Can Banking Intermediates Crowd Out Their High‐Tech Promising Successors? A Financial Stress Perspective

ABSTRACT This study examines the evolving relationship between large U.S. Financial institutions and Big Tech firms amid rising financial stress driven by global crises, including the COVID‐19 pandemic, the Russia‐Ukraine war, and inflationary shocks. Using weekly data from January 2013 to December 2024, the study employs the Quantile‐VAR (Q‐VAR) framework and the Financial Stress Index (FSI) to evaluate net pairwise and extended joint connectedness across various market regimes. Findings reveal that most Big Tech stocks affect financial stress but this reverses in bull markets. Bank stocks’ causal footprint on financial stress is obvious in all conditions and Morgan Stanley concentrates and leads systemic…