🍨 Daily Scoop: Chickened Out
By Fri, Nov 29, 2019
What you need to know?
Hello Scoopers,
The Consumer Confidence Index declined for the fourth month in a row. However, the stock market managed to finish in the green for one more day.
Beyond the overall market, one retailer that is seemingly coming to us from the future is growing its revenue solidly, even in the Amazon supremacy era. Another very solid company just lost 8% of its value, although nothing has changed about its operations and market potential. Stock traders do strange things. For example, they sell good companies for no reason.
Oh, and by the way, in a tug of war between trucks, one side of the fight might have chickened out — more on that in the “Water Cooler” section.
Also, don’t forget to scroll down to the “Economy,” “What’s Up?” and “What’s Down?” sections to read more…
MARKETS
- U.S. markets: All three indices moved up only slightly on Tuesday and finished the day in the green again. Scroll to the “ECONOMY” section to learn more.
- Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin’s price is barely holding above $7,000. But, the so-called crypto bulls are talking about $10,000 per coin before the end of the year. We captured screenshots of these claims to get back to them in a month or so. We shall see who was crazy. Us, who skipped investing in Bitcoin, or these guys, who are excited about the future of Bitcoin.
ECONOMY
Consumers lost confidence.
What happened?
For the fourth month in a row, the Consumer Confidence Index declined. This is an indicator of the consumers’ perception of the overall state of the economy. And, it typically is a good indicator of how consumers spend their money.
Now what?
The decline of the Consumer Confidence Index increases the importance of the upcoming shopping season. America’s economy is highly dependent on consumer spending. If consumers feel uncertain about the future, they may not spend as much as they used. Consequently, the lower spending by consumers has the power to drag down the overall market and economy.
Source: MarketWatch
What happened in the stock market then?
In response to the lower Consumer Confidence Index, the stock market barely budged on Tuesday. However, all three indices managed to finish the day in the green only slightly. Positive earnings releases and the residual excitement about a trade deal held the stock market, for now. Next quarterly earnings will be telling. Stay tuned!
SPONSOR
The 8 stocks you need for 2020
These 8 stocks tap into the 3 most powerful forces in global economy.
WHAT’S UP
Is it from the future? Or, are we living in the past?
So, what happened?
Shares of Best Buy (Ticker: BBY) were up more than 9% on Tuesday. Most people still believe Best Buy is stuck in the retail apocalypse. However, quarter after quarter, the company disproves such assumptions.
In its latest quarter — which is strangely called Q3 2020 — the company kept growing its revenue. The fastest-growing segment was online sales that grew by 15%, year over year, using comparable sales figures. In the age of Amazon’s supremacy, Best Buy is still getting it done, offline and online.
But, seriously, is Best Buy coming to us from the future? Why do they call their 2019 3rd quarter Q3 2020? We know companies have a different fiscal year compared to the normal calendar year. But, this one makes no sense. Is BBY from the future? Or, are we living in the past? Pheww … mind blown …
WHAT’S UP
Selling it for no good reason.
So, what happened?
Shares of DataDog (Ticker: DDOG) were down more than 8% on Tuesday. The decline has no apparent reason. The company announced a solid earnings performance a few days ago. This recent IPO proved to be not too far from profitability. Also, financial analysts started covering the stock with buy ratings.
It looks like traders bought the stock, rode it up, and they are now selling it to move on to the next thing, disregarding the strength of this newly-public technology company. Despite the 8% price decline, nothing has changed about this company and its operational strength in the last few days.
WHAT’S DOWN
Selling it for no good reason.
So, what happened?
Shares of DataDog (Ticker: DDOG) were down more than 8% on Tuesday. The decline has no apparent reason. The company announced a solid earnings performance a few days ago. This recent IPO proved to be not too far from profitability. Also, financial analysts started covering the stock with buy ratings.
It looks like traders bought the stock, rode it up, and they are now selling it to move on to the next thing, disregarding the strength of this newly-public technology company. Despite the 8% price decline, nothing has changed about this company and its operational strength in the last few days.
WATER COOLER
Chickening out…
What does that mean?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must have seen the Cybertruck show, brought to you by the good folks at Tesla (Ticker: TSLA). We have been intentionally dodging this story because we were just fed up with the Twitter banter. But, this stuff tends to suck you back in, as every day a new drama unravels.
So, what happened?
When Cybertruck was launched, Elon Musk shared a video of a tug of war between Cybertruck and Ford (Ticker: F)’s beloved F150. The video shows how Cybertruck dragged F150 into its dust. But the drama starts then and there. Car experts, physics experts, and the general public started to chime in. Some brought up good arguments.
Motor 1, which is a popular car review and shopping website, published an article arguing that the F150 Elon used in the fight was lighter in weight, didn’t have the strongest engine F150s can come with, and it wasn’t in the 4-wheel-drive mode. At least, that’s what we understood from the article.
A VP from Ford’s venture capitalist division tweeted to ask Elon for a Cybertruck to run a fair rematch. To which Elon replied, “Bring it on!” Since then, Ford has gone quiet. One may conclude that Ford is chickening out.
About the Author
The authors of this Scoop are the editorial team at Stock Card, led by Hoda Mehr. Hoda Mehr is CEO and Co-founder of Stock Card and the host of Renegade Investors podcast. She runs a community of 40,000 stock market investors and manages Stock Card's successful flagship portfolio, Roll with Our CEO, on Stock Card Portfolio Store. Hoda is an Economist with an MBA from Concordia, John Molson School of Business. She applies behavioral economics, data journalism, and storytelling to all aspects of her work. Before starting Stock Card, Hoda worked as a strategy and insights lead at technology companies including Symantec, Aimia and Sony. Create a free account to do your stock market research easily and mistake-free: Stock Card Stock Card
