Displaying items by tag: tech

(New York)

Markets have been falling in aggregate, but the real damage has been to the tech sector (and utilities to a lesser extent). Facebook, for instance, fell a whopping 6.8% yesterday on fears of fallout over its data breach. But Amazon, Netflix, and Google, all tumbled as well. Tech stocks have been such a leader for markets, and now amount to such a major percentage of indexes ($2.2 tn), that some are worried tech losses could rattle the whole market. Mounting fears over regulations seem to be weighing on the sector.

FINSUM: The odd thing is that it is not fears over tech businesses that are causing losses, but rather fears of regulation. We do absolutely believe big losses in tech could shake the confidence of the market as a whole.

(New York)

In an article that addresses an issue unknown to us—that Americans don’t give US stocks enough love (?!)—BlackRock says that investors should buy American stocks in some select sectors. BlackRock says that “We have upgraded our tactical view of U.S. equities to overweight from neutral” continuing “The reason: Impending fiscal stimulus is supercharging U.S. earnings growth expectations”. Blackrock says it likes American tech stocks, US financials, and momentum and value plays.

FINSUM: US stocks surely haven’t been short on love over the last year, but we suspect BlackRock just means in the last few weeks. In that perspective, we agree that things aren’t as bearish as many fear.

(San Francisco)

Many investors may have noticed that despite the big selloffs of the last two weeks, tech stocks have actually held up quite well. The sector is up 2.8% on the year versus an S&P 500 gain of just 0.2%. However, beware, as that number is largely an illusion. The reason why is that the vast majority of that performance comes down to Microsoft and Nvidia, which are up 5% and 20% this year.

FINSUM: The performance of tech during the recent downturn is largely an illusion, so investors need to be careful taking refuge in the sector.

(San Francisco)

There has been hype for several years about the chances for the growing tech industry to absorb and dominate some of the domain of the finance sector. Examples already abound, such as tech companies taking market share in currency transfers or in every day payments. Amazon is providing payment services and financing to merchants, for example. Now big banks are fighting back, pushing regulators to subject tech companies to the same rules and scrutiny to which they are forced. They argue that not doing so will hinder transparency and threaten the global financial system.

FINSUM: This just seems like another of the many areas where a regulatory push is mounting against tech.

(San Francisco)

Apple debuted its most important product in years just a few months ago—the iPhone X, but it may be closing in on what could not only be a great new product, but a new segment. That new device would be Apple’s version of the smart speaker business led by Amazon’s Echo and Google’s devices. Apple’s version is called the HomePod, and had its debut delayed from late last year to early this year, missing the holiday season. Of course, the device itself may be secondary the the digital personal assistant system, in Apple’s case Siri, as it is this bit of software which keeps users in the company’s ecosystem, which means higher spending.

FINSUM: The devices are merely vehicles for the digital assistants, which are in turn genius products for keeping consumers spending on services.