Business Pants – 2022-11-17

Live. Where are we? Oh, we're from The Morning Star Game Room. That's awesome. I have a game room now foosball. Checkers ESG, good game. It's a super preppy version of the world's favorite ESG. Good game. They're good. They're good game. They're good. Are there multiple good games? I'm better. Be joined. As always by a sickly Matt mascardi and Ari the data Queen. It's nice to see on a Thursday. I usually don't see your children. I'm always down for a good game. So was Jesse the money Whisperer but I think I scared her away. By telling her she wasn't needed. Yeah, he told her get out. That's what you told her. I'm Larry Fink's. Uber party bus driver. Oh I would hate to do that. I first of all I hate driving big vehicles but imagine driving Larry Fink's. Party bus. Know. It'll be all kinds of awkward. Because he, what would you say to him? Well, he's listening. He is, she going, I don't think he'd like us. Although we're probably really far down on his list now of his enemies because the anti-walk, right, he must hate more than us. Yeah, I I think when we launched this podcast like 500 years ago he probably we were probably top. Yeah we were like number know. He I think we're like top four. Know I'm saying that sings. Diesel diesel DJ diesel. That David Solomon. Are you talking about the CEO of Goldman Sachs? Yeah. He's he's number. We're number six on his list. The Wall Street Bank that has one scandal after another. But somehow DJ diesel just sort of is above cares. Nobody cares a little palooza. That's why It's today's nightquil stain bag of Ricola scented nuggets that actually kind of makes sense. Called November 17th 2022. The good game. Come on, ready. Let's do this. Let's do it. All right, for those of you who have not heard our show the good game, the conceit is pretty simple. I grabbed headlines that make me feel good. I think they sound good for in somewhere or another. And then I asked our esteemed. Experts are fabulous pundits to weigh in and tell me if they're actually good scale from one to 10, you ready? Yeah, yes. Up first. Here's the headline. New CEO says, FTX suffered completely stroke. Complete your failure of corporate controls. Okay, so the new CEO FDX is saying that they suffered a complete failure of corporate controls. He went on to say that never my career. Have I seen such a complete failure. Where did this new CEO come from? And he talked about one of the problems. He talked about the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperience, unsophisticated, and potentially compromised individuals. So I'm asking you too, is this a word for ESG is this? What is, because ESG essentially would call a scandal like this? No, Matt, you're greeting your teeth. So why don't you take over? I mean, well, it is a little bit before. This is what its corporate governance analysis is for know. It's a little bit of a win because SPF the outgoing CEO of FTX Who had who has been everywhere said, quote, ESG has been perverted beyond recognition as one of his outgoing quotes Perverted Beyond, are we the, are we those perverts? He's referred even mean. We're perverts basically. He basically, he went on a rant. Yeah. In a, in a text chain with a Vox report, I think it was Vox saying, That like a regulator he said fuck Regulators. He said ofac is like the biggest barrier to the us being a superpower. He said every all everyone who's supposed to be doing good, things is really just maintaining the status quo. And then in there, he says, ESG is a quote, ESG has been perverted beyond recognition. He threw ESG and then there's no conversation about ESG. No question about it. No nothing. I'm fascinated because I want to know what the starting point of. Yes, she is in his little pea brain. Like, what, what did it get perverted from? I'm just, I want to know the aid of the B here. I'm fascinated. I want to know what he's talking about. Like, like no one in ESG is talking about how had been talking about him until he was the greatest governance failure of the last year. I mean, we have last year. Yeah. It might be bigger than Tesla's, like, you know, it's so hard to get test Tesla. You know what we haven't done and in fact this This is what I recommend for our end of year show. A top 10 greatest governance failures of the year, I mean, okay. All right. Most likely to collapse 2023. Can we get to the game? Is this a win for ESG? Yeah, this is fantastically is I like ours are go first. Yeah, I actually like how Matt basically said, CEO of FF TX SBF. It's like, well yeah, he is gonna give me a number. I'm gonna give this a Ted, this is awesome. Whoa. I mean, I love it. I love it. I'm a little sad. Why? Because I'm a little sad that it took this failure for people to realize that the entire crypto universe is a giant G fail. Like it is a make-believe everything, I'm still singing as a net positive for ESG. This is what we're here for people us perverts in the ESG World. We're here to warn you about the actual perverts. I love a good price World moving on. NL the Italian company NL. Am I saying that? Right? Matt, you're Italian and no. I'm gonna say yes. Yeah you know