The government-imposed COVID-19 lockdown accelerated a number of social trends. One of those was our increasing preference for online shopping. Recent data shows that even though the lockdown pushed total retail sales off a cliff in April, online sales shot up. And one retailer – Kogan – stood out from the pack.

The government-imposed COVID-19 lockdown accelerated a number of social trends. One of those was our increasing preference for online shopping. Recent data shows that even though the lockdown pushed total retail sales off a cliff in April, online sales shot up. And one retailer – Kogan – stood out from the pack.

If you’re scratching your head over the market’s strong rebound since March, then join the club. Because there’s still a large cohort of economists and analysts who continue to see tough times ahead. I recently pointed to a definite recovery off the low levels of activity recorded  during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

We often hear market pundits comment on expensive stocks that currently make no money, labelling them as “great shorts. ” The Teslas, Pelotons, and Snaps of the world are examples of this that are recognisable to most. But are they in fact great shorts?

COVID-19 has sent the global economy into recession. It will come as no surprise to readers that advertising is a cyclical industry linked to the macro economy. Generally speaking, when the economy is growing, advertising revenues are growing and when the economy is contracting, advertising revenues are contracting.

EML Payments (ASX:EML) is an exciting Fintech that delivers innovative payment processing technologies to organisations operating within many industries and countries. The business has weathered the COVID-19 lockdown much better than feared, and is now ideally placed to benefit as global economies reopen and the structural migration trend towards digital payments accelerates.