make money online I didn’t have something as easy and accessible as Bonus accumulator. Hit the link below to learn more. 5: PINTEREST VA As with being a virtual assistant as I mentioned above, you could also specialize in one certain area if you are looking at how to make money online. Pinterest is essentially a search engine and requires not only great titles and descriptions but also very good graphics and visuals that stand out from the crowd when your potential customers are scrolling through it on their phone. This is where the problem lies for most bloggers or business owners, we are not overly creative and have probably not used graphics sites such as Canvas before. Luckily I have used Canvas and have now got pretty good at it, however, in the beginning, a Pinterest VA would have been very handy. A Pinterest VA can not only create pretty pins linking back to your site or blog but also they can schedule them out for you saving you more time to concentrate on other areas. My advice when trying to start out is to join some blogging groups on Facebook and create a profile. Then just put yourself out there. As a new VA, you could always offer out your services very cheaply just to get some experience behind you. Kristin from Believe In A Budget has a great post here on how she became a Pinterest VA and how to make money online from learning how to do it yourself. 6: OFFER SITES OHMYDOSH: Making extra money online and more specifically making around £500 per month is no easy feat. Offers sites are great at making you £20 here and £30 there but to do £500 per month you will need to combine 2 or 3 of these sites and hit them hard. It is possible though. You can certainly make £250 per month easily. When looking back at what I did when I was working out how to make money online as I found offers sites and the first one I came across was OhMyDosh. Offers sites are basically cashback sites that reward you with cash into the account when you sign up for certain things or do simple surveys etc. It is super easy and you can very quickly in one afternoon make a cheeky £50 or so with very minimal effort on your part. OhMyDosh is one of the easiest offers sites to navigate in my humble opinion. This makes all the difference as well when you are new to the site so I stuck with OhMyDosh for quite a while. You can sign up here for OhMyDosh if You use my special link you will also get a £1 sign up bonus for free. A nice little start to your profit without having to lift a finger. Pin This For Future Reference: SWAGBUCKS: Swagbucks is a very similar website to OhMyDosh accept it is a little more well known. You simply complete offers and surveys in exchange for Swagbucks which when you hit a certain amount of you can exchange for gift cards etc. It can get incredibly addictive as Swagbucks have a few daily targets for you to hit and achievements along the way. It becomes your goal to hit those achievements every day. If you sign up using my Swagbucks Link you will receive 300 Swagbucks for free. What a great way to start towards earning your first gift card. Swagbucks also have a chrome app button which you can install on your computer which can help you earn more each day giving you greater chances of earning some fantastic gift cards for yourself or your loved ones. INBOX POUNDS: Inbox Pounds is the last site you should try in the offers sites. When It comes to making extra money online then combining the 3 offers sites I have mentioned is the best way to maximise your income. Some of the offers will be the same but just skip those and move onto the next one. Inbox pounds also has a different variant called inbox dollars for our friends across the pond. The easy stuff is a section that I like on Inbox pounds whereby you can go on and answer easy questions or a simple survey for between 50pence to £1.50. You will be surprised how quickly these all add up. Dont miss out on making extra money online and earning some really quick cash, sign up using my referral code and start earning now. 7: BLOGGING Blogging is one of the top answers when searching for how to make money online. Although blogging is not a quick way to make money and it is certainly not the easiest it is one of the more rewarding ways to make money at home. If you are starting a blog just to make money you need to know that for most people it can be more than a year before they start seeing income and for others maybe less. It really does depend on how much effort you put into your blog. Take my blog for example. I work really long hours in my main job and a lot of the time I dont work on my blog until the weekend and then I am tired so just dont put too many hours in. It took me around a year before I started earning money. Other people may put in 4 or 5 hours a day every day and they will progress faster. With blogging though and when it comes to making extra money online with your blog, you need a bit of patience. If you have a passion for something then it is usually quite easy to turn this passion into a blog. It always helps if whatever you are writing about is something you really enjoy. If this is something that sounds good to you then I have written a few blogging guides to get you started here. Starting out blogging can be a bit of a minefield so I’m hoping these guides help. You can start your very own blog from as little as £5.99 per month. Siteground is who I use to host this blog and I have found them really great to work with. see their link below. Seeing as starting a blog is so cheap then there is nothing to stop you making extra money online from your new blog. 8: BECOME A PROOFREADER If you are always looking at how to make money online and keep seeing the same old stuff then