The JP Morgan Story Is Bigger than Apple

The social momentum around the JP Morgan story is unprecedented in the short time since we launched the StockTwits Social Heatmap 3 weeks ago.

Here’s a snapshot of the 12 Hour Financial Sector Heatmap. As you can see, $JPM is so thoroughly dominating interest with huge message velocity on the name. Investors, traders and the media are singularly and laser focused on the story.

As I back up the lens and eye the general heatmap which includes all sectors, it is the first time that $AAPL discussion, which usually leads, has been so dominated by another ticker and in which technology has been so dominated by another sector.

$JPM is down 7% pre market and so there is a divergence between this interest velocity and the relatively limited drop in price so far.

Over the next day to seven days I will continue to focus on these metrics in order to determine whether this story maintains such a high level of interest. Often, stories which seem like they engulf the universe one moment fade and give way to the next news cycle.

When they do not, it may be indicative of the importance of the events which occured over the 16 hours in the public eye.

I will also be watching this apparent divergence between interest and price to see if there is some regression. If there is not, it might suggest that the story is more compelling because of $JPM and Dimon’s reputation prior to the story rather than the real fundamental implications of it.