The Best One Yet - 🍬 “Fruity Pebbles Latte, please” — Nestle’s coffee creamer-copia. Palantir’s perfect pitch. Target’s fire sale.

Episode Date: June 8, 2022

Nestle sees America is consuming record amounts of coffee, so it’s piggybacking with record coffee creamer sales — and making it sweet. Palantir’s CEO did what no other CEO has: visited the President of Ukraine in wartime Liev. And Target just updated us again that they’re in some trouble — next up, a firesale in aisle 6.  $NSRGY $PLTR $TGTFollow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn 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. It's Wednesday, June 8th, and today's pod is the best one yet. TBOI. Nick and I coordinate outfits. I'm rocking sea foam green. There we go. You got ocean blue.

I like what you did there. It's a nice Wednesday wardrobe. Let's roll with it, Jack. Now, you can watch this pod and see these wardrobes every day because we're streaming video on Spotify now. Yes, we are. You see the shirts and you see the takeaways. Jack, what we got for our first T-Boy? Boom, T-Boy Plus.

What's our first story? Coffee consumption has hit an all-time high, and according to Nestle, so have coffee creamers. We got ourselves a piggyback product. Here it is. Cocoa fruity pebbles fudge creamer. For our second story, Palantir is one of the most mysterious, strange, secretive companies in America. It's also the only one that had a personal powwow with President Zelensky over in Ukraine. Our third and final story is Tarje.

Once again, Target dragged down the whole. stock market yesterday. Yeah, here we go, besties. Fire sale over at Isle 6. But before we hit that wonderful combo of stories, fantastic mix for a midweek, Jack. We had a rare combo this week. It was Pride Month. It still is Pride Month. And it was National Donut Day. Okay, so Jack, one day last week, there was a celebration of the LGBT community and a celebration of a delicious dessert. Now, they seem totally unrelated. But the Pride movement's beginnings, include a donut. Get this, Yetis, we learned this from a bestie named Steve Decker down in Florida. You probably know that the Gay Liberation Movement began with the Stonewall Upsies in

1969 in New York City. But it actually began 10 years earlier in 1959 in lovely Los Angeles. In 1959, it was illegal in Los Angeles to not be dressed in the clothing of the gender listed on your ID card. Okay, so Jack, hard to believe today. But back then, it was illegal to cross stress. What a ridiculously subjective law, by the way. In the meantime, let's go to Cooper Donuts, a 24-hour donut shop that happened to be located in the heart of Los Angeles's gay district. Okay, so one night back in 1959, cops came into Cooper's Donuts and tried arresting a couple of drag queens that were just mine in their own business. But the diners, they weren't having it. They fought back with a food fight. That's right. The diners at Cooper's donut hurled coffee,

Tossed paper plates, whipped donuts at the officers until they scrant. We're talking powdered donuts, sprinkled donuts, lemon cream flavored donuts. It was oppression versus fried dough. Now, basties and yetis, that movement has evolved from the donut fight to more uprisings. And then to protests and now to parades. And today, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people enjoy rights hard fought by so many brave individuals. And the earliest brave protesters? Yeah, Jack?

Used a glazed donut. Happy Pride Month to all, especially to the LGBTQ Yetis, some of whom are our most dedicated bestness. Let's celebrate our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. 50%. That's a fat tip.

Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're rare to go. We can't wait no more. So just start the show. Start the show. For our first story, Nestle just said that coffee consumption hit its highest point of the 21st century. But you know the real winner here. Talk to me, Jack.

Cookie Krisp. Cookie Crisp chocolate creamer is the real winner here. That's right, because Nick and I can already guess your routine. Yeties, we know what you're doing right now. First of all, you got your morning latte, but that's not it. Afternoon espresso comes after that. And then an evening decafacino before bed. And we can prove it because the National Coffee Association of America,

fine institution, by the way, just reported that coffee consumption has hit a two-decade half. We're talking 68% of Americans drinking coffee every single day. Jack, what's the wilder stat? According to this fine institution, that is more consumption of any beverage than any other beverage, including tap water. Some people aren't even consuming water.

