Fintech Focus For January 4, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.

Source: Oprah Winfrey

One Big Thing In Fintech: The banking industry has not been spared from the impact of Covid-19. Bank of America, for one, saw profits drop 16% year-over-year (YoY) in Q3’20 to $4.9B. The pandemic has also accelerated recent trends in banking, especially among the millennial demographic, which tends to favor digital banking and online brands over traditional banks.

Tech companies are chipping away at the traditional bank’s market share. For example, stock trading app Robinhood’s commission-free approach to investing has forced incumbents to follow suit, while products like Venmo and Cash App have disrupted peer-to-peer payments.

Source: CB Insights

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• Wealth management post-COVID.
• Coinbase poaches Facebook’s IR.
• Banks are getting smart on fintech.
• Lemonade passed 1 million users.
• Square, PayPal, and Google clash.
• Latin America’s fintech innovation.
• Forex trading apps reshape fintech.
• China eyeing fintech investigations.
• Key themes - trade data, reporting.

Watch Out For This: The extent to which healthcare workers are refusing the vaccine is unclear, but reports of lower-than-expected participation rates are emerging around the country, raising concerns for epidemiologists who say the public health implications could be disastrous.

Source: LA Times

Interesting Reads:

• Biden supercharges clean energy.
• Warren Buffett on improved focus.
• JPM’s Jamie got hit by a bus plan.
• Amazon looking to podcast space.
• FactSet: Key predictions for 2021.
• The radiator, a pandemic weapon.
• Lockdowns amid empty hospitals?
• mRNA turned into a virus crusher.

Market Moving Headline: Coming into the extended holiday weekend, on tapering volumes, U.S. index futures balanced for four regular trading sessions (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET), before breaking out.

Key Takeaways:

- Democrats are gaining traction in Georgia.

- Stricter lockdown restrictions on their way.

- Positioning – less volatility, room for higher.

- Higher-time frame breakouts remain intact.

Given four-sessions worth of unchanged value, and the failure to fill the gap beneath a weak low (i.e., a visual level that attracts the business of short-term, technically-driven market participants) at $3,714.50, participants will come into Monday’s session knowing the following:

- Amid Thursday’s late-day buying, price diverged from value.

- The multi-month upside breakout targeting S&P 500 prices as high as $4,000.00 remains intact.

Two go, no-go levels exist; trade that finds increased involvement above $3,752.75 and below $3,714.50 would suggest a change in conviction. Anything in-between favors responsive trade.

Source: Physik Invest