Trading: time to throw out your Twitter shares

Twitter, the social network, faces both short and long-term headwinds, says Matthew Partridge. Here's how to play the shares.

Twitter banner outside the New York Stock Exchange
Twitter has become vague about exactly how many users it has
(Image credit: © Andrew Burton/Getty Images))

Social media and technology stocks have done extremely well this year thanks to central banks’ liquidity and a sense that the pandemic may have fundamentally reshaped the global economy. One of the big winners has been Twitter (NYSE: TWTR). It fell in March but had returned to its pre-Covid-19 level by the summer. It then reached a peak of $50 in late October, its highest level in over six years. Even though it has fallen recently, it is still up by over 50% from the start of the year. However, there are good reasons to think that the latest slide may have further to go.

Under fire from both sides

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri