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Related REITs: Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR), AvalonBay (NYSE:AVB), American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH), UDR (NYSE:UDR), Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV), Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS), Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT), Mid-America Apartment (NYSE:MAA), Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH), Bluerock Residential Growth (NYSE:BRG), NexPoint Residential Trust (NYSE:NXRT), Preferred Apartment Communities (NYSE:APTS), Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI), Clipper Realty (NYSE:CLPR), Centerspace (NYSE:CSR), Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS). (194 comments) 
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Tech
Instagram has a TikTok problem. The Facebook-owned (NASDAQ:FB) app this week said it would begin testing drastic changes to its platform like showing users full-screen videos in their feeds, as well as content from accounts they don't already follow. In August 2020, Instagram even tried launching Reels, which was a short-form video feature that enabled users to create content with overlaid audio and effects.
"Let's be honest, there's some really serious competition right now. TikTok (BDNCE) is huge, YouTube (GOOG, GOOGL) is even bigger, and there's lots of other upstarts as well," said Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram. "We're no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app. You'll see us do a number of things, or experiment with a number of things in this space over the coming months."
Flashback: In early 2010, social media was all about Facebook and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), before Instagram came on the scene with its dazzling photo filters. Within two years, Facebook had scooped up the company for $1B, and by 2018, it had more than 1B users. Later that year, Instagram's founders left Facebook - due to a disagreement about the future of the app - and Facebook hasn't reported Instagram figures for the last three years as things apparently went downhill.
Go deeper: There's a big generational change happening on social media given the focus on individual expression. Compared to Instagram's picture-perfect and airbrushed environment, TikTok offers a space to show flaws, vulnerabilities and imperfections - and even have fun doing it. According to recent data from Cowen, TikTok's daily engagement per user has climbed from 37 minutes to 41 minutes this year, compared to Instagram's 33 minutes of usage per day on average. Earlier this week, a federal judge took Facebook's side in an antitrust suit, marking a big blow to the state and federal movement against Big Tech. (55 comments)
"Let's be honest, there's some really serious competition right now. TikTok (BDNCE) is huge, YouTube (GOOG, GOOGL) is even bigger, and there's lots of other upstarts as well," said Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram. "We're no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app. You'll see us do a number of things, or experiment with a number of things in this space over the coming months."
Flashback: In early 2010, social media was all about Facebook and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), before Instagram came on the scene with its dazzling photo filters. Within two years, Facebook had scooped up the company for $1B, and by 2018, it had more than 1B users. Later that year, Instagram's founders left Facebook - due to a disagreement about the future of the app - and Facebook hasn't reported Instagram figures for the last three years as things apparently went downhill.
Go deeper: There's a big generational change happening on social media given the focus on individual expression. Compared to Instagram's picture-perfect and airbrushed environment, TikTok offers a space to show flaws, vulnerabilities and imperfections - and even have fun doing it. According to recent data from Cowen, TikTok's daily engagement per user has climbed from 37 minutes to 41 minutes this year, compared to Instagram's 33 minutes of usage per day on average. Earlier this week, a federal judge took Facebook's side in an antitrust suit, marking a big blow to the state and federal movement against Big Tech. (55 comments)
IPOs
Hot investing app Robinhood Markets (HOOD) filed Thursday for an eagerly anticipated IPO at what many on Wall Street expect will be about a $40B valuation. The filing included few other details about the initial public offering, such as how many shares Robinhood will offer or at what price range, but 35% of them are expected to be allocated to retail investors. The company is set to be the buzziest name to tap the U.S. IPO market this summer and follows a record number of listings in the first half that's on pace to break annual records.
Backdrop: Since 2015, Robinhood has offered a popular, mobile-friendly investing app for Millennials, Gen-Zers and others new to stocks, ETFs and crypto. The company offers such non-traditional features as zero-commission stock purchases and the ability to buy fractional shares, making it possible for small investors to buy into popular but expensive tech stocks. "By untethering investing from the desktop computer, we've seen new categories of people, including gig economy workers, first responders, construction workers and many more, discovering Robinhood and becoming investors," co-founders Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev wrote in an accompanying S-1 filing.
By the numbers: Robinhood had 18M funded accounts as of March 31, as well as 17.7M monthly active users and $81B in assets under custody (more than 50% of its clients are first-time investors). Revenues grew 245% in 2020 to hit $959M, allowing Robinhood to earn $7M of net income vs. a $107M 2019 net loss. As for Q1 2021, HOOD said revenues grew 309% year over year, although the bottom line showed a $1.4B net loss due in part to a $1.5B fair-value adjustment to convertible notes and warrant liability.
