Finance

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/38675590

I unwittingly had shares in a company that made fentanyl before the crisis hit. I had the shares for something else they produced; didn’t know the company made fentanyl. The CEO and top managers were arrested and convicted because of some perversely unlawful activity. The stock became worthless and I was severely burnt. It felt a bit off that the millionaires at the top apparently got to keep their own money as they went to prison. They were naturally shielded from the company structure. My stock was worth zero and I recovered nothing from the bankruptcy. Lost every penny.

I thought perhaps fair enough. The risk was mine as a shareholder. Risk is what we sign up for when playing in the stock market.

Yet Facebook shareholders are suing Zuck personally on the basis of a civil offense, not criminal, for deliberately violating the privacy policy? FB is nowhere near bankrupt. Did it even take a notable long-term hit from the Cambridge Analytica scandal?

From a utilitarian standpoint, FB shareholders are scum for supporting that shitty company (neglecting holders of mutual funds and other managed funds where they lack awareness and control). OTOH, Zuck himself is the biggest piece of shit. It’s bad-on-bad, and Zuck losing his ass is justice.

But then I have to wonder, if Zuck loses the corporate shield that protects his personal money over a violating a contract, why do shareholders of a drug company not get the same privilege when it acts criminally?

I’m trapped with a shitty bank and won’t go into the reasons here.

This is what happened: I called to pay the bill. The idiot at the bank gave a pay-off quote that included interest charges of less than $2, even though the bill was not due yet. There should be no interest in this case. He would not listen. So I’m like, fuck it, I’ll pay what he quotes and then dispute the interest charge when it comes.

The billing system did the right thing.. did not charge interest. So of course I ended up with a tiny credit <$2. The asshole bank could not just let that small credit sit because there is a business advantage if they zero out all positive balances to increase the chances of a negative the next month. So they mailed a paper check for the credit.

It’s not worth my time and effort to cash a check so small. But I’ll also be damned if I let that be a donation to the bank. So I just sat on the check until it became stale and worthless. The check is bad, but the bank still owes me the money. So then I call the bank to say: hey, don’t bother sending another check, just credit my account with that amount, toward by current balance. The banker refused. In fact, the banker tried to say the money was gone -- that I lose it because it’s my fault the check is bad. I know that’s not how it works. The check goes bad but the debt does not. The bank still owes me the money. Customer service genuinely seemed clueless about that.

I spent 90 minutes on the phone arguing over this. Customer rep had to repeatedly check with management. In the end, the bank still refused to credit the account but they agreed to send another check. WTF. I guess I will just repeat the pattern until they learn.

Customer service is not cheap. Someone once told me what the bank pays per minute on phone support. I don’t recall what the figure was but it was shockingly high. I wonder how much this tiny check will cost the bank as it sits in limbo and causes repeat customer service calls, in a loop.

🏦: do you recognize a charge of zero? It was flagged as suspicious.

👱: maybe? My card was refused at some ATMs.. maybe one of them created a zero value transaction for some reason?

🏦: the charge for zero follows a charge for $7xxx.xx.

👱: WTF?! I don’t care about the charge for zero. Tell me more about the 4-figure charge plz.

🏦: yeah, there was a charge for $7xxx.xx. Do you not recognize that?

👱: hell no I do not. Are you really sure there is a transaction of that magnitude? And why are you questioning me over the charge for zero when there is a crazy charge right next to it?

(lot of back and forth.. me asking if she was sure.. I could hardly believe what I was hearing)

🏦: since you do not recognize the transaction for $7xxx.xx, I am deactivating your card. You will get a new one.

Fuck me. I am traveling abroad and this will fuck my shit up. Then I realized after the call that the transaction amount is very close to my remaining credit. I thought surely that banker must have been misreading her screen. Called back.

🏦(Next banker): indeed there was never a transaction for $7xxx.xx. That was the value of a balance inquiry, not a transaction.

👱: ok, so you have a colleague who is struggling to understand the infosystem. Please re-activate my card.

🏦: we’re unable to do that. Yes, it’s clear the first banker you spoke to made a mistake. But the card cannot be reactivated. Sorry...

WTF. I did not even do a balance inquiry. It must have been something the ATM did on its own just to know what withdrawal amounts to offer. So then I asked why was the txn refused? Banker: we have an ATM limit of $xxx. (This figure changes with every banker I talk to. Apparently the limit is lower than what the ATM offered in the preset amounts).

Is this a software defect? If the ATM wants to know what amounts to offer me for withdrawal, then querying the bank for the balance is wrong. It should really be querying the bank for the cash withdrawal limit/availability, which is not the same as the balance or available credit.

According to BBC World News, the stocks in the US that are expected to do well under Trump are surging. I think those stocks are surely over-valued. Their value will be corrected after Trump loses.

~~In the US it’s illegal to bet on elections~~(see update), but betting on the stock market is fair game. I would love it if the some short-sellers would exploit this situation.

(update) It’s now legal to bet on elections in the US, as of a few weeks ago

I hope this question doesn’t piss anyone off.. it was censored on lemmy.ml.

I’m looking for 3rd-party banks that issue debit cards for use on the Discover / Diner’s Club network. It’s quite rare. Visa, Mastercard, and AmEx are more common and easier to find, but I have a number of objections to those companies. Discover is a clear lesser of evils. This is what I know from past and present searches:

• (FL) https://cadencebank.com ← Cloudflare, not interested
• (GA) colony.bank ← dead (or blocks Tor)
• (IL) https://www.oldsecond.com ← used to have a Discover debit card but no longer. Rumored to have a Discover credit card but I don’t see mention of it on their website
• (KY) cfsbky.com ← Cloudflare, not interested
• (MD) https://www.oldlinebank.com ← dead (or blocks Tor)
• (PA) jbt.bank ← Sucuri, not interested
• (TX) thebankandtrust.com ← Cloudflare, not interested
• (TX) www.extracobanks.com ← blocks Tor
• (WI) https://www.guardiancu.org ← dead (or blocks Tor)

If I overlooked any please mention it (even if it’s Cloudflare, just to know the options). It’s a paltry list considering there are thousands of banks and credit unions nationwide.. and I only found 9.

True Value hardware used to have a Discover credit card but discontinued that in 2020.

There’s some chatter that Capital One may acquire Discovercard. It will be a shame if that happens, but the upside could be that more 3rd-party Discovercards emerge from it.