try learning about how to get paid to become a proofreader. This is one of those great ways to make money at home by simply using your computer. Here in the UK I occasionally read a newspaper called the daily mail. I read it via an online app and every single page I read has grammatical errors and misspellings and it drives me mad (Frantically goes back through this post to look for misspellings!!) They clearly dont have anyone proofread their posts before they go onto the app and it makes me not read it as much. Im sure this is that same for other people. This can lead to you losing business so paying someone to Proofread emails, documents and other such media can be valuable and companies will pay you to to do this. Getting started Proofreading is a little harder but I would suggest setting up some profiles on sites such as People Per Hour Fiverr.com or Upwork. You can then offer up your services cheaply which will help if you have no experience. A lot of proofreading jobs will need you to have a degree unfortunately however there are lots of free courses online to help you get a good feel for Proofreading and can give you some background knowledge. If you love reading and spot mistakes easily then proofreading can be a great way of making extra money online. Read this beginners guide here and see how you feel about it. 9: TEACH ENGLISH ONLINE It sounds like you need to go off and get some kind of degree but trust me you don’t. You already have the gift of being able to speak perfect English and if you are looking at how to make money online then that is the skill you can use to do exactly that. I found out about this when my wife and I were hosting foreign students at our home. We got chatting to them and one group, in particular, said that a lot of the older students already speak good English but were struggling with conversational type language and how to sound more natural which must be an incredibly hard thing to do. They said that a lot of the students pay up to £20 per hour just to chat to you online and for you to give guidance on how they can sound more natural with their day to day chat. It sounded like a great idea of how to make money online so I got more information from them. Lots of companies are looking for people just like you to teach their students English and to reward you well for doing just that. It can all be done from the comfort of your own home with skype or in a zoom type meeting. Make sure to provide yourself with a quiet room and make sure there are going to be no distractions such as mobile phones going off or family members popping their heads in. So where do you go to find out more information and start making extra money online? Well, Education First is the biggest company and one im sure you will have heard of. You can build your own schedule although it does have to fit in somewhat with the hours the student is available. You can also teach the same student each time so you can build up a rapport and have a little fun with it. Click the link above and learn how to make extra money online by teaching students. 10: PUBLISH ANEBOOK With that handy website Amazon, you can write your own E-book and publish it on their site. The great thing is you dont even need to write it yourself if you dont want to as you can pay people to write it and also get people to design a cover for your E-book as well. The best way to prepare is to do a search on what keywords are doing well on searches within amazon and then base your E-book around those. As long as you are helping people learn something or solving a problem then you should see sales quite easily. It might help if you put your E-book up for free for a few weeks to gain some interest and some good reviews before applying a price. This E-book right here is the perfect example. How to write an E-book and sell it on Amazon step by step guide. Just remember you do not have to be an expert in something just a little more knowledgeable than your average Joe. 11:FREELANCE WORK In the current economic climate, we all find ourselves in, it makes sense to look for ways of how to make money online. Freelancing with skills you already have in your day job or skills you have in your hobbies can translate quite well when it comes to making extra money online. You can create a profile on sites such as Fiverr and Upwork and list the skills you have. You may be able to use a program like Canva really well to create Pinterest graphics or Wedding invites. There are people on Fiverr who get paid to play video games with lonely people which is a bit weird but shows that if you don’t think you possess a skill then you are probably wrong. FINAL THOUGHTS ON MAKING MONEY ONLINE IN 2021 This global pandemic has taught me one thing and that is the importance of making extra money online and having a passive income is paramount. How to make money online is now a more searched for term on Google now then it was at the beginning of the year. Everyone’s jobs have been and still are at risk and to have a second or third source of income is like a safety net in case the worst happens. Make sure you pick and try one of the making extra money online tips from above and see how you get on. I would love to hear some progress feedback in the comments.
Today in Borderlands 3, we’re activating the Co-op Loot Drop mini-event, addressing some reported concerns, and adjusting various DLC weapons! These changes will be live on all platforms by 12:00 PM PT.
Co-op Loot Drop mini-event 🎉
This event will cause all Badass enemies to drop more loot while players are playing co-op in online multiplayer or in local split-screen This event will end on January 21 at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET.
