Transcript
That's the way to start every show. Yeah. Hello, you're up early, people and watching this. It's before 9. Yeah, this is for our British friends. We have those no live from your anti-esg flag pin. I mean aren't all flag pins really a dog whistle for being anti-esg. I think. Well, Depends on the list. It's a business pants Friday show early one here at September 1st. Studio's featuring all your favorite. So some of them Jesse the money Whisperer and analysts whole Matt mascardi. On today's weekly wrap up the glass, Cliff breaks at Walgreens, carbon offset and batteries, batteries and more freaking batteries. Let's do this thing story of the week, just like every August a lot of, not a lot going on. It's a dead. Dead Zone. Yes. But in somehow, it was self-managed to fill, 63 minutes of Showtime. I don't know how. I don't have the energy for that today, I'm gonna go relatively quickly, I have five story story the week. The late breaking story this morning. Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer is out. Wow, glass cliff. Superhero rosborough but of course, we already basically semi predicted a few months ago that this doesn't matter because the company is actually controlled by who Stefano pessina Stefano. Pasino, according to our data, Controls 63% of our influence. So if you've, if you've been listening to us or look at our data, you would know that Roz Brewer is an absolute Pawn. A glass Cliff Pond? Yeah. This, you would have known. This was inevitable. Considering she had no control over anything. And this is the short term thinking of Stefano Pacino who I guess because he's 81 years old. Would think short term. Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, this is the first quarter that has missed Wall Street, expectations, since July 2020, the very first quarter they miss earnings she's out after being on the job for only two years. But again our data predicts, this kind of nonsense because it is up to the whims of one old Italian dude. So Ross, I'm not a very good CEO. If you want to join free, float become the CEO. The pay is the take a significant pay cut and there would be absolutely a volunteer position and there's absolutely no cash a that comes with it. I recommend join us in terms. CEO will be lead, independent, director, Ginger Graham, Oh yeah. So Begging the question, will there be another back? The back glass Cliffs? I don't know and you know looking at our data Ross, Brewer controlled 10% of the influence. Ginger Graham controlled 70% lately, influenced. So whatever just going down doesn't matter just doesn't matter. Second big story of the week I guess this is big Matt you covered this. A Vanguard joins Blackrock in backing fewer, ESG, proposals, during 2023 proxy season. So they supported, they That's Right, audience. They supported 12% last year which are already seems low and this year, they supported only two percent. So, just two and I know, Matt, you looked into the data and you were right to do that, because there's a big handful of technically anti-esg proposals, but as we pointed out many times, that those are still ESG proposals. So, and there's not that enough of them, that it really does. Explain. Okay, do we think vanguard's gonna vote? Yes. For the proposal? That wants to know about ideological discrimination or Reverse Racism? I think they're gonna vote. No one ever gonna vote. No one everything, that's it. That's the bigger. This is denominator problem, right? The denial, got bigger and the percentage got smaller as a result of me. If I'm wrong, if you remove those anti ESG proposals, it's still like, yeah, it's still, oh, we're actually back to status quo. I think the real story here is not that their, their, like, Not backing as many proposals. It's literally that they're going back to 19, you know, 2019 where they didn't back any proposals to begin with in 2020. The pandemic led to a spike in proposals that everyone backed people have these. Yeah, they were at home. They had nothing to do their bosses weren't looking over their shoulder. They were like, vote against humanity. Yeah. They were worried about dying. This is a nothing story. I will say. This is why it's not a nothing story. From our perspective. Matt is that I think kind of officially officially in the Canon of our industry. All the anti-esg idiots, it's strive and National Center public research. All those places. There are officially canonized now as ESG base that they are true. I like that. Sorry guys, so you hate yourself, you. You've tried so hard to be not here in the same way. We use a data. You are proving without a shadow of a doubt that this isn't a political process, it is just data. You do, you're using it. I love everything you're saying, I love your word. Next story of the week which is just kind of for me only really Bloomberg. Michael Bloomberg, his company. He fired his entire board of directors. Again, it points out why our data is actually important because what most regular ESG data providers provide does not always get the Nuance that we get with influence, right? Like because sometimes, like Elon musket Tesla. He only owns what like 14% of shares. Uh yeah less now I think yeah sell so much to buy Twitter but it's only our data, that demonstrates his. His actual influence objectively. Right? I bet this is different because this is a private company. Oh I I just I just thought it was funny. I do think it's funny though. Like can you imagine like showing up to the board meeting and Bloomberg walking? He's a guy, he's got to talk, you're all fired but demonstrate what you were talking about. All the time is it? When we roll our eyes at boards, where there's really only one person in charge. Yeah. That's like meta, right? Yeah, that's exactly what Zuckerberg can do. Tomorrow, he can do he, of course, and who's gonna like say, no, I'm not, I'm not leaving, Mark, can you imagine like the vote, whether you the board will vote, the everyone should Place their vote and then they're all fired anyway? I think I actually that would be if Zuck wants to be a real ball or rather than doing a