Not without critics: Robinhood has faced heat over receiving what is called "payment for order flow," where brokerages route customers' stock orders to specific market makers in exchange for commissions, even though the market maker might not give the customer the best available execution price. Robinhood also angered customers and regulators when its system went down during some big market days in March 2020, preventing clients from trading when stocks were volatile, as well as restricting trading during the meme frenzy back in January. On Wednesday, FINRA announced that Robinhood would pay a record $70M in fines and restitution over the outages, as well as improperly approving some customers for options trading. (69 comments)
Backdrop: Since 2015, Robinhood has offered a popular, mobile-friendly investing app for Millennials, Gen-Zers and others new to stocks, ETFs and crypto. The company offers such non-traditional features as zero-commission stock purchases and the ability to buy fractional shares, making it possible for small investors to buy into popular but expensive tech stocks. "By untethering investing from the desktop computer, we've seen new categories of people, including gig economy workers, first responders, construction workers and many more, discovering Robinhood and becoming investors," co-founders Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev wrote in an accompanying S-1 filing.
By the numbers: Robinhood had 18M funded accounts as of March 31, as well as 17.7M monthly active users and $81B in assets under custody (more than 50% of its clients are first-time investors). Revenues grew 245% in 2020 to hit $959M, allowing Robinhood to earn $7M of net income vs. a $107M 2019 net loss. As for Q1 2021, HOOD said revenues grew 309% year over year, although the bottom line showed a $1.4B net loss due in part to a $1.5B fair-value adjustment to convertible notes and warrant liability.
Not without critics: Robinhood has faced heat over receiving what is called "payment for order flow," where brokerages route customers' stock orders to specific market makers in exchange for commissions, even though the market maker might not give the customer the best available execution price. Robinhood also angered customers and regulators when its system went down during some big market days in March 2020, preventing clients from trading when stocks were volatile, as well as restricting trading during the meme frenzy back in January. On Wednesday, FINRA announced that Robinhood would pay a record $70M in fines and restitution over the outages, as well as improperly approving some customers for options trading. (69 comments)
Space
Shares of Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) soared on Friday after the company said it was looking to launch founder Sir Richard Branson into space on July 11. That's big news as it would come ahead of plans for Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin (BORGN) to launch on July 20. The two have been vying for dominance in space, as well as SpaceX's (SPACE) Elon Musk, it what has been coined the "billionaire space race."
UBS sees an incremental positive for Galactic if the company flies Branson on its next test flight, saying it could be a catalyst for a faster opening of the company's sales campaigns. "I think part of how they're shaping the competition is by putting themselves on the line as part of the face of the competition," said Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation. So far, the space tourism pioneer has about 600 customer reservations on its books, most of which were sold at a price of $200K to $250K per ticket several years ago. Another 400 have expressed an interest in booking tickets to the edge of space when sales fully reopen.
Galactic and Blue Origin will get people to suborbital space in different ways. The former uses a carrier aircraft to fly its space plane high above Earth, while the latter uses a rocket-launched capsule (it's also looking to diversify its business by sending payloads into orbit via New Glenn). "In general, every mission that goes up, every rocket that's launched, every bit of progress we make does drive down costs, makes space more affordable [and] accessible to everybody," added Shift4 Payments' Jared Isaacman, who is partnering with SpaceX (SPACE) to lead the first all-civilian mission into orbit later this year.
Go deeper: Taking ownership of the heavens is not only limited to space travel and tourism, but also the infrastructure that could change how we operate on Earth. Elon Musk this week took the virtual podium at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to discuss progress on Starlink's (STRLK) global connectivity plan. The SpaceX subsidiary is hoping to avoid the fate of similar satellite ventures that preceded it (i.e. bankruptcy) after launching its "Better Than Nothing Beta program" in the U.S. last October. While data speeds have been advertised at 150 megabits per second, some users have complained of connectivity and reliability issues that have long plagued satellite internet. (68 comments)
UBS sees an incremental positive for Galactic if the company flies Branson on its next test flight, saying it could be a catalyst for a faster opening of the company's sales campaigns. "I think part of how they're shaping the competition is by putting themselves on the line as part of the face of the competition," said Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation. So far, the space tourism pioneer has about 600 customer reservations on its books, most of which were sold at a price of $200K to $250K per ticket several years ago. Another 400 have expressed an interest in booking tickets to the edge of space when sales fully reopen.
