Tuesday, March 28, 2023

#Telecom/ #Tech #Stock iQSTEL (OTC: $IQST) Reports on Naked Shorting in Stock; @IQstel

#Telecom/ #Tech #Stock iQSTEL (OTC: $IQST) Reports on Naked Shorting in Stock; @IQstel

 

New York, NY, March 28, 2023 –(Investorideas.com newswire) Tech/ Telecom Stock Alert at Investor Ideas - iQSTEL (OTC: IQST) today announced its Independent Board of Directors (BOD) instructed management to identify specific IQST naked shorting targets and to fight against those targets. Toward that end, management has entered into negotiations with a highly specialized firm in matters of naked short selling.  This firm has a reputation for finding and countering naked shorting issues.

 

Read this news, featuring IQST in full at https://www.investorideas.com/news/2023/technology/03281iQSTEL-Naked-Shorting.asp

 

OTCShortReport indicates short selling has exceeded 50% of the daily iQSTEL daily trading volume on more than one occasion in the last month.  OTCShortReport aggregates REGSHO data reported by FINRA.

 

The prominence of short selling became a high visibility topic when a crowd sourced short squeeze catapulted the share price of GameStop.  The GameStop short selling subject was featured in the HBO documentary Gaming Wall Street.

 

MarketWatch recently published an article titled Why Short Selling Has Recently Become A Hot Topic that explains short selling in fair detail and includes information on short selling in the OTC markets.

 

“We have received communications from our shareholders expressing concern that the IQST share price is suffering the impact of naked short selling,” said iQSTEL CEO Leandro Iglesias.  “In response to these concerns, the iQSTEL Independent Board of Directors has authorized management to act accordingly. Management has entered into negotiations to engage a well respected firm in matters of naked short selling.  This firm, subject to finalizing an engagement, will perform a deep analysis of the naked shorting in IQST to identify any specific bad actors. If we identify illegal activity, we will address that activity in court to defend our company to the fullest extent of the law. We are not blazing a new trail in the fight against short selling.  We will be following in the footsteps of proven tactics against short sellers.”

 

About IQSTEL updated:

iQSTEL Inc. (OTC-QX: IQST) (www.iQSTEL.com) is a US-based, multinational public company preparing for a Nasdaq up-listing with an FY2023 $105 million revenue forecast. iQSTEL’s mission is to serve basic human needs in today’s modern world by making the necessary tools accessible regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, or identity.  iQSTEL recognizes that in today’s modern world, the pursuit of the human hierarchy of needs (physiological, safety, relationship, esteem and self actualization) is marginalized without access to ubiquitous communications, the freedom of virtual banking, clean affordable mobility and information and content. iQSTEL has 4 Business Divisions delivering accessibly to the necessary tools in today’s pursuit of basic human needs: Telecommunications, Fintech, Electric Vehicles and Metaverse.

 

The Telecommunications Division (Communications) includes VoIP, SMS, International Fiber-Optic, Proprietary Internet of Things (IoT), and a Proprietary Mobile Portability Blockchain Platform.

 

The Fintech Division (Financial Freedom) includes remittances services, top up services, Master Card Debit Card, a US Bank Account (No SSN required), and a Mobile App. 

 

The Electric Vehicles Division (Mobility) offers Electric Motorcycles and plans to launch a Mid Speed Car. 

 

The Metaverse Division (information and content) includes an enriched and immersive white label proprietary Metaverse platform to access products, services, content, entertainment, information, customer support, and more in a virtual 3D interface.

 

The company continues to grow and expand its suite of products and services both organically and through mergers and acquisitions (M&A).  iQSTEL has completed 10 acquisitions since June 2018 and continues to develop an active pipeline of potential future acquisitions.

 

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions, or any other information relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about our business based partly on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may and are likely to differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release, and iQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release. This press release does not constitute a public offer of any securities for sale. Any securities offered privately will not be or have not been registered under the Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

 

iQSTEL Inc.

IR US Phone: 646-740-0907

IR Email: investors@iqstel.com

 

Contact Details

iQSTEL Inc.

