Member Info for lunq

"Complete lack of understanding of technology..."

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Stanley-Gibbons-RVW11478319.htm

I've just bought my young niece an official Stanley Gibbons "STAMP STOCKBOOK STARTER PACK" as advertised on their website, for 14.95 pounds through their "stanleygibbonsgroup" eBay store.

Their official website blurb for the exact same pack also states that it: "Contains all the essential items to get started - an attractive stockbook, 250 world stamps, 'Enjoy Stamp Collecting' book, a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass"

Can you imagine how angry and disappointed I was when she began (very excitedly) sorting out her new stamps and placing them in the stockbock? I could not believe what my eyes were telling me when she showed me her hard work.

The vast majority of her "postage stamps" were, and are counterfeit items - you know, the kind with bright and colorful designs on them, carefully applied (or printed on) postmarks - designed to suck in beginners like my niece. None of them have been used either. They purport to come from countries such as LAO. Excuse me? Lao? Very few stamps, other than a few common GB and European issues, are the real thing. How can I teach her what countries they all come from if most of them are bloody counterfeits?!? (I am happy to take photos and post them here if you wish)

I only bought this pack because I believed that I would receive the real thing from Stanley Gibbons!!!

I wasn't expecting anything more than common, postally used items inside her stamp pack, but to receive this garbage was more than I could bear. Obviously you've included these stamps in the fond belief that you're unlikely to receive complaints from mostly inexperienced and ignorant parents.

I expected better from the world's largest stamp dealers. I would like to hear an explanation from one of their representatives (and I am quite sure that you monitor this forum regularly) what you intend to do about this?

I cannot return her stamp starter pack, because to do so would mean trying to explain to my niece why she can't keep those stamps. Apart from upsetting her very badly, I am absolutely almost certain it'll scare her away from philately forever.

At the very least I want a full refund, plus compensation. I'm not expecting you to send me a block of mint 2 pound Kangaroos or anything like that, but some nice - and GENUINE - world, or even better, Australian & British stamps would be more than ample recompense.

I also want to see you discontinue this practise in inserting counterfeit stamps with your other starter kits, otherwise I will initiate legal action for misleading and deceptive conduct under relevant British Trades practises law through your courts.

https://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=54116

Are you interested in investing in stamps? Would an offer of ‘guaranteed’ 100% protection of your investment convince you to part with the cash? We were fearful it would so issued a complaint to the ASA.

Adverts for investments are often littered with words such as ‘secure’, ‘guaranteed’ and ‘capital protected’, but can you actually rely on these promises?

When we saw an advert for the Stanley Gibbons ‘Capital Protected Growth Plan’, which claimed to be ‘designed to protect your investment 100% while at the same time allowing unlimited growth’, alarm bells rang at Which? headquarters.

The advert was marketing an investment in stamps which it said offered a ‘100 year history of strong and steady increases’. The company claimed that ‘our confidence in its performance allows us to offer you a full capital security guarantee – we will guarantee the sum you choose to invest with us, whatever happens to the value of your portfolio.’

Risk of losing money
We put in a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The investment was unregulated and not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. If the company was unable to fulfil its promise then consumers could be at risk of losing money.

Stanley Gibbons said that the guarantee was secured by a ‘legal contract’ but was not ‘guaranteed or underwritten by any third party’.

The ASA considered that the small print in the advert meant that ‘it would be clear to readers that any investment with Stanley Gibbons was underwritten by them alone and was dependent upon their continuing solvency.’

As a result, the ASA did not uphold part of our complaint. However, it did say that Stanley Gibbons should not claim that their stamps had a 100-year history of strong and steady increases.

We’re disappointed with the ASA decision. We think a ‘100%’ guarantee will be understood by most to mean just that.

Investors typically have the additional security of third party guarantees and the back-up of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. We’re not convinced consumers will always consider the solvency risk of the provider. Even if they do, it will be impossible for consumers to always be able to tell the good from the bad.

While nothing is truly 100% guaranteed, consumers are more at risk without the additional protection of a third-party guarantee.

Where this is the case, consumers should be told clearly and we do not think statements in the small print go far enough.

Stanley Gibbons still have documents on their website which claim that the product offers a ‘cast iron guarantee for your capital’ and that ‘you certainly can’t lose a penny’ – claims which we’re concerned may still mislead some investors, particularly as the investments are not guaranteed or underwritten by any third party.

https://conversation.which.co.uk/money/stanley-gibbons-stamp-asa-complaint-investment-guarantee/

"We are told that postage stamps are a good investment, and this may well be true for very old rare stamps," Sanderson says. "However, when it comes to less rare stamps we should treat Stanley Gibbons' catalogue values with a large pinch of salt, as in many cases they appear to be absurdly high. I have been selling some of my stamps and the prices raised have been a fraction of their catalogue values."