dick size. Measuring cage match with Elon Musk should fire his entire board. And Elon can't write because it's a it's like you can at Twitter but there is no board so he can't do it at Tesla to me. It would be really funny if that Zuck was like yeah watch watch what real power looks like. Douchebag fires is bored just for the fun of it. Yeah, just for the fun. The only known new director is Mark Carney. Remember, Mark Carney? I do yeah, he's a climate. Yeah, Evangel evangelist. There you go forth Story. The week is really just a follow-up. I, I kind of had to add this. It's just too ridiculous. Remember the, the horrible Spanish soccer official, who we talked about last week, who kissed, the, her his player on the lips. He also grabbed his crotch. Yeah, did all kinds of things. He said he was gonna resign but then he took it back. He's angry at everybody. The update on the story. Is that his mother Is going on hunger strike. She has. This is true. She has locked herself in a church and went on Hunger, Strike to protest his treatment. Saying, she will not eat until what she called, the inhuman and bloody persecution of her son ended. Okay. I think this is a woman who doesn't, maybe really understand the me too movement in general. Maybe I think when your son grabs his crotch, maybe we know, like where are the Apple fell from that? Maybe she's at home. Okay, grabbing her crotch and kissing man on the street. Like you're blaming her for. All right. Well, I mean, like, where do you learn stuff? I don't know. So, and finally, a kind of a weird quiet story, six months after becoming the CEO at Shell. Well, so one quietly ended, the world's biggest corporate plan to develop carbon. Yeah, this guy's something else. So he had a 100 million dollar year project to build a pipeline of carbon credits, right? Part of the company's promise to Have Net Zero by 2050. But in a meeting, a few months ago, he is just dropped the proposal completely. It just doesn't exist anymore. It didn't even explain why it's gone. I mean, I think we can guess what what shells doing here, but just this is the quiet quitting. It's like quiet NetZero dropping. Yeah. Quiet at zero quitting. This is the same week that Exxon just said reaching climate goals are is impossible. yeah, so this this is if you're wondering what the anti-woke wanted, This is prong one, right? Like every proposal is like all the legislation is about protecting effectively the oil and gas industry and if you're an oil and gas executive, now you feel pretty empowered by governments in the United States in particular to just be like, governments, fuck yourself. We're not gonna do anything. We don't have to do anything. We're gonna drill some more. So, those are the five stories of the week. I don't like these stories. I could recap them, but I don't feel like it. It's Ross, Brewers steps down, Vanguard and BlackRock, don't back. Yes, you proposals Bloomberg axis, entire board, soccer film mom goes on hunger strike and she'll quits carbon Footprints. Our carbon credit program. I don't know. Actually, I think I'm gonna choose Ross. Brewer. Wow, breaking news. Yeah, I wonder if we did predict this, I got to look back. We make all these super predictions every week. We don't actually do an auditing if anyone's ever, right, although I did do that for today's show about something I got right. But later, I think I need to go. With. The shell story, shell of a shell at Shell. Yeah, look, I because I think actually, it by itself is not unexpected, but the long-term implications of it, this is like the beginning of a long Arc of watching companies, who are never that serious about climate, or who have vested interest in destroying the climate effectively, just stop doing whatever they were doing. They just don't give a fuk. This is this is I guess that to me is this is this equivalent of the Vanguard story I suppose they're kind of the same thing, right? Like where everybody can go back to like whatever version of status quo was 2017 and like not vote your proxies anymore except for what management says we can ignore. All the ESG stuff we can stop with carbon credits and carbon offsets and reducing carbon, who cares like nobody seems to care. We're going to, of course. Meanwhile we have like two raging hurricanes that just like are off the coast of the Atlantic like, right now. Yeah. I don't know what planet they live on the course when they propose these programs to begin with that Zero by 2050. We rolled her eyes in the first. Yeah, maybe they're just acknowledging the truth. Yeah, it's I think actually the story of the week is authenticity if like shell and Vanguard and BlackRock all going true to form and Bloomberg. Like that's authentic, that's authentic dictator. Break the tie. I'll just break. The I'll just go with only because It kind of encapsulates, a victory for our data. I'll agree with Jesse last Cliff CEO, Ross. Brewer out. That's fine. It's the final Pacino. The ruler, according to our, hey, I'm proving you right. Matt as the author of this great data. I'm proving you write the final Pasadena, is the dictator, I'm long term, right? But you're both wrong about the story the week. Let's do good least. Week, and the absence of Ari. Can I just say the goodies of the week? I've not been as good least. I haven't been complaining as much though. Yeah, complains that all of her choices. Always Damien, complains about all things that's like, true, that that's still hasn't registered for me yet. I'm like, still trying. Yeah, when he like, complains, you you react, like, oh, something must be wrong. So, I tried to explain you. It's just a language. It's just, it's not, that's not always a lovely. All right, what's what's he first? And it Matt you actually pick up on the story later in the show. So I'm not gonna spend a lot here. But I actually saw the good side of this is that a renewable energy, battery plant. Is being built in West Virginia, where there was once a steel mill? Yeah, a 750 million dollar project that will create 750 jobs part of Biden's inflation reduction act. I don't know how to and I, and I'm interested to hear what you have to say about this later map, but to me, From the just from the highlights. This is just seems yeah. Optically. Nice and amazing. So this is this is although I don't know where you're going with yours map, but it does. The one thing that rings out to me is that all the states, that seem to Hate Everything. ESG seemed to get funneled the SG project, but I'm guessing because they're so horrible to their labor, that it is very cheap to do these things in those States is now, this is, this is all, this is all the games, this is the con game, the great Khan. All right, you have your second one. I don't even want to wait on this one. Go ahead. Just go to the next one. Mine is also a battery story and it's all good. It's at Nissan is reusing the battery is from old Leaf EVS to make portable power sources that can be used in the event of natural disasters. Or I mean. So what what do you charge me with that? What do you charge me with that portable battery like a little one here? Okay, you're being negative already know. I like it. I like this one. This is sociate Professor. That was quoted in the article said that once an EV battery reaches 80% like the clients the efficacy to 80%, it can't be used to drive and Ava only 80%. Yeah, so watch me, throw my laptop out the window that you Here, you know, I like complaining. That's a free laptop that charge does last about as long as the Bud Light commercial. So I appreciate it. Yeah, go ahead, whatever. So, there's a ton of life left, this is good. Otherwise, they're just making these batteries. That we know there's a lot of resources, precious resources that go into them. The EV makers, get a lot of flack for the batteries, otherwise, they just be throwing them out. Yeah, so I like it. I like the story. Um, but my story is better and that is Walgreens Ross. Brewer steps down after two years later, all why good for this is good for this is fantastic, Roz. Must have woken up like the day. She knew she was gonna have to announce, they missed, a missed earnings and missed earnings, doesn't mean they lost money. It's just means they missed analyst targets earnings, right? Yeah. That number of reasons but she must have woken up and Stefano Pacino's probably calling her being like, Ross, what are we doing about this? And she was like, you know what, fuck this. Like, I feel like I am out of here and she had 10% influence piscina had 63% influence and he's married to an executive at Walgreens at some point. After two years of dealing with that bullshit, she must have been, like, I'm dodging, a bullet, like getting out right now. And my advice is this write this down? People, you write it. You got a pen. You got a pen? Yeah, don't be the CEO under a dictator. Particularly if you're a lady, if you like, it just seems like what keeps happening is the Lindy aquarena, the Roz Brewer. It is the man who is the executive chair. Has all the power. This actually happens in private markets all the time. The founder becomes the executive chair does. None of the work like none of the like Dirty Work of managing day-to-day, and some woman is the CEO, who does whatever that guy says, because that guy has all the money. The power. The shares, you know, is a founder or whatever. So like it's Jeff Bezos, is this now except that he's got Andy, jassy and said of a woman I ask is this so common let me ask this question. Why not fire CEO or Nella Barra? That's isn't that who he's. Oh, that's his wife right to see. What Walgreens, of course, is his wife. That's right. So, that's why he was role for this. How could it not be goodly as a week for Roz? Brewer the minute she hands in her resignation to casino in the board? She must have gone home and smoked the largest joint and or had a giant like glass of wine and been like so. Oh, thank God. This is over. Like, I mean done to really talk about how crazy this is is that the only reason why there's any dip at Walgreens is because of a post-covid dip, yeah, right? Like the people don't know nothing, she's responsible for not to mention that. I hope they do hire another woman in the sense that someone's about to get credit because covid seems to be trickling back. I bet you CVS and Walgreens are going to see a bit of a surge because of all the booster shots and I hope it's at least another woman. It takes credit for that helping us to see. Oh, who's proven? She's done an excellent job. Well it does beg the question. I mean Arnella bar has been there for so much longer. Why not blame her? I mean, really seriously, because you have to go home with her, I know also. All right, that's it to be fair. I just looked up Ross, Brewers compensation. She okay she didn't really have to do much, right? Because she doesn't have influence and she's not making this. She made 17.29 million dollars. Still less than five. Yes guy. I mean that's right for her to she. She's right two years. You you handed it. You stepped down. My guess is they probably paid out your existing options because they wanted you to step down. Anyway, that means you have plenty of money and you don't need to get paid for a little while. I'm telling you free float, LLC, it's where the actions at. So, that's my good list. That means the good list, sir. Oh, yeah. Go ahead, renewable energy, plant in West Virginia. Nissan is reusing its batteries from electric vehicles and bizarrely for Matt Walgreens CEO Rose. Brewer is free. Yes. I mean it's just so good that she's right now, that's when we want to go. Uh well I'm definitely not going with a renewable energy battery plant. Well I don't think I can go for that either because it's Unconscious vote for it here. Until I know what he's about to say. That's right, so I gotta vote for my own. That's kind of tacky. But I'm voted for Nissan. Well, I'm gonna make it not even a thing because I'm gonna vote for Nissan all. So all right. Good clean sleep. There you go on. Nobody cares. All right, nobody cares. It's great. There's another battery. Yeah, we win Battery tech. We did it. We found a battery. All right. Absolutely. So the week I have four