The Best One Yet - ❌ “Canceled by Corporate” — Russia’s economic cancellation. Nike’s playing Foot Locker. Target’s happy twist.

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

First, western governments weaponized finance against Putin’s Russia. Now corporations are canceling it. Foot Locker stock plummeted 35% because Nike is the MJ on their Chicago Bulls (no Jordan, no championships). And Target just revealed a new phenomenon: Americans feel sad about the economy, but are spending like they’re happy (call it the #TargetTwist).$NKE $FL $TGT $ABNBGot a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @JackKramer @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Got a SnackFact for the pod? We got a form for that too:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe64VKtvMNDPGSncHDRF07W34cPMDO3N8Y4DpmNP_kweC58tw/viewformLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is Snacks Daily. It is Wednesday, March 2nd. Snackers, stocks are down a tad so far this week as the West weaponizes finance against Russia. The Dow yesterday dropped 600 points. But today's pod is the best one yet. It's the best pod we've ever done.

Jack, what's our first story today? There's hard power, there's soft power, and then there's what Western companies are doing to Russia right now. Yeah, Western corporations have canceled Putin's Russia. Our second story is Foot Locker. The stock is down 30. percent in the past week. Because Nike is the Michael Jordan on footloggers Chicago Bulls. And our third and final story is Target. Target will now bring your bags that you shop to your car along with a

cup of Starbucks. Snackers, Americans are sad about the economy, but they're spending happy over a Target. Tarje. Tarje Ventay latte. But Snackers, before we hit that wonderful mix on this Wednesday. Fantastic mix for a Wednesday, Jack. I love this mix. Where in the world is Russian billionaire? Yeah, Jack, how do you find a Russian billionaire? You follow the wake of their mega yacht. Snaggers, get this. An American teen made a Twitter page that tracks Russia's super wealthy. This is just like guerrilla journalism by this kid.

Unreal by this kid. He had previously made a Twitter account that tracked the movements of Elon Musk's jet. Yeah, well, this new one he whipped up tracks Boris the billionaire's Gulfstream. The account is called Russian oligarch jets, free for all to see. Now, this is wild. This Twitter page actually launched over the weekend. It already has 200,000 followers. This Twitter account is basically GPS, but on Russian dark money.

Yeah, it is a tycoon Twitter tracker. Jack, you want to whip up some examples for us over there? Let's look at Roman Abramovich, a guy who ended up owning an oil company after the fall of the Soviet Union. Now we call him an oligarch, and he owns the historic Chelsea Football Club, too. Well, it turns out his yacht, it's chilling in a harbor in Antigua in the Caribbean. But his jet, Jack? Oh, his jet just left. Moscow, according to this Twitter page.

It did. Snackers, to follow the money, follow the flight path. You'll find a six-seater G6 landing in Malta. Now, it's not just Mr. Abramovich. Others are selling off in their super yachts ASAP so those super yachts don't get seized. Captain, step on it. Vaget Alecparov, for example. He happens to own Russia's second largest oil company.

And he happens to own an $80 million yacht called the Supernova. Oh, the Supernova. Jack Knight jumped in snack style. Turns out it's got a 20-foot glass bottle. swimming pool with a waterfall and a helipad on the super yacht. According to Russian oligarch jets, he's heading to Montenegro full steam ahead. Or as Google Maps puts it as far away as possible from the U.S. Treasury Department. When the sanctions slap, the billionaires bounce.

Now you can see where they're mounted to with the Russian oligarch jets on Twitter. Let's in our three stars. The snacks about to hear rain food is air candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so. You know, we're not recommending. any securities. Nope. It's not a research report or investment advice. Not an offer or sale of a security. Right. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member FINRA slash SIPC.

For our first story, first it was governments, but now corporations are cutting off Putin's Russia. We've noticed four ways that Russia's economy is getting canceled by Corporation Inc. The first thing we saw Snackers, the U.S. and its allies have weaponized finance, and they're doing it through sanctions. So the first canceling is from Visa and MasterCard. They're not going to process payments if a Russian bank is on either side of that payment. And then you got the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ who won't trade any Russian stocks right now. These aren't moral choices by these Western companies. No, good clarification. What they're doing is they're following the law. Right. New sanctions from the Treasury Department require these companies to comply and not transact these transactions.

