Displaying items by tag: retail

Fidelity has just taken a big step in the direct indexing game. Direct indexing has been very hot across the asset management space over the last 12-18 months and has mostly been marketed so far as a high-minimum service for advisors to customize portfolios to client desires. Now, with a product called FidFolios, Fidelity is poised to launch a service to let mom and pop investors customize their portfolios with a minimum of just $5,000.

FINSUM: This was bound to happen. Most advisors may see this as a threat to their value proposition, but we more see it as a validation of the utility of direct indexing for clients. Advisors should take this as a sign of confidence that they should offer direct indexing to clients!

Dalio is quick to remind everyone to avoid holding cash as inflation eats away at holdings, but he also recently provided stocks for investors looking to hedge. The first on the list is Global Payments which has sound fundamentals and sequential quarterly revenue gains and is a bright spot in a growing industry. The next was Levi Strauss and Company which shrugged off naysayers who believed supply constraints and bottlenecks would keep them from meeting demand. Finally, was Lithia Motors which is a large automotive group. Supply constraints have boosted used car prices and the industry’s bottom lines.

FINSUM: These are all unique picks that have their built in inflation benefits, particularly the automotive industry.

(Silicon Valley)

Consumers spent more at online stores last year than the previous year by a staggering $900 billion…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

One year ago you could have easily said that brick and mortar retail was effectively dead, or at least had a very bleak…See the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site.

(New York)

The brick and mortar electronics store GameStop experienced an internet fueled rally this January with the stock prices closing at $147 on Tuesday. The surge was primarily driven by the “wallstreetbets” subreddit, an internet message board. Trading on Gamestop was paused 9 times on monday in order to halt the perceived hysteria. Short sellers are nowhere near dropping off despite having a mark to market loss of more than $5 billion. In fact, shorted shares have increased to over 900,000 in the last week which brings their value of the position to $69million. On the message boards one redditor posted screenshots of their own return at over$1000.

FINSUM: Frenzied bubbles are not an exception in markets and are recorded back to the17th century, however the driving force being a small message board on the internet does make this unique. The stock did experience strong growth in the 4th quarter of 2020 in part as response to the release of new video gaming consoles, but this rapid rise has more to do with memes than it does with fundamentals.