Business Pants – 2022-07-27

Wmpg thrives on support from listeners and from local business such as the West End news featuring original content and Neighborhood News in print and online. The West End news is a locally owned independent monthly publication online at the West End news.com. This is wmpg Portland Gorham and we are business pants. I'm alerting joined by Damian, Ross, and Matt moscati it is, Wednesday. July 27th. 2022 at around 8 p.m. Let's just get right to it. Lots of updates for you this week per usual. Damien, I was ready for my updates. I got a lot, I got a lot. We got to start. Unfortunately here. Oh, no, actually. Can I start with a simple blowhard headline that I'm really, I, really enjoyed this morning. I just like this. I just like the way the sound is. Okay. Okay. Here's the headline, a 32 year Market, vet breaks down. Why he certainly wouldn't rule out 33% further downside in stocks as the market battles inflation. Historically, high valuations and over optimistic earnings expectations. How is that Wait, wait, let me repeat that. Certainly wouldn't rule out 33% further downside in stock Imagine, imagine doing something because of 32 year, vet wouldn't rule out. Certainly would random love her. The good, it's good headline. Good Paul. Let's talk about Elon Musk. Unfortunately, I'm really doing this for you, why? Here we go? Because you're a big Wall Street Journal fan here. Elon Musk friendship. Where Sergey Brin is ruptured by alleged Affair. The, let's talk about the Bromance first. Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google was it a Tesla investor providing Tesla with 500,000 dollars during the 2008 financial crisis. Musk was a close to Brynn and Brent fellow, cool funder, Larry Page and the three of them were involved in quote, the world's weirdest friendship and according to a 2015 Vice article, I don't know what this means that According to Business Insider Elon musk's affair with Sergey brin's wife, prompted, Elon, musk's divorce and Elon Musk said was said to have dropped to one knee and begged for forgiveness. That's a little dramatic drop to one knee. Okay. Speaking of dramatic, here's how Elon responded of course on Twitter. He is true to Twitter. Let's be let's be Right, he does a lot. He doesn't want to buy it but he doesn't like it. He says this is total BS. They went to their friends and they went to a party last night. I've only seen Nicole twice, three years, nothing romantic. He also then he said have an have an even had sex in ages size, but we know that can't be true right? With 10 children. Right. How many ages? He only he was planning to. He was just a vacation. Yeah, he might be a pro Creator sexer. Okay, he also said the character assassination attacks have reached a new level this year, but the article are all nothing Burgers. I'm disappointed by this because that's one of my favorite phrases. Nothing Burger, I don't like that. He's saying that Um, get a corner on that market. He went on to criticize The Wall Street Journal saying, this should be running stories that actually matter and they have a solid factual basis. So let's get into it. The Wall Street Journal owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also over the weekend op-eds in both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post saying that Donald Trump is a big fat mess which which we know, but, you know, Sort of, it's interesting because Fox News, of course, helped you know, the rise of Donald Trump. So now it looks like Rupert Rupert. Murdoch is coming out against Elon Musk. We were talking about here. We don't really know why other than this one little tidbit. And this is why you have to listen to free full media business pants, because we always bring it back to a board, don't we? And let's, and let's throw over to Matt's conspiracy Corner because I'm going to remind everyone that Rupert Rupert. Murderer's, hated son James Murdoch. They only murdered, I guess who's not crazy, he's not, he's the, the illogical liberal out of the group, right? He's the In the, in the show succession succession. Yeah, he would be the, the drug addicts on is trying to take down the Empire. But, but anyway, he's on the board of Tesla with Elon Musk. So Matt, what you got? Some conspiracy for us on this one. All right, hold on. A, I'm gonna put on my conspiracy hat. That's it. Just a regular. Okay, I like it but it's our hat. Here's a conspiracy theory for you. Yes. James Murdoch on the Tesla board has among the lowest levels of influence according to our metrics. He's not influential that is because Elon Musk is the most influential by far on that board. Yes. Representing more than half of the influence on the board which makes sense. Right. My conspiracy theory is this is all an effort to get back, Rupert's, getting back at his own son, who's sitting on the Tesla board and has been empowering Elon Musk to go around and do and say things on Twitter and not by Twitter and then buy Twitter and then not buy Twitter. Again, and Rupert. Murdoch is pissed at his son for something and you're seeing it come out and the Wall Street Journal as a tabloid about an affair that may or may not have happened. That's my conspiracy theory. Here's here's how you might be, right? Because I was trying to make a connection with Ron DeSantis, right? Because Elon Musk is now on the run to Santa's Camp, DeSantis is Trump's main competitor Rupert. Murdoch is coming out against Trump, which means he's going to be four DeSantis. There are already