Cracker Barrel Loses Almost $100 Million In Value

Above, the Cracker Barrel fireplace we know and love. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Some people seem to have very short memories.

Remember when Bud Light and Target department stores "went woke" a few short years ago? Most of us do remember and are reminding Cracker Barrel's CEO Julie Felss Masino and her board of directors.

Remember, too, how stocks in those companies took deep nosedives. This is now happening to Cracker Barrel.

From CBS News:

Cracker Barrel shed almost $100 million in market value after its stock plunged Thursday following the release of a new logo. The new design eliminates a longstanding drawing of an overall-clad man leaning against a barrel, in favor of a cleaner logo featuring just the chain's name.

Shares of Cracker Barrel fell $4.22, or 7.2%, to $54.80 in Thursday trading, shedding $94 million in market value. The stock had dipped to a low of $50.27 earlier in the day, representing a loss of almost $200 billion in its capitalization.

Wall Street's reaction to the logo redesign comes as Cracker Barrel has been working to refresh its image through new menu items and redecorated stores that eschew the 55-year-old chain's old-timey approach in favor of a more modern look.

To say that the "fit hit the shan" (cleaned up version) with the public is an understatement.

Go woke, go broke!

To read more, go here.

Norwegian Cruise Line Sails Into Troubled Waters

Above, the Norwegian Sky docked in Nassau. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Well, if anything, at least Mitch Geriminsky and I can say about our cruise to the Bahamas was that we did our part to keep Norwegian Cruise Line afloat. 

It appears that the cruise giant is having some financial troubles.

According to Benzinga:

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd has faced rough seas this year, with its stock down 13.02% year-to-date, a 6.32% decline over the past year, and a sharp 19.23% drop in just the past month.

The company's financial outlook is under pressure, and with significant industry headwinds on the horizon, investors are left questioning whether the worst is still to come.

Financial Struggles, Industry Challenges

Norwegian Cruise Line’s financial position raises red flags. The company expects its net leverage to decrease by only 1.5 turns from 2023 to 2024, despite ongoing ship announcements. This modest improvement highlights potential difficulties in de-leveraging effectively.

Additionally, Norwegian may struggle to keep pace with its peers in terms of capacity growth. Competitors are projecting year-over-year decreases in capital expenditures, casting doubt on Norwegian's ability to meet market expectations.

Adding to these challenges, Norwegian’s EBITDA remains below 2019 levels, which is concerning given the long-term impacts of COVID-19, rising fuel prices and potential economic slowdowns. These factors collectively paint a cautious outlook for the cruise line giant.

 To read more, go here.

Gold, Silver Demand Strong Despite Downturn

Above, a 2023 American Silver Eagle. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The old adage, "Buy low, Sell high" is alive and well.

The gold and silver spot markets may be "soft" in recent weeks, but that hasn't dented the demand for coins of higher grades. The low spot markets are opening up opportunities in getting better deals. It is definitely a buyer's market.

Numismatic News wrote:

The spot price of both gold and silver has become soft recently, but you wouldn’t think so if you were a dealer in coins or bullion trying to keep sufficient stock on hand. Demand for both metals both in bullion coin and collectible coin form continues to surge. The weakened stock market and uncertainties surrounding high interest rates and a possible recession are helping to feed this frenzy.

The frenzy for quality coins continues on as well. The gap between condition rarity and coins graded anything but at the top has widened, as well as has the gap between many proof and uncirculated modern Mint products in the secondary markets.

To read more, go here. 

Stocks Lost $7.6 Trillion In Value Since Biden Took Office

From RNC Research: 

In January, Joe Biden: “the stock market…has hit record after record after record on my watch."

Today: Stocks have lost $7.6 trillion in value since Biden took office.

Retirement Accounts

"Retirement accounts are sinking.. Thanks to all you assholes who voted for Biden..You are destroying the middle class but then that was your plan..FJB because he is F-ing You" - Michael Reagan.

James Woods's Tweet On Today's Stock Market Plunge

 

"Him" meaning His Fraudulency Joe Biden.

Dow Loses Nearly 600 Points To Start March

It was a good thing that I moved my investment accounts to a "safe haven" two weeks ago.

Yesterday, the month of March did not have a good start as the Dow lost nearly 600 points due to the Russia/Ukraine war (we may as well call it that) and the surge in oil prices.