+1 646-740-0907

investors@iqstel.com

 

Company Website

https://www.iqstel.com/

 

Investorideas.com Paid news Disclaimer/Disclosure: This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure : this news release featuring iQSTEL Inc. (OTC: IQST) is a paid for news release on Investorideas.com  More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp

 

About Investorideas.com

https://www.investorideas.com/About/

 

Sign up for free stock news alerts at Investorideas.com

https://www.investorideas.com/Resources/Newsletter.asp


Get more Technology stock investor ideas - news, articles, podcasts and stock directories

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, March 27, 2023

#CryptoCorner #Podcast: #Cryptocurrency #Stocks in the News: (NasdaqGS: $MSTR) (NasdaqCM: $BTBT) (OTC: $NPPTF)

 



 

 

#CryptoCorner #Podcast: #Cryptocurrency #Stocks in the News: (NasdaqGS: $MSTR) (NasdaqCM: $BTBT) (OTC: $NPPTF)

 

Microstrategy Repays Debt to Silvergate and Acquires More BTC, Bit Digital Announces Strategic Investment in Auros Global, and Neptune Digital Releases Audited Financial Statements

 

Vancouver, Kelowna, Delta, BC March 27, 2023 -  Investorideas.com, a leader in crypto and blockchain investing news brings you today’s edition of the Crypto Corner podcast and commentary on what’s driving cryptocurrency stocks and the crypto market.

 

Today’s  podcast is sponsored by Fintech Company AppTech Payments Corp. (NasdaqCM:APCX).

 

The Investor ideas Crypto Corner was named one of 14 Best Crypto & Blockchain Podcasts for Jun 2022: https://www.yoreoyster.com/blog/best-crypto-podcasts/

 

Listen to today’s Crypto Corner Podcast:  

https://www.investorideas.com/Audio/Podcasts/2023/032723-CryptoMarket.mp3

 

Read this in full at https://www.investorideas.com/news/2023/crypto-corner/03271MSTR-BTBT-NPPTF.asp

 

Get the Crypto Corner Podcast on iTunes

 

Get the Crypto corner on Spotify

 

Stocks discussed: (NasdaqGS:MSTR) (NasdaqCM:BTBT) (OTC:NPPTF)

 

Michael Saylor, the co-founder and chairman of Microstrategy Incorporated (NasdaqGS:MSTR), today tweeted that the company has repaid its $205 million loan to Silvergate. The tweet read:

 

MicroStrategy repaid its $205M Silvergate loan at a 22% discount. As of 3/23/23, $MSTR acquired an additional ~6,455 bitcoins [BTC] for ~$150M at an average of ~$23,238 per #bitcoin & held ~138,955 BTC acquired for ~$4.14B at an average of ~$29,817 per bitcoin.

 

Bit Digital, Inc. (NasdaqCM:BTBT) has announced a strategic investment in crypto-native algorithmic trading and market making firm Auros Global Limited. Bit Digital, according to the press release, “intends to utilize Auros' suite of derivatives offerings to provide both hedging and yield opportunities for a portion of its digital asset holdings.” Samir Tabar, Chief Strategy Officer of Bit Digital, said:

 

“Through unique yield generation opportunities and bespoke hedging solutions, Auros is able to provide sophisticated support to Bit Digital whilst also working to bring much needed liquidity and market making capabilities to the industry. This is key to fostering a healthy and dynamic digital assets ecosystem. The team's deep derivatives background and expertise across technology and finance also bring the necessary capabilities to cater to our growing business needs. We are excited to have Auros as a strategic, institutional-quality partner and unlock more synergies together.”

 

Neptune Digital Assets Corp. (OTC:NPPTF) has released its August 31, 2022 annual audited consolidated financial statements and management, discussion and analysis. Highlights include the company’s posting of $36 million in assets and no debt as of August 31, 2022, and the earning of $7,405,529 in revenues through Bitcoin mining, staking, DeFi and other income-generating activities during the year. Cale Moodie, the Neptune’s CEO, said:

 

"In spite of much of 2022 being a devastating year for most companies in the Bitcoin mining and crypto currency space, Neptune managed to grow our income substantially over the prior year. Much of our loss on the income statement relates to unrealized losses and changes in fair value of the underlying assets, fortunately when times are good those values will rise again.”