Galactic and Blue Origin will get people to suborbital space in different ways. The former uses a carrier aircraft to fly its space plane high above Earth, while the latter uses a rocket-launched capsule (it's also looking to diversify its business by sending payloads into orbit via New Glenn). "In general, every mission that goes up, every rocket that's launched, every bit of progress we make does drive down costs, makes space more affordable [and] accessible to everybody," added Shift4 Payments' Jared Isaacman, who is partnering with SpaceX (SPACE) to lead the first all-civilian mission into orbit later this year.
Go deeper: Taking ownership of the heavens is not only limited to space travel and tourism, but also the infrastructure that could change how we operate on Earth. Elon Musk this week took the virtual podium at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to discuss progress on Starlink's (STRLK) global connectivity plan. The SpaceX subsidiary is hoping to avoid the fate of similar satellite ventures that preceded it (i.e. bankruptcy) after launching its "Better Than Nothing Beta program" in the U.S. last October. While data speeds have been advertised at 150 megabits per second, some users have complained of connectivity and reliability issues that have long plagued satellite internet. (68 comments)
U.S. Indices
Dow +1.0% to 34,786. S&P 500 +1.6% to 4,352. Nasdaq +1.9% to 14,639. Russell 2000 -1.1% to 2,309. CBOE Volatility Index -3.5% to 15.07.
S&P 500 Sectors
Consumer Staples +0.1%. Utilities -0.1%. Financials +0.1%. Telecom +1.%. Healthcare +1.1%. Industrials +0.7%. Information Technology +1.8%. Materials +0.7%. Energy -0.9%. Consumer Discretionary +1.%.
World Indices
London -0.2% to 7,123. France -1.1% to 6,553. Germany +0.3% to 15,650. Japan -1.% to 28,783. China -2.5% to 3,519. Hong Kong -3.5% to 28,252. India -0.8% to 52,485.
Commodities and Bonds
Crude Oil WTI +1.5% to $75.14/bbl. Gold +0.6% to $1,788.8/oz. Natural Gas +5.7% to 3.695. Ten-Year Treasury Yield +0.7% to 132.76.
Forex and Cryptos
EUR/USD -0.57%. USD/JPY +0.23%. GBP/USD -0.3%. Bitcoin +5.1%. Litecoin +6.5%. Ethereum +15.5%. Ripple +4.9%.
Top Stock Gainers
Marin Software Incorporated (NASDAQ:MRIN) +433%. Bridgeline Digital (NASDAQ:BLIN) +288%. Cuentas (NASDAQ:CUEN) +150%. Newegg Commerce (NASDAQ:NEGG) +85%. Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTLA) +84%.
Top Stock Losers
CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE:CVM) -68%. Kiromic BioPharma (NASDAQ:KRBP) -52%. Citius Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CTXR) -44%. DiaMedica Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DMAC) -42%. Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) -42%.
Where will the markets be headed next week? Current trends and ideas? Add your thoughts to the comments section.
Dow +1.0% to 34,786. S&P 500 +1.6% to 4,352. Nasdaq +1.9% to 14,639. Russell 2000 -1.1% to 2,309. CBOE Volatility Index -3.5% to 15.07.
S&P 500 Sectors
Consumer Staples +0.1%. Utilities -0.1%. Financials +0.1%. Telecom +1.%. Healthcare +1.1%. Industrials +0.7%. Information Technology +1.8%. Materials +0.7%. Energy -0.9%. Consumer Discretionary +1.%.
World Indices
London -0.2% to 7,123. France -1.1% to 6,553. Germany +0.3% to 15,650. Japan -1.% to 28,783. China -2.5% to 3,519. Hong Kong -3.5% to 28,252. India -0.8% to 52,485.
Commodities and Bonds
Crude Oil WTI +1.5% to $75.14/bbl. Gold +0.6% to $1,788.8/oz. Natural Gas +5.7% to 3.695. Ten-Year Treasury Yield +0.7% to 132.76.
Forex and Cryptos
EUR/USD -0.57%. USD/JPY +0.23%. GBP/USD -0.3%. Bitcoin +5.1%. Litecoin +6.5%. Ethereum +15.5%. Ripple +4.9%.
Top Stock Gainers
Marin Software Incorporated (NASDAQ:MRIN) +433%. Bridgeline Digital (NASDAQ:BLIN) +288%. Cuentas (NASDAQ:CUEN) +150%. Newegg Commerce (NASDAQ:NEGG) +85%. Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTLA) +84%.
Top Stock Losers
CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE:CVM) -68%. Kiromic BioPharma (NASDAQ:KRBP) -52%. Citius Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CTXR) -44%. DiaMedica Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DMAC) -42%. Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) -42%.
Where will the markets be headed next week? Current trends and ideas? Add your thoughts to the comments section.
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