According to CNBC:

U.S. stocks slid Tuesday, the first day of March, as oil prices surged and investors continued to monitor the fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 597.65 points, or 1.76%, to close at 33,294.95. The S&P 500 sank by 1.55% to 4,306.26, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.59% to 13,532.46.

The decline in stocks came as satellite cameras captured a convoy of Russian military vehicles apparently on its way to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. A U.S. defense official said Tuesday that 80% of the Russian troops that massed on Ukraine’s border last month have now entered the country.

We have Vlad the Invader to thank for all of this.

To read more, go here. 

Dow Falls Over 800 Points On Ukraine

This comes as no surprise.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other markets are reacting to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

From CNBC:

U.S. stock futures fell sharply Thursday as Russia attacked Ukraine, causing global energy prices to jump and sending investors fleeing for the safety of fixed income assets.

The invasion comes as global equity markets were already reeling because of decades-high inflation stemming from the pandemic.

S&P 500 futures were down 2.5%, set to plunge the benchmark further into correction territory. The index closed Wednesday 12% off its record high. Dow Jones Industrial average futures fell 810 points, or 2.4%. The blue-chip measure closed Wednesday more than 10% off its record. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 3%. The Nasdaq Composite is teetering on bear market territory, down just less than 20% from its high through Wednesday’s close.

I anticipated this. I transferred most of my investments to the safety of money markets last week. They don't pay much in interest, but at least I won't be losing anything. 

To read more, go here.

The Stock Market Is Now Tanking Thanks To Joe

The Stock Market was up, but is now tanking once it was revealed that His Fraudulency Joe Biden wants to hike the capital gains tax.

Gee, thanks a million, Joe! What an idiot!

GameStop: The Elites Got Beaten At Their Own Game

El Rushbo (Rush Limbaugh), during yesterday's show, explained in detail what was happening concerning the GameStop story. He was, for once, accurately quoted by the mainstream media following his show. Frankly, the talking heads of the media don't have the intelligence needed to explain it well enough to make people understand it. So, they quoted Rush.

Here's some snippets:

RUSH: Let me go over some things here just to set the table, give you some things that are gonna shake out today that we’re gonna be talking about. There’s a fascinating thing — it is the most fascinating thing that’s going on out there a long time. Have you heard the story? Do you know the details of what’s going with GameStop?

Folks, it’s not just political now. The elites are bent out of shape that a bunch of average, ordinary users have figured out how to make themselves billionaires using – (interruption) I’m gonna explain it. I’m gonna take the time necessary to explain this. You’re damn right. I’ve been studying it all morning. And the best thing I can tell you is that whatever you think is going on in politics — the Washington establishment, the deep state, what have you — it’s the same thing in finance. There are those who are allowed to make all of the money and those of you who aren’t.

And if you figure out how to make a lot of money and if you’re like Donald Trump and you figure out how to get elected, you figure out how to beat the deep state, they’re gonna come out and they’re gonna wipe you out; they’re gonna destroy you. That’s what’s happening with GameStop. A bunch of people on Reddit figured out how to game the system. They figured out how to turn the system into a profit-making device for themselves.

In the process, they are harming the intended winners in this financial circumstance, and that would be the hedge funds out there. The hedge funds are supposed to be the ones making a lot of money, and they’re not. And they’re begging other hedge funds to bail them out. So, yes, I’m going to explain this. It’s not gonna take a long time, but folks, it’s fascinating. And the reason that it is fascinating is now it’s not just politics.

Now they’re not just calling us racists, sexists, bigots, homophobes in a way to control us, in a way to shame us. Now they’re actually making it clear to anybody who has the ability to notice that you’re not allowed to use the stock market the way they do. You’re not allowed to profit. You’re not allowed to make the kind of money they do.

But this GameStop business now makes this something that is understandable beyond the political world, and that is its value. It’s not just political anymore. It’s not just that you can’t think for yourself on issues and matters of politics. You know, everything is rigged in favor of the elites, and this has come along and upset that rigging. You know, if everything doesn’t benefit the establishment, then it has to be censored, right? Your speech, your attitude, if it doesn’t benefit the establishment, it’s gotta be censored. It’s gotta be canceled. It’s gotta be silenced.

Some hedge fund managers shorted GameStop’s — now, what is GameStop? What the hell is it? GameStop is a company. This has not been widely explained because the elites don’t take the time to explain this. But let me tell you what it is. GameStop is a company that sells physical copies of video games in dying malls. I mean, they’re an out-of-fashion company. It’s another thing that ticks off the elites. This company is way behind the times. They’re selling physical copies of video games next to all the other dying stores in malls.