 

Sam Mowers, Investorideas

 

For investors following the sector Investor Ideas has a comprehensive Bitcoin, Blockchain and Digital Currency Stocks Directory

 

Podcast sponsor


AppTech Payments Corp. (NasdaqCM:APCX) is an innovative Fintech company whose mission is to deliver a better way for businesses to provide their customers with immersive commerce experiences. Commerse™, its all-new, patent-backed technology platform powering seamless omni-channel Commerce Experiences-as-a-Service (CXS), drives highly secure, scalable, cross-border digital banking, text-to-pay, crypto payments and merchant services altogether from a single, unified stack designed to increase operational efficiencies and growth for businesses while providing the economic convenience that their customers demand from today’s commerce experiences. For more information, visit apptechcorp.com.

 

About Investorideas.com - Big Investing Ideas

We publish breaking stock news, stock research, guest posts and create original top rated investing podcasts, plus sector tag articles featuring up and coming companies and industry leaders.  Investor Idea’s original branded content includes the Crypto Corner Podcast , Play by Play Sports Podcast , Cannabis News and Stocks on the Move Podcast ,  Cleantech and Climate Change Podcast,  Exploring Mining Podcast , Betting on Gaming Stocks Podcast and the AI Eye Podcast.  We also create free investor stock directories for AI and tech, biotech, cannabis, cleantech, crypto, defense, gaming, health and wellness, mining, oil and gas, sports and water. 

 

The Investorideas.com podcasts are also available on Apple Podcasts ,  Audible , Spotify, Tunein, Stitcher, Spreaker.com, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts  and most audio platforms available.

 

Visit the Podcast page at Investorideas.com: https://www.investorideas.com/Audio/

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Disclosure: podcast sponsor AppTech Payments Corp. (NasdaqCM:APCX) is a paid featured Fintech company on Investorideas.com. Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp

 

Cryptocurrency Disclaimer

Investorideas.com news content is not meant to be a solicitation to buy or sell cryptocurrencies and Investorideas.com does not directly sell cryptocurrencies; but acts as a news and research resource for interested investors following the blockchain sector.

Copyright and ownership: Crypto Corner is an Investorideas.com content brand

 

 Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/Investorideas

Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Investorideas

Follow us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/Investorideas

 

Contact Investorideas.com

800-665-0411

 

 

 



Get more Bitcoin and Blockchain Investor ideas  – news, articles, podcasts and stock directories

 

#Tech/ #Telecom #Stock Alert: iQSTEL (OTC: $IQST) Board of Directors Instructs Management to Fight Naked Shorting; @IQstel

#Tech/ #Telecom #Stock Alert: iQSTEL (OTC: $IQST) Board of Directors Instructs Management to Fight Naked Shorting; @IQstel

 

 


New York, NY,  March 27, 2023 –(Investorideas.com newswire) Tech/ Telecom Stock Alert at Investor Ideas - iQSTEL (OTC: IQST) today announced its Independent Board of Directors (BOD) instructed management to identify specific IQST naked shorting targets and to fight against those targets. Toward that end, management has entered into negotiations with a highly specialized firm in matters of naked short selling.  This firm has a reputation for finding and countering naked shorting issues.

 

Read this news, featuring IQST in full at https://www.investorideas.com/news/2023/technology/03272IQST-Fight-Naked-Shorting.asp

 

OTCShortReport indicates short selling has exceeded 50% of the daily iQSTEL daily trading volume on more than one occasion in the last month.  OTCShortReport aggregates REGSHO data reported by FINRA.

 

The prominence of short selling became a high visibility topic when a crowd sourced short squeeze catapulted the share price of GameStop.  The GameStop short selling subject was featured in the HBO documentary Gaming Wall Street.

 

MarketWatch recently published an article titled Why Short Selling Has Recently Become A Hot Topic that explains short selling in fair detail and includes information on short selling in the OTC markets.

 

“We have received communications from our shareholders expressing concern that the IQST share price is suffering the impact of naked short selling,” said iQSTEL CEO Leandro Iglesias.  “In response to these concerns, the iQSTEL Independent Board of Directors has authorized management to act accordingly. Management has entered into negotiations to engage a well respected firm in matters of naked short selling.  This firm, subject to finalizing an engagement, will perform a deep analysis of the naked shorting in IQST to identify any specific bad actors. If we identify illegal activity, we will address that activity in court to defend our company to the fullest extent of the law. We are not blazing a new trail in the fight against short selling.  We will be following in the footsteps of proven tactics against short sellers.”