but really three. Um, my first asshole the week is this story. A renewable energy. Battery plant will rise in West Virginia. Where is steel mill? One stood, okay, Damien, you already said it. Joe manchin fought against his own, climate proposal used. It used fighting against his climate proposal, as a ploy to get his own shit in the inflation reduction act. The inflation reduction Act is paying for this renewable plant in the state. It's the subsidies from that that are largely paying for it West Virginia, in March, of this year signed a bill into law, Banning ESG from State retirement. Claiming this is a quote from the law environmental social corporate governance, or similarly oriented considerations are not pecuniary factors Now means financial and material. Which means they said governance. Corporate governance is not a pecuniary factor West. Virginia actually should justify every time they vote for any to elect a director. That's governance. They now shouldn't do that at all. They can't use any factors, we will not selling free flow analytics data to West Virginia, but you're taking them seriously, you know, it's just gameplay is just game and shit, but I'm saying that, this is the fucking con game of the anti will write. The state is benefiting from renewable jobs and they are simultaneously out there talking about how, you know, we need to protect our cold jobs and we need to do like it's such fucking bulshit. It drives me bananas. There's, there's such assholes because they know the money is in this stuff, Renewables reducing carbon? They know what has to happen. And yet they sell everyone on the idea that ESG is bad and Renewables are bad climate fighting, climate change is bad. So this story actually made me think West Virginia are the assholes of the week, not all of West Virginia. Oh I mean basically how is this spun? Exactly. I how is a renewable energy, battery plant, have you seen the story people that they're telling are you know, everything is a hoax and the battery is a spun, right? But using solar panels. For instance companies have been going and buying farmland and replacing the Farmland with solar panels. And and basically paying the farmers to lease the land to create energy because there's plenty of Sun. And what the right has been saying, the far conservatives in this country has been saying is you're actually killing the property value and biodiversity. That's their that's their argument for not doing solar panels. It's the most fucking asinine thing considering they don't care about biodiversity or, you know, like anywhere else. It's old bulshit. It's all just we don't Not solar panels because we're not prepared. Basically, it seems like the conservative anti-woke effort is the same as Elon Musk saying. We need to put a pause on AI while he builds his AI business. He's now been widely reported that Elon Musk put out a letter saying, everyone should pause AI while he was investing in a start-up to create his own AI. This is every con artist conservative state in this country saying is she is bad, Renewables are bad. We need to protect our own energy, we need to drill and on the same time they're just building their renewable capacity. They're putting in solar the biggest renewable energy generator in the country is Texas. That's the biggest and they have a law about discriminating against fossil fuels. I'm sorry. It's fucking bulshit. I spare the audience. There's so many juicy ridiculous. Horrible Elon. Musk's story is today that I spare the audience. I think I might cover them on. Monday. Because again, they do again, they do sort of respond to our data very well, which is this is what happens when you put a dictator in place because the the craziest Stories being about his acquisition of Twitter and how really as we you know, kind of all knew. But all of it was just based on his petulance. Yeah everything, obviously. But that's everything now but I know but you don't, you you got a Workforce at a company. That is one of the most beloved companies in the world. Really? You got its work force because one baby, one big man who, who bought it, they say according to this new book because he was upset about his daughter transitioning and he wanted to save his children from the, from the world, from the world. He's yeah, yeah. So I imagine how much self-loathing it takes. All right, so that's number one, West Virginia. Number two, asshole, the week Tarik fancy. Wait, how come Drake fancy? Never been on our show, I've been invited him. I have reached, I've Right to connect with them. I think he has no interest. We were both the same year at Brown. I didn't know him, but he talks a lot. Why doesn't he talk for us with us? Tariq fancy was the head of sustainable investment or something at BlackRock for one year and nine months, but he came out and not whistle blew, but he basically was like, an inside or a black rock, who was saying that, like ESG is bullshit like black rocks using his bulshit. He said what everybody inside? Yes, she already knew but it became a big story because he's from BlackRock and BlackRock had Larry Fink talking about ESG and he was saying like, no, that's all that's all shit. But this is why I'm tired of hearing just blowhard because he had less than two years of experience in a job that had the word sustainable in it. Every other job he had was in a turnaround specialist at a private Equity Fund, like basically distressed debt and bankrupt. Company. He was an intern at Merrill Lynch, he was an investment banking Analyst at Credit. Suisse he worked at a Singapore, base social media, marketing company. He goes on to be a the head of sustainable investment at BlackRock for one year and nine months and now gets to say these are the headlines. I saw it's time to dismantle the circus. ESG has served its purpose as black rocks, Tarik fancy DWS is Desiree. Flick slur former BlackRock exact Tarik. Fancy many ESG experts are under qualified really well honey. Define many really, really unless he's self-deprecating Lee, including himself as under qualified for the job that he had. They're