Megaphone icon ETF Database is now VettaFi. Read More >
ETFdb Logo
ETFdb Logo
  • ETF Database
  • Channels
    • Active ETF
    • Alternatives
    • Beyond Basic Beta
    • China Insights
    • Climate Insights
    • Commodities
    • Core Strategies
    • Crypto
    • Disruptive Technology
    • Dividend
    • Dual Impact
    • Emerging Markets
    • Energy Infrastructure
    • Entrepreneur ETF
    • Equity ETF
    • ESG
    • ETF Building Blocks
    • ETF Education
    • ETF Strategist
    • Fixed Income
    • Future ETFs
    • Gold & Silver Investing
    • Innovative ETFs
    • Institutional Income Strategies
    • Leveraged & Inverse
    • Managed Futures
    • Modern Alpha
    • Multi-Asset
    • Multi-Factor
    • Portfolio Strategies
    • Retirement Income
    • Smart Beta
    • Thematic Investing
    • Volatility Resource
  • Tools
    • ETF Screener
    • ETF Country Exposure Tool
    • ETF Sector Tracker Tool
    • ETF Database Categories
    • Head-To-Head ETF Comparison Tool
    • ETF Stock Exposure Tool
    • ETF Issuer Fund Flows
    • Indexes
    • Mutual Fund To ETF Converter
    • ETF Data for Journalists
    • ETF Nerds
  • Research
    • First Bitcoin ETF
    • ETF Education
    • Equity Investing
    • Dividend ETFs
    • Leveraged ETFs
    • Inverse ETFs
    • Top ETF Sectors
    • Top ETF Issuers
    • Top ETF Industries
  • Webcasts
  • Themes
    • AI ETFs
    • Blockchain ETFs
    • See all Thematic Investing ETF themes
    • ESG Investing
    • Marijuana ETFs
  • Videos & Podcasts
    • ETF 360 Video Series
    • ETF Trends on Videos
    • ETF Trends on Podcasts
    • ETF Prime Podcast
  • PRO
    • Pro Content
    • Pro Tools
    • Advanced
    • FAQ
    • Pricing
    • Free Sign Up
    • Login
  1. Trending: Amazon Plunges After Criticism From Trump
News
Share

Trending: Amazon Plunges After Criticism From Trump

Iuri StrutaApr 05, 2018
2018-04-05

Amazon’s stock has plummeted after President Donald Trump took to Twitter to call for action against the company’s practices.

Amazon took first place on the list followed by master limited partnerships (MLPs), which are finding themselves in a tough spot. Facebook was the third most popular topic as the company tries to contain a data breach scandal. Gold took fourth spot as investors bid up the precious metal in light of falling stock prices, while government bonds are last on the list.

Check out our previous trends edition at Trending: Pressure Mounts on Facebook as Data Breach Conundrum Deepens.

Trends April 5, 2018

Amazon Faces Heat From Trump

Technology giant and online retailer Amazon wound up as the latest target of U.S. President Donald Trump who lambasted the company’s practices on Twitter. As such, traffic to Amazon (AMZN) has increased by as much as 818% during the past week as frightened investors sold off the stock. Amazon’s shares have dropped more than 8% in the past five days, trimming year-to-date gains to 17%.

The fall was chiefly due to repeated attacks by Trump who said on Twitter that the company is taking advantage of the U.S. Postal Service and not paying taxes to state and local governments. The President said Amazon is using the U.S. Postal Service as its “delivery boy” to keep costs down.

Despite the heated rhetoric, the White House is not mulling immediate action against the firm, according to several media outlets citing people familiar with the matter. Still, last summer Trump said to some of his aides that he wanted to increase the rates the Postal Service charges Amazon, although there was no follow-up on the discussion.

Analysts disagree with Trump’s assessment of the situation, contending that the Postal Service is benefiting from its relationship with Amazon and that the company pays its fair share of taxes to state and local governments. The U.S. Postal Service itself said it makes money from the relationship with Amazon and that e-commerce revenue is essential to support the network infrastructure. The Postal Service is also prohibited by law to charge its customers less than delivery costs.

Nevertheless, it is believed Amazon pays the Postal Service around $2 per delivered package, which is about half of what it would pay United Parcel Service or FedEx.

Trump’s next logical move may be to increase the Postal Service’s fees, which would, at least in the short term, have a negative effect on the company’s performance, but Amazon could always increase its Prime membership rates and pass the costs onto consumers. In the long term, the firm could build its own delivery services, which would likely negatively impact the U.S. Postal Service.


Content continues below advertisement

Amazon.com Inc. Chart

MLPs Hit by Tax Ruling

Master limited partnerships have seen their traffic surge 677% in the past week, as many stocks took a plunge after the U.S. government closed a tax loophole. Alerian MLP (AMLP A), for instance, has dropped more than 8% in the past 30 days, extending year-to-date losses to nearly 14%.

Alps Alerian MLP ETF Chart

Alerian and most MLP ETFs had a good start to the year, owing to higher oil and gas prices. However, in mid-March, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) prevented master limited partnership interstate natural gas and oil pipelines to recover an income tax allowance, causing an instant drop in the MLP stock prices across the board.

Some analysts pointed out that the negative impact on the sector may be overblown given that there are only a few companies with exposure to interstate and gas pipelines. Moreover, the decision may be appealed by the pipeline industry. Until there is more clarity on the issue, investors may continue to dump master limited partnerships.

Facebook Continues to Drop

Social media giant Facebook has seen its viewership increase 220% in the past week, as the company is still taking heat from a scandal relating to the unauthorized use of user data. In the latest twist, Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the U.S. Congress on April 11. The hearing is expected to focus chiefly on the data scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, which improperly obtained data of more than 50 million Facebook users to help elect Donald Trump.

