Big Tech's Big Week

By Alex Eule |  Monday, July 27 To Play or Not to Play. The Nasdaq Composite was coming off its worst two-week stretch since March. But if there was a worry about tech stocks getting overheated, today's trading seemed to ease the concerns. The tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the day up 1.7%, or 173 points, more than wiping out last week's losses, in one day.  It's a critical time for tech stocks. CEOs of four of the five tech giants are set  to appear before Congress on Wednesday. They'll be grilled about market dominance and antitrust issues. The next day, the same four companies will all report earnings. Given high expectations, tech results have proven to be a tricky affair this earnings season. But today, at least, investors were back to their default position: buying tech stocks. There was lots of news on the virus front, and depending on your outlook, the world is ending or making solid progress to ending the outbreak.  Pessimists can point to two cancellations in tonight's Major League Baseball schedule, after more than a dozen Miami Marlins players tested positive for Covid-19 in recent days. Baseball is playing on, but there are suddenly questions about the viability of the season. (Later this week, the NBA is scheduled to resume its own season.) If a professional sports league can't stop an outbreak among its players, what does that say about society's broader attempts around re-opening? So far, investors aren't worried. The S&P 500 finished the day up 0.7%, its best day in a week. There was one small sign of unease: Shares of online betting firm DraftKings finished the day down 6.5%. The planned resumption of sports has been a boon for the stock, which rallied 80% in the last three months. Here's what the company told my colleague Connor Smith:  While our business in the short term is partially dependent on the sports calendar, we have always said we are playing the long game and will continue our focus on driving a technology first approach to product innovation in order to keep sports fans engaged. Meanwhile, vaccine news continues to provide cause for optimism. Biotech company Moderna says it has given the first doses in the Phase 3 trial of its Covid-19 vaccine. The company expects to enroll 30,000 U.S. participants in the study, making it the first-large scale test of a coronavirus vaccine. "We look forward to this trial demonstrating the potential of our vaccine to prevent COVID-19, so that we can defeat this pandemic,” the company said in a statement. Moderna shares were up 9.2% on the day.