like, there's no way that these people have seen, the literally thousands of data points that you, and I and not Jesse, but you, and I, for sure hand collected over 10 years in pursuit of transparency. Wait, but as part of his whole story to Reef fantasy that because they hired him, it must be a scam. Because he knows he's not say that as the broader context is that, but is that the takeaway here? But we're really, we're just talking about Black Rock, who seemingly appointed, someone to head something that they had no experience in his butt. Is that really his, the main impetus for this? No, I think he's talking about like the broader ESG ecosystem and according to his nose, Courtney, his thorough analysis. Yeah. That ESG is full of many idiots, full of underqualified under qualified people, right? And okay. And I'm just I'm tired of hearing from a blowhard who basically he's never seen. A data point and he spent one year doing this, what the fuck accomplished one year? So, one year nine months, so he got me really angry. Number three assholes of the week. Um, Jeff Owen and Todd vasos. These are Dollar General's, CEO and X CEO, who's still on the board. Now, this story that I saw wasn't the biggest deal of the week. It's Dollar General's messy stores are hunting the retailer. As it takes a 95 million dollar hit on inventory, markdowns and deploy smart teams to clean up. Basically they, their stores are messy and full of shit. They said that they are taking old inventory that they had marked down to a penny and just throwing it all away. Which is great. Yeah that's a good idea. Let's throw it in a landfill. They are so messy that they're blocking fire exits. They've been cited for blocking exits with inventory and it's such a disaster in some stories. There have rat infestations. They had to close the store in Upstate New York because they found rat feces in a dead rat and boxes and it's like everywhere, right? But the reason why I picked these two is because it proves our point, which is your management team might actually matter if you don't pay attention to whether or not they suck. Dollar General managed to squeeze a whopping two women. 25% of their board is women eighth person board and two people of color 25% other board. One of them being a twofer, a black woman. So obviously, we're really only talking about three people and they have 37% representation on the board and 19% influence. The median employee there makes 17,000 dollars a year. The CEO makes that in four hours, the CEO makes more than 900 times the median employee and the committee that approves pay discloses. No interlocks. But our data shows that the board is 30% interconnected inside two phone calls. Todd vasos was the CEO. He basically, I gird himself, he's the largest shareholder. That's not institutional and he sits on the board with his own CFO who's now the CEO Jeff Owens and the two of them control 40% of the board influence together. Do we expect that this company is going to be? Well run that they're not going to take 95 million dollar hits because they can't actually put boxes away. When a couple of bros who know each known each other for years, sit on the board together that there's no one to challenge them. They have all of the influence and they pay themselves. Like they're selling fucking like AI based. You know, widgets when really what they sell is Penny. Plastic, you know Rubber Chickens. What are we talking about here? Speaking of Dollar General just yesterday, the author of the report executive excess 2023, she's out of the institute for policy studies stuff, Sarah Anderson. She has a report about the low wage 100. They're calling it, where this is the out of the S&P 500, these are the companies with the lowest median worker. Paid a low wage 100. She has a new paper out about the CEO, worker pay Gap. There 63 to 1. She also talks about how the low wage 100 has spent more than 340 billion dollars on stock BuyBacks since 2020, but she has agreed to come on the show. So look for her in the next couple of weeks. I think we're like so but Dollar General being one of the way. Yeah. There, one of the worst. So that's my third option, and my fourth option is really just this headline, which I just I just couldn't believe his real headline, but female professors. Sue Vassar College, a legend for women's college alleging gender-based. Salary, discrimination Vassar Vassar College. If you don't know who Vassar is in this country, there were one of in the 60s, they were one of the earliest women's colleges or women's Focus colleges in the country and they're known as one of the Seven Sisters, Seven, Sisters, a seven. I think it's Seven Sisters, which are colleges. That previously were only female only colleges and, and they're one of the most Progressive most liberal colleges in the entire country. Well the the good news for the female professors suing is that they peg in the lawsuit, the pay Gap is only is 10% less than their male cohorts, where the rest of the world has 20% less, so that's Progressive, that's presented. Usually get 80 cents on the dollar, they're getting nine cents on the dollar so that's progress. So those are my four-ish stories, West Virginia, the Dollar General management team and I won't even count really the last one but you can, if you want You got a feeling on this one, Jesse. Hmm. I can go first, you go, first, I got to go with Tariq fantasy and I and I want to reach actually to come on the show but I am I I do tire this age, we live in where where you can get headlines, you can get a lot of attention in a claim but just making shit up. I mean it's one thing I I know, we're always sound like a holes around here, but one thing we try not to do is is to to not have this be research based a Hillary, right? We actually look into the things that we did a lot of research but to just go around saying that that you just think that things people are under qualify without any objective data or research. It's just makes you look like a idiot in a jerk in a Blow heart but still I want you to come on the show. I mean, talk about it. We can I would