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/apr/13/stamp-collectors-catalogues-philately-clubs

No

https://www.tradingview.com/x/oH3W9FbM/

Above chart showing price action of the following Bitcoin miners:

Argo
Riot
DMG Blockchain
Hut 8
Hive
Marathon Digital
Bitfarms

( Vertical red dashed line show the previous local peaks which occured around 8th Jan and 19th Feb )

1. Note that all miners hit the local peaks around the same time.

2. Also note all miners have followed a similar price action this year, and whilst some have provided higher returns, generally they have been rising and falling together.

Coincidence? Market manipulation? Or maybe it's just the market doing its thing?

In my opinion, as per the title, Bitcoin miners are generally moving together whilst broadly tracking the Bitcoin price.

Quite often we seek specific reasons as to why prices move up or down:

"Oh its because of share dilution"

"Oh it was because the directors sold"

"Oh it was the market makers"

"Oh it was Elon Musk tweeting"

"Oh it was Joe Biden's tax hike"

"Oh it was Turkey/India proposing a ban"

"Oh it was Pearls giant stamp collection that got stuck in a mining machine causing a total blackout"

But sometimes we just need to accept that the market moves in its own mysterious way and as long term investors learn to be patient and avoid getting too caught up with daily price movements.

Muh charts.

Every month this year BTC has hit new all time highs, followed by a retracement of approximately 20-30%.

As shown in the chart below, bullish divergences are starting to form on the RSI indicator. With the exception of March, the appearance of bullish divergences has always preceded a reversal, marking the local bottom of the retracement before the next move up:

https://coinalyze.net/snapshot/P2ZzTLrP

Combined with the fact that the majority of people are in a state of bedwetting:

https://twitter.com/BitcoinFear/status/1386228496662507523

https://twitter.com/santimentfeed/status/1386233586978787329

...and with the increased commentary by the likes Pearls & Co, evidence suggests a reversal for Bitcoin is imminent.

Related:

https://twitter.com/therationalroot/status/1385342632755335173

https://twitter.com/santimentfeed/status/1385630893235007489

Onchain analysis is useful but not always perfect. Worth a read: https://insights.glassnode.com/exchange-metrics/

Bitcoin hit a new all time high of 65K this month and yet people still whine over a retracement

There is no crash. But some people need a crash course in understanding the volatility of Bitcoin. Or a crash course in vocabulary. Or a crash course in not pooing themselves. See you on the moon. Bye.

In your opinion when does a drop in price become a crash as opposed to a retracement?

https://twitter.com/rektcapital/status/1385511483560312833?s=21

Meanwhile in the US, some states are considering allowing residents to pay tax using crypto:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/miami-commissioner-wants-to-let-residents-pay-taxes-in-bitcoin

Pearls, a few weeks ago I started applying some technical analysis on your comments against the Argo chart, lol. Sadly I accidentally deleted the markings, but there was a distinct pattern of you only commenting on days when shares were dipping. I'll post a chart when I get a chance. Cheers.

R e t a r d e d is a banned word?

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell who is deliberately deramping and who is genuinely ******ed. Kek.

Only a few days left until April which has historically been a good month for Bitcoin:

https://twitter.com/CryptoGodJohn/status/1375097654082990084

Indeed there are April call options betting on Bitcoin to hit $80,000:

https://twitter.com/Negentropic_/status/1374702149611966465

Strap in. Buckle up. Pump it. Moon. Etc.

Argo has green energy. Yesterday’s sellers have green envy.

A bit of both :) Nah, we both know these chart's cant predict next weeks lottery numbers and nor are they meant to, so there's no right or wrong as such. But I'm always interested to see chart snapshots of where we are and the views of others who analyse things in different ways.

Thanks for clarifying. To be honest, I was just cheekily challeneging you, hoping you'd post a chart as it's much easier to visualise. Even with your description, Id still need to throw up a chart and attempt marking the points you described. Agree that charts and squiggly lines are subjective, but I just think it's just so much easier to post a chart so we can all see for ourselves what you were thinking, instead you having to type it all out. I have a fetish for chart porn and stamps you see.

"BTC bounced off the March 9th and March 16th Lows which suggested growing support at that level which is good news...but for that to hold true we need break and hold 58Kto which will push us back above the 100MA and see a return to previous highs...my nervousness at the moment is that we fail to break that then things are suddenly starting to look a lot more bear'ish in the shorter term with the next stop being around 51k."

BestGuessing, I see the bounce on March 9th low you refer to, but not the 16th? 16th close was $56297 (coinbase) Where do you get the 58K from? The 100MA is on which timeframe? Why 51K is next stop? Can you post a chart, it's more helpful that way? A picture is worth a thousand words etc, even if the pic is made up squiggly lines.