seeing that on Fox news, but then wait a minute. How does that could see work of Elon Musk is all for DeSantis. So, I think you're right. It does go back to the Sun. James Murray always goes back to the sun, always expected for the directors. Look to your boards of directors to understand life, right? I'm not sure. How many do you have anything that you want to weigh in on this? No move on. You cannot all my conspiracy theory had it's the same hat. I I feel like you had a lot to say before the show started taping you you were dropping nuggets about grind a little bit later a little bit later. I have some more to say Oh okay. All right. Moving on. Summer travel chaos. Continued Ah, clearly there are two big themes this summer with without an actual doubt. Well, three, if you include the anti-wolf versus woke battle, but that's really nobody else cares. But yes, small, a small group of ESG professionals that may or may not exist because they don't reach out to us. And as much as they should, they should do more because otherwise, you're just staring at your dual computer screens all day, and you don't have a life. So you should reach out. That's like my life, actually, so summer. So that the main stories are Elon Musk. Obviously, and Twitter, and summer travel chaos. That's the big travels, Emma. You have to explain this one of me, why? Why is this the one that we all care about? But it is, this is the this is the thing that we're collectively complaining about. This is my, here's my mini conspiracy theory about this do it. Who's Outlets have never had more access to witness testimony then they do in this situation. Like everyone would love to complain about their Flight experience to a news Outlet. It's like, okay, yeah, I was waiting for five hours, they put me on hold for eight hours. Everyone wants to complain. These news outlets are just like great story after story after Story and they're gonna really, you know, lengthen it out and go one by one. So it's like every story is one person. It's great. Conspiracy theory again. I haven't thrown it to you yet, but go ahead. Here's what I think is happening. Yes, Mark Zuckerberg, who owns 90% of social media wants to buy an airline so he can fly even more cheaply between all of his homes and from on seven minute flights and the only way he can do that is if he makes travel so chaotic. By allowing people to post every second of every day and all that CNN and CNBC and MSNBC and Fox News, all they're doing is going post by post by post. They reach out to them and they say do you have a comment on the Travel chaos? And then we get story after story about a single mother who stuck for 12 minutes, waiting for her bags on the tarmac all. So, Mark Zuckerberg can get an airline cheap. Whoa, Now, that's, that's terrible because I like your personal better. All right. I got my hat. I'm going to wrap up these stories over the weekend. There's I. Sorry I have to go into depth in this one. I love it so much. This is like jumped the shark clickbait reporting du jour. This is the best. Here's the headline, American Airlines canceled a 10 year old passengers connecting flight without telling her parents. Okay? First of all, You have a 10 year old child it's bad enough that you're sending this kid out alone on any flight but you're giving her a connecting flight that's she's not even finding a direct, they live lesson. Stop. They live less than two hours away from the from Washington DC. They could have driven her there to get a direct flight to Boston. They put her, they put her on a flight in Richmond to connect and JFK have all play. This is crazy. Talk, I just love this, I love the premise here, it's all crazy. My daughter is 11 and she's flying to Hawaii by herself and then flying to Alaska and then flying back. Are you serious? Yeah, I'm dead serious. But flight from Hawaii to Hawaii is direct but she has to connect to get to Anchorage in Seattle and the connection is at 9 p.m. at night. You're gonna be there. I don't want to hear you complain, because you set this up, we already talked to her about what happens if your connection, you said no complaints a lot and that's pretty sure that's why he Hawaiian Alaska, not actual state. So I don't know what you don't see an article written about my 11 year old because that stupid and a waste of your time to read. Come on. Family members who were set to collect the child from Boston, instead drove to JFK to pick her up, they drove six hours. See they, they could have avoided all this if they had just driven. Okay, to get the point. Okay, here's what her mom says she was terrified and said, she doesn't want to fly again. This experience is destroyed her love of traveling. A wind. This is a win for the environment. This is all we have to do. We have to, we have to find all the children and just ruin their experience to traveling and they'll grow up. Why? Send them to Chicago O'Hare and let them transfer somewhere and and little girl, I'm speaking to you directly now you live on the east coast. This is Amtrak country just jump on a train. What are you doing? You don't need to fly anywhere. They went on to say on trains. The mom went on to say, our family said she was very quiet that night, which is not her normal self. She's usually very chatty and bubbly, but barely spoke. Finally, we can watch Love Island, UK and peace. But wait a minute, this is her relatives were talking about not her media family. So maybe they're just creeps and she hates them as this this causation. I don't I'm not sure she's thinking to herself. These people put me on that plane and said people I don't know, he's relative, here's my favorite part. The layers of complaining here is so great, but here's my favorite part, the child who was flying alone, for the first time was offered a voucher for lunch, but was told that she would need to pay for dinner using her own money. The 10 year old but to be fair, but to be fair, her family, picked her up at 5 p.m. so it's a little bit before dinner. Right? I mean they should have waited to pick her up till like at least seven and then she would Caroline was to Johnny Rockets. They were that family was just trying to screw the airline in the airline new it. That's all. Yeah, I'm moving on. WE covering this as a story. Why is this? I just love that the idiotic parents. Like the most parties were put their children on planes. Yeah, this article that she didn't want to be involved in. Yeah, I mean, come on, the mom saying she's usually bubbly but tonight, she's quiet. She also was on a flight and traveled for 12 hours. She's quiet because she's tired and you put her on. Like, I mean, come on, and she hates her creepy Uncle. Okay, let's move on to the guardian. They're covering her story called, it's a mess and I've never seen anything like it Global lost. Luggage crisis moments, is it crisis? We're using the word crisis for that. According to the actual there's a climate crisis and now we're saying luggage crisis, according to the actual data mishandled baggage is up 24% From last year with 8.7 suitcases, per 1,000 passengers, not arriving on time. Is that a crisis? I don't really know. Anyway, I like this little battle Emirates said that the industry face airmageddon. And point of the finger at an incompetent London, Heathrow Airport, after a cab daily passenger, numbers Heathrow, hit back saying that Emirates was putting profit ahead of safe and reliable passenger Journey. So, I, we got a real internal battle going on here which I'm really enjoying. Can one of them mention climate change. Can somebody mention that need to fly anywhere? Here's my favorite. Hyperbole from all this, they're calling it similar cemeteries of lost bags. Cemeteries of lost bags, they're calling them. Wow, we are Max hyperbole right now. Crisis are mageddon, cemeteries bags. And yet there's a company later in the article that says that most of you can rest assured because most lost luggage, according to data ends up being returned to their owners. So there is so there is actually no Cemetery of, so the undead bag. Yes, even in the guardian, these articles are confusing. You go from Simon teres to actually your fine. Here's my favorite tear jerker American Tourist, Donna O'Connor went to Ireland with her parents, her dead parents ashes, because she was going to spread them. And of course, she got separated from her bag and she said, I want them here and that's why I brought them with me. So you see she got separated from. I see how that works in the Lost. Okay, that's why they said cemeteries I'm gonna move on to this cemetery and get to American Airlines CEO who says despite the prophet announced he announced a profit and earnings call. He said that there's not a day that goes by where the airline doesn't have trouble supplying enough. Pillows blankets cups and food for its flights. I mean okay We might be a problem depending on the length of the flight. But yeah, blankets and pillows and like It's our. I don't, I don't I'm just this is a baffling story. So confused I am. Like they know how many planes they have. They know how many Pilots they have? They know how many? Yeah, there must be a formula for blankets. Right there must be a blanket formula. I'm confused blanket formula, where is the blanket formula? And how come, it's not in the proxy statement? And what is the CEO pay to Blink of ratio? That's what I really wanted to know when, when are we going to get the first clamp down on the from the oversight board on exaggeration is about terrible air travel. I want waiting for that ruling. Yeah. What's worse? Losing your parents. Ashes are not getting a voucher for dinner. Mmm, it's just really 640 you pick which. All right, let's move on to our final update. This is a story that Emma, I think you originally covered. And yes, this is a real company. This is a actually publicly traded company World World Wrestling Entertainment when we were kids, it was WWF. So, the story I guess is over, Vince McMahon, he was the executive, he was a CEO being investigated by his own board for agreements to pay 12 million dollars over the past 16 years to settle allegations of sexual misconduct and Fidelity. That was a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Walter's, getting involved a lot of sexy stuff these days which I appreciate. So, here's the end of the story that just just dropped in the SEC. Vince McMahon is out, he's actually and he's not lingering on the board. He's actually he's resigning as a CEO as chairs. Direct everything is gone. He's actually gone. But I there's a little bit of subtext this I'll get to in a few seconds. So we're all like data. Yeah, subtext Cosi. So there will be now cos his daughter. Stephanie McMahon, I guess. Not good enough to be actual CEO. She's gonna be helped by Nick Khan. Yeah. And then a little a little side, but here are like Triple H, the former wrestler, Triple H, Paul Levesque, who was Stephanie's husband, will step up and assume all responsibilities related to WWE's creative on top