like the Funny thing is, I think a lot of the ESG experts are blowhards, right? Like, I don't actually totally world or blowhards disagree with them, but it's coming from a blowhard without like this self-realization of, like, I am among them. Stop asking me questions, we can't, but we're entering this, like, the new age of like fun, man, explaining meritocracy, rights come out and they, they have in their head kind of like, George Costanza, and Larry David of Kirby's, and they had this idea of what they think is, right? What they think is the proper Merit to accomplish a goal but they don't, of course, share that they don't, they don't share the Rubicon of what makes you qualified for something. They just determined and decide and announced in front of a huge audiences that be that women and black people could not be qualified. I mean, that's not what to read measure. That's their idea of marriage doesn't says yeah. But that's what Eric is saying. Too. Because we know the ESU industry is full of essentially, women really compared to other a lot of sectors right there are a lot of it though, but that's crazy. He does, you guys have swayed me? I'm gonna vote. Wow. Like this way. I like, wow, that's a sweep. We have a sweep in a while a lot of sweeps. I think, because we just want to wrap this up, let's get this on going on. To what are we on exhausting? Yeah, oh no coffee for this one. Jesse speed through it. These are, these are pretty obvious this week. So my first one has to do with carbon offset. Effective as cutting your carbon emissions. There was and a systematic evaluation of 26. Carbon offset projects, systematic evaluation see, I like this, Jesse. I like this. They're looking at these offset projects that you know, huge companies, Delta JetBlue, Disney GM are all contributing to and obviously they found the vast majority of the projects. These were particularly around deforestation, they didn't actually slow it and they were significantly, even though it was that did claim that they were effective, they were significantly less effective than the claims made it seem obviously. So the studies lead author. Said, the main message is that relying on call carbon offset certification is not enough. He also said, if you rely on it 100%, you probably will not do. Anything positive in terms of mitigating climate. Oh yeah. Which we know but here's the groin kick. Not to mention, Jesse the ESG industry. The issue field is relatively new in the first place. So Tariq, where were these people supposed to get qualified when in? Like, there's a good Princeton in 1919 to get qualified. How is how is one supposed to be qualified for something that's new in the first place, really, right? I mean, really just, he's basically striking down. All Innovation striking down anything new anything modern, right? Because again, how how are you supposed to get called? You back into carbon office? He's reading the trick story and he's angry about the trick story. That's what's happening. That's wanna know where they're supposed to be ignoring. All right. Next, false fuel subsidies. Surged to a record, seven Trail, Jesus. So, yeah, that seems significant. Billion more. It's more than the globe that the entire world spends on education and this hurts just hurts. All right. Well you know we know that in large part it's due to the war in Russia, everybody was upset. I so they said, so subsidies so that the rest of the world could access the energy they needed, but we are living in a climate crisis, so I just can't help but think that if we diverted one of these trillions look Vivek, just came out and said, I think on CNN and he just said on CNN and that that climate scientists are predicting that there's going to be another Ice Age. So how can it be warming? If there's a nice age, that's what he said on on CNN. He said it's a hoaxes getting. Well, the facts are climate change will cause the polar ice caps to melt, which will lead to another Ice Age. It's basically like that they sort of things seem good, we're all fucked. Like, you know, if we diverted even a fraction of that to renewable energy That could have helped. Why why even diverted to renewable energy? Why not just feed humans? Yeah you have to mention a lot with 7 trillion to do that not to mention I mean I'm not a warmonger but okay the fossil fuel subsidies Rose by two trillion dollars. They're tripping that to the war right? That's what you're saying Jesse yeah why not? Just take a trillion of that dollar. Save a trillion dollars and just get rid of Putin just go and the War. I don't know like trying dollars would get rid of what if you realize this war is still going on. I know this world like nobody. Nobody, I know there was a bunch of hanging at first. There was a bunch of support and people hung up some like, blue and yellow things or whatever, but nobody has done anything to stop it, it obviously is good business for somebody so they're keeping it going. I don't, I don't know, not good for you crane that that one, I know countries that he but everyone else, it seems pretty great. But I do if you took Billion of that subsidies and actually gave it to Putin and made him sign a contract that said he would just live in Antarctica for the rest of his days with a trillion dollars. He might take that deal, you might end the war with the with no more Bloodshed and save another trillion that seems. Yeah the joke, the joke can be on him, we can build him a mansion on an island and we can cancel his doordash. Subscription does Islands now. All right, what else? Yes, yeah, definitely exhausted. This last one I had to point out because I have to promote us the headline. Is investors. Warren fluffy ESG metrics. Here we go again. Yeah, another dog was what does that even mean? Fluffy. Yeah, go three quarters of the S&P. 500 companies have disclosed that ESG metrics contribute to Executive pay its up from 2/3, which sounds good, of course. But asset managers this specific specifically Uh, they quoted the sky been Colton whose head of stewardship at State Street. Oh man, right. He said, oftentimes, they