They're just enjoying frapachinos. But the major change here is that coffee's not, just a morning routine. Yeah, it's not just like the, uh, but first, coffee situation. That's not the situation. Coffee is so much more than just a breakfast drink. Yeah, there's been a change. You're now drinking coffee throughout the day since you started working from home. You're crushing caffeine at 5 o'clock like it's an appetizer for dinner. Turns out coffee consumption after breakfast is up a whopping 15% from last year. You know what? We're freaking busy, man. You got what going on? Millennials are a busy generation. You got to fuel those synapses even.

in the afternoon. Yeah, even if it's a $9 cup of coffee, that's the cost of that. But here's the issue. We all need to drink coffee, but we hate the taste of those coffee beans. Boom. This is what Jack and I found fascinating about this coffee situation. There has emerged a piggyback trend. Millennials are driving all-time high sales of coffee creamers, specifically flavored coffee creamer. That's the piggyback trend. Creamers are growing faster than coffee is specifically sugar and nostalgia creamers. Twinky creamers, Cineabund creamers,

Eminem creamers, cinnamon toast crunch, coffee creamer. We're talking the rise of the candy creamers. Where's the Three Musketeers bar? Here's the thing. We're not dipping our hand

into the M&M bowl on Cindy's desk like our parents' generation got to in the afternoon. Look, Cindy's nice and you want to have a conversation with her, but look, you still need an afternoon pickup.

It's just not going to be M&Ms. That's why Nestle is literally, this is a real product. They have a drumstick ice cream. Remember those cones? Yeah. They've turned it into a coffee creamer. Like you'd go to the ice cream guy down the street.

That's now your 30-year-old coffee addition substitute. It's like a hypnotist. I know you're busy. I know you want ice cream, but you need coffee. It's just like ice cream. Honestly, childhood cereals, they just hit different as a coffee creamer. Forget caffeine. This generation craves high-fructose corn syrup in the afternoon.

Two pumps of cookie dough, darling. And don't judge me, darling. Just don't. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies putting stuff in their cappuccinos over in the creamer industry? It's not a megatrend without an arms race. Yeah, it is. Look, creamers, they're piggybacking off your record coffee consumption. But what confirms that we have a megatrend on our hands?

Talk to me, Jack. It's the arms race among corporations for creamer partnerships. Okay, first, Nestle partnered with Kellogg to make Rice Krispies creamers and Golden Grams creamers. And then Danan partnered with Post, the cereal company, for fruity pebbles creamers. But then Dan and partnered with Warner Brothers, are they making a Batman creamer, Jack? False. It's Willy Wonka branded creamer, specifically Whipple, scrumptious, fudgy caramel creamer. Again, a real product.

And just in case you weren't sure this was an arms race, when Starbucks and Duncan saw all this, they whipped up their own candy creamers that just came to market. It's not a mega trend without an arms race. One more cookie crisp for the people, Jack. Go-Kee, Chris. It's one of my finer talents. For our second story, Palantir just became the first Western company to actually visit Kiev during the war in Ukraine. This is Palantir's Lieutenant Dan moment.

The thing to do for politicians these days, Jack, what is the cool thing to do if you're in politics? Fly to Ukraine without prior announcement. and have a photo op with President Zelensky. Well, Ukraine just issued a press release last week about his latest meeting with a man named Alex Karp. Alex Karp is not the president of this republic or the prime minister of that democracy. No, Alex Karp is the founder and CEO of a company, a mysterious company called Palantir. Palantir is named after the orb in Lord of the Rings where Saran can spy on the fellowship because Mary or Pippin, they done messed up.

Okay, easy there, easy there. Easy there. Jack's going down a Hobbit. Hold down there right there. Gandal! Now, when they're not reading The Hobbit, the company Palantir builds spy caliber software for companies to better see the world

through data and analysis. And President Volodemir Zelenskyy said that Ukraine could use Palantir to fight against Russia on the digital front lines. Okay, so Palantir is helping out Ukraine's resistance fighters to defend their country, fantastic. That is fantastic. It's not just Ukraine, who's the winner here, though.

The other winner is Palantir's salespeople. Picture your classic corporate sales meeting. Jack, let's set this scene here. You got like a bunch of stale fruit over here and like six bottles of water. Nobody's going to touch over there. Yeah, I brought a pitch deck. You're definitely never going to pick up again after this meeting. So Palantir is visiting the headquarters of a company.

