Even today with the explosion of advancements in quantitative analysis utilizing the most sophisticated algorithms and artificial intelligence available the debate rages on between whether a technical-based trading methodology is superior to a fundamental-based trading methodology and vice versa. That debate is examined below via analysis of individual financial instruments such as Facebook (FB).

The price of Facebook’s stock has pretty much been on bullish rip higher ever since the IPO of 2012 reaching an all-time high over this past July at 218.62. However, the company has been mired in unflattering publicity that the fundamentalists claim has taken the wind out FB’s sails. The first chink in the armor of FB came during US General Elections of 2016 when a Russian company named Internet Research Agency start buying Facebook digital ads to allegedly spread propagandist messages about various politically hotspots that included religion and immigration. This event brought the company into the biggest crises of its short history. I have to say it’s definitely a unique event to see an American company as the tool of a foreign plot to influence a major democratic election. Even so, the stock pushed higher. However, on this very day, we read about a seemingly endless series of “events” which are said to have caused the company stock to decline nearly $100/share with its most recent print of 126.85.

Facebook has billions of members and was perhaps the greatest information dissemination tool ever created. Far from its stocks perch of July 2018 FB hasn’t been able to control the narrative and the fundamentalist claim this has caused the stock price to plummet. The company tensions are playing out in the mass media with corporate leadership denials, tension, finger-pointing and even testimonies in front of Congress. After some 150 million Americans were exposed to the disinformation campaign of the Russian internet troll farm, Internet Research Agency crisis, FB wasn’t quick to come clean. Now Facebook is in crises mode trying to turn sentiment to not only the American public but to the entire world. The latest event happened last week when the news came out that the company hired Definers Public Affairs to downplay public statements and deflect public scrutiny onto rival tech companies. FB has since ended the relationship this week. It seems like one issue after the other.