Welcome On Reddit Of Hamza | IntroDuction Post| 2021
Welcome On Reddit Of Hamza | IntroDuction Post| 2021
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We’ve seen several new investing strategies appear in the last year. However, the emergence of the WallStreetBets forum on Reddit as a tour de force is the most interesting trend to emerge in a while. Sundial (NASDAQ:SNDL) stock is a net beneficiary.
Shares of the Canadian cannabis heavy hitter have a 52-week low of 14 cents per share and a 52-week high of $3.96 apiece. That kind of oscillation is not surprising. Reddit users squeezed out hedge fund managers from their positions on GameStop (NYSE:GME) and are now looking for other highly shorted stocks to invest in.
For its part, Sundial has issued an astounding number of shares to take advantage of its skyrocketing stock price. It now has roughly 1.56 billion common shares outstanding, up from 103.1 million in September 2019. Meanwhile, net cannabis revenue fell 36% sequentially in the third fiscal quarter of 2020. And net loss widened to 71.4 million CAD from a net loss of 32.8 million CAD for the three months ended June 30, 2020. On the bright side, the company has used the proceeds of its equity raises to extinguish its outstanding debt, opportunistically cleaning up its balance sheet.
However, I am skeptical of rewarding any company that is trading less based on fundamentals and more on speculation. For long-term stockholders, this is the ideal time to book your profits and exit your positions.
SNDL Stock Survives to Fight Another Day
Sundial shares are up 223.1% year-to-date. The astounding rally has resurrected the company from the depths of near bankruptcy. It has raised $800 million of cash from the public markets. Some of the notable capital raises include a US$100 million equity offering and a unit offering of US$74.5 million.
That has diluted existing shareholding immensely. However, it has led to a cash-rich position that has helped clean up its debt-laden balance sheet. Furthermore, Sundial also has the capital to undertake mergers and acquisitions. Canada has a lot of cannabis licensed producers. Most of them are under an incredible amount of stress, making them ideal merger targets.
Hence, it comes as no surprise that the company closed an investment of 59 million CAD in the senior secured debt of Zenabis. That leaves the company with $670 million in cash that it can use to acquire further distressed assets in the U.S. And Canada. For now, the company’s focus is squarely on Canada. However, now that it has a sizeable war chest, it can diversify its operations geographically, particularly in the U.S., which remains the golden goose in the cannabis industry.
But if we back up a bit and focus on the fundamentals, you see a company in trouble. According to Stock Rover data, the company has reported negative earnings surprises in the last five quarters. In essence, you have a company that has not done well financially but has done well in the markets. Never a recipe for long-term success.
Peer Pressure
The incredible rise in share price within a short period of time means that Sundial is now in the company of industry leaders Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC) and Cronos (NASDAQ:CRON) in terms of market cap. However, there is at least some justification for the other two companies to trade at a premium. CGC has grown sales 93.4% in the last three years. Cronos has had a sales growth rate of 128.5% during the same period.
Having said that, I am not saying that they are not overvalued. Due to the election of Joe Biden, investors are betting up cannabis stocks in the hopes of federal legalization. That leads to some astronomical valuations in the space, which have nothing to do with fundamental strength.
SNDL stock trades 45.04 times forward enterprise value-to-sales while CGC and CRON trade at 31.49 times and 72 times, respectively. No surprises that all three of these stocks have a bearish outlook as well. Honing in on SNDL stock, Refinitiv has a consensus 12-month price target of 38 Candian cents from four analysts tracked. It implies an 80.3% drop from its current price. None of the analysts have a bullish rating on the stock.
In summary, the cannabis producer has repaid its outstanding secured debt and regained Nasdaq minimum bid price compliance. Even after extinguishing its debt, the company has a lot of capital to purchase distressed LPs.
Nevertheless, its miraculous recovery is down to the short squeeze among highly shorted stocks caused by overenthusiastic retail traders. Since it has little to do with its own performance and prospects, SNDL stock remains a risky proposition.
On the date of publication, Faizan Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
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Shopping For The Best VPN? Ask Reddit.
Slow WiFi and an exposed Google history are an avid internet user's worst nightmares, and the Obama-era rules that protect from these have been under attack since 2017. Hopes for change were all but squandered when a late 2020 vote affirmed the FCC's commitment to erasing net neutrality.
Discussions about the government's right to spy on your digital habits without a warrant don't exactly make anyone feel confident, either.
Whatever the reason, people are becoming more and more paranoid about the vulnerability of their internet usage (that, or they're just really tired of American Netflix). In turn, Google has become littered with VPN reviews and lists of the best VPNs according to experts, tech publishers, and regular consumers alike. But if you wanted a more raw opinion — thousands of them — from people with absolutely no filter, there's only one place to go: Reddit.
What is a VPN used for?