HOTFIXES 🔧
Blocked a hole in the floor in Vaulthalla that was sometimes causing players to fall through the map
Prevented players from using Heavyweight Harker’s mount to enter the boss’ bubble shields in Arms Race
Addressed a concern that the Singularity grenade would sometimes cause Heavyweight Harker to fall through the map in Arms Race
WEAPON ADJUSTMENTS 🔫
Slow Hand
Increased weapon damage 🔺
Increased healing percentage of damage dealt 🔺
Cheap Tips
Increased the amount and drop chance of casino chips 🔺
Creamer
Increased weapon damage 🔺
Increased healing percentage of damage dealt 🔺
Embers Purge
Increased the damage dealt by the pool of lava it spawns 🔺
Heartbreaker
Increased weapon damage 🔺
Increased healing percentage of damage dealt 🔺
Boomer
Increased weapon damage 🔺
Lucky 7
Increased the chance to get bonus effects after reloading 🔺
Scoville
Reduced ammo consumption from 4 to 2 🔺
AutoAimè
Increased weapon damage 🔺
ION LASER
Increased weapon damage 🔺
Soulrender
Increased the amount of damage from spawned skulls 🔺
Loop Insights Expands Venue Bubble Platform To Launch First “Film Bubble” For Major Motion Picture, In Partnership With Draganfly “Safe Set” Solutions, Production Set For January 2021
DFLY.CN (ASK @ 0.44) MTRX.VN (ASK @ 2.25) Film Bubble Provides Another Major Opportunity As Spin-Off Of Successional NCAA Venue Bubble and Travel Bubble Projects VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 14, 2020, a provider of contactless solutions and artificial intelligence ("AI") to drive real-time insights, enhanced customer engagement, and automated venue tracing to the brick and mortar space, is pleased to announce the successful launch of its first “Film Bubble” for a major motion picture (“MMP1”) that is scheduled to commence filming in January 2021. The name of the film and the starring actors will remain confidential until the commencement of filming. The launch of the Film Bubble for MMP1 is the result of a partnership agreement with Draganfly Inc (DFLY:CSE). Draganfly’s Safe Set Solutions for the global film and TV production industry is a ground-based technology that uses symptom pre-screening, elevated body temperature measurement, and social distancing digital display to help ensure that everybody on the set is safe. Loop Insights CEO Rob Anson stated, “The addition of Dragonfly’s Safe Set Solutions to our Venue Bubble Platform creates an instant and powerful Film Bubble solution for an industry that has suffered catastrophic losses in 2020 and can’t afford to stay shut down for a minute longer. We are extremely proud to have jointly delivered a solution to the film industry that will allow them to safely get their crews, actors, and supporting infrastructure back to work and generating prosperity, the ripple effects of which reverberate around the world.” Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell stated, “Partnering with Loop Insights to combine our respective technologies into Loop’s Venue Bubble solution is a powerful and significant step to help all industries and most immediately Hollywood and the global film industry safely ramp up production. Film industry investors, insurance companies, unions, and guilds are all seeking this type of solution to keep workers safe and protect their investments.” FILM AND TV STUDIOS SEEK FAST AND RELIABLE TESTING SOLUTIONS TO RESUME SAFE OPERATIONS AND MITIGATE BILLIONS IN LOSSES Total earnings at the North American box office in 2019 amounted to $USD 11.32 billion according to Statista.com. In January 2020, the U.S. motion picture and sound recording industry employed over 456 thousand people, with several hundred thousand more in Canada, the U.K., and around the world. As a result of production closures and cinema shutdowns related to COVID-19, the majority of the industry's revenues and jobs have been temporarily lost and are now at significant risk of long-term damage if the industry is unable to find solutions that can provide for the safe resumption of operations. Specifically, the global entertainment industry is projected to lose a staggering $160 billion of growth over the next five years, according to research firm Ampere Analysis. On November 2nd, AMC Theatres announced a 91% drop in revenues during the most recent earnings period, with losses hitting $906 million in just this quarter. LOOP AND DRAGANFLY FILM BUBBLE POSITIONED TO DELIVER INDUSTRY-LEADING SOLUTION Over the past several months, Loop Insights has successfully created, launched, and executed its Venue Bubble solution. Specifically, on December 1st, Loop announced Achieving 100% Success in Delivering The First-Ever Fully Integrated “Venue Bubble” in Live Environments at NCAA College Basketball Tournaments. In that press release, Loop CEO Rob Anson stated: “With the whole world watching, including professional sports leagues and teams, college sports leagues and teams, world-renown venues and hospitality companies, Loop hit it out of the park and provided the world with the empirical data necessary to demonstrate our bubble solution is nothing short of world-class.” Draganfly’s Vital Intelligence technology utilizes regular cameras to read vital signs such as Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, and Sp02. The