But right now GameStop has become the most highly traded asset in the United States. GameStop’s stock price was $4 last summer, $20 at the end 2020, is now worth close to $300. And here is a passage from an elitist publication describing it.

“Essentially, many normal-ish people have made a huge bet against gigantic [hedge funds] financial institutions and are currently winning. In practice this means we are seeing one of the -” and here is the rub of it, folks. “We are seeing one of the largest wealth transfers from the financial ruling class to the middle and middle-upper classes in recent memory.” And it’s not been authorized, you see. It’s just happening within the normal ebb and flow of the market. Some normalish people figured out how to earn a hell of a lot of money using the establishment’s own methods against them.

To read the full story, go here. 

Recent Market Movements

My investment banker sent out a general email to his clients on the recent goings-on with the markets.

In case you were wondering, here's what he says about it:

In speaking with clients recently, I have found that there is concern and, at the same time, interest in what we are hearing in the financial press with regards to options strategies and trading strategies on short squeezes.  I hope to provide some insight as to what is occurring, which is indeed highly unusual.

There has been very large volume of late in options’ contracts on US options exchanges.  The volumes that are beyond the normal have been attributed to small-dollar retail activity in large numbers in aggregate.  The small investors have been caught up in the momentum of price rises in US equities and are leveraging via call options.  They are buying call options in price momentum names.  This is a very short-term strategy, is not very tax efficient, and is likely to end abruptly as price momentum tops out and price speculation ends with total losses of the call premiums paid by the speculator.

The other phenomenon we are witnessing is that of coordinated attacks on the stocks of companies that are heavily shorted by hedge funds and long/short strategies.  Retail and internet forums that communicate short positions have banded together to run up the stock price and force those with short positions to buy the stock back and run the price ever higher.  Several stocks have had a tremendous run up over the last few weeks, completely manipulated by this strategy.  Oversight authorities are reviewing this practice and I expect there to be modifications to practices and new rules to dampen the extraordinary speculation we’ve been seeing recently.  As ever, as long as there are ways to make money, creative minds will find a way, even if it doesn’t fit into a prudent investment approach.

Finances and Biden

Yesterday, when it became obvious that the Democrats are taking control of the senate, I had a little discussion with my investment banker on what all this means to the markets.

I told him, "It looks like we won't have a divided government, after all." He had told me previously that the financial markets love divided government as more radical policies wouldn't get enacted.

He said, "Market doesn't seem to care. Although obviously from a governing perspective, Joe doing whatever the hell he wants can't be good. I think the backstop is he can't implement a full left wing agenda because then they loose control in 2022."

We shall see. Hold on to your wallets, folks!

If Biden Shuts Down The Economy, The Dow Would Drop 4,000 Points

Above, Joe "Plugs" Biden.

You can't say President Trump didn't warn you!

During the campaign, Joe Biden said if "science" says that a shutdown is necessary, he would shut down the U.S. economy. Trump jumped on this and Biden tried to weasel out of it.

According to AOL News:

The last thing bullish post-election season investors want to see is a nationwide lockdown to control the resurgent coronavirus under President-elect Joe Biden.

“3,000 or 4,000 [Dow] points lower at least,” veteran strategist David Nelson of Belpointe Asset Management told Yahoo Finance Live on the market reaction to a possible lockdown.

But that may be what investors are staring down the barrel of if COVID-19 infections and deaths continue to rise ahead of Biden assuming power in late January.

Influential COVID-19 adviser to president-elect Joe Biden Dr. Michael Osterholm told Yahoo Finance Live a four- to six-week national lockdown would be appropriate to get the pandemic under control. Osterholm contends the U.S. has a “big pool of money” to pay for lost household wages from any lockdown. The payments to households would continue as a vaccine for the deadly disease is rolled out across the country.

To read more, go here. 

Cutting Losses

The current hysteria over coronavirus has caused a major drop in DJIA of over 1,700 points.

I had already decided to close out my investment account (selling) and transferring the funds to an insured passbook account for the duration of this mess. Once everything goes back to normal, I'll open a new investment account.

My account took a major beating and I can't afford to lose much more. My banker is handling it.

UPDATE:

Instead of passbook accounts, I moved my funds to money market accounts. They pay better and the current "zoo" doesn't affect them.

Stock Market: Looking Better

After yesterday's 2,000 point drop, things are looking much better today at the New York Stock Exchange.