how to say pizza and ravioli. That's where you stop and else. But Getty to build massive solar panel Factory in us and First Solar selects Alabama for new Factory. As inflation reduction act prompts domestic manufacturing. Boom. So new solar factors here in the US. This seems like a major stakeholder Victory are, you're already smiling. So, yeah, I'm just a little confused. Why, why remember the Glass Factory that a Chinese company tried to open in Indiana? Illinois. Michigan. One of those, it was Wisconsin and it was a total failure. Yeah, because it was run by that, but the horrible Scott Walker. Well, I don't know. This is also. Why Alabama is that the land of the renewable energy perspectives, Alabama and Arizona. I'm guessing I'm guessing it's Alabama because they ran the lowest common denominator of states that don't treat their workers. Well, at all, okay, I'm skep. so I'm going to give us 7, I like manufacturing the US Matt. Come on crap. Do something. Just makes me skeptical. Don't worry, I will I will crap all over it. Go ahead. Um Look, the Alabama attorney general said, quote ESG is simply another mechanism for the left to impose their philosophy on this country. Wait, Alabama, you still up there. Is it kinda see how amazing is it? The first two entries. In our good game. There have been literal quotes about ESG, I mean, yeah, you ever imagine this world when we started this, nobody Matt ten years ago, quote from ignore idiots. Open the door, Alabama, voted against the inflation reduction Act. They voted against it. This one made the first thing I thought was fuck Alabama. Why are they getting the manufacturing job? From in green energy which they openly despised. In fact, they call anyone who back screen energy over conventional energy discriminatory there, one of the, their signatory, their signatory of the state. What is it? The state official comptroller group that they are saying like they're investigating Black Rock and banks for collusion around ESG to kill fossil fuels, and hurt the American economy. And they're the ones getting the fucking plant to build solar panels. Well, they're the ones getting the Italian company NL is opening its plant in Arizona. Does that make you feel better? It's not just Alabama. Is that make you feel Arizona, Arizona? The other place where they did these guys, exact same thing. You're talking about that? Yeah, like I don't get how, you know, what's wrong with me? This country, the conservatives in this country who actively fight against these things as part of their narrative. Reap the benefits of these things in their states. Is this the way to shut them up, maybe? Shut them up. How like I like that. There's still The Narrative still gonna exist. You think they're gonna stop? I'm giving this a one. Oh I am all four the manufacturing put it somewhere. Where they appreciate you. Put it like anywhere that cares. Fuck going on. Your investment strategy. And when Matt says that, he's just talking about college football, because Matt was, the guy you were the guy that whose nose was bid off by the beyond me exactly. The former, this is a false nose. In fact, I made myself more Italian. All right, next headline, Tokyo University, the University of Tokyo to up ratio, of female teachers, to 25% from 16%. Oh, they're called, they're calling this extremely rare for Japanese University to set an actual concrete Target. Like, this, is this good? I mean, I I didn't know what to do with this pressing side, but at least it's a okay, it's a hard target. It's not 2050, they're targeting. They're actually targeting 2027. is it you know, I bet it all comes back to Diminishing fertility rates and they're like, oh, we need more teachers orders. The reason why I grabbed this one too is because I complain about this a lot. Matt, is that in the Corps in the ESG world? When they talk about things like women on boards and women in leadership, they kind of conveniently. Don't talk about Asia because it's just so depressing. The amount of women in leadership, But so I thought, hey, like they're trying at least write something anyone, I don't know, kind of I'm going to give this Asics. Okay, six, I like a six, Matt. 45% of 45% of tertiary education. Attendees are female in Japan. 45%. Yeah, so it's less than half. But is there a reason why you should Professor Target effectively the portal of people? Right? Target 45. So we didn't even go halfway. We didn't even increase it. I'm just, this is a five. This is as much. I you can't say it's bad. Actually I'm gonna agree with Ari. It is a six. It's slightly better than I like that one. All right. But this one's a special for you Detroit. The Detroit Michigan. Will soon get two roads that can charge your electric vehicle as you drive? That's Awesome. That's so one of several States that's planning on to test inductive charging. Don't you have an inductive stove now re where you can charge your your car? Do thanks for the reminder. I have to check on where my pots and pants that I bought month ago. Are. Come on. Yeah. This is special for you. Just bought an Evie. I love the Detroit is trying to lean into DV life because that's how