technology can help screen for infectious conditions, including COVID-19. The technology has been deployed on Drones and in Kiosks, along with an initial mobile API that has been implemented with several pilot customers. Loop CEO Rob Anson added, “The film industry has been an obvious major opportunity for our Venue Bubble solution and this first Film Bubble will provide a great showcase for our film industry solution, as well as, additional opportunities for travel, venue, and various healthcare applications we have been working on.” This Press Release Is Available On The Loop Insights Verified Forum On AGORACOM For Shareholder Discussion And Management Engagement https://agoracom.com/iLoopInsights/forums/discussion About Draganfly Draganfly Inc. (CSE: DFLY; OTCQB: DFLYF; FSE: 3U8) is the creator of quality, cutting-edge and software and systems that revolutionize the way organizations can do business and service their stakeholders. Recognized as being at the forefront of technology for over 22 years, Draganfly is an award-winning, industry-leading manufacturer and technology developer serving the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections, security, and mapping and surveying markets. Draganfly is a company driven by passion, ingenuity, and the need to provide efficient solutions and first-class services to its customers around the world with the goal of saving time, money, and lives. About Loop Insights Loop Insights Inc. is a Vancouver-based Internet of Things (“IoT”) technology company that delivers transformative artificial intelligence (“AI”) automated marketing, contact tracing, and contactless solutions to the brick and mortar space. Its unique IoT device, Fobi, enables data connectivity across online and on-premise platforms to provide real-time, detailed insights and automated, personalized engagement. Its ability to integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure, and customize campaigns according to each vertical, creates a highly scalable solution for its prospective global clients that span industries. Loop Insights operates in the telecom, casino gaming, sports and entertainment, hospitality, and retail industries, in Canada, the US, the UK, Latin America, Australia, Japan, and Indonesia. Loop’s products and services are backed by Amazon’s Partner Network.
Loop Insights Expands Venue Bubble Platform To Launch First “Film Bubble” For Major Motion Picture, In Partnership With Draganfly “Safe Set” Solutions, Production Set For January 2021
RACMF (ASK @ 1.83) DFLYF (ASK @ 0.346) DFLY.CN (ASK @ 0.44) MTRX.VN (ASK @ 2.25) Film Bubble Provides Another Major Opportunity As Spin-Off Of Successional NCAA Venue Bubble and Travel Bubble Projects VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 14, 2020, a provider of contactless solutions and artificial intelligence ("AI") to drive real-time insights, enhanced customer engagement, and automated venue tracing to the brick and mortar space, is pleased to announce the successful launch of its first “Film Bubble” for a major motion picture (“MMP1”) that is scheduled to commence filming in January 2021. The name of the film and the starring actors will remain confidential until the commencement of filming. The launch of the Film Bubble for MMP1 is the result of a partnership agreement with Draganfly Inc (DFLY:CSE). Draganfly’s Safe Set Solutions for the global film and TV production industry is a ground-based technology that uses symptom pre-screening, elevated body temperature measurement, and social distancing digital display to help ensure that everybody on the set is safe. Loop Insights CEO Rob Anson stated, “The addition of Dragonfly’s Safe Set Solutions to our Venue Bubble Platform creates an instant and powerful Film Bubble solution for an industry that has suffered catastrophic losses in 2020 and can’t afford to stay shut down for a minute longer. We are extremely proud to have jointly delivered a solution to the film industry that will allow them to safely get their crews, actors, and supporting infrastructure back to work and generating prosperity, the ripple effects of which reverberate around the world.” Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell stated, “Partnering with Loop Insights to combine our respective technologies into Loop’s Venue Bubble solution is a powerful and significant step to help all industries and most immediately Hollywood and the global film industry safely ramp up production. Film industry investors, insurance companies, unions, and guilds are all seeking this type of solution to keep workers safe and protect their investments.” FILM AND TV STUDIOS SEEK FAST AND RELIABLE TESTING SOLUTIONS TO RESUME SAFE OPERATIONS AND MITIGATE BILLIONS IN LOSSES Total earnings at the North American box office in 2019 amounted to $USD 11.32 billion according to Statista.com. In January 2020, the U.S. motion picture and sound recording industry employed over 456 thousand people, with several hundred thousand more in Canada, the U.K., and around the world. As a result of production closures and cinema shutdowns related to COVID-19, the majority of the industry's revenues and jobs have been temporarily lost and are now at significant risk of long-term