Is lockdown’s tech bubble about to burst?

Netflix is not signing up subscribers at the rate it once did. Disney+ has stalled. At Boohoo, growth is not as red hot as it was just a few months ago, while Deliveroo’s float on the London stock market was quickly dubbed ‘flopperoo’ by City wags. Zoom’s shares price has stopped, er, zooming, at least in the upward direction.

A random collection of snippets of business news? Well, to some degree. But there is also a common theme to all these stories, and one that is significant for investors. We are about to witness a serious bout of what might be termed the post-pandemic blues. The companies that did brilliantly while the world locked down are going to see a significant slowdown as it opens up again. And since those are the same businesses that have driven the equity indices to all-time highs, the entire market will suffer as well. True, those tech stars will still dominate the 21st century but there will be a sharp downturn first.