they have left. I'm gonna give this a nine, okay, I mean just the technology of all left. While I just got real. Can you crap on this one, Matt? Know. Oh, I can't. I love it. I I don't know how many inductive Ready cars there are like, do you need a different cars? That's beside the point. I mean like you can drive, but is that it? Does it? Work you can drive Ari's saucepan? That's what I'm worried about like and drive. You put the saucepan on the road and cook. Yeah, I don't what so that? I don't know, but I love the idea. So I'm gonna give it and it's cool. Eight, eight moving on Costco. Costco commits to set full value chain. Emissions targets. Following activist campaign, So good old-fashioned activist shareholder activism. Breaking through what is the Costco full value chain? Oh hold on. Costco was one of the three only three of S&P 50 companies that have not yet to set a major climate commitment. So Matt, you want to speak it, you want to answer our question? the full value chain is I they have targets for scope one, two and three of not just them but everyone that applies to them by from, School right? One is them. Let's go to is effectively suppliers scope. Three is actually users. So it's like you go to Costco like a big deal. Yeah, that's cool. I love that. Yeah, I don't know how much. We should like, who, who are you asking us to say is good because, you know, they're activists suggested that all shareholders should vote against this. On the call board is one Charlie Munger window, was that right? Charlie Munger is on the Costco board. So good Charlie, Munger and 190. I mean, seriously, good for him and the guys go board said, this is dumb. You should read the dissent. Like we don't need to do this. It's it's complex. It's expensive. We don't need to do this. It was old. Get off my lawn. And we're celebrating now because they got forced to do it. Are we celebrating them or the fourth thing? The forcing was non-binding. So they had to decide to change their minds and I will celebrate this Damien. I'm gonna give this a nine. Yeah. Right. But you said, but why is it bad before? I mean, isn't this? What why we preach the alternative democracy is not a good thing. No. But the way the headline is written, is quote, Costco commits to set full value chain admissions, right? Like it, it effectively gives credit to Costco for doing something that the board said, don't do we, don't want anyone to vote for, then, they got voted out, then they negotiated, and they set the Target. Now cost goes going to reap. The what? Marketing benefits of setting a target for 2030? Well, 2015, I was in like a year I think the guys 900 years old I stopped fixating on Munger. I will say this an impressive vote at Costco. Go shareholders approve. This more than two to one. I mean really, this is really went through. Yeah. I mean, this was you don't usually see such a special since the board. I was thinking the board said go ahead and approve it, but you're telling me that they were saying what he did it against it. It's a big win. They call it a big win when they were one of three companies that had yet to do it for the S&P 50, right? That to me is Was mediocre all gave it a nine would give it Matt five. oh, sorry, Ari. Oh, this is a good one. I don't know where this is just fastening. A tiny Pacific island nation to Valu. Threatened by rising sea levels plans to create a digital copy of itself in the metaverse. This is great. I mean, I don't mean to giggle the demise of an island nation but this is an incredible story. I come on, this is incredible. We think we're predicting, right, put on your meta diaper and move into the metaverse. Yeah, this is literally the worst headline I've ever read. It's crazy. I mean yeah, I mean I don't need to giggle, I don't mean to giggle like their home is now. A time capsule two? No no you can still Ingenuity you can you can kind of wander around. To somehow do, you know, it's not a two. It's if there were negative numbers, I would give this a negative number. This is the worst. This is the worst is the bathroom. You do realize one don't solve the problem. Number two, instead of solving a problem work on the first digital copy of yourself, so people can remember what it was like before you, you broke the world. Number three, if feeds right into Mark Zuckerberg, one of the breakers of the universe, right? To what do we doin' to volu? Can't be that far from his Hawaiian estate. What Mark Zuckerberg could take his billions and billions of dollars and probably help not need to Vale in the metaverse, right? Like put the island on stilts. He could, he could do other things. He maybe he could build a seawall that's like 19 feet tall. So, so are you below sea level? I'm saying, this is negative 20, I don't know. What do you want me to do? Uh oh, here we go. This is a kind of breaking news in the last few days, SpaceX Tesla. Twitter CEO. I keep breaking into, like a queen's, Long Island accent. I keep putting ours onto my vowels. I don't know what I'm doing, and I don't know if you notice but I like, I wrestled away my little bit of my Boston accent earlier, I don't know. I'm like, I'm