The market is rallying in a big way of late and it’s in no small part thanks to awesome growth of Big Tech, which saw another member become a trillionaire this week
The Quick Fix
#IWannaBeATrillionaire — The market’s wild rally has been led by Big Tech of late, with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) breaching major milestones this week.
#WarrenSplashesTheCash — After years of speculation surrounding Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK.B) cash hoard, Warren Buffett has lumped out on a $10 billion acquisition.
#WalmartPrime — Investor confidence in Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) new subscription service is flying high as the megastore unveils long-awaited plans.
#UberEatsUpMarketShare — Not content with simply losing money on ride-sharing, Uber (NYSE: UBER) acquired Postmates this week in a bid to further diversify its losses.
#AndFinally — I’m not quite sure where to start with Elon Musk and Kanye this week, but Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has pivoted into the fashion industry it seems…
#IWannaBeATrillionaire
Google became the latest tech giant to gain a trillion-dollar market cap this week as Big Tech’s rally spurs the market onward.
Who run the world?
Big Tech! These giants still rule the roost as far as Wall Street is concerned, and for the first time ever, four companies are now valued at more than a trillion dollars simultaneously: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon, and Google-parent Alphabet. Thanks to Google’s new trillion-dollar valuation and Amazon blowing past the $3,000 per share mark this week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NASDAQ: QQQ) is currently up 20% in 2020, pulling well away from the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA: VOO) and Dow Jones (NYSEARCA: DIA) which have fallen 2.7% and 9.6% respectively. It’s no surprise when you consider that since their March lows, Big Tech has risen an average of 63% and that they account for almost 20% of the Nasdaq’s entire value. Should current market trends continue as they are, it is hard to see a time when these companies will fall hard enough to go below $1 trillion again, regardless of a downturn.
Bet you didn’t know
Big Tech generates around $899 billion annually, which is roughly equivalent to the GDP of the Netherlands.
#WarrenSplashesTheCash
A lot of investors have been questioning whether the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ had left his best days behind of late, but Warren Buffett finally spent big this week.
How much did Buffett’s shopping amount to?
A whopping $10 billion! Buffett’s gone all-in on Dominion Energy’s (NYSE: D) natural gas assets — including nearly $6 billion in debt. It doesn’t exactly dwindle Berkshire’s $137 billion cash pile, but it is the company’s first major purchase since the coronavirus outbreak. For Berkshire, the move greatly increases its footprint in the natural gas business, bringing its total interstate holdings in the sector to 18% in the U.S. It is also right down Buffett’s alley as he traditionally took large holdings in the energy sector, but there are still some who have criticized the move as, at the very least, unusual. Aside from the debt, natural gas isn’t quite the commodity it used to be as more and more companies pivot towards environmentally safer alternatives in renewable energy. Nevertheless, the purchase still brings Buffett over 7,700 miles of natural gas transmission lines, and if anyone can make it work, it’s good ol’ Warren.
Bet you didn’t know
Contrary to common belief, Warren Buffett did not actually found Berkshire Hathaway; that honor goes to Oliver Chance, who started the company as a textile manufacturer.
#WalmartPrime
The title of this story is in no way related to Amazon, believe it or not, but more due to the fact that Walmart’s trucks — see above — look similar to one of Hasbro’s (NYSE: HAS) ‘Transformers’.
So, what’s with Walmart’s trucks?
Well, these Cyberpunk-esque trucks will be delivering goods on behalf of Walmart’s new subscription service that will launch later this month. Taking a not-too-creative leaf out of Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Apple’s playbook, the megastore’s new service will be known as Walmart+ and offers e-commerce solutions akin to Amazon’s Prime subscription. The service includes Walmart’s already-existing grocery delivery program, known as Delivery Unlimited, and undercuts Amazon’s $119 annual Prime price at $98 per year. However, Amazon won’t quite be shaking in their mega-cap-sized boots just yet as the service will only offer a limited inventory to start with and does not have a fast delivery option it seems. Nevertheless, the move does represent a first in traditional retail’s pushback against the dominance of Jeff Bezos’ empire, and a brand with such a loyal following as Walmart’s could well become something huge once the kinks are worked out.
Bet you didn’t know
Walmart has been the largest company in the world by revenue since 2014, bringing in $523.96 billion in 2019.
#UberEatsUpMarketShare
After being unceremoniously dumped at the altar by Grubhub (NASDAQ: GRUB) last month, Uber has found a new boo in food delivery service Postmates.
How much did the deal cost?
Not one to dwell on its Grubhub rejection, Uber acquired Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock this week, as the pair seek to knock DoorDash off of its delivery throne. The combined U.S. market share of Uber Eats and Postmates will come to 37%, compared to Doordash’s 45% and Grubub’s 17%. However, it begs the question: why is Uber so intent on diversifying its losses? Neither company is close to profitability, both have questionable attitudes towards employee welfare, the industry is showing no signs of growth, and quite frankly, people don’t like these third-party delivery services — is anyone else’s meal ALWAYS cold when delivered by UberEats? The truth is that the nature of this loss-making industry has created a vicious cycle of undercutting prices. This will inevitably lead to companies cannibalizing one another until only one or two massive players remain, who can start upping their prices.
Bet you didn’t know
Postmates is actually available in the U.S. 24/7, 365 days a year, meaning that if you aren’t bothered to make Christmas dinner, you can just have it sent to your door.
#AndFinally
Sorry, can you repeat that?
I honestly didn’t really know where to start with this ever-developing story, so I apologize for the news vomit-like splurge of information above. If you are interested in the childishly priced Tesla shorts though — $69.420 — I’m afraid you’re out of look as they’ve already sold out. Again, I swear I am not making this sh*t up…
Bet you didn’t know
Billionaire Mark Cuban has gone as far as saying that if given the choice to vote between the current presidential candidates, he would pick Kanye.
The Week In Numbers
8.8%
is how much Slack’s (NYSE: WORK) stock jumped after announcing its acquisition of Rimeto on Wednesday.
30%
is how much Jack Dorsey’s Square (NYSE: SQ) jumped in June, with its rally continuing into July.
$42.5 billion
worth of dividend payments were cut in Q2, the worst quarterly drop since the financial crisis.
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