They want to be the client. And that company, let's say it's a bank, probably doesn't have two. much interest. But now, the first thing that that banker is going to say is, hey, didn't I see that your CEO was in Kiev, like Ukraine? That Palantir salesperson's suddenly going to have a burst of energy. Suddenly, they're going to explain how Palantir's tech can protect against cyber attacks and follow dirty money or detect investment opportunities before anyone else, including on the battlefield. I had no interest in this meeting, but now I'm like Kevin Bacon, one degree of separation from something really cool that happened. Okay. So,

The CEO of Palantir's PR stunt over in Ukraine, that's ammunition that his sales team of Palantir salespeople can use to make a sale. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Palantir? This is Palantir's Lieutenant Dan moment. Yeties, remember in Forrest Gump, when Forrest Barry's Gen A and then Lieutenant Dan shows up and at the wedding, he's not in a wheelchair. It's a wonderful scene. And he's not in a wheelchair because he's new legs.

or magic legs, as Forrest calls them. Well, Lieutenant Dan says those legs are made out of titanium alloy, just like the metal used in the space shuttle. Now, Lieutenant Dan didn't need legs capable of flying to space. No, Lieutenant Dan didn't need titanium alloy. Lieutenant Dan could have just used some basic cheap metal for his new legs. But Lieutenant Dan was excited about the titanium because of the space program, and that got Lieutenant Dan to finally take action and get legs.

Well, the way Jack and I see it, it's the same situation with Palantir's sales pitch. That banker doesn't need software tough enough to fight Russia on the digital front lines. That client doesn't need something as intense as what Palantir's capable of. But that banker is excited by what Palantir is capable of. This is Palantir's Lieutenant Dan Moment. And now a word about our sponsor, Robin Hood. So for the last three and a half years, Jack and I were running a startup within a startup, basically. We turned our company Market Snacks into Robin Hood Snacks, the news arm of Robin.

And at Robin Hood, we co-hosted the Snacks Daily Pod that you got to know and love. At Robin Hood, we also got to hire an awesome team of news people who run the Robin Hood Snacks. Wild fact here. The biggest newsletter in America, Robin Hood Snacks. A key detail, though, not many are aware of, is the editorial independence. So Jack and I set it up so that we could independently cover the most interesting and most important news stories of the day. Robin Hood's commitment to free, digestible news snack style was an awesome differentiator. Yeah, if you're not investing in Robin Hood yet to get started, go to robin hood.com slash T-boy and choose a free stock.

That's robinood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC member SIPC. By the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or the podcast. For our third and final story, one second. Jack, we got a warning. And it's from Target.

We have too much stuff that we can't sell. Call it a fire sale. There is a run on Target about to happen. Trivia. What's the biggest company based in Minnesota? Definitely Target. Big box target. Just announced some big box bad news.

Yeah, here it is. Here it is. We're taking actions to right size our inventory in this rapidly changing environment. Jargon, jargon, jargon, speak jargon. Here's what they're actually saying. They have way too much. stuff and you're not buying. Especially the home goods. Jack, they have too many home goods at Tarje. The TVs, the home decor, the wooden signs that say blessed, cherish this home. Love wins here.

All the worry about a recession that you've seen in the news has people passing on that 55-inch and the console table. So it's the opposite of the Horto's Almanac. It's a surplus with no purpose. And the solution that Target announced yesterday, they are taking aggressive steps to get rid of their extra inventory. Jack, can we pull a Google translate on that little bit of jargon too? Get ready, Yeties, for a fire sale of anything home related at your local target. Honey, get in the Mazda. We're going to aisle 6. Hey, you won't be able to pack your pantry with 50% off bags of Doritos.

Don't expect to see that. Yeah, food, beverage, beauty, demand for essentials. That's been steady. So that's like unaffected. That's not going to get discounted. It's the random non-essential home stuff that Target just can't seem to sell. Yeah, the stuff we all bought during the pandemic with Stimmy checks, you're not buying him right now. Patio furniture, a kitchen mixer, that thousand thread Egyptian cotton king-sized thing.

All that stuff, you might be able to buy the dip over a target pretty soon. I'm hoping for 50% off that stuff, but we'll say. Hashtag not an ad. This is actually happening. Nick, all that negative sentiment around the economy has consumers focused on essentials. Not like that 55-inch tree. No more, treat yourself. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our bud days over at Targé? This isn't a discounting death spiral.