breaking down. I can't, you gotta say, Twitter, I can't handle being a pretend New Yorker employee anymore. Um, SpaceX test la. Twitter CEO, Elon Musk had this quote I frankly don't want to be CEO of any company. So the news is coming down, baby. All right? The news is coming essentially that he might be done being CEO of everything soon. Didn't he give himself some random title? Chief whatever. Okay, you're off track? Yes. He did. Give Chief twit technology. And techno King. But but Ari we might be losing. We might have three opening Jobs, major companies, because the CEO of all three of them is decided that he doesn't even want to be a CEO or just has to be good. No. I just don't, I think it's gonna say that. I don't think he's gonna give it up and I don't think he's gonna get forced out. We won't get forced out. Right. So I don't, I don't, he's being a drama queen. And he's saying this, for attention, nothing's gonna happen. What a waste of time headline. I give this a four. Well, he he actually said this at a trial defending. His ridiculously greedy pay package at Tesla worth 55 billion. They'll show you might be right. He might be posturing, he might be Playing some kind of a game. Yeah. Could we talk about the Deep irony of your defense of your PayPal? Kids Point? Good for a publicly traded company? Oh, I don't give it. I don't care about I don't want it. So give back all the money do that then, but is it good? Is it good? That he'll step down if it's he won't step down but I do think it's, I do think it's great. What here's what I like about this. It has nothing to do with what he said. It's that they had to write in the headline SpaceX test La. Twitter's I love that they had the right. It's like you went it just it's just an ongoing set of love it for ridiculous. That's the right grammar there. I like it. That's perfect. I love that. So I'm giving that a nine Ari. Oh, Here's my prediction early prediction. I think he does step down at Twitter. I think he actually does yes, step down at Tesla because as the will step down at Twitter as the garbage dump kind of is kindling SpaceX. I think he stays at SpaceX. This is this is what it doesn't. He want to escape to Jupiter like a SpaceX. Yeah, I think he's done with Tesla everything. He's done. A Tesla has been mostly terrible. So you're disparaging recalls. And solar panel and buying solar panel companies that don't work. And 40 That's owned by your cousin that one he bought. So yeah, that one. Yeah. I All Right, Moving On. In the world of CEOs, Ari Blackstone CEO, you know, who hated Blackstone. The most was Emma lurking, a very own ml Larkin, she hated Blackstone, every time you mentioned Blackstone, she would shudder Okay, nobody cares. All right. Blackstone, CEO Steve schwarzman says he won't support. Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential primary. I picked this one already because several of our favorite billionaire CEOs, are suddenly I don't know if growing a spine, is the right word. But they're deciding to dump Trump and I asked you to Matt, is this, is it woke to abandon Trump because these are the same people that think that corporations shouldn't be involved with politics at all. So it's just for the CEO, even be saying this in the first place. I'm kind of confused. But is this good? Anyone? That's true. That is confusing. It is confusing. Stay out of politics. They say. however, They are will throw all of their support behind Ron DeSantis when he runs is that the better idea even scarier is that better. It is really a race to scare us and the conservative party in America. All of it is terrible. Stephen schwarzman no one cares. What you think? Shut up. That's so I'm giving you a two. Oh, he gave. An opinion. So he's gonna get asked about this even More. Whatever. They candidate. Yeah. Vivian missed. so, I hate that. We care what this band has to say, enough that it's a headline. Well, think of the CEO perspective, are you happy that the CEOs that you cover, you, you pulled data and you number crunch, all day long. Are you happy? That one of them no longer supports? Insurrection is Donald Trump? Is that make you feel good? Oh, they support a different feel like too, little too late. I'm gonna give as I won. All right, moving on, you kill us, it's better than him saying. Yeah, I support Trump still, but he wouldn't have said that to begin. We got two more left in the good game. November, 17th 2022. Let me go over the boring one first. I hope this doesn't screw you up. Matt billionaire, climate activist wins board fight. So this is another win for stakeholders at Australia's AGL energy and and before you get to your comments, this disproved the great myth in our listening audience that we only cover New Zealand that we don't cover Australia. See here's an Australian story so here a lot of pushback. Yeah. Wow. Is this a climate activists? Like same deal with, you know, the Exxon thing. And it's like this is not really a climate activist. This is an oil executive. No, no, actually. I looked at Mike Cannon Brooks. He actually, he seems, he's like a tech billionaire at last seen this his company. He actually just by, looking at him. He's Shaggy. You know, he's kind of he's missed, he's missed quaffed. He seems to actually I believe, so I'm just gonna guess and say yes, the nine who would she look how? She gives it an eye without any information. You know. Well, that's the game. The game is the rate. That's the game. That's why we developed. He was Australian. I got an inconclusive answer. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut 7 just for that. Probably his. Maybe not a local. I'm guessing his parents were professors at, there's a college in New Haven. I can't remember the name of it, but a famous college. It's like, Michigan or I don't know. Yeah. Matt. What do you think Michigan State there? I'm gonna give it a seven just for coming because he comes from a New Haven, that's so you don't even want to talk about it. I was hoping you have some information about how terrible the the new four new directors were and I engine one great golf. No, I have not living until well, that's where he was talking about. Like, whether or not the they just added. I was hoping. This is what you were here for no dig into it. Alright, let's wrap up with this one and I don't really understand this one, but it sounds good because I don't, I've never used Facebook. I've never had an account, so maybe you can help me understand. This is good or not. Facebook is removing religious views, political views interested in an address field from user profile bios. Matt are you're laughing what explain what's going on here? What is so funny? Like they had that they had all of this and it was totally normal, and everybody was putting it in, you know, like your political views when you're setting up your profile and high school. It's like Right interested? You had men. Women don't know. So it was just a step for Progressive step or just from your profile but they still already have all this data dump people who filled it out and it's just, it's just dumb, I guess one. Oh, Matt, is it good? Wow. True story. When you when Facebook announces that they're moving profiles from their profiles, then it'll be good but they don't, they Ari's, right? They already, it's not even that they have the data because you put it in before it's they don't need to know your address because they are geo-located you on your phone at all times, right? Like so what was there is there a privacy issue? I mean is he gonna help the users and any level is it going to help your your your creepy neighbor from coming over like bashing your head in because you like to Santa's Yeah, just out of myself for being protests. That's right. Because yours like the fact that you like a positive story about DeSantis would already give you away, right? Because that activity will show up in your connections news feed so you don't even need to say, okay your political views are on your program then are you then why are they doing this? I think they're trying to somehow get good. Press, they're being like, Hey, we're Stopping they because really it's Mark Zuckerberg. Why is Mark doing this Matt? Yeah Lord. All right why is Mark? Businessman Mark doesn't need this it looks good to say that you're removing it as in this green say like oh look it's a green wash. Yeah we don't We're Not Gonna collect this data anymore, you're more protected and on the other side of the transaction is we already have it all and algorithmically. We can tell it all. We don't need you to tell us what religion you are. You've already liked the 700 Church pages and the you already like Ron DeSantis on Facebook and we know we know what you are. So you don't need to tell us anymore. We already know. Oh so to move its AI move. Maybe they can fire some people. Because I mean generate the profiles of the bot. All right, this 7% of the staff, this was the layoff know laid off the guy 11 11% there. Yeah, they were laid off Paul in the department that of I'm interested in. That's what it off. Well, Paul smelled like tuna salad, so maybe it was time for portal to leave. So that's her here is number three. Yeah, I think what he say are three, three. Okay. All right, let's get out of here before Matt's equipment completely. Felt fails, that was a good game November 17th 2022. Thank you. Oh, the scores this week, they're low. This is one of the lowest we've had in a while. I tried my best Ari, Ari's always a little bit cheery coming in at a six five point six, but I think that's that might be your lowest ever re actually, and Matt, a middling five for for sicko, Matt mascardi. That's the good game. That's this kind of depressing. I, I actually picked the good game today to kind of cheer us all up, because the headlines have been terrible, but didn't work. You picked the worst, the worst things possible. You want to get us out of here, man. I'm trying to I clicked the button I get music, you can just talk your way out, talk your way out. That is businessman. The good game. That was already the day, the queen and Damien. I am mad. We are free float, if you like this. Come back tomorrow for the weekly wrap where, hopefully, I will not be feverish and we can get this week done with. So I go back to normal until then,