As 2020 draws to a close, it is difficult to find a more successful fund manager than Cathie Wood, ARK Invest’s chief executive and chief investment officer.
ARK’s flagship fund, the ARK Innovation ETF ARKK,
is up 154% this year, bringing the 43% increase for the Nasdaq Composite COMP,
and other ARK funds, including the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF ARKG,
have also had huge profits. The only real sour note came this week, with both losses in the funds and, uniquely, outflows. But according to FactSet Research, the innovation fund has brought in $ 9.4 billion in flows this year, the genomic fund has gobbled up $ 5 billion in assets, and its next-generation internet fund ARKW,
has attracted nearly $ 3 billion in flows.
In a note to customers this week, Wood said there are five “innovation platforms” that companies should invest in or get lost in: DNA sequencing, robotics, energy storage, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. These platforms span 14 technologies, including gene therapies, 3D printing, cloud computing, big data analytics and cryptocurrencies, she said.
This technological innovation is jeopardizing entire industries – energy, industrial, consumer discretionary, communications, healthcare and financial services, which make up more than half of the S&P 500 SPX,
she said.
Traditional equity and fixed income benchmarks are increasingly populated by so-called traps, stocks and bonds that are “cheap,” for a reason, she added.
An economic prediction is linked to this revolution. “If our forecasts for the five innovation platforms are close to track, nominal GDP growth in the US is likely to slow from 4.1% year-on-year over the past five years to 2-3%, only to regain momentum after new technologies and solutions, get enough critical mass to move the economic needle, “she said. Both volume growth and inflation will be on the low end of expectations.
The buzz
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said he would not vote on $ 2,000 incentive controls unless tied to provisions that would scrap legal protections for businesses, including Google owner Alphabet GOOG,
and social media platform Facebook FB,
and to establish a committee to investigate President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about electoral fraud.
Bets remain in favor of Republicans, with the latest polls in Georgia heading toward Democrats taking both Senate seats, putting the party in control of both the chambers of Congress and the presidency.
The focus on the coronavirus front remains as much on the slow rollout of vaccines in the US as on the increasing toll the virus is taking. According to the COVID-19 tracking project, the COVID-19 tracking project reached 125,220 daily hospital admissions, while 2.8 million people have started the vaccination process, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. China approved its first vaccine, from state-owned Sinopharm 1099,
who says it is 79% effective, while the US may not approve the vaccine from pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca AZN,
until April, according to a top health official for the Trump administration.
Oil producer Exxon Mobil XOM,
said in a filing from a Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to write off as much as $ 20 billion in the fourth quarter.
Hedge fund Alden Global has made a non-binding offer to purchase the shares it does not already own in Tribune Publishing TPCO,
for $ 14.25 per share. Grandstand closed at $ 12.79 on Wednesday.
Enphase Energy ENPH,
Tiffany, which is being acquired, will be replaced in the S&P 500 index, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced.
The US said it would subject the European Union to additional tariffs on aircraft build parts from France and Germany, still wine from France and Germany, and brandy, in what it said was in response to the EU’s calculation of how it imposed US tariffs . The broader, long-running dispute concerns state aid to aircraft manufacturers Boeing BA,
and Airbus AIR,
Weekly unemployment claims are the last economic indicator to be released in 2020.
The graph
Ronnie Walker, an economist at Goldman Sachs, thinks the job market hasn’t changed much – for better or for worse – since the November employment report. The good news is that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t left much scarring. Two-thirds of the 25 million jobs initially lost since the start of the pandemic have returned, and 42% of the newly unemployed since February say they have been temporarily laid off, he said.
The market
Looks like a quiet end to a big year, with little movement in ES00 stock futures,
bonds TMUBMUSD10Y,
or the dollar DXY,
Bitcoin BTCUSD,
was where the action was, with $ 29,000 cryptocurrency.
Random reads
Becky Hammon became the first woman to lead a team in the history of the National Basketball Association, taking over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night after eliminating Gregg Popovich in the first half.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s father said he is applying for French citizenship.
American rivers change color, satellite images show.
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