The age of the Internet has changed how we communicate, invest, shop, and work on so many levels. More of our personal data than ever is being transmitted across the network matrix, and we must understand that online privacy and security is more relevant than ever. As Morpheus said, “You can take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I’m offering is the truth.”
News about security breaches at financial-related agencies like Equifax or the ransomware cyber-attack that has paralyzed the City of Atlanta’s computer system for the last week can no longer be viewed as a problem in someone else’s backyard. Millions of people are uninformed, and more often than not, they appease the technology giants and allow their personal information to be exploited. Unfortunately for some, it’s not until they’ve become a cybercrime victim or it becomes clear due to a national news headline that they’re contributing to the danger by remaining ignorant and a lightbulb finally goes off in their head. One of those lightbulbs is imploding and having a detrimental effect on the financial markets.
The acronym FANG represents four of the most popular technology stocks, which have generated substantial returns. Facebook ($FB), Amazon ($AMZN), Netflix ($NFLX), and Google ($GOOG) are all included within the NASDAQ Composite Index of over 3,000 stocks and in the S&P 500 index of 500 of the largest U.S. companies. Because of their high ranking within those indices, FANG stocks have a greater impact on the value of the markets overall than other companies. When they move up or down, the market tends to move in tandem.
Despite FANG’s comparison to the Dotcom boom of the late 1990s, many analysts believe an upward momentum can continue as long as more technological advancements come forward, especially in artificial intelligence (AI). While investors may have a diversified portfolio, they should also remain diligent by reading and understanding the fundamentals behind FANG stocks. The recent news about the public’s personal data being “scraped up” and disseminated for profit and/or political gain is a glaring example. Revenue from advertisers does not pay all the FANG bills. Many investors are now reassessing whether certain tech stocks are the great deal they once were, and until the negative news flow and psychology shifts or tangible safeguards are put into place, a sour note will continue to play and hurt the overall markets.
Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower… “Harvesting millions of Facebook profiles – how Cambridge Analytica turned Facebook into a lucrative political tool” – The Guardian, Mar. 17
Here is what The Guardian and the millennial whistleblower did not know, or conveniently failed to mention…
Read the full article with technical analysis and charts of the FANG stocks and NASDAQ index by TraderStef at CrushTheStreet – originally published on Mar. 31, 2018.
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