Why Facebook, Netflix, and Three Other Stocks Are in Spotlight Today

Crude futures are a bit lower today after the latest numbers from Iran and Libya showed a slight increase in exports/production in both countries. In addition to watching oil, traders are eagerly anticipating today’s Vice Presidential debate to see where the parties’ respective number two’s stand on the issues most relevant to the market.

In this article, we will find out why five stocks, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:OLLI), and Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNAT), are in the spotlight today. In addition, we will take a look at what the smart money investors from our database think about the companies in question.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, the hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor to beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

d8nn / Shutterstock.com

A few weeks after Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)‘s Instagram app adopted some ephemeral features similar to SnapChat stories, the social media giant’s WhatsApp division is also taking some inspiration from rival SnapChat. The similarities between Facebook’s mobile apps and SnapChat have increased after WhatsApp recently introduced new camera features that allow users to write or draw on videos and photos, as well as add emoji to media. Those features are similar to SnapChat’s existing editing options. Facebook bulls hope that the new features will blunt SnapChat’s rise and help Mark Zuckerberg’s company keep market share while the company transitions to the AI/augmented reality/virtual reality future. Meanwhile, the social media company is also pushing ahead with its connectivity initiative, as the company is talking with various countries for trial internet drone flights according to The Wall Street Journal. Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital held 10.94 million shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) worth over $1.25 billion at the end of June.

Traders are keeping a close eye on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) after the stock pierced the $100 mark and soared over 4% on Monday. Some on the Street attribute the strength due to potentially strong viewership numbers after the ‘Luke Cage’ series premiere, while others attribute the price action to unconfirmed speculation that Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) might be interested in buying Netflix. However, various analysts have recommended investors take the rumors with a big grain of salt as the internet streamer hasn’t indicated that it wants to sell itself. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global trimmed its stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) by 22% in the second quarter to just under 6.3 million shares during the second quarter.

On the next page, we see why JPMorgan Chase & Co, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, and Conatus Pharmaceuticals are in the spotlight this morning.