The bottom line is simple: People don't want other people watching what they're doing online, even if they're not doing anything wrong.
A VPN (virtual private network) is an internet security subscription that basically allows you to make up your own internet rules. It acts as a bodyguard between you and your internet service provider (and hackers, and other third-party weirdos) by carving out a personal security tunnel in which you perform all of your internet activities. A VPN works to plug the holes that could be making your data vulnerable to nefarious eyeballs, like creeps scouring public WiFi networks for personal information that could be used to steal your identity. VPNs are as wise of a precaution as antivirus software or a password manager (yes, this applies to Macs too).
Hackers love free WiFi for the same reason you do: Connecting to the internet requires no authentication. That network is littered with unsecured devices, many times belonging to working professionals with bank accounts and business credentials that have phishers frothing at the mouth. Often, the easiest thing for hackers to do is slide in between your device and the connection point. This Man-in-the-Middle situation is essentially a form of eavesdropping on emails, credit card info, and work logins. Other hackers users public WiFi to unleash malware to all of the suckers using the network without protection.
Many folks avoid the public WiFi risk by recruiting their phone's hotspot. But on the flip side, data limits might be an issue — setting up a situation where both a laptop and phone need VPN protection. Many Reddit users suggest using something like EasyTether to share the VPN connection. Just download and enable a proxy app on your phone, configure it on your laptop, and you can enjoy a sort of reverse hotspot VPN-style.
VPNs and streaming
The convenience factor also plays a big role. VPNs also provide a way for people to get around internet roadblocks and censors. These can be location-based or around blocks to certain websites set by, say, your school.
All decent VPNs offer a wide selection of servers based in multiple geographic locations. Picking one of those essentially tricks your ISP into thinking your device is based there, maneuvering around geoblocks and opening the door to international content, like another country's Netflix library.
VPN criteria, as made *very* clear by Redditors
The specs that Reddit users care about in a VPN are easy to tally when the same ones (or multiple people bitching about the lack of a certain feature) pop up in countless subreddits throughout the year. Here are the ones that were mentioned the most:
Streaming dependability is a given. Tons of people want a VPN solely to watch content from other countries, so a VPN's ability to fake out geoblocks and get around VPN blocks is crucial. The speed at which that content streams matters, too (a fast VPN should be able to upscale to HD without lag). Connection speed and location spoofing are dependent on the number of servers and where they're located — more servers means less people hogging a single server's capacity, and various locations means more streaming libraries from around the world. (Free VPNs typically don't have the funds to support as robust of a menu of servers.)
Most big streaming services aren't psyched on the idea of VPN usage for obvious reasons and will probably mention it in their terms and conditions. If they happen to sniff out your VPN-ridden IP address, you're not necessarily screwed. The most likely repercussions would be the inability to access the streaming platform despite just binge-watching a season the day before, but there have been instances of steaming services terminating subscriptions associated with spoofing.
Split tunneling can aid with traffic jams as well. VPNs that support split tunneling let you route some of your traffic through the encrypted VPN tunnel while bouncing other traffic over the internet directly. One might choose to separate less demanding but high-security activities like web browsing from high-bandwidth but low-security activities like streaming or playing video games. Advantages include reduced traffic on corporate networks, better speeds and reduced latency for the chosen tasks, and more customized privacy.
No DNS leaking is a good test of a VPN's trustworthiness. Think of a DNS (Domain Name Service) as the internet's phonebook: It's the service that transfers host names for humans to use (like Mashable.Com) to IP addresses for computers to use. A leaked DNS essentially blabs your browsing history to whoever's watching on the other end — thus totally defeating the purpose of a VPN.
SEE ALSO: It turns out purposely messing with your targeted ads isn't a good idea
A kill switch cuts your connection to the internet if a secure connection to your VPN drops without notice. This is less likely on a high-quality VPN with a hefty roster of servers that can balance the traffic of millions of users, but far from impossible. By default, your device will switch back to your personal IP address or, worse, a public one. The speedy end-all action performed by a kill switch essentially ensures that you aren't unknowingly operating on a weak IP address. Some kill switches operate in the form of a firewall.
Jurisdiction: The country in which a VPN is originally based will dictate the privacy laws that VPN has to follow. Some places are nosier than others, mostly depending on their membership in an intelligence-sharing alliance (or not): The Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes are all but guaranteed to come up in any subreddit about a certain VPN's privacy policy. Countries in these groups have agreements related to third-party sharing and may be following strict data retention laws, depending on their legal jurisdiction. (For instance, a VPN can be based in the US but have an office in Switzerland and follow Swiss legal obligations in order to avoid loopholes that make user data vulnerable.)
Are free VPNs the move?
