(Seattle)

Investors might be growing a little uneasy if they have been paying attention to market leaders. A number of stocks that have led the big market rally are starting to falter, and that could be a sign of a major pullback to come. Amazon, Zoom, Netflix and other leaders of this rally have recently plateaued or dipped, which could be a sign that the rally has lost strength. If those stocks start to lose ground, a lot of the gains the market has seen are at risk because of the chance that investors could capitulate once the indexes loses leadership. One equity strategist at BTIG put it this way, “We’d suggest that the ability for the broad market to build on its recent gains is contingent on names like Zoom, Moderna, Netflix and Amazon and other highflying ‘shelter-in-place’ names whose momentum has waned in recent days, to at least sustain their meteoric advances as leadership passes off to the more cyclical areas and themes”.

FINSUM: We think there is a degree of truth in this. If the big gainers start to fade, it is hard to imagine the laggards will suddenly start holding the market up.

(New York)

Dividend stocks do not seem like a bad bet right now, so long as they are names with reliable dividends. Interest rate risk seems very minor, and stocks with decent cash flow appear likely to do well as yields stay ultra-low. These value stocks are favored by analysts because they are priced with much less bullish outlooks, meaning they have an additional margin of safety versus growth stocks. Here are the stocks: CenturyLink, Unum (UNM), Westrock (WRK), AT&T, HP, Xerox, Principal Financial, MetLife, and Tyson Foods.

FINSUM: This is a nice mix of stocks that should naturally be un-correlated to one another.

(San Francisco)

Twitter took a very big step in its ongoing confrontation with President Trump this week. Over the last couple of years, the social media site has taken some steps to block Trump tweets that were barred under its policies. However, yesterday it took what feels like a monumental step—it started putting warning signs and links on posts that it said contained misleading information. Trump has exploded in his response, saying he could shut down social media companies.

FINSUM: We are of two minds about this. On the one hand Twitter was founded as an alternative source of news and a way for people to express their opinions outside the filter that mainstream news provides. On the other hand, it does not seem right that various social media platforms are being used as unchecked fake-news propaganda machines by both parties.

(Seattle)

You may or may not have heard of Shopify, but if you haven’t, it is probably time to take a hard look. Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce company—a fact which has meant it has been somewhat overlooked by those outside the tech space—that makes offering ecommerce and in-store payment collection easier for small businesses. The idea is to offer the scale and robustness that large companies have to small businesses selling online. It makes its money from subscription fees and add-on services. After initially falling during the lockdown, it has nearly doubled in value and is now worth around $100 bn.

FINSUM: This has been a big run higher, but Shopify sits at the intersection of ecommerce and fintech and may be the long-term competitor to Amazon.

(New York)

You may be wondering what is guiding the market right now, but in reality it is pretty simple. It is the combination of the prospect for reopening the economy, blended with the early results of vaccines that would help accelerate that process. This morning’s pre-market trading was another sign—new promising vaccine news sent S&P 500 futures up 1.5%.

FINSUM: If you want to predict the market, just pay very close attention to pharma news. Stocks in the sector have seen huge bumps because of vaccine hopes, and it is driving the whole market.