(New York)

The long-awaited (long-feared?) shake up of the S&P 500’s sectors will occur soon, and there is a lot of focus on how the tech sector, as traditionally defined, will change. Google and Facebook will be making the switch out of tech and into the new communications services sector. Netflix, as well as Walt Disney, Ford, and Nike will be joining them. There is some fear about the volatility that will be caused as big index trackers have to change their holdings on September 21st. Overall though, it seems like tech stocks (as traditionally thought of) will be winners, as having them distributed across multiple sectors will avoid the sector-weight limits many asset managers face.

FINSUM: Tech stocks will likely do well, but so will the companies getting grouped with them. As one analyst pointed out, AT&T and Verizon joining Google and Facebook is kind of liking outsiders getting invited to the cool kids’ party, which may help their share prices.

(New York)

Investors in fixed income need to be aware of a brand new loophole that was just opened to Delaware-based companies. A new provision allows companies (specifically LLCs) to split in two and divide their assets and liabilities between them as they see fit. The rule would allow companies to put certain assets beyond the reach of creditors, for instance putting debt in one entity and assets in another. The big problem is that most bonds don’t have provisions to protect against this behavior because it didn’t exist as a concept or legal process until it was approved this month. Another issue is that many contracts are written from the perspective of New York law, but that might have not much weight with Delaware-based rules.

FINSUM: This is a messy problem for anyone who owns private or smaller company debt. We thought investors should be made aware right away.

(San Francisco)

Faangs and the tech sector more generally have had a tumultuous year. There have been a lot of fears over regulation, valuation, and data breaches. Yet, on the whole, the performance has been strong. However, many investors are now turning against the faangs in a big way, as short bets against it have soared recently. There is now a $37 bn short position against the group of companies, up 40% in the past year. Amazon is the most shorted single stock, with around $10 bn of short interest against it. Faangs have accounted for almost half of the Nasdaq’s rally above 8,000.

FINSUM: The short interest is understandable given the lofty valuations, but the issue is that the underlying businesses look quite strong, which makes us doubtful there is going to be a coordinated faang crash of any grave magnitude.

(New York)

Stocks have been doing great—almost too great. After a rough patch from February to July, the S&P 500 is up 3% in the last two weeks alone. Stocks have been so strong over the last several weeks that it has taken shares back to nearly overbought territory—right where they were in January before February’s violent correction. However, that seems less likely this time around for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the economy and earnings have been humming; and secondly, because many fund managers might ditch their short bets and go long before they fall even further behind.

FINSUM: There are several factors coming together which make it look like this could be a very good autumn for stocks.

(Washington)

The US and Mexico’s last minute trade deal before a deadline this week left investors wondering what happened to Canada. Trump and the US’ northern neighbor have been in a spat on trade, but the US-Mexico breakthrough has apparently proven a catalyst for renewed talks. Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland has flown into Washington directly from Europe and will restart talks this morning as part of a last minute effort to reach a deal with the US.

FINSUM: Having Canada in on any new-Nafta deal seems very important, but we don’t doubt that a deal may not materialize given the current environment.