From CNBC:

9:32 am: Stocks jump at the open, Dow surges more than 800 points 

Stocks jumped at the open a day after posting the steepest declines since the financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 831 points for a gain of 3.5%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose 3.2%. The rise erases less than half of Monday’s sharp losses, however. - Stevens 

9:22 am: Fed pumps another $168 billion into financial system 

The Federal Reserve’s increased bank funding operations continue to see plenty of demand. Separate auctions Tuesday in the short-term lend market, or repo, saw a two-week offering massively oversubscribed, with $93 billion offered for a $45 billion operation. An overnight offering saw the New York Fed’s trading desk fill $123.625 billion in bids. Earlier this week, the Fed increased the size of the offerings from $100 billion to at least $150 billion for overnight repo, and from $20 billion to at least $45 billion. The repo auctions involve financial institutions providing high-quality collateral for the short-term funding banks use for their operations. The Fed began conducting these repo operations after market tumult in September briefly sent short-term yields soaring. – Cox

Don Diego's and the Gallup Cultural Center

Above, the Navajo Code Talker Monument at the Gallup Cultural Center. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This afternoon was spent listening to (and managing to doze off) a conference call with the investment department of my ban on the Market Volatility. With the Dow Jones plunging 2,000 points today, it was rather timely.

Above, Don Diego's Restaurant & Lounge. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

After waking up, I decided I didn't feel like cooking tonight. I wanted to go to Genaro's in Gallup, but was uncertain if they were open on Monday. Turns out they weren't. I figured ahead of time that if they weren't open, I'd go to Don Diego's Restaurant & Lounge or Earl's. Since Don Diego's was closer, I went there and had a good plate of chicken taquitos.

Above, my chicken taquitos dinner at Don Diego's. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

After dinner, while heading down Historic Route 66, I decided to stop by the Gallup Cultural Center of the Southwest Indian Foundation that held its grand re-opening party last week (I was too exhausted to attend). While walking to the center, a Native American girl was also walking in the same direction. She was carrying on a deep conversation with herself. (No, she didn't have her cell phone on with a microphone.) She was either "slightly advanced" mentally or on drugs.

Above, the Gallup Cultural Center. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

She went inside the cultural center ahead of me. I instead went to take a photo of a statue of a Navajo USMC Code Talker and the building before going inside. When I went in, the girl was still talking to herself. Her most lucid moment was asking me if I would get a drink for her from the vending machine in the lobby. She looked like she could use it. So I got her a soda from the machine. She was muttering that some guy raped her and got her pregnant. I guess this qualifies as my "good deed for the day".

The museum was closed (I did see through the window that they had a collection of guitars) as was the restaurant. I did manage to pick up some literature. I then left, with the girl still inside still talking to herself.

I'll have to go to the Gallup Cultural Center at an earlier time when everything would be open.

This time, You CAN Blame Russia (and the Saudis)

As I write this, the stock market is down 2,000 points.

The media is trying to blame this on the coronavirus jitters. But, according to Rush Limbaugh, the drop in the stock market is due to the ongoing squabble over oil supplies and prices between Russia and the Saudis. This makes a lot more sense than blaming the drop on the coronavirus.

Still, a 2,000-point drop is a major drop. Hopefully, trading will be paused before more losses are incurred.

President Trump Tweeted the following four hours ago:

Joe Biden and the Stock Market Crash

Remember back in 2008 when then-Senator Joe Biden gave an interview with Katie Couric and got his facts all screwed up?

Here's a clip:




Biden said: “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”

When the stock market crashed in 1929, Herbert Hoover was president. Roosevelt didn't take office until 1933. And, he spoke on radio, not television.

New Trade Deal With Canada, Stocks Soar

President Trump fulfilled one more campaign promise: to renegotiate a new NAFTA agreement.

It was announced today that Canada has joined the new trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico and the stock market closed nearly 200 points higher.

CNBC reported:

Stocks closed higher on the first day of the fourth quarter as investors cheered news of Canada joining a trade deal with the United States and Mexico. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 192.90 points to 26,651.21 on Monday as Chevron and Boeing outperformed. The S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 2,924.43, led by gains in energy, materials and industrials shares. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.1 percent lower at 8,037.30, however, as declines in Facebook and Intel capped gains in tech.

To read more, go here. 

What The Mainstream Media Won't Report

You most likely won't see any of this reported by the mainstream media: