Object

Toby's Stock Ledger Entry

A brokerage entry for a stock holding that experiences market fluctuations.

2 appearances

Purpose

To register legal ownership of a company's shares and produce auditable records (trade confirmations, account statements) that document transactions and market value changes.

Significance

Serves as a tangible anchor for debates about market influence and credibility: Hoynes invokes a sudden stock spike as rhetorical evidence to trivialize online influence and deflect scrutiny. The holding functions narratively as both a potentially incriminating asset (traceable records) and as an emblem of how perception and small events can produce outsized political consequences.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E8 · Enemies

Hoynes Deflects Leak with Dark Humor

Hoynes references a small company's briefly spiking stock as concrete-sounding evidence (Toby's single stock holding archetype) to make his Internet anecdote believable and to show how quickly markets can react to hoaxes — used illustratively to undercut concern about leaks.

Before: A notional brokerage holding/market data point referenced in the anecdote and known only as an example of volatility.

After: Used in Hoynes's public framing; functionally unchanged but rhetorically converted into proof of his trivializing argument.

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S1E8 · Enemies

Hoynes' Dark Deflection

Toby's Single Stock Holding (represented in dialogue as 'the stock' of the tiny start-up) is used illustratively: Hoynes cites its temporary spike and Nasdaq placement to lend factual color to his dismissal, converting a complex technological phenomenon into a simple cautionary tale about the Internet's volatility.

Before: A hypothetical or generic market artifact referenced by Hoynes; not displayed physically.

After: Remains an anecdotal example in the press exchange; reporters register the detail but no documentation or follow-up trade records are produced in the scene.

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