Markets tumbled on Wednesday, a second straight day of declines led largely by the tech sector. Despite little major negative news to drive Silicon Valley names lower, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.7% on the day.
The overarching worry that permeated the day was once again the specter of rising yields: Investors are becoming wary of rising bond yields as the economy improves; higher yields make bonds increasingly more attractive to investors, who might shift money from equities to fixed income as a result.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 121 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 31,270.
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Rocket Mortgage reversal. One of the hottest stocks of the day on Tuesday came crashing back down to earth Wednesday, as shares of Rocket Companies (ticker: RKT), a newly hyped Reddit stock that became a favorite of the WallStreetBets community, fell more than 32%.
Google to make major change. Alphabet’s ( GOOG, GOOGL) Google will soon stop selling ads that target individuals based on browsing history across multiple websites, the company announced.
Although the company came under some fire for the decision because competitors argue it can afford to make such a change while they cannot, the shift was done in the name of privacy, which is an increasingly important issue in the digital era and one Google has been attacked relentlessly on by competitors like Apple ( AAPL).
While it may be true that Google has more economic leeway than the majority of its rivals, critics can’t have their cake and eat it too. GOOG’s move is a positive development in the world of online privacy.
GOOG shares fell 2.6% on Wednesday.
Reddit stocks ETF. A new “social sentiment” ETF based on stocks with high social media hype will debut on Thursday. Called the VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF, the fund will trade under the symbol “BUZZ,” and received a jubilant endorsement from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
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Google Stock Slips on Tracking Change; RKT Stumbles originally appeared on usnews.com