 

About IQSTEL updated:

iQSTEL Inc. (OTC-QX: IQST) (www.iQSTEL.com) is a US-based, multinational public company preparing for a Nasdaq up-listing with an FY2023 $105 million revenue forecast. iQSTEL’s mission is to serve basic human needs in today’s modern world by making the necessary tools accessible regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, or identity.  iQSTEL recognizes that in today’s modern world, the pursuit of the human hierarchy of needs (physiological, safety, relationship, esteem and self actualization) is marginalized without access to ubiquitous communications, the freedom of virtual banking, clean affordable mobility and information and content. iQSTEL has 4 Business Divisions delivering accessibly to the necessary tools in today’s pursuit of basic human needs: Telecommunications, Fintech, Electric Vehicles and Metaverse.

 

The Telecommunications Division (Communications) includes VoIP, SMS, International Fiber-Optic, Proprietary Internet of Things (IoT), and a Proprietary Mobile Portability Blockchain Platform.

 

The Fintech Division (Financial Freedom) includes remittances services, top up services, Master Card Debit Card, a US Bank Account (No SSN required), and a Mobile App. 

 

The Electric Vehicles Division (Mobility) offers Electric Motorcycles and plans to launch a Mid Speed Car. 

 

The Metaverse Division (information and content) includes an enriched and immersive white label proprietary Metaverse platform to access products, services, content, entertainment, information, customer support, and more in a virtual 3D interface.

 

The company continues to grow and expand its suite of products and services both organically and through mergers and acquisitions (M&A).  iQSTEL has completed 10 acquisitions since June 2018 and continues to develop an active pipeline of potential future acquisitions.

 

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions, or any other information relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about our business based partly on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may and are likely to differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release, and iQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release. This press release does not constitute a public offer of any securities for sale. Any securities offered privately will not be or have not been registered under the Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

 

iQSTEL Inc.

IR US Phone: 646-740-0907

IR Email: investors@iqstel.com

 

Contact Details

iQSTEL Inc.

+1 646-740-0907

investors@iqstel.com

 

Company Website

https://www.iqstel.com/

 

Investorideas.com Paid news Disclaimer/Disclosure: This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure : this news release featuring iQSTEL Inc. (OTC: IQST) is a paid for news release on Investorideas.com  More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp

 

About Investorideas.com

https://www.investorideas.com/About/

 

Sign up for free stock news alerts at Investorideas.com

https://www.investorideas.com/Resources/Newsletter.asp




Get more Technology stock investor ideas - news, articles, podcasts and stock directories

 

 

 

Friday, March 24, 2023

#AIEye #Podcast: #Stocks discussed: (NYSE: $NOTE) (NasdaqGS: $NVDA) #artificialintelligence



 

 

#AIEye #Podcast: #Stocks discussed: (NYSE: $NOTE) (NasdaqGS: $NVDA) #artificialintelligence

 

FiscalNote Chosen as “Trusted Partner” by OpenAI, and NVIDIA Announces Google Cloud Integration of L4 GPU and Vertex AI

 

Global Healthcare AI Market to Reach $169.7B by 2029

 

Vancouver, Kelowna, Delta, BC – March 24, 2023  – Investorideas.com, a global investor news source covering Artificial Intelligence (AI) brings you today’s edition of  The AI Eye-watching stock news, deal tracker and advancements in artificial intelligence.

 

Today’s  podcast is sponsored by Fintech Company AppTech Payments Corp. (NasdaqCM:APCX).