Yeah, like AMD and Intel, they make a whole bunch of computer chips, but they won't be shipping any of those computer chips to Russia right now. Because one of Biden's sanctions literally forbid the shipment of semiconductors to Russia. So those companies don't have a choice, but some celebrity founders we've noticed are taking a more proactive approach. Brian Chesky and Elon Musk are actively shining in this moment by helping Ukrainians in need. Yeah, because according to the United Nations, at least 660,000 Ukrainians have fled in just the last. week to escape danger. It's a horrible, horrible humanitarian crisis. It is. And Airbnb is offering free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. Now, this is mostly paid for by host volunteers or donors. And the rest is going to be paid for by Airbnb. So that's happening outside of Ukraine.

But inside Ukraine to make sure Ukraine's leadership stays connected during the Russian assault, Elon tweeted he was doing some things. He was sending some Starlink satellite terminals to Kiev. So now they got at least two dozen of these Wi-Fi sprouting Elon Musk terminals operating in Ukraine. And those terminals will make sure that the president of Ukraine connects to the internet using SpaceX's satellites way up above. Now, a third reaction we've noticed from corporations is companies sending a simple but powerful message to President Putin. If you invade an innocent country, we're not going to do business with you anymore. Disney? How about Sony, Warner Brothers? They're not releasing any news. new movies in Russia. In the logistics department, UPS, FedEx and global shipping giant

Mersk, they have halted any shipment with Russia as the destination. They're basically saying we're not going to help Putin get the supplies he needs, whether it's tomorrow, today or next day. And then right before we were going to record this pod, Apple announced they were going to suspend the sale of all Apple products in Russia. Now, the fourth way we've seen companies react, it may be the most interesting because it actually hurts the companies more than it hurts Russia. Yeah. Western companies that own companies in Russia, they regret that right now.

They do. And so they're selling them. Yeah. So like BP, British Petroleum, the oil company, they just announced they're going to sell their 20% stake in a Russian oil company. Here's why that's so painful. For BP to sell that 20% sake, someone has to buy it. And who is buying a Russian oil company right now during this war?

Yeah, this thing isn't even going to sell on Craigslist. It's going to sell at a very low price. and analysts think that BP is going to lose $26 billion by having to sell right now. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for the four ways that corporations are reacting to Russia? Nearly everything we just said is temporary. It could end. Snackas Putin, he has the power to uncansal Russia that has just been canceled. When we looked at the press releases from these companies about Russia,

we noticed the verbiage was intentionally temporary. Yeah, like UPS, they're probably going to one day. end up back in Russia. Disney and Warner Brothers, they specifically use the word pause. FIFA is suspending the team from Russia in the World Cup. Now, what about the dictionary here? Paws and suspensions? Those can be unpaused and unsuspended. Now, sadly, these corporate actions we just described, they're going to hurt innocent Russians just trying to get by in Russia. But Putin could stop that pain. The hope is that Putin will react to consumer pain by ending the war. And all that corporate canceling could get uncanceled.

For our second story, Foot Locker, its stock has plummeted 35% over the last few days because of one line and one word. Nike wants to elevate. There's the word and there's the line. First of all, Jack, Full Locker, we should say this, honestly, best dressed workers in all of retail, Foot Locker. You, blowing their whistles and calling a technical foul on somebody. You, flagrant, out of here. Every sales associate at Foot Locker wears a referee outfit.

It's great. They should get into it like, hey, do you like the shoes? Do these look good? I mean, they're like, I got to be objective. I can't say yes or I can't say now. Snackers, we're talking about the $3 billion shoe retailer, which, frankly, they like sprained an ankle last week. Foot Locker announced they expect their sales this year to fall compared to last year.

Yeah. Now, that's honestly disappointing because people are really into their sneakers these days. But Foot Locker, they got a bigger problem, and it's this specific line. Foot Locker announced that no single shoe brand will make up over 60% of total sales for Footlockers. And then they went on to say that this reflects the accelerated strategic shift to direct a consumer by one of the company's vendors. Oh, just one of our vendors. Just one of the Foot Locker vendors. Just some brand that happens to sell at Foot Locker.

