Note From Jeff Brown: I hope all U.S.-based readers of The Bleeding Edge are enjoying a relaxing Labor Day with friends and family.

In lieu of our usual edition of The Bleeding Edge, I wanted to share something a bit different.

We’ve reached a critical point in market history…

I believe we will see a “splintering” in the equities markets. COVID-19 has ushered in a new world order. Some companies will thrive in this environment. But some “toxic” stocks will fall hard.

My goal is to make sure all my readers are on the right side of market history. Read on…


By Jeff Brown, Editor, The Bleeding Edge

I’m an optimist by nature.

As longtime readers know, I believe we are on the verge of an age of abundance. And this new age will be driven by the companies and technologies powering the trends that we cover here in The Bleeding Edge.

I’m referring to technologies like 5G wireless networks, precision medicine, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, quantum computing, and the next generation of clean energy production – nuclear fusion.

But we have to be realistic.

Not all technology companies are great investments. In fact, some are downright “toxic.”

I predict we’re on the verge of a “splintering” in the market.

What does that mean?

It means some stodgy incumbents will fall hard. But a handful of technology investments are well positioned for our new economic environment. And I predict they will soar in the years ahead.

As investors, it’s critical that we’re on the right side of this trend…

The Real Black Swan

When COVID-19 began to spread globally, many analysts referred to it as a “black swan.” In other words, it was one of those rare events that dramatically changes the course of history.

I disagreed.

Society has been dealing with global pandemics and coronaviruses since the dawn of time. COVID-19 was not the first. It won’t be the last.

The real “black swan” event was our reaction to the virus – the global economic lockdowns and new social practices like social distancing and contactless transactions. This dynamic has pulled forward some tech trends by five to ten years.

For example, we’ve been talking about teleworking for the last 20 years.

But what has happened over the past two decades?

Organizations and their management teams became even more centralized, and urban centers grew. Companies and managers were reluctant to have their workforce go remote. After all, managers felt they couldn’t control and manage their employees if they couldn’t “see” what they were doing all day long.

But now they’ve been forced to do just that.

As recently as March, it was estimated that almost 6 out of every 10 Americans were working from home. And this trend will persist even after the pandemic passes.

Like I just showed you last week, Pinterest (PINS) forked over nearly $90 million to break its contract on a San Francisco office complex. It won’t need the space in a remote work environment.

Or consider e-commerce.

Earlier this year, many online retail categories showed a 74% increase in online orders immediately following the economic lockdowns.

And as I showed last month, U.S. e-commerce as a percent of retail sales shot up 36% quarter on quarter and an incredible 49% year on year.

But remember, even with this spike, e-commerce still only accounts for 16.1% of total retail sales. This trend is far from over.

Let’s consider one more example.

Earlier this year, Nokia (NOK) released data saying that most wireless networks around the world see 30–45% growth in traffic over a year. But peak usage jumped 20–40% over a period of just four weeks during the lockdowns.

These numbers are beyond crazy. And it’s all because people have been working and entertaining themselves from home. Video-conferencing traffic – for both work and socializing – spiked 300%. Gaming traffic exploded 400%… because the kids were staying home from school… And let’s be honest, a few adults are having fun gaming at home too.

To put this growth in context, network data traffic would more than double every 12 months if this persists. We are talking about exponential growth. And it is overwhelming networks all over the world.

These are not one-off occurrences. This represents the very beginning of a multiyear trend that will reshape how we work, shop, and communicate.

Lying in Wait

It may sound strange to say that anything “good” has come from COVID-19 and the economic lockdowns. But for some technology companies, this is the moment they have been waiting for.

Technology executives have been “lying in wait” for a catalyst like this. They needed a trigger to “force” the mass adoption of their products and services.

And we’re already seeing some clear winners.

Three stocks that my readers have profited from are Amazon (AMZN), Square (SQ), and DocuSign (DOCU).

Amazon’s e-commerce and logistics network basically became a public good when the lockdowns hit the U.S. earlier this year. Many consumers bought groceries and everyday items from Amazon’s online store for the first time. And the dramatic spike in cloud-based applications created even more demand for Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Square’s peer-to-peer money transfer application, Cash App, is the simplest and most user-friendly way to conduct contactless transactions.

And DocuSign – a company that specializes in online contracts – saw its share price surge as the world socially distanced and conducted more business transactions online.

These are just three examples. There are more. And this trend will continue for years to come.

But a word of caution…

The companies that I follow and recommend to my readers are well positioned for this new world order.

But with every major societal shift, there are winners… and losers.

Some companies are not prepared for this new economic environment. We will see more bankruptcies. And the share price for popular companies will plunge. Based on my analysis, some are set to fall by as much as 92%.

As investors, it’s imperative that we are on the right side of this splintering. The decisions we make today will determine if we profit in the years ahead or suffer potentially catastrophic losses.

I recently put together a special presentation to show my readers how to be on the right side of market history. If you see the evidence that I see, then I encourage you to go right here to prepare.

Regards,

Jeff Brown
Editor, The Bleeding Edge


Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].