Reddit has strong feelings about this. It's summed up here in response to an inquiry about the "best free VPN":
Reddit users will let you know that comparing free VPNs to paid VPNs just doesn't make sense. It's like comparing apples to oranges, and you'll almost definitely be skimping on some crucial features by opting out of paying. Proof isn't always provided, but many Redditors are convinced that free VPNs don't follow a true no-log policy or sell your data to third parties. "Free" is sometimes synonymous with "slow" due to fewer servers in fewer locations.
The general consensus seems to be to only use a free VPN to test the waters, then cough up the credit card info (or Paypal, or Bitcoin, or Visa gift cards from your grandma). Most times, this can be done through a trusted paid VPN that has a free tier to experiment with, or via a free trial, which many services offer. In a rare turn of events, Reddit backs Windscribe's free service hard. However, free VPNs can step up to the job for more temporary endeavors — like having access to your home country's streaming services while going abroad for a semester or keeping up with a certain sport for a season. Because paid VPNs only really get affordable when a one or two-year subscription is met, it may not make sense to pay $10 or $12 per month for the few months that you need a VPN.
Here are the VPNs that Reddit users recommend the most in 2021:
Unlimited devices per account • Multihop and split-tunneling tools • Great for Netflix and unblocking other streaming sites • Doesn't log, plus no real history of issues with user privacy No one year plan • Kill switch has to be manually triggered • Reports of toxic online community There's little that Surfshark doesn't cover, and its lack of history with privacy issues is comforting. Feature-rich Surfshark makes countless appearances in subreddits due to high speeds and no device limits.
The sheer absence of bandwidth and device limitations should clue you in: Surfshark is way more generous than its prices suggest. The clean, ultra-straightforward app helps to keep things organized, even with such a jumble of devices and simultaneous connections.On top of unlimited device log-ins, this feature-rich VPN offers rarely-seen additions like Whitelister split tunneling, which lets you choose which sites should be routed outside the VPN tunnel, and Multihop, which bumps both security and speed by ricocheting traffic to a second VPN server. People seem to dig the CleanWeb ad-blocking tool as well.
10 GB/month for free is WILD • Build A Plan lets you choose which locations to pay for • DNS ad blocking • Happily unblocks big streaming sties • Fierewall blocks all network access if connection dips Unsubscribing from emails drops allowance to 2 GB • Hard to reach customer service • Hit-or-miss speeds One of the most flexible VPNs plays nicely with big streaming sites and has a trusty firewall. Redditors appreciate the option to build your own plan, and the free 10 GB per month is a godsend.
Few VPNs are more friendly to beginners than Windscribe. It remedies question marks that make most newbies ask Reddit in the first place: Price and value, reliability to unblock streaming sites, and security of your tunnel traffic. Windscribe lets you test it all out with a more-than-ample 10 GB per month for free, has been known to play nicely with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and keeps endeavors under wraps with IKEv2 and OpenVPN support with strong AES-256 encryption (even in countries that typically snoop VPNs out quickly).The "Build A Plan" option is an interesting alternative to a traditional subscription. If you need a VPN to watch a streaming service in just one other country, you can pay $1 per month for unlimited data in that location. Allows way more forwarded ports than competitors • Supports Wireguard • Owns its servers, leading to high speeds • Superior for P2P • Ultra-bare bones pricing plan Proxy only accessible when connected to the VPN • Interface is awkward • In the 14 Eyes It's hard to find a negative comment about Mullvad's balance of speed and protection. Picky users are loving Mullvad's speed, port forwarding, and dedication to transparency.
Mullvad corrects complaints that more expensive big-name companies still struggle with: Ownership of its servers contributes greatly to consistently boosted speeds. It's transparent as hell and offers its users the closest thing true anonymity by allowing sign-ups without asking for a name or email. In the midst of clickbait and vague logging policies, Mullvad makes it clear that your personal data is a top priority.Port forwarding is one of Mullvad's strong suits. This allows remote computers to access a specific device with a private LAN, which can aid with lobby wait times, mixing and matching of consoles owned by different friends, and improve gameplay overall. (Port forwarding also opens the door to control of your computer when you're not home.)
Impeccable at unblocking streaming sites • Available in China • Obfuscated servers can bypass NTU blocks • Customizable kill switch • Feature to access the Tor network • Supports Wireguard and new, super fast NordLynx No-frills approach may be *too* minimalist for beginners • Security breach in Oct. 2019 (but has since subsided) • Speed drops out of nowhere Nord is roast-able at times, but its beefy list of streaming and torrenting features reign supreme. Security slip-ups haven't knocked this powerhouse from its ranking, aided by solid geo-unblocking.