of his role as Executive Vice President, Global Talent strategy. So, here's the subtext here. Vince McMahon and the Leveque family because remember the new Coco CEOs is married to Paula's. That's Triple H they control 88% of the vote at This company due to a dual-class share structure. So in reality, Vince McMahon, they're, they're making all the great statements. It makes it look like he's culpable or something. It makes it look like he, you know, he's he's actually there's something, you know, the price to be paid for all this, but nothing has changed here. He's he's still controls 88% of the company. What's his daughter is the Cosi CEO. His son-in-law is stepping up to be a top three. Oh yeah. That that's different Power hand off. I feel like everything has changed for the WWE. Yeah, yeah. And yet again the reason why I bring this up Time and Time and Again is that the reporting on these articles, never, they never mentioned the fact they never bothered to dig into who owns these actual calls so much less what why don't they don't really understand it. Why much less measure the influence in the boardroom because we said here that Stephanie McMahon, and this is like out of a thousand us. Companies was effectively the weakest influence CEO in the US, right? Like she sits on her board and she has the least amount of influence. And why? Because Vince McMahon still owns the company. Like, this is just stupid, you think, like Triple H isn't gonna call. I mean, like not gonna call Vince when they got a problem or Stephanie's not gonna be like, hey dad helped me out. This is dumb. Dumb stories. That's a little dumb over the weekend. Hey, this is the country you love. This is why. I guess you're trying to. You're trying to ship your daughter. You're doing your best to get her out. But you're, you're almost to the edge Alaska Hawaii, but you can't quite quick, can you? You can't get her all the way you back to New Zealand. I'm gonna unless for a second because it's not time you First, here's a narrative. You can suck on ESG, rating suck because the data sucks. They have an agenda, it's a black box, maybe not true. Maybe true but guess what? Maybe if that sounds familiar, it's because you're probably a lowly ESG analyst who's listening to the show? You probably hate your life. You probably sit in front of your desk and some jackass client has been coming to you and they're saying, yeah, but isn't like environmental issues just a liberal agenda proves that this works if that's you. If I'm talking to you, yes, I'm about to confirm that the market that everyone thinks is a science is, in fact a fairy tale, but it's not me. It's Elisabeth. Kempf of Harvard and Margarita of Washington University, who wrote the paper points for learning, how to pronounce her name. And by the way, are you sure that F and Kemp? Is silent is, how do you call her? I didn't call him. Sorry. Could be sure. But here's the paper from June of this year. Partisan professionals. Evidence from credit rating analysts. Hey, here's your nutshot. We show that analysts who are not affiliated with the US president's party. Downward adjust corporate credit ratings, more frequently. Can you explain that? To me, I don't know what that means, where I'm going to. Okay, our results show analysts partisan perception has sizeable price effects on rated firm's main influence investment policies building what they found. Yes, was if you are a Democrat and the president changes from a Democrat to a republican. Oh no. You are more likely to push down the credit rating of the companies You cover. Then if you then normal basically all they found is credit ratings really have a partisan impact based on Whose president. Oh, A couple things note here. Yeah please where these are not ESG ratings okay. He was done on credit rating. Yeah. S&P Moody's, Fitch credit, you know, the science science, right? The final sample was 1900 issuers or companies and 550 analysts they used voting records and they use surveys on viewpoints and quarter by quarter credit updates basically they used, how did they vote? Where are they from, what are the perceptions and then match that against credit rating, upgrades and downgrades The sector's covered by democrats are generally utilities and consumer staples and the sectors covered by Republicans are you'll be shocked energy. That's usually what they call. They get energy. Get a lot of energy, right? He's tickets in those companies though. So maybe it's the one. Well, the theory is that they mostly come from Red States and all red States and Beyond energy more Ranger's and Rockets tickets. Yes, exactly. During a republican presidency. Republican analysts upward, adjust the credit ratings, meaning more than a democratic analysts. Will a republican analysts will be really optimistic about the credit of the companies they cover. Okay, that makes sense under Obama's presidency. It reversed Republican analysts pushed down the credit ratings. While Democratic analysts pushed up the credit rating, this sounds like actual science. Yeah, this is the this is what happens in your real sciency Market, okay? Ratings changes actually correlate, with Market stock market performance. Are you suggesting that that not that not, not just in the ESG world? That there's bias everywhere? Is that what you're saying? I like, could that, I know, could there be actual bias, human bias. I hope everywhere around. I hope you're sitting down, but that seems to be. I'm on the credit rating are subject to the same