Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Past Week: Alibaba, Bitcoin, Pfizer, Tesla And More

• Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week.
• Last week's bullish calls included a top COVID-19 vaccine play, a recent high-profile IPO and a trendy retailer.
• The apex cryptocurrency, two big automakers and an upscale retailer were among the bearish calls seen.

The past week turned out to be something of a wait and see period, though the approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine gave the reopening trade a bit of a boost. The markets remain near all-time highs, supported in large part by the mega-cap stocks.

What Wall Street was waiting for was the speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from the central bank's Jackson Hole symposium, particularly word of when the Fed may begin to taper its $120 billion a month bond purchasing program. While some Fed presidents were calling for an end to stimulus ahead of the speech, Powell himself seemed content to stay the course, again suggesting that inflation was temporary and not widespread.

Perhaps the biggest corporate news was the fierce resistance to Apple's plan to scan iPhones for illicit material. Opponents consider it a reversal of the company's stance on privacy.

The Nasdaq saw a gain of almost 3% for the week, and the Dow Jones industrials were the laggard of the big three U.S. indexes, with a rise of about 1%.

Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

The Bulls

"Why This Investor Says Pfizer Stock Is Going Much Higher" by Adam Eckert explores why Pfizer Inc PFE is more than just a COVID-19 play. And it is still trading cheaply based on its valuation, according to the featured investor.

Also read What's The Risk Of Blood Clots After Getting A COVID-19 Vaccination? This Study Shows Encouraging Data.

In Wayne Duggan's "'Robinhood Is Not A Meme': Analysts Initiate Coverage Of HOOD Stock Following Quiet Period," discover why it is not wise to bet against Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD.

It is painful for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA right now, but there is great potential in the stock longer term. So says Adam Eckert's "Why Alibaba Stock Presents An 'Extremely Compelling' Opportunity At Current Levels."

On the other hand, see More Trouble Brews For Alibaba, Tencent - Read How.

In "Why Zoom Video's Growth Will Likely 'Surprise To The Upside' Over The Next Year," Shanthi Rexaline reveals the catalysts for Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM for the rest of the year.

"Analyst Sees These Stocks Benefiting From Next Wave Of Cybersecurity Spending As Biden Calls Apple, Amazon CEOs For Summit" by Rachit Vats examines why Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR and others are well positioned.

Chris Katje's "Urban Outfitters Stock Falls On Q2 Earnings: 3 Takes From The Street" discusses why Urban Outfitters Inc URBN is better positioned than other retailers.

The Bears

In "Technical Analyst Says Now Is No Time To Go Long On Bitcoin, Would Buy Dogecoin If It Fell To This Level," Madhukumar Warrier looks at why Bitcoin BTC/USD may face near-term weakness.

Be sure to check out Bitcoin Has No Value: People Bank's Of China Official Announces Further Crackdown as well.

CNBC host Jim Cramer is no fan of the upcoming Tesla Inc TSLA cybertruck, according to "Cybertruck Will Be Disaster For Tesla, Cramer Says: 'It's Just An Ugly Thing'" by Chris Katje. Cramer recommends buying and F-150 instead.

Mark Putrino's "Why Ford Stock May Crash Into A Wall Of Sellers" shows why the past week's rally in Ford Motor Company F may not last. See why reaching a particular share price may open the floodgates to selling.

In Priya Nigam's "Morgan Stanley Warns Of Further Downside to Nordstrom Stock," find out why the Nordstrom, Inc. JWN recovery journey is likely to be prolonged, according to the featured analyst.

5 Nordstrom Analysts Break Down Q2 Earnings: 'Significant Lag Vs. Softline Peers' offers more analyst commentary on the upscale retailer's prospects.

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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