Bitcoin Down. Meme Stocks Quiet. Delta Surges. Caution?
Your daily head start in the business of tech + filtered + focused
The most important thing in tech today is …
the sobering of the financial markets. The Dow’s drop Monday turned some heads, but it wasn’t significant in the world of technology; while the overall index of 30 stocks was down 2%, the biggest laggards were banks, not tech. Look beyond the hyperventilating daily headlines, and there is something going on here, though.
Bitcoin dropped below $30,000 yesterday, approaching lows it hasn’t seen since the first week of the year; trading app Robinhood warned in its IPO filings that its third-quarter revenues would fall on less crypto trading. “Meme” stocks GameStop and AMC are quiet; GameStop is about where it was in late May and late March; AMC is also near late-May levels and 50% off its highs. Cloud and AI stocks that peaked in February are in no rush to surge back; Snowflake is at about $250 a share, near where it started trading last year; C3ai is at $51. And Apple is pulling back from its requirement that workers come back to the office in September as the COVID Delta variant surges.
Why is it important?
So much of the market in tech in 2021 has been defined by a lack of sobriety, and some degree of sobriety seems to be creeping back. And while this isn’t a prediction that the good times are over — any of these assets could come screaming back — it does feel like a singular moment. Even Zoom announcing its intent to buy Five9 fits in. That’s a perfectly reasonable, grown-up move for a company to make.
Coming up today on CNBC’s TechCheck, 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT …
GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield, from our interview yesterday. See the whole thing here:
While you were sleeping …
Apple is delaying its plan to return to mandatory in-person work because of the increase of COVID cases driven by the Delta variant, according to Bloomberg. The company had laid out a roadmap for returning to its offices in early September, with employees expected to come in at least three days a week, but now that deadline has reportedly been extended “by at least a month to October at the earliest.” The Verge
Rent the Runway has confidentially filed paperwork with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering, as it looks to cash in on the booming market for rental clothes and second-hand apparel. CNBC
In the broader world …
Stocks rebounded on Tuesday after concerns about the spread of Covid-19′s delta variant caused investors to dump equities in the prior session. CNBC
On the horizon …
7/21: Fortt Knox March Forth: Ford Foundation President Darren Walker