were very subjective fluffy and easily gamed but here's, yeah, here's where we come in. We are about to have data on NEOS and we already have it on directors. You could just use it, and then it won't be fluffy. It'll be like actual performance metrics like that. Just on data, you should. Yeah, I should, I should see. I used to audit State Street. Maybe someone can put me in touch with Ben Cole. And I think I am being cold, and actually, here's what I'm super confused, and you can ask Ben Colton is the, for the longest time, we were pushing for, for publicly traded corporations to have ESG metrics in their pay plans and now they're fluffy. I well, here's the thing, he's not wrong because the metrics are completely, right? You take carbon offsets and you're like, the, the, the the basically, they're setting up targets that are used like, vague sort of indicators, and are easy to get, but two things are true, but they, but they represent like probably 1% of the first thing that's true. That's it Equity, that's crazy. The equities, the process. So not these metric. First thing that's true, is it literally represents like 1% of their pay. Like there is the highest cases, it's like 5% of their pay. So we're not we're talking about very, very little pay to these Executives and nothing number two. When I was at msci, at the mothership, I did a study of how companies choose their peer groups for traditional executive pay. And it turns out it's fluffy like they just fluff ball. So I had to choose this. I know this is why I'm angry. I would hate you guys up what this is why I'm angry about what he could caffeinated. Well, yeah, but you're completely like, redirecting the narrative here. You're you're creating, this is like fodder for the, for the viveks and for the turrets fancies and the into anti-esg because you're making it seem like it is the fluffy ESG metrics, that's making these payouts massive, but where we all know, and the United States, the the number one and only problem these pay packages and as Matt you point out over and over and over is that they're designed by other CEOs, first of all and second of all, it's all Equity. It's just a dump of equity. No one knows why the it's so much Equity, no one understands it. That's why these packages. So it's not as nothing to do. And you think let me ask you something. Do you think what percentage? I mean this is just a dumbass right, what percentage? I don't think anyone The tracks, all of the percentage, like most of these disclosures, they give you like the percentage targets, right? Like if you hit your target, you get 50, you know, this percent. If you feel like you go over your target you get this percent so your max percentage payout. Now those numbers don't get tracked anywhere. They're make believe numbers, they're fictitious numbers. A couple of people sit in a room and they make them up literally make them up. Right? What how many times do you think they set those percentages in such a way? Now remember this is a compensation committee that the management team generally handpicks what percentage of the time does that team? Say we need to set some really stringent bars here. We need to make sure that the targets you really maybe something. Maybe if it's a glass Cliff woman and in power that's actually you say that. But that's this. That's when they are serious, they're most serious. When it's a, when it's a woman or a person of color who we know, get paid less, their bars are. Always higher. Yeah. And they're no fucking bars. And yes. And then they set the Targets in such a way that they know that they're achievable and even when they don't achieve them, you end up with something like we covered last week with Dick's Sporting Goods. Where they wait until the stock price, like it's like you missed all your targets. Like, we're gonna pay you nothing this year, but don't worry, we're gonna change your Equity plan while the stock is low. So you get a massive payout seven years from now four years from now, or whenever it vests right on based on been quoting you here on fluffy. It's all thought process, looking fluffy, and not to mention that those targets. And goals that you talked about, they, they kind of shift year to year, for no apparent reason that they're easier to game every year. And again, it's because of the fluff in between the ears of the compensation committee. It's not has nothing to do with ESG Metro, so do you? But they all these committees, they hire Consultants to come in and pick the peer groups and like, help set the compensation. And who pays the consultant. I was gonna say, I guarantee the money paid to those Consultants is way more than the percentage that they're getting from ESG metrics. Correct. This is all fucking jokes and Ben, I'm upset about this one because I like rely on State Street to be like the adult in the room. I don't actually guards in the black rocks but this to me is just nonsense. I don't know, said more about this. I don't know. Been personally, I'm connected to Ben. I'll reach out to Ben and see if he wants to talk about that. I'd love to talk to me because um, because because my guess is he would agree with us entirely and how about this, how about this? One more thing to say here? And you know what? I'm voting for here, but one more thing, Jesse is that on top of it all Shareholders can vote on these PayPal packages. Yeah that's right. They don't buy so you can turn, you can actually vote against fluffy ESG, metrics? Say no. But the company does not have to listen what percentage of the time. Do they vote against pay? Well, now it's even more because your anti-esg firms, like strive Asset Management are voting against any paid plan that mentions anything to do with ESG or Dei at all. Just remember in ESG is governance. So if your pay plan mentions G, that's a problem already. But it also, what is the function of a CEO? It is to manage the workforce of the company and make them productive, but if you work force, that's s of ESG. So can't do that. So what you're welcome. All right, so we got fossil fuel subsidies surged to 7 trillion, and