A brand that rhymes with hiking. Nike. Snackers. Nike is the problem and Nike is what Foot Locker depends on. In 2020, Nike made up 75% of all Foot Locker sales. Okay, sit down, stand up and sit back down against Snackers. We're saying that three out of four shoes sold at Foot Locker, those are Nike shoes. It fell from 75% to 70% last year, but Foot Locker announced last week, it's going to fall to 55% Nike

next year and keep falling from there. So this is an awkward situation because Foot Locker, they depend on selling those Nike. snakers. But Nike is trying to move away from Foot Locker. So Jack and I are looking at this situation and we're like, you know what? Foot Locker is the 1990s Chicago Bulls who we grew up with and Nike is there Michael Jordan. Sure. Foot Locker's getting some points from Pippin. Yeah, they are. And Coot coach is posting up in the paint.

Okay, Rodman. He's doing his job. Paxson for three. He's getting the rebounds and he's getting a few twos every single game. Steve Kerr's even on the squad, but there's not any championship. Without Nike. Snackers, no MJ, no ship. No Nike, no sales growth. Now, here's the reason why. Nike, look, they'd rather sell their own shoes on their own channels, not on footlocker stores. Nike announced a couple years ago, they're focused on the sneakers app, the Nike town stores, and the Nike app too. That's how they want to sell the customers.

And part of that is because of the profit puppies. When they sell on their own channels, Nike's making double the profit than they would make at a footlocker sale. They don't have to give a cut to the referees at footlocker sale. Yeah, but the other reason Nike is doing this is because of our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Nike and Foot Locker? Nike is embracing the word of the year. Elevate. Nick, I'm trying to elevate my morning routine. No death scrolling aloud.

You know how you elevate your morning routine? You put vanilla syrup in your oatmeal. I'm going to pretend you said maple syrup and let's just move on. Snackers, Nike, they're making a change. Here's the deal. They're giving up reach. in order to gain status. Here's the problem that Nike saw.

When Foot Locker discounts a pair of Air Jordans, 50% off and sticks them up on the wall next to a Reebok and a Fila, that is not a good look for Nike sneakers. Unless your grand help. But when Nike sells directly to you, Nike controls the higher price. It controls the look. It controls the sense of exclusivity.

Getting out of Foot Locker to sell directly on Nike's own channels, that's one way they're elevating their brand. Yeah, look at Gucci. Look at Prada. Look at Louis. We've a ton. 90% of those luxurious brand sales, they are direct to consumer. Only 40% of Nike is direct to consumer. They're trying to make that higher. Foot locker stock, it has plummeted because Nike is elevating away.

Kind of like Air Jordan. For our third and final story, the numbers are in and Target has one pandemic retail. Target stock has doubled during the pandemic. And unlike Zoom, Target stock has stayed high. Yeah, well, it's kind of a burn. diss there. I know. It's aggressive.

Coming out swinging. Unlike every stock in my portfolio. Yeah. This is Nick. This is Jack. And we're down. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lovely town, also home of the alt Walmart.

Get this. Walmart slogan is save money, period. Live better. Get this. Target slogan is expect more. Period. Pay less. Period.

I think both Walmart and Target are working with, we are, period. Right. Branding company, period. It feels like a zucking, but like I think we should just, it's like a level two zucking, not a level three. The only difference we're seeing between Walmart and Target, it's the color. Walmart does blue, Target's red.

Even though Walmart is four times the size of Target, Target just celebrated two years of incredible pandemic progress with its annual investor day. And they announced a milestone. It's their first year ever, 2021, with $100 billion of annual sales. Now, the reason they're enjoying such record numbers right now is like a lot of companies, Target's realized it's a good time to jack up prices in all of us. Oh, Target's feeding that profit puppy up noise. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?

Because Snackers, with all of everyone talking about inflation, has gotten people concerned about inflation, which leads to more inflation and companies charging higher prices more inflation. You expect to pay more. Target knows that, so they're charging you more. Yeah, trigger warning in aisle 6. Profits nearly doubled for Target during the pandemic, even though revenue only grew by 35% during the pandemic.

Yeah, you walked in for the, dish soap, but you walked out with an $180 receipt in six bags. Target is clearly raising prices more than inflation. And that is why Target stock just jumped 10% to mark the big record day on the record year. Oh, by the way, random highlight from Investor Day. Oh, I'm so glad we're sharing this. Target now announced that if you do curbside delivery, like you order online and they deliver you your bags, which is classic. They will bring you a Starbucks to your car if you want. I got a box of toilet paper and an orange mocha for Appuccino. So Jack, what is the takeaway for our buddies over a target.