damage if the industry is unable to find solutions that can provide for the safe resumption of operations. Specifically, the global entertainment industry is projected to lose a staggering $160 billion of growth over the next five years, according to research firm Ampere Analysis. On November 2nd, AMC Theatres announced a 91% drop in revenues during the most recent earnings period, with losses hitting $906 million in just this quarter. LOOP AND DRAGANFLY FILM BUBBLE POSITIONED TO DELIVER INDUSTRY-LEADING SOLUTION Over the past several months, Loop Insights has successfully created, launched, and executed its Venue Bubble solution. Specifically, on December 1st, Loop announced Achieving 100% Success in Delivering The First-Ever Fully Integrated “Venue Bubble” in Live Environments at NCAA College Basketball Tournaments. In that press release, Loop CEO Rob Anson stated: “With the whole world watching, including professional sports leagues and teams, college sports leagues and teams, world-renown venues and hospitality companies, Loop hit it out of the park and provided the world with the empirical data necessary to demonstrate our bubble solution is nothing short of world-class.” Draganfly’s Vital Intelligence technology utilizes regular cameras to read vital signs such as Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, and Sp02. The technology can help screen for infectious conditions, including COVID-19. The technology has been deployed on Drones and in Kiosks, along with an initial mobile API that has been implemented with several pilot customers. Loop CEO Rob Anson added, “The film industry has been an obvious major opportunity for our Venue Bubble solution and this first Film Bubble will provide a great showcase for our film industry solution, as well as, additional opportunities for travel, venue, and various healthcare applications we have been working on.” This Press Release Is Available On The Loop Insights Verified Forum On AGORACOM For Shareholder Discussion And Management Engagement https://agoracom.com/iLoopInsights/forums/discussion About Draganfly Draganfly Inc. (CSE: DFLY; OTCQB: DFLYF; FSE: 3U8) is the creator of quality, cutting-edge and software and systems that revolutionize the way organizations can do business and service their stakeholders. Recognized as being at the forefront of technology for over 22 years, Draganfly is an award-winning, industry-leading manufacturer and technology developer serving the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections, security, and mapping and surveying markets. Draganfly is a company driven by passion, ingenuity, and the need to provide efficient solutions and first-class services to its customers around the world with the goal of saving time, money, and lives. About Loop Insights Loop Insights Inc. is a Vancouver-based Internet of Things (“IoT”) technology company that delivers transformative artificial intelligence (“AI”) automated marketing, contact tracing, and contactless solutions to the brick and mortar space. Its unique IoT device, Fobi, enables data connectivity across online and on-premise platforms to provide real-time, detailed insights and automated, personalized engagement. Its ability to integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure, and customize campaigns according to each vertical, creates a highly scalable solution for its prospective global clients that span industries. Loop Insights operates in the telecom, casino gaming, sports and entertainment, hospitality, and retail industries, in Canada, the US, the UK, Latin America, Australia, Japan, and Indonesia. Loop’s products and services are backed by Amazon’s Partner Network. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/loop-insights-expands-venue-bubble-110000376.html
Loop Insights Expands Venue Bubble Platform To Launch First “Film Bubble” For Major Motion Picture, In Partnership With Draganfly “Safe Set” Solutions, Production Set For January 2021
RACMF (ASK @ 1.83) DFLYF (ASK @ 0.346) Film Bubble Provides Another Major Opportunity As Spin-Off Of Successional NCAA Venue Bubble and Travel Bubble Projects VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 14, 2020, a provider of contactless solutions and artificial intelligence ("AI") to drive real-time insights, enhanced customer engagement, and automated venue tracing to the brick and mortar space, is pleased to announce the successful launch of its first “Film Bubble” for a major motion picture (“MMP1”) that is scheduled to commence filming in January 2021. The name of the film and the starring actors will remain confidential until the commencement of filming. The launch of the Film Bubble for MMP1 is the result of a partnership agreement with Draganfly Inc (DFLY:CSE). Draganfly’s Safe Set Solutions for the global film and TV production industry is a ground-based technology that uses symptom pre-screening, elevated body temperature measurement, and social distancing digital display to help ensure that everybody on the set is safe. Loop Insights CEO Rob Anson stated, “The addition of Dragonfly’s Safe Set Solutions to our Venue Bubble Platform creates an instant and powerful Film Bubble solution for an industry that has suffered catastrophic losses in 2020 and can’t afford to stay shut down for a minute longer. We are extremely proud to have jointly delivered a solution to the film industry that will allow them to safely get their crews, actors, and supporting infrastructure back to work and generating prosperity, the ripple effects of which reverberate around the world.” Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell stated, “Partnering with Loop Insights to combine our respective technologies into Loop’s Venue Bubble solution is a powerful and significant step to help all industries and most immediately Hollywood and the global film industry safely ramp up production. Film industry investors, insurance companies, unions, and guilds are all seeking this type of solution to keep workers safe and protect their investments.” FILM AND TV STUDIOS SEEK FAST AND RELIABLE TESTING SOLUTIONS TO RESUME SAFE OPERATIONS AND MITIGATE BILLIONS IN LOSSES Total earnings at the North American box office in 2019 amounted to $USD 11.32 billion according to Statista.com. In January 2020, the U.S. motion picture and sound recording industry employed over 456 thousand people, with several hundred thousand more in Canada, the U.K., and around the world. As a result of production closures and cinema shutdowns related to COVID-19, the majority of the industry's revenues and jobs have been temporarily lost and are now at significant risk of long-term damage if the industry is unable to find solutions that can provide for the safe resumption of operations. Specifically, the global entertainment industry is projected to lose a staggering $160 billion of growth over the next five years, according to research firm Ampere Analysis. On November 2nd, AMC Theatres announced a 91% drop in revenues during the most recent earnings period, with losses hitting $906 million in just this quarter. LOOP AND DRAGANFLY FILM BUBBLE POSITIONED TO DELIVER INDUSTRY-LEADING SOLUTION Over the past several months, Loop Insights has successfully created, launched, and executed its Venue Bubble solution. Specifically, on December 1st, Loop announced Achieving 100% Success in Delivering The First-Ever Fully Integrated “Venue Bubble” in Live Environments at NCAA College Basketball Tournaments. In that press release, Loop CEO Rob Anson stated: “With the whole world watching, including professional sports leagues and teams, college sports leagues and teams, world-renown venues and hospitality companies, Loop hit it out of the park and provided the world with the empirical data necessary to demonstrate our bubble solution is nothing short of world-class.” Draganfly’s Vital Intelligence technology utilizes regular cameras to read vital signs such as Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, and Sp02. The technology can help screen for infectious conditions, including COVID-19. The technology has been deployed on Drones and in Kiosks, along with an initial mobile API that has been implemented with several pilot customers. Loop CEO Rob Anson added, “The film industry has been an obvious major opportunity for our Venue Bubble solution and this first Film Bubble will provide a great showcase for our film industry solution, as well as, additional opportunities for travel, venue, and various healthcare applications we have been working on.” This Press Release Is Available On The Loop Insights Verified Forum On AGORACOM For Shareholder Discussion And Management Engagement https://agoracom.com/iLoopInsights/forums/discussion About Draganfly Draganfly Inc. (CSE: DFLY; OTCQB: DFLYF; FSE: 3U8) is the creator of quality, cutting-edge and software and systems that revolutionize the way organizations can do business and service their stakeholders. Recognized as being at the forefront of technology for over 22 years, Draganfly is an award-winning, industry-leading manufacturer and technology developer serving the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections, security, and mapping and surveying markets. Draganfly is a company driven by passion, ingenuity, and the need to provide efficient solutions and first-class services to its customers around the world with the goal of saving time, money, and lives. About Loop Insights Loop Insights Inc. is a Vancouver-based Internet of Things (“IoT”) technology company that delivers transformative artificial intelligence (“AI”) automated marketing, contact tracing, and contactless solutions to the brick and mortar space. Its unique IoT device, Fobi, enables data connectivity across online and on-premise platforms to provide real-time, detailed insights and automated, personalized engagement. Its ability to integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure, and customize campaigns according to each vertical, creates a highly scalable solution for its prospective global clients that span industries. Loop Insights operates in the telecom, casino gaming, sports and entertainment, hospitality, and retail industries, in Canada, the US, the UK, Latin America, Australia, Japan, and Indonesia. Loop’s products and services are backed by Amazon’s Partner Network. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/loop-insights-expands-venue-bubble-110000376.html
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