political forces. Like I thought only liberals were political And last thing to take away here is someone needs to tell the anti-woke this because they're gonna find out eventually. But S&P is mostly Democrats. While Moody's is mostly Republican. According to the analyst, they were able to review this. I didn't know, is this important? What about Fitch? This could be switch for the worst fish is like, Fitch is actually mostly, it's like right in the middle. They're actually very balanced good for you Fitch. But forget ESG ratings, you guys are attacking the wrong thing. You think there's liberal bias and ESG ratings? Know, it's in credit ratings and it's in the credit rating. It's everywhere. You jackasses and now there's science to prove it go read the paper. I think it's just proven that ESG is just sexier than credit. It's just so much cooler. That's what conservatives are always. They'd always attack porn now. They're attacking us. She is just part about ESG is it's fairly libertarian actually in the way it's constructed like they avoid. We were told The million times don't have a Viewpoint. I don't know how many times you're told to shut up about your opinion but that's all I was told. All right, all right. After that uplifting segment officially cheer us up. Yeah officially get us back. Well I hate to break it to you but I'm not going to do that. Sorry. Welcome to my trendy dumpster dive. That is not as uplifting as one might help the XFL you you know? Oh yeah. Do you guys know what the NFL? Yeah. What was? Of course. He hate me. She she hate me. What was Shadow? It's he hate me, he hate me. So I was not familiar with the XFL and for those of you who like me are not familiar with the XFL, it's just like an alternative Minor League Football League. It's yeah. It was, it was, it was born. It was dumb. It was supposed to, it was promised something because it was a I think it was the also you ruined my punch line. Sorry, I'm sorry but it was a leak that came from a wrestling owners and we thought it would be exciting, but it was even more boring than Yeah, so they actually changed some of the rules. Like I think they got rid of half time, they did all this stuff to like speed. Up the game and make it more. That's right. Entertaining, get rid of halftime, what do you call it? What is it? What is the opposite of halftime? Just keep playing beer minute. Okay, so it's still Is trending is very boring like they're basically yeah, why come back there, they announced the city that their comeback is happening in etc, etc. It's Richmond Virginia. But the reason the Damien already spoiled for you, that I included it is because the original founder of the XFL which I didn't. Once again, did not know, was the one and only Vince McMahon, he founded the original leader in one. The one in only. Is this why Vince McMahon step down from WWE? Because he think he's know going in? Oh, she's not. Because we didn't hear, we didn't hear who was the original NFL, founded by this. Rim shot. He founded the league in 2001, it had semi-successful failure and then it relaunched a new iteration of it relaunched in 2018, which then went bankrupt in 2020 and was purchased by Dwayne The Rock Johnson in his business partners and part of the bankruptcy agreement was actually that Vince McMahon cannot purchase the league back so Vince McMahon is out as it would seem. That being said, I don't know what's up with their board, so I'd be interested to look into that. And the one I want to detail that I wanted to point out about this is that Vince McMahon in all of his rule changes and like gripes at the NFL, he wanted players with a criminal record to be banned from participating in the league. Right. And then is that is that, is that legal? Higher is a legal hiring practice. I don't know because the regulations were never actually implemented, but when they signed Johnny Manziel who is, of course, a criminal with domestic violence charges. Oh, that didn't. Yeah. They said that, that rule was no longer in place. So if you're white, maybe if you're white criminal, it's right. But they also are banned in their players are banned in their contracts from protesting the national anthem, but they are allowed to smoke weed. They are not drug tested for weed. Uh, why are all I mean, we called where the Russell 3000 and a lot of the stuff we do. Matt, how come all companies are not this exciting? How can we, how can we don't have these type of discussions, with everything about like, white criminals and weed? And what's going on? How well, what's wrong with every other company? Is this exciting? Is that? I'm just trying to, I mean the most extreme of that about the most exciting thing to me about this is the fact that there are like eight cities that that were announced they're mostly major cities. One of them Las Vegas. The it was the only one not to name a stadium so I guess they're gonna play in the parking lot but come bees and other stadiums are basically like they're like minor league baseball stadiums and small green areas next to a park, right? Like it's It's not exactly like they're playing in July, it's a little sad. That's the most exciting part about this how sad it is. Of course, Matt had to make it sad right at the very end. That was business pants. I am a Larkin joined as always by Damian, Ross, and Matt mcgarty, this is wmpg Portland Gorham it is, Wednesday July 27th, 2022 at around, 8:30 p.m., thank you for listening. As always, we will be back next Wednesday with more nonsense.