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THE TECHNICIAN
A V E T E RA N T RA D ER TAC K LES T EC HNICALS
Side Hustle Stocks By Tim Knight
oogling “gig economy companies” or “side hustles” yields a multitude of entries on individuals and organizations. They’re workers and companies offering goods and services that don’t require large amounts of capital. Whether it’s driving a car, creating a handicraft, drafting a promotional piece or writing a piece of code, side hustles abound in the gig economy. But not many of those entities have gone public. In the gig economy, it takes an unusual market opportunity to grow large enough to justify a public offering. Yet seven companies have proven themselves exceptions.
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Taxi! Mention “the gig economy,” and ride-sharing services immediately come to mind. Investors eagerly awaited the IPO of the largest, Uber (UBER). The stock did well for a few weeks after the company went public, but after peaking at around $47 per share, it began grinding lower until it reached the upper $20s. As of this writing, the stock is still down about 30% from its peak, and prospects for recovery don’t look good. There’s substantial overhead supply from $40 on up, and reaching even that level doesn’t seem likely, in spite of Uber’s major presence. (See “Uber’s fall,” above, right). The somewhat smaller giant in the ride-sharing sector, Lyft (LYFT), went public a couple of months before Uber. Although it fell sharply from its offering, it was starting to form a clean saucer base (illustrated by the horizontal line in the graph in “Non-flying saucer,” right). Regrettably for the company, the base never formed completely, and the price crumbled to
Uber’s fall Uber’s stock did well for a few weeks after the company went public but has struggled ever since.
Non-flying saucer Shares in Lyft fell sharply from its offering. From there, the value of the stock crumbled to less than half its peak.
Investors eagerly awaited the Uber IPO, but after peaking at around $47 per share, the stock began grinding lower—much lower. 50
luckbox | december 2019
1912-trades-technician.indd 50
11/14/19 3:36 PM
