The famous 1983 film "Trading Places" featured two men mystically trading places in a rags-to-riches story. In this video, Fool senior technology analyst Eric Bleeker discusses the sudden "Trading Places" scenario occurring in technology stock during the past six months.
Specifically, Eric notes that Facebook (META -0.52%) is up 40% after taking a beating in its first few months after IPOing while Apple (AAPL 1.27%) is down 25% during the same time frame. The momentum effect of the companies can be seen in money manager surveys, where Facebook has moved from a top short pick into being one of the top buys. In that same time, Apple went from a favorite pick to sliding down the best buy list. Beyond that, Wall Street analysts have moved sharply from an opinion of universally buying Apple to a point that Facebook is nearly rated as highly as a buy.
In the end, Eric notes that this situation shows how quickly momentum can shift in technology. However, that also makes keeping a focus on long-term trends that much more difficult for investors as short-term "media noise" vacillates between periods of hype and despondence. In spite of widespread fears around Apple, Eric's sticking with the company at these prices.