This is a one-time profit punishment. Oh, hey, Target. Look, it's us. It's Nick and Jack. Let's just talk for a second. Why didn't you just tell us this a month ago? Back in May, we covered on this pod that Target forecasted much weaker revenue than expected, and they had their worst stock day ever.

Yeah, the way we see it. If they knew in May that sales would slow down, they should have known they'd have extra inventory too. And they should have told us then. It's better to have one negative news cycle than to spread it out over two events and two episodes on this pod. Okay, well, at least now, Target is ripping off the Band-Aid with a one-off fire sale. Yeah, Target, don't expect them to start the ugly habit of constant discounts that consumers get used to and start waiting for. This isn't the discounting death spiral of death. What this is is a one-time profit punishment. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over there?

Americans are sipping coffee in record amounts, so Nestle is piggyback. Because Fruity Papal Creamer, it's not a mega trend without an arms race. Our second story was about Palantir's CEO visiting President Volodymyr Zelensky last week in Ukraine. Yeah, this is Palantiers Lieutenant Dan moment. For our third and final story, Target, if we have to cover you again in the next month or so, we're going to be really disappointed. Yeah, we know. You're not going through the discounting death spiral of death. you're going through a one-time profit punishment. Now, time for the best fact yet.

This one sent in by longtime Yeti, David Kroji, from lovely Iowa, and Jack and I were shocked by this. The Amazon River is one of the mightiest rivers in the world. Second longest river in the world contains the most fresh water out of any river in the world. It's 4,300 miles long, which is longer than from New York to San Francisco. It's got like thousands of piranha species that could kill you. And despite all of those things, it's missing one thing. I didn't believe this when I read it.

But there is not a single bridge crossing the entire 4,000 mile river. Yeah. So like the Nile, they got nine bridges. The Yangtsey, they got 100 bridges. The Hudson River in New York has like 12 before Albany. There are multiple bridges on the bridges. But the Amazon River has zero bridges. Again, we fact-checked this.

It's just so wildly remote. and like jungle here surrounded. Jungle there. That there's no population that needs to get from one side to the other. Anywhere. The Amazon River, you can take a ferris. There are some fairies.

Fasties and yetis. If you know an invention that's better than edible burrito tape, we still want to hear it at T-boy Pot. I saw a good one, but we're going to give the rest of the Yeties a day or two. In the meantime, you can help grow this pod by turning to your buddy and saying,

hey, H-Y-H-T-O-Y. Have you had the best one yet? If you know, you know. Nick and I'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, congrats to Portuguese exchange student Laura Phillip, who's graduating, hope you had a fantastic time in U.S. high school. And congrats to Coach Nikki, who just got engaged down at Hermosa Beach, California. And Amy Jo, just finished that data science certification over in San Francisco.

And a huge happy birthday to Kate Harmon in Pasadena, California. And Emma Clary turning 22 in Westfield, Indiana. And happy 38 to Cole Forest in Evanston, Illinois. And Jessica Waller over in Clovis, California. Happy 27 to Rema Nake in Reno, Nevada. And Elle Mollins enjoy that 10th birthday in Bayonne, New Jersey. This kid's going places only listens to the pod on two-time speed. Happy birthday, happy birthday.

And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a D-Buy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick and I both own stock of Spotify and Robin Hood. And now word about our exclusive. of sponsor, Robin Hood. Look, we're not tech guys. We're not engineers. Nick, I'm no product manager. You look great, but we're not technically. When our computer's not working, Jack and I turn it off, and then we turn it back on again. But when we moved to California to join Robin Hood, we were in tech's mecca. So we were soaking up as much about the tech industry as we could. One thing we saw

about the tech industry at Robin Hood was insane customer focus. Every product launched, every tweak made to the app was a laser-focused move on customers. Robin Hood would be interviewing hundreds of users to figure out of one tweak of one button in the app would improve the experience. Inside of Robin Hood, we saw that everything the company did was focused on the best outcome for you, the customer. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robinode.com and t-boy and choose a stock. That's Robinhood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC member SIPC. By the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or this podcast. But the real estate, but the

Real winner here is chocolate cookie crisp. I forgot how much you love it cookie crisp. I'm so surprised. I remember like, hey, Jack, we talk on the phone. This is Nick. This is cookie Chris.