fluffy ESG, metrics being game to Boost Mobile. I'm going first because the fluffy ESG metrics to me, it's like the fossil fuel subsidies jumping is not a surprise given what's going on everywhere else. And we know Carbon offsets weren't effective, right? Like, that's exactly. We knew that. That. But yeah, this point ongoing discussion about what ESG metrics are that, they're not great that they're fluffy that they're shit. That all ESG ratings should correlate that ESG professionals are under qualified. That ESG is a circus, get your heads out of your asses, it's just a data set and you can do something with it or not do something with it. Stop blaming it for all your fucking problems. You know, I blame this is this is where I blame Malcolm Gladwell for all this, because he was sort of, he was sort of the prints, he was the prince of like finding it gets a huge data set, he Cherry picks one little thing to tell this asinine story about why everything happened, right? He was very good at that but this is the new age we're in is that we can we can now cherry pick. One little minutiae of the whole issue industry and we can point to it as being the thing that is ruinous and the thing that is non-merit based and it's it's causing this and causing that, but it doesn't tell the full Stories. So I agree with you, Matt. Like I it just irritates me because I I spent years in these pay plans and I know I know based on an actual experience. Tariq, right. There's a lot of different ways of getting qualified for your role, right. It's not just studying ESG at Harvard in 1837, but but I know for a fact that these fluffy ESG metrics, represent, you know, point. Oh, five percent of the reason why us pay plan sucks. I well, when I know for a fact is that all metrics are fluffy when you have a situation where that's true too, that's when you have a situation where after the financial crisis, one in four US based companies restated, their financials, when, you know that Auditors, use thresholds. There's a paper on this by a prety. Chowdry professor chowdry, out of University of Arizona's business school, the that Auditors will set Black Box thresholds for what is material and what isn't when you know that The difference between a capital expense and an ongoing or a capital Improvement in an ongoing expense is a dude, putting his finger in the fucking are and saying well we're gonna call this a capital Improvement because that looks better to shareholders and we'll call that thing and ongoing expense. We know all that. All this is subjective. There's some Slayer of subjectivity in every data set. If you cannot get your head out of your ass and just say, we know that's true, but all data is that way, what can we use? And what do we think, then you're not doing your job, and I hate you. All right, let's do this. Is the angry issue we've ever had. Yeah, maybe we should do these early morning show. We're all right. Let's do who won the week and prediction before my head pops. I'll go first and quickly. Here's a prediction. I, I'm gonna give myself credit for, we predicted here on the show about a month ago that when are, you would kind of quit her maternity leave? And I, I heard some gossip from the money Whisperer Jesse, that already was actually in the office yesterday. Working, that is right? It's not a journalist And of course our our never says hello to me because I live up here in this horrible state of Maine. But she was working yesterday. I predicted that she'd come back after Labor Day which is in like four days. Matt, you predicted, she come back after National Ice Cream Sandwich day, which is August 2nd, right? So I'm gonna take the victory on this one. So we're close to labor day so I'm gonna say that you're wrong because your little birds did not tweet that she actually worked two weeks ago. She came in for like three years, yesterday was like, okay, three and a half hours like it's called a tie. Then we'll call it a tie because somewhere in the middle of August, is kind of in between our predictions, Jesse, you have a winner. I chose parents because kids went back to school. Oh yes, that's a jaded, that's a jaded. Look at the world. My children are back in school. Now, I only have like norovirus and covid to worry about and it's coming. Yeah, babysitter on the bus. My winner of this week was proxy voting Oh, because people are talking about never in the history of any time. Has anyone outside of governance cared about how BlackRock and Vanguard voted? But it's now in the new fucking posts, like, come on New York Post covering it like, like right by an article about Don Mattingly. I mean, what century are you living in? I don't know. I just I think the New York Post, I just think of his mustache. Don't Mattingly Wade, Boggs fighting each other, which means I think proxy voting won the week, but predictions. Do we have any predictions? I have a quick prediction copycat glass. Cliff firing at CVS, why not? Fire, Karen Lynch. Yeah, she's hitting 247 overall Corner metrics. There is a, there's a, there's a good democracy of influence over there. She has no real power to keep her job. Yeah, CVS. CVS is stock price has been being just as horrible as Walgreens get rid of. That'll be fun. I I have one prediction Us out. I'm on the Public Square mailing list which means I get all the anti-wolf product announcements. No, no, yes, no. My prediction is before the end of 2023, someone launches a line of anti anti-wolf products on a new website, where they only sell products that undo anti-world products that our next businessman, just our next business venture and I predict that that website will go public via SPAC inside of six months. That's my prediction. That's all we've got, that's your show for the week. That's Damien. The guy and Jesse the money was for, I'm your analyst. Whole, we are free float. The Show sponsored by free flow analytics.com, go there. Sign up. It's free for a while. It's gonna get expensive and you know what we're doing? We're gonna Legacy everybody into a plan for free. It's good stuff. So you can until next week. Goodbye.