Weekly Bot Brief Newsletter on Robotics 7/10/2020

                  "There is no force on earth more powerful than an idea whose time has come."         VIctor Hugo

Bots in The News:

The Bot Index gained almost 4% this week on top of the 7.33% jump of the Fourth of July week. Consequently, the bots reached an all- time new high level of 210.26. The week’s surge exceeded the S & P 500’s 1.76% increase, whose value is pegged to 1/1/2016 level rose to 155.75. The bots were led by seven components who experienced returns in excess of 5% and three of those gave double digit advances to their shareholders.

As in the prior week, the gainers were led by NIO Inc. and Tesla who experienced 59.70% and 27.79% gains respectively. Those jumps were on top of the 35.94% and 26% increases during the initial week of July. The two electric car companies have experienced geometric returns since mid-May when NIO Inc. traded at $3.27 and Tesla was at $799. They closed at $14.78 and $1,544 this week. NIO’s push has come as a result of its second quarter’s 190% sales improvement and rumors that it has secured a significant line of credit from a consortium of banks. Tesla was lifted due to speculation of a hatchback model for European delivery and the prospects that the company may be added to the S & P 500 where index funds would immediately add incremental demand to the stock.

NVIDIA Corp. increased 9.10% for the week as Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their buy rating on the stock and increased their target stock price to $500. The stock closed at $419.

There were only three components of the Index that failed investors during the week. Accuray Inc. dropped 4.61%. Northrup Grumman fell 5.80% and Faro Technologies declined 5%.

Member: American Economic Association, Society of Professional Journalists, United States Press Association. Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Robotic Industries Association, Member IEEE.

The Bot Brief is a weekly newsletter designed for economists, investment specialists, journalists, and academicians. It receives no remuneration from any companies that may from time to time be featured and its commentaries, analysis, opinions, and research represent the subjective views of Balcones Investment Research, LLC. Due to the complex and rapidly changing nature of the subject matter, the company makes no assurances as to the absolute accuracy of material presented.