Meet the Casper mattress of VPNs. NordVPN, which targets much of its advertising toward millennial podcast and Youtube enthusiasts, has grown to be the VPN that people love to hate, but there's no denying that it's still one of the most-backed VPNs on Reddit.NordVPN's app takes a minimalist approach that's easy on the eyes — but its menu of high-level features gets heavy quickly. Seasoned VPN users will appreciate the quick hop to obfuscated servers while the lack of guidance may send beginners packing.Many users seem to be able to look past Nord's erratic speeds due to its mastery of the art of unblocking streaming sites. An issue that's less forgivable is that of security breaches. There's still trust to earn, but the slew of privacy toggles and double independent audits are a start. More servers than many competitors • 10 simultaneous connections • App has finally been overhauled — and looks great • Split tunneling • Supports Wireguard Inconsistent success with geo-unblocking • No third-party security audit • Tor network and multihop not available Though it doesn't exactly lead in any categories, PIA's speed and servers provide stability. The 10-device allowance and P2P features keep PIA a classic, but it still struggles with streaming.
The war on shared streaming site passwords trudges on, but sharing a VPN can lessen the load. PIA's famous allowance for 10 simultaneous connections makes it easy to split the cost between a couple, a few roommates, or even a whole family. Its above-average server count leads to less resource hogging and less complaints about dropped connections. PIA doesn't limit torrenting to specific servers or sharing on P2P, nor does it limit premium features based on subscription tiers.But PIA has lost some of its star power since ruling the market in 2017 and 2018. For some on Reddit, it's too shifty in two categories that are pillars of VPNs: user privacy and streaming. A murky privacy policy, a holdup on third-party audits, and unreliable geo-unblocking on streaming platforms make for a somewhat volatile experience.
No bandwidth limits • Mobile and desktop apps run immaculately • Respected for transparency policy Only allows one device at a time • No Wireguard support • Torrenting will be a fail • Mediocre speeds Casual users should be able to get the job done here, as long as they're patient. Baselines like a respected privacy policy and unlimited bandwidth are alive and well in Proton's free version.
Now, we know that "best" and "free" together need to be taken with a grain of salt. But if you're firmly set on not coughing up a monthly fee, Reddit acknowledges ProtonVPN is a viable free path.Speeds aren't great in Proton's free version. It simply has less servers in less locations (only US, Netherlands, and Japan on the free tier) with a slot for just one device at a time. That device does get unlimited leeway in the data department, however P2P and torrenting aren't even in the question here.Proton makes up for its leisurely load times it with an emphasis on privacy. Its strict no-log policy pairs pristinely with Switzerland's security laws, which are far less nosey than those of the US. Proton's app is smooth as hell to navigate and is open for anyone to look for security vulnerabilities.
The Wireguard vs. OpenVPN debate: What VPN protocol is best?
If you know to check Reddit for VPN advice, you likely already have some general knowledge about VPN protocols. But here's a breakdown if you need a refresher: A protocol is the rulebook that dictates how the VPN client talks to the VPN server and creates a tunnel, ultimately playing a role in security and vulnerabilities. Outdated-yet-popular protocols like L2TP/IPSec and PPTP, two more modern protocols often come up in conversation on Reddit: Wireguard and OpenVPN.
Both are open source, giving anyone in the community access to the source code to conduct their own investigation on potential security flaws — and Reddit users appreciate the ability to take things into their own hands. Wireguard's simpler code base is a little easier to crack and offers technical perks like better encryption and connection times, but it's not as polished as OpenVPN. OpenVPN, on the other hand, is the go-to for streams and gamers.
Subreddits get much further into the weeds than this, and TechRadar does a sweet job of unpacking it all.
Reddit's 'Roaring Kitty' Doubled His Stake In GameStop
The Reddit stock trader who launched an insurrection against hedge funds trying to short GameStop (NYSE:GME) into oblivion is serious when he says he's bullish on the video game retailer.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Keith Gill -- known as Roaring Kitty on his YouTube channel -- doubled his stake in GameStop to 100,000 shares for a position that was worth $4 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
Gill got the short-squeeze ball rolling last month after posting his bullish take on the video game retailer and noting hedge funds had overplayed their hand and shorted more stock than there was available to trade.
It quickly became clear that small retail investors acting in concert to buy GameStop shares and options could cause the stock price to rise. In doing so, short-sellers would start covering their positions, leading to further increases in the share price.
What Gill perhaps didn't realize was that a torrent of pent-up emotion would be unleashed in the process, and not only would GameStop be caught in a "gamma squeeze," but that other heavily shorted stocks would get sucked into the vortex.
AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY), and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) were among the companies that saw their stock prices soar hundreds if not thousands of a percent higher in the course of just a few days.
Gill was called to testify before Congress on his actions that precipitated the stock trading frenzy, along with the heads of hedge funds and the Robinhood online trading app. Gill testified essentially that he liked GameStop's stock, and he has apparently backed up that sentiment with money, purchasing an additional 50,000 shares.
GameStop stock was up over 7% in midday trading Monday, which would have added approximately another $290,000 in value to Gill's position.
This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.
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