Tech Review (TR 2018-07-28)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech investing news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Perils of Tech Stocks, 2) High Growth Tech Companies, 3) Investing: The Week, Investing Notes: Another China Crisis Looming?, 4) ICYMI Tech News: Facebook, Bitcoin ETF, Qualcomm, Apple, Intel, Google Cloud, Q2 2018 Earnings, and more.
1) Perils of Tech Stocks
RBC Capital Market’s (rbccm.com) Senior Tech Analyst Mark Mahaney gives 10 lessons in 10 minutes about the stock market and investing in tech stocks at Fortune's
Brainstorm Tech 2018. Fortune.com video above published Jul 17, 2018.
How Wall Street Is Reacting to
Facebook's Q2 2018 Earnings effect on
$FB shares this week:
On Thursday, 26 Jul 2018,
Facebook (
NASDAQ: FB) closed down 19% after the disappointing user numbers and revenue growth projections, losing almost $120 billion in market value in a day, and dragging the rest of the sector lower. Before Thursday, Facebook's largest single-day loss came in July 2012 when it shed 11 percent. The company missed projections on key metrics. See also
Update: The Great Facebook GDPR Debacle.
Editor's note:
Facebook $FB closed Friday at $174.89,
DOWN -19.56% since Wednesday's close (graphic below).
Twitter $TWTR closed
DOWN -20.54% on Friday (Jul 27) at $34.12.
2) High Growth Tech Companies
a16z.com podcast with Elad Gil (@eladgil) and Chris Dixon (@cdixon):
There's a lot of knowledge out there -- and networks of talent (especially in Silicon Valley) -- on what to do in the early stages of a company, going from 0 to 1, and even in going from 1 to 100... but what about beyond that? It's not as simply linear as merely doubling or tripling resources and org structures; it's actually much more complex on many levels, communication to coordination. Because with great scale comes great complexity... and many, many more places for things to break down.
How should founders/CEOs of growing tech startups think about everything from hiring (including key executives) to product management (what is it, really, beyond common myths/misconceptions around the role?) to thinking about late-stage financing, M&A, and other key aspects of building a company? This episode of the a16z Podcast shares both specific answers to -- and general mindsets for thinking about -- these questions. Chris Dixon, general partner on a16z crypto, interviews Elad Gil, investor/advisor to numerous tech companies; co-founder of Color Genomics; formerly of Google and also co-founder and CEO of Mixer Labs (acquired by Twitter, where he also became a VP). He's the author of the new book, The High Growth Handbook, on scaling companies from 10 to 10,000 people.
The two also explore the growth -- and evolution -- of
market and tech trends, including the continuation of
mobile/cloud; machine learning (and silicon);
crypto; and finally,
longevity -- both in the near term and further out in the future. Should people -- and even companies for that matter -- really live longer?
3) Investing
The Week: NASDAQ Composite -1.1% |
S&P 500 Index +0.6% |
DJIA +1.6% The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) booked weekly gains, but losses in the tech sector left the Nasdaq Composite lower for the week.
“As we discussed previously, what happens in the middle of the week is of little consequence to us. We are only truly interested in where the week ends"--Lance Roberts.
G.D.P. Grew at 4.1% Rate in U.S. Q2 2018: "Some economists think full-year growth in gross domestic product could hit 3 percent in 2018 for the first time in the nearly decade-long recovery, a prospect that became more likely following Friday’s strong numbers."--
NYTimes.com 27 Jul 2018.
Wall Street's Charging Bull
Investing Notes: Another China Crisis Looming?
• As
China Suffers Its Biggest Bankruptcy Of 2018, The PBOC Finally Panics--
zerohedge.com,
and
China steps up management of cross-border financial network and information services--
reuters.com. See also
China Caves: The Full Details Behind Beijing's Launch Of Fiscal Easing.
• China's devaluation of its currency:
China's renminbi hit by trade and economic woes: China's currency has
devalued sharply against the dollar (US$) in recent weeks. The last time China surprised the markets with a devaluation, in the summer of 2015, it prompted a global sell-off of risk assets. China’s currency has topped the Rmb6.8 per dollar mark, its weakest level in a year, reflecting slower growth and tighter credit. Financial Times (ft.com) video above published July 23, 2018.
4) ICYMI Tech News
- Facebook's plans for an innovation hub in China are apparently now off.
- Bitcoin ETF: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday stood by a decision blocking Winklevoss bitcoin ETF--SEC.gov (pdf).
- Qualcomm $QCOM says Apple $AAPL will use only modems from a competitor, likely Intel $INTC for next iPhone release, making iPhones slower than Android phones--CNET.com. Qualcomm also says it will drop its $44B offer and pay a $2B breakup fee to NXP since the latest deadline has passed with no approval from China--reuters.com.
- Google Cloud: the full breadth of Google Cloud serverless technologies--cloud.google.com.
-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo
feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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