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Facebook Makes a Spectacle of Itself

Today is Friday, September 10, 2021.

Facebook Makes a Spectacle of Itself With Smart Glasses

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) rolled out its first smart glasses Thursday, made through a partnership with Ray-Ban, but shares of the tech giant only went up 0.11%.

Details: The glasses, called Ray-Ban Stories, have cameras to capture photos and videos. The content can then be shared on social media. The glasses are $299.

History: Facebook is not the first tech company to introduce smart glasses. Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL) and SnapChat (NYSE: SNAP) both did that...and they both failed miserably.

Stock Price: Shares of Facebook are up 40% in the past year.

Under the Surface: Also yesterday, The Information reported that Facebook is developing their own computer chips from scratch.

Final Thoughts: Could Facebook’s new Ray-Ban Stories join the graveyard of smart glasses from other tech companies? It is possible, but the company could also succeed. After all, Facebook has successfully rolled out Oculus headsets before.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Kroger (NYSE: KR).

Notable IPOs Today: SilverSPAC Inc. Unit (Nasdaq: SLVRU), Future Health ESG Corp. Unit (Nasdaq: FHLTU), Portage Fintech Acquisition Corporation Class A Ordinary Share (Nasdaq: PFTA), Bannix Acquisition Corp. Unit (Nasdaq: BNIXU).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Blue Sky Energy (StartEngine), Med-X (TruCrowd), Kenny’s Restaurant & Bar (MainVest), Evrmore (Wefunder), Tilton Brothers Brewing (MainVest), IssurPixel (NetCapital), TracFlo (Republic), Baby Barista (Fundify), Persistence Data Mining (Wefunder), LFG Nexus (Wefunder), Decarolis Cycling (MainVest).

Notable Economic Events Today: Producer Price Index (8:30 a.m.), Wholesale Inventories (10:00 a.m.).

Gold vs. Bitcoin: Which Asset is Better?

For years, gold was always seen as the alternative investment in a portfolio to hedge against risks. But now that Bitcoin has emerged, investors have a new choice as an alternative asset.

Similarities: Despite the differences between Bitcoin and gold, with one being physical and the other digital, both are similar. There is only a limited amount of Bitcoin and gold. They are also both equal in terms of liquidity and both are rare.

The Case for Gold: For investors concerned about legal issues and volatility, gold offers some advantages. There are already ETFs and mutual funds for gold, which offer tax benefits. Plus, gold has been around longer.

The Case for Bitcoin: In the past 10 years, Bitcoin has outperformed gold by a lot. In fact, Bitcoin could continue its hot run and it is becoming more accepted in the financial community.

Final Thoughts: If you like both Bitcoin and gold, why not just invest in both?

Affirm Stock Continues Meteoric Rise

Shares of Affirm Holdings (Nasdaq: AFRM) increased 5% during trading hours Thursday followed by a 20% pop in after-hours trading after the fintech company posted mixed earnings.

Financial Results: Affirm’s revenue of $261 million was better than the projection of $220 million. However, the quarterly loss of 48 cents per share was worse than the projected loss of 29 cents per share.

Bright Future: The company also delivered positive guidance for the upcoming quarter and said that it was making progress in different consumer categories.

Background: Affirm specializes in buy now, pay later, which is a financial trend that allows consumers to divide payments into installments.

Recent History: Late last month, Affirm announced a partnership with Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN). Since then, shares of Affirm are up 35%.

Final Thoughts: Shares of Affirm are still down since going public in January.

Trends to Watch

The End of an Era: Walmart to End Quarterly Bonuses for Store Workers (The Wall Street Journal)

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