5 charts from the past week that tell an interesting story in markets and investing…
1) Vaccine Déjà Vu
For the second week in a row, amazing vaccine news came at the start of the week, this time from Moderna (phase 3 trial showing its vaccine reduced risk of infection by 94.5%).
Moderna’s stock ($MRNA) rallied to new highs on the news and has now quintupled on the year (+400%).
Two days after the Moderna news, Pfizer announced that the efficacy portion of their covid-19 trial had been completed, showing a 95% effectiveness (up from 90% last week).
And today, Pfizer announced that they are submitting an application to the FDA for “emergency use authorization.” If approved, some Americans (will go first to health-care workers, elderly, and those with underlying conditions) could receive their first dose in about a month.
2) Vaccine = Value?
With the vaccine news over the past two weeks, we’ve seen a reversal of sorts in equity markets, with beaten down value stocks (energy/financials/industrials) outperforming growth stocks (tech).
Its hardly noticeable on the chart below after such a long downtrend (value has been underperforming growth since 2006), but something to watch in the coming weeks/months.
3) Bitcoin’s Back!
Bitcoin is going vertical again, rallying $7,000 in the past month alone (+60%). At $18,700, it is now within striking distance of the all-time high from December 2017.
From its low in December 2018, it has gained 499%. Here’s a look back at Bitcoin’s drawdowns over the years…
Is Bitcoin undervalued, a bubble, or something in between? I did a twitter poll on that yesterday and these were the responses…
Bitcoin is…ultimately a story about belief, as I wrote in a post this week.
4) Tesla > Walmart?
Tesla hit another all-time high this week, with its market cap surging past the mighty Walmart, and then exceeding it by $50 billion.
Looking at their comparative financials, one thing is clear: investors are expecting tremendous growth from Tesla in the years to come.
Sales…
Tesla: $28 billion
Walmart: $549 billion
Net Income…
Tesla: $556 million
Walmart: $20 billion
5) Covid Continues
US Covid-19 hospitalizations continued to hit new highs this week while deaths (lagging indicator) hit their highest level since May. The vaccine can’t come soon enough.
The virus remains on the rise in all regions with the Midwest still being hit hardest during the current wave.
Hopefully, we’ll start to see signs of a downturn in the next few weeks, following the trend in parts of Europe (France/Spain/Belgium/Czech Republic).
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And that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading.
Have a great weekend everyone!
-Charlie
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