Kiplinger\'s Personal Finance 02.2020

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BRIEFING

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MARKETS AND YOUR MONEY

Shares of stationary

bike maker Peloton

sank by 9% over the

course of a day in early

December. The skid

coincided with the re-

lease of the company’s

holiday commercial

and subsequent back-

lash on social media.

In the ad, a woman re-

ceives a Peloton bike as

a gift from her husband

and films herself exer-

cising over the course

of a year. Critics were

quick to mock the ad as

both sexist and elitist.

Shares hit another

speed bump a week

later after a negative re-

port from a short seller,

but the share price was

still north of the initial

public offering price

last September. Ray-

mond James analyst

Justin Patterson says

the f lap over the ad was

unlikely to dent holiday

sales. He’s bullish on

the stock, assigning it

an “outperform” rating.

Credit bureau Experian’s five

data-breach predictions for

2020 include:

1. Smishing. That’s “phishing”
   using SMS text messages. Cyber-
   criminals will increasingly prey
   on Americans who participate
   in social media groups to provide
   financial support to social causes
   or political candidates. Fraudulent
   texts will seek bank account de-
   tails or other sensitive data.


2. Drone hacking. Drones may
   be armed with mobile hacking
   devices to steal sensitive infor-
   mation from consumers and
   businesses using free, unsecured
   public Wi-Fi systems.
   3. Deep-fake tech. Artificial intel-
   ligence technology can blur the
   lines of what is real and what isn’t
   by manipulating the appearance
   and voice of corporate executives
   and government leaders.
   4. Hacktivism. Hackers may
   target sensitive data of controver-
   sial companies, such as cannabis
   retailers and cryptocurrency enti-
   ties, as a form of protest.
   5. Mobile payment breaches.
   Cybercriminals will steal payment
   data from mobile point-of-sale
   platforms used to process trans-
   actions. Large venues, such as
   concerts and major sporting
   events, are especially vulnerable.

$ 1. 7

NEW DATA BREACHES

PELOTON

HITS A

POTHOLE

That’s how much

Americans

believe they

need for retire-

ment, according

to a survey

from Charles

Schwab, which

looked at 1,

participants in

401(k) plans

nationwide.

For strategies to

determine how

much you need,

see page 44.

MILLION