The company’s stock continued to fall this week, shedding more than 1% of its value in the past five days. For the past month, the stock is down nearly 15%. Combined with Amazon’s swoon, Facebook’s scandal had a negative impact on the entire technology landscape. Technology PowerShares (QQQ A-), in which Facebook and Amazon collectively have a weighting of over 14%, has declined more than 6% in the past month and nearly 2% in the last five days.

Facebook Inc. Chart

Zuckerberg himself has offered public apologies to consumers, as part of a public relations gambit aimed at reducing the damage to the company. Judged by Facebook’s performance, Zuckerberg has had mixed success so far, although the broad market also disappointed lately due to fears of a trade war between the U.S. and China.

Sign up for ETFdb.com Pro and get access to real-time ratings on over 1,900 U.S.-listed ETFs.

Gold

Gold has taken fourth place on the list this week with a rise in viewership of 103%. Amid weak stock markets across the board, gold is viewed as a safe haven. Investor fears have been growing that the U.S. will engage in a trade war with China, with Trump promising to slap tariffs on $50 billion worth of goods. Unsurprisingly, China threatened retaliatory actions, advancing a list of agricultural products aimed at hitting Trump’s voter base in the U.S.

As such, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD A-) has risen 0.5% this week, extending monthly gains to 1%. Year-to-date, gold remains up more than 2%. Gold prices may continue their march upward as inflation in the U.S. is on the rise and a potential trade war is likely to cause further acceleration in overall price levels.

Gold SPDR Chart

Government Bonds

U.S. government bonds have seen their traffic advance 81% this week, as the asset class has been hit of late by high inflation and rising interest rates. Since the beginning of the year, iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond (IEF A-) has declined 2.7%. In no small part, government bonds were helped by dropping inflation. Over the past month, (IEF A-) has advanced 0.65%.

7-10 Year Treasury Ishares Chart

Treasuries received a further boost after China said its purchases of government bonds would not be affected by the ongoing trade spat with the U.S. China currently holds more than one trillion dollars in U.S. government bonds and is the largest single owner of U.S. debt after the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Bottom Line

Donald Trump’s threats to rein in the dominance of Amazon in online retail by hiking delivery costs have taken a toll on the company’s stock. Master limited partnerships started the year in full force but resumed their downward slide after the government eliminated a tax advantage. Meanwhile, Facebook is continuing its charm offensive to try to contain the damage from a data breach scandal, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg on track to testify before U.S. Congress in mid-April. Gold is shining again as investors seek refuge from a potential trade war between the U.S. and China. Finally, government bonds have been hit by rising interest rates, although pressure diminished lately due to lower inflation figures.

By analyzing how you, our valued readers, search our property each week, we hope to uncover important trends that will help you understand how the market is behaving so you can fine-tune your investment strategy. At the end of the week, we’ll share these trends, giving you better insight into the relevant market events that will allow you to make more valuable decisions for your portfolio.

» Popular Pages

  • Tickers
  • Articles

Jul 01

Report Shows Blockchain Will Have Impact on Businesses

Jul 01

Despite Market Fears, the Worst Might Be Over for Bonds

Jul 01

July Brings Hope for Sleepy Growth Stocks

Jul 01

Ban on Russian Gold Imports Might Boost Precious Metal

Jul 01

Leveraged Loans Remain Useful to Income Investors

Jul 01

What Goes Up Must Come Down: Beating Volatility With FLLV

Jul 01

NZUS: Efficient Avenue to Paris-Aligned Investing

Jul 01

ETF 360: Q&A With Matt Camuso From BNY Mellon

Jun 30

Are U.S. Equities Overrated?

Jun 30

RSP Increases On Utilities and Real Estate Gains

QQQ

Invesco QQQ Trust

SPY

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

VOO

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

XLE

Energy Select Sector SPDR...

ARKK

ARK Innovation ETF

SCHD

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF...

XLV

Health Care Select Sector...

VYM

Vanguard High Dividend Yield...

SMH

VanEck Semiconductor ETF

VTI

Vanguard Total Stock Market...


Content continues below advertisement

Loading Articles...
Help & Info
  • Contact Us
  • Mission Statement
  • Press
Tools
  • ETF Screener
  • ETF Analyzer
  • Mutual Fund to ETF Converter
  • Head-To-Head ETF Comparison
  • ETF Country Exposure Tool
  • ETF Stock Exposure Tool
  • ETF Performance Visualizer
  • ETF Database Model Portfolios
  • ETF Database Realtime Ratings
  • ETF Database Pro
More Tools
  • ETF Launch Center
  • Financial Advisor & RIA Center
  • ETF Database RSS Feed
Explore ETFs
  • ETF News
  • ETF Picks of the Month
  • ETF Category Reports
  • Premium Articles
  • Alphabetical Listing of ETFs
  • Best ETFs
  • Browse ETFs by ETF Database Category
  • Browse ETFs by Index
  • Browse ETFs by Issuer
  • Compare ETFs
Legal
  • Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
  • © ETF Flows LLC
Follow ETF Database
Follow ETF Database

Advertisement

Is Your Portfolio Positioned With Enough Global Exposure?

ETF Education Channel

How to Allocate Commodities in Portfolios

Tom LydonApr 26, 2022
2022-04-26

A long-running debate in asset allocation circles is how much of a portfolio an investor should...

Core Strategies Channel

Why ETFs Experience Limit Up/Down Protections

Karrie GordonMay 13, 2022
2022-05-13

In a digital age where information moves in milliseconds and millions of participants can transact...

}
X