Netflix says its profits have soared in the first three months of this year, partly thanks to a crackdown on password sharing.
The streaming giant said it added 9.3 million customers in the first quarter, bringing its total number of subscribers to almost 270 million.
The company also said its profits in the first quarter jumped to more than $2.3bn (£1.85bn).
But the firm will stop reporting key subscriber numbers from next year.
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Some investors saw its unexpected decision to stop reporting subscriber numbers as a sign that Netflix’s wave of customer growth may be coming to an end.
Simon Gallagher, a former Netflix director and now principal of entertainment investment firm SPG Global, told the BBC’s Today programme that while the numbers indicated a “very, very strong performance” this might not last.
A lot of pensions will be fucked that heavily invested in stocks, but aside from that, the world will be fine. You 100% don’t need stocks in order for companies to thrive. Japan has had a poor stock market for the past 30 years, but there’s still a ton of companies and businesses that do just fine, there. There’s also tons of places in the US as well that aren’t publicly traded. Hobby Lobby, Quik Trip, Valve, SpaceX, Hy-Vee, just to name a few multi billion dollar companies.
The quickly rising stock market also hasn’t always been like it has been since the 1980’s. It went 18 years running more or less completely flat before that, and society didn’t collapse. Nearly two decades of no growth whatsoever.
Basically all 401ks in the US rely on stocks. And basically everyone’s retirement (who doesn’t have a pension, which is fewer and fewer jobs) relies on 401ks.
And if the market goes back to running flat, the 401k’s won’t shrink. They just won’t gain interest. “Oh no”.
Sure, it sucks, but it isn’t the end of the world, and if stocks run flat and 401ks run flat, then inflation should be running flat as well. It could bankrupt some companies and screw some people over if their retirements are not 401ks and are instead in company stock and stock options, but if you took nothing but stock options and didn’t go with a traditional 401k or other savings, than that’s a large risk you took on yourself.
401k’s are federally protected under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act and assure that your contributions are protected right down to the month and no angry creditors or company bankruptcy can go after that money.
That isn’t to say a market crash won’t cause your 401k to go down, but the market won’t “crash” by hitting a ceiling, and most 401ks aren’t just in the US stock market. They’re diversified among foreign and domestic stuff, and not just stock markets, so even a large crash isn’t going to wipe out anyone’s 401k. Just reduce it by maybe 20% or less, depending on options you’ve chosen with your 401k.