 

Listen to today’s podcast:

https://www.investorideas.com/Audio/Podcasts/2023/032423-AI-Eye.mp3

 

Read this in full at https://www.investorideas.com/news/2023/artificial-intelligence/03241NOTE-NVDA.asp

 

Hear the Ai Eye on Spotify  

 

Today’s Column- The AI Eye- Watching stock news, deal tracker and advancements in artificial intelligence

 

Stocks discussed: (NYSE:NOTE) (NasdaqGS:NVDA)

 

FiscalNote Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:NOTE) has announced it “has been selected as one of 14 inaugural "trusted partners" – and the sole provider of legal, political, and regulatory data and information – to collaborate with AI research and deployment company OpenAI by enabling access to select FiscalNote market leading real-time data sets and content for users of OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform.” FiscalNote’s Chairman, CEO, and Co-founder, Tim Hwang, said:

 

"Since we founded FiscalNote a decade ago, the company has been an early adopter and pioneer of AI, uniquely applying it to the political and legal domain, and building a specialized expertise that has made us the unparalleled leader in this space. We’re excited to collaborate with OpenAI and, as the market leader in legal and regulatory intelligence, we intend to continue to always be at the forefront as technological capabilities continue to advance. We believe this is the beginning of an innovative collaboration with a fellow AI pioneer, and we intend to continue to push the bounds of what is possible as we use this cutting-edge technology to deliver results for our global customers and advance their business objectives."

 

NVIDIA Corporation (NasdaqGS:NVDA) has announced that Google Cloud is integrating the newly-launched L4 GPU and Vertex AI to accelerate the work of companies building a rapidly expanding number of generative AI applications. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said:

 

“Surging interest in generative AI is inspiring a wave of companies to turn to cloud-based computing to support their business models. We are working with Google Cloud to help ensure that the capabilities they require are easily available and able to help fuel the incredible new tools and applications they will create.”

 

Global Healthcare AI Market to Reach $169.7B by 2029

 

A report published by Exactitude Consultancy finds that the global market for Healthcare AI is projected to grow from $7.23 billion USD in 2020 to $169.7 billion by 2029, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42 percent in the forecast period 2022-29. The following excerpt from the report’s summary outlines the ways in which the technology is implemented:

 

The ability to gather data, process it, and produce a well-defined output to the end-user distinguishes AI technology from traditional healthcare solutions. Machine learning techniques and deep learning are used by AI to do this. These systems are capable of recognizing patterns in behaviour and developing their own logic. Machine learning models must be trained with a large amount of data to gain amounts of data through electronic health records for disease prevention and accurately diagnosing and risk stratifying patients with concern for coronary artery as well as other diseases.

 

Sam Mowers, Investorideas.com

 

Read and hear other editions of the AI  Eye

 

For a list of artificial intelligence stocks on Investorideas.com visit here

 

Podcast sponsor


AppTech Payments Corp. (NasdaqCM:APCX) is an innovative Fintech company whose mission is to deliver a better way for businesses to provide their customers with immersive commerce experiences. Commerse™, its all-new, patent-backed technology platform powering seamless omni-channel Commerce Experiences-as-a-Service (CXS), drives highly secure, scalable, cross-border digital banking, text-to-pay, crypto payments and merchant services altogether from a single, unified stack designed to increase operational efficiencies and growth for businesses while providing the economic convenience that their customers demand from today’s commerce experiences. For more information, visit apptechcorp.com.

About Investorideas.com - Big Investing Ideas

We publish breaking stock news, stock research, guest posts and create original top rated investing podcasts, plus sector tag articles featuring up and coming companies and industry leaders.  Investor Idea’s original branded content includes the Crypto Corner Podcast , Play by Play Sports Podcast , Cannabis News and Stocks on the Move Podcast ,  Cleantech and Climate Change Podcast,  Exploring Mining Podcast , Betting on Gaming Stocks Podcast and the AI Eye Podcast.  We also create free investor stock directories for AI and tech, biotech, cannabis, cleantech, crypto, defense, gaming, health and wellness, mining, oil and gas, sports and water. 

 

The Investorideas.com podcasts are also available on Apple Podcasts ,  Audible , Spotify, Tunein, Stitcher, Spreaker.com, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts  and most audio platforms available.

 

Visit the Podcast page at Investorideas.com: https://www.investorideas.com/Audio/

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp

 

The AI Eye-  Watching stock news, deal tracker and  advancements in artificial intelligence is an original content brand of Investorideas.com

 

Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/Investorideas

Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Investorideas

Follow us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/Investorideas

 

Contact Investorideas.com

800 665 0411



Get more Technology stock investor ideas - news, articles, podcasts and stock directories