Consumers are feeling sad in this country, but they're spending happy. Snacker, strange phenomenon that Jack and I have noticed in the economy right now. Call it the target twist. We're not happy, but we're spending like we're happy. Yeah. So last night was Joe Biden's first state of the union address as president. And he faces an awkward situation. Economic data shows that the economy, it's really strong.

Yeah, but consumers' feelings about the economy, they're quite poor right now. And you see this in Target's numbers. Americans spent a record number of dollars at Target last year. And yet, consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan Wolverine statistics, go blue. Just hit its lowest level in the last 12 years. And that's strange because historically, and this makes sense, spending by consumers and sentiment about the economy move in the same direction.

Yeah, Jack, if we're feeling bad about the economy, we spend less. If we're feeling good about the economy, we splurge more. But something about the pandemic and politics surrounding it, have Americans feeling sad. And yet we're spending like we're happy. Call it the Target twist. Jack, can you whip up the Wednesday takeaways for us over that? Western companies are canceling their business with Putin's Russia.

It's temporary, though. Putin could un-cancel Russia. Our second story is Foot Locker. It's slowly losing their Nike. Yeah, because of the word of the year, Nike is elevating its brand like his greatness. Our third and final story is Target. It's doing great. They're increasing prices and people are paying.

Wonderful. We're going to call it the Target. twist. We're not feeling good about the economy. No. But we're spending like we're feeling good. I think this is something that happens in Vegas, too, Jack. Now, time for our snack facts of the day. This one's brought to you by Jack and me because we found it and we wanted to do this snack fact. The largest plane in the world is in Ukraine. It's named the Maria, which means the dream. And if you take like a flight, chances are it has one engine under each wing. It's your typical plane. This one didn't have one. It didn't have two. It didn't have two.

engines under each wing. It had three huge jet engines under each wing. This thing's got 32 wheels. Jack, you can't even use two pilots to fly this thing. You need two pilots in the front and then five crew members to do who knows what. The wingspan of this Ukrainian plane is nearly 300 feet. Can hold 50 cars on board. That's from one goal line on a football field to another goal line. And it's the wingspan. Oh, sorry, Snackers. You're not impressed. Get this. This plane holds over 200 Guinness World records. Which probably is another Guinness World Record, most world records. Now, sadly, because of the war in Ukraine, Russia just destroyed the Maria plane this week in an air attack. But this plane is still a legend, still a record holder. Snackers, you look fantastic today. If you've got a snack fact, if you got a

Ukrainian snack fact, and you want to send it in, we can get your voice on this podcast. There's a link to a Google form in the description of this episode. We got it in every episode. And Jack and I, we will see you tomorrow. Before we go, happy birthday to Justin Zinkle celebrating at the top of El Capitan in Yosemite at this moment. Don't look down. I hope you packed a P.B&J or two for that hike. And Lena, happy 30th birthday over in Greenville, South Carolina. Happy birthday to Spencer A.

Celebrating a 16th in Peoria, Illinois. And Fitzpatrick Maples is turning one down in Jacksonville, Florida. I love that name Fitzpatrick Maples. Also, some belated birthdays that Jack and I owe to you from yesterday. Happy birthday to Robbie Gradnola in San Francisco. And Lisa Thomas Stout, happy birthday in La Marada, California. And Manuel Diaz in Puerto Rico. And Christian Brown over in Katie, Texas.

Happy birthday to Lucas in Chicago. And Steve Hardin, straight out of the weight room of Del Barton, New Jersey. Happy Hogi birthday. He's actually a leapier baby, so he's either 34 or 8.5. We'll round up to 9. This is Jack, Nick on Stock of Apple. And we both on stock of Airbnb. Robin Hood Snacks, newsletters, and podcasts reflect the opinions of only the authors who are

associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC and do not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are meant for informational purposes only and are not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, cryptocurrency, or investment strategy in any account. This is not an offer or sale of a security, not a research report, and is not intended to serve on the basis for any investment decision. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc. Robin Hood Financial LLC or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. All investments involve

risk, including loss of principal and past performance, does not guarantee future results. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. I'm going to pretend you said maple syrup and let's just move on.