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Today's big stories

The European Union published two major new tech regulations
If you actually want to profit from the coronavirus vaccines, you might want to look past the companies that made them – Read Now
Retail empire Inditex’s quarterly earnings came as no surprise to investors

EU Rulez, OK?

What’s Going On Here?

The European Union (EU) laid out the dos and the please, please don’ts for Big Tech on Tuesday, proposing two major new pieces of regulation.

What Does This Mean?

With these new rules, the EU is hoping to keep companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon from hoovering up all their smaller rivals’ business – as well as to protect customers from the unfairly high prices those firms could charge if that happened. The regulations should also force them to take more responsibility for any illegal conduct on the platforms. They’ll be some of the strictest on Big Tech in the world if they’re passed into law in their current form – but with all the political back-and-forth that’ll be involved, that’s a very big if.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Naughty step.
If Big Tech companies misbehave under the proposed regulations, they could have to pay fines of up to 10% of global revenues (tweet this). The EU might be rubbing its hands at the prospect, with the five biggest tech companies – Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft – boasting combined revenues of almost a trillion dollars last year. And if they keep breaking the rules – the EU’s proposed a limit of three times in five years – they’re at risk of being broken up altogether.

The bigger picture: Fighting the giants.
It can be hard to keep up with the regulators’ battle with Big Tech, with US, UK, and Chinese regulators all having announced new fines, rules, or investigations in the last few days alone. But given regulators’ existing rulebooks weren’t written when data-hungry companies were something to think about, it’s easy to see why they’d be worried. The big challenge now, some experts reckon, is to rewrite the rules without hurting free speech and innovation in the years to come.

You might also like: Why regulatory threats shouldn’t necessarily put you off Big Tech.

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2. Analyst Take

Why You Might Want To Pass Up On Vaccine Companies

What’s Going On Here?

Now that some pharma companies are officially rolling out their vaccines, you might’ve missed your chance to benefit from their biggest stock price-moving moments.

What you haven’t missed – especially if the vaccine’s a yearly jab, rather than a one-off – is the chance to benefit from the global companies that are key to their supply chain.

Think storage companies like a couple of South Korean freezer firms that have seen their share prices rise by more than 300% over the last few months.

Or transportation companies: you already know FedEx and UPS, both of which are adding new refrigerated trucks, but there are a few specialist truck-makers made for the moment too.

And that’s to say nothing of the companies involved in actually administering the vaccine.

We look at all of these and more in today’s insights: the winners in the coronavirus supply chain, and how you can get into them before everyone else cottons on.

Read or listen to the insight here

💪Be ready to take on 2021

If this year’s proved anything, it’s that you never know what’s around the corner. But at least with Schwab, you’ll keep calm when markets are volatile.

Because let’s face it, we’re not out of the woods yet: volatility’s still likely as we head into 2021, with countries still dealing with the pandemic and new governments coming into play.

That’s why it’s useful to know you’ll have access to Schwab’s advanced trading platform, custom screeners, and free proprietary research that’ll help you identify your next smart move.

Learn More

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Hard Sell

What’s Going On Here?

Inditex has been taking the “Always Be Closing” tactic a bit too literally: the world’s biggest fashion empire reported lockdown-hampered quarterly sales on Tuesday.

What Does This Mean?

Inditex’s sales fell 14% last quarter compared to the same time last year, but at least it was a noticeable improvement from the 31% drop the quarter before. Trouble is, there was another wave of lockdowns across Europe in November just as the company inched closer to last year’s sales numbers, forcing almost a quarter of its global stores – under brand names like Zara and Massimo Dutti – to shut.

So when most of those stores were allowed to reopen in December, Inditex refused to rest on its laurels. The company found ways to cut costs and reduce the number of clothes its brands stocked, keeping unwanted items from piling up. That should help keep profits up from here on out.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Oh ship.
Rival retailer H&M said it was in a similar boat to Inditex on Tuesday, with sales down 22% between the end of October and the end of November compared to the same time last year. That’s double the drop in sales it saw for the quarter as a whole, suggesting shoppers who had been refreshing their wardrobes went straight back to rocking their trusty sweats all over again in lockdown.

The bigger picture: Change is good.
There was one bright spot in Inditex’s earnings: its online sales grew by 76% in the first nine months of the year versus the same time last year. The retailer’s invested a lot in its digital business, and it can now deliver clothes to almost any country. And according to a recent study by McKinsey, it was right to double down on the transition: the consultancy firm found that more than 65% of the world’s consumers are doing more of their shopping online, and apparently they intend to keep it that way.

You might also like: Are fast fashion outlets Inditex and H&M the best retail stock picks?

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🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“Prejudice comes from being in the dark. Sunlight disinfects it.”

– Muhammad Ali (an American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist)

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🤜🤛 You’ve got a friend in Schwab

There may be plenty of ups and downs still to come in 2021, but Schwab helps you prepare for them all.

You’ll work with their trading specialists to explore new opportunities. You’ll team up with their options and futures specialists to build new strategies and put them into action. And you’ll unlock fresh and actionable perspectives with Schwab Live Daily.

And you can even get started with $0 online stock, ETF, and base options commissions, plus $0.65 per options contract. Get all of this and a Satisfaction Guarantee when you join Schwab today.

Learn More

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🌍 Finimize Community

🤒 Are drugs feeling okay?

Just yesterday, our analyst Milou Beunk went into how weed and psychedelic stocks might be facing a tougher time in the US than overexcited investors realize. And tomorrow’s your chance to get the opinion of a man who’s been there, done that: Bruce Linton, former CEO of the world’s first regulated, licensed, and New York Stock Exchange-traded cannabis company.

💊 Are Psychedelics the New Weed Stocks? w/ ex-Canopy CEO: 1pm New York Time, December 17th
🚀 Finimize End-of-Year Soirée: 1pm UK Time, December 18th

📚 What we're reading

How to give up on motherhood (Harpers)
Life designed you to be a consumer (Raptitude)
You should be wearing socks in bed (IFL Science)

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🤞 Let's try this again: EU destroys Big Tech

Today's big stories

EU Rulez, OK?

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Why You Might Want To Pass Up On Vaccine Companies

💪Be ready to take on 2021

Hard Sell

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

🤜🤛 You’ve got a friend in Schwab

🤒 Are drugs feeling okay?

Older messages

🚫 IPOs are canceled

😏 Disney’s catching Netflix fast

😨 Tesla should be afraid, very afraid

🥘 DoorDash’s IPO delivers

📈 BlackRock can’t wait for 2021

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