The Best One Yet - “GO O GL E” — Break it up? SpaceX’s other cloud. P&G’s 15-year best.

Episode Date: October 21, 2020

The Justice Department just slammed Google with the biggest antitrust monopoly case since the ‘90s. Elon Musk’s SpaceX nails a new partnership with Microsoft to handle cloud computing… in outer space. And Procter & Gamble’s earnings are a window directly into your home — while you’re eating and cleaning (so much cleaning).$GOOG $PG $MSFTGot a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @TBOYJack @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Learn 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, October 21st. Snackers, at the time of this recording, we are hours from the stimulus deadline imposed by Nancy Pelosi. And it looks like there is no deal, Jack, no deal. Yeah. Despite news of no economic stimulus coming before the presidential election.

Yeah. Stocks rose yesterday. Stocks rose. You know, Jack, when it rains, it pours. Can we say that two in a row? Apparently we should say that two days in a row. It turns out this is also like our best snacks daily we've ever. ever done way better than yesterday is. For our first story, the United States of America

versus Google. We're talking the biggest anti-monopoly case since Tomogachi was the thing. For our second story, SpaceX wants to colonize Mars, but it's starting with a thousand tiny satellites orbiting the Earth. And now Microsoft is the official cloud provider of outer space, real clouds. For a third and final story, Proctor and Gamble's earnings are a window into those shelves behind the bathroom mirror. What do you call those things? What are those? They It's called a medicine cabinet, but I got hair gel on that. P&G calls it their best sales quarter in 15 years. But Snackers, before we hit those three-guide stories,

movie theaters aren't Batmaning this blockbuster season. No, movie theaters aren't open, and even if they were, there's no movies to theater. That's why we're impass by movie theaters two corona economy pivots. Jack and I noticed the first big one here, repurposed popcorn. That's right.

Movie theaters have buckets of unpop popcorn so much. Which when popped, becomes like a small mountain of popcorn. So it turns out some local movie theaters are packing up those tubs of said popcorn, extra melted butters tossed on top, and then they're doing curbside pickup. Curbside popcorn from a movie theater sounds pretty tasty. But the second pivot we noticed from movie theaters is that they need cash fast, but they can't call J.G. Wentworth. That's why AMC Theaters is letting you rent out an entire movie theater for yourself.

Yes. For $99. No joke, $99 bucks, you went up to 20 people get to choose the film, have the whole sticky theater to yourself. Sounds incredible, but we suggest you round down the number of people in the theater to a COVID-friendly, like, five. At that point, you're probably just going to stay home. Now, we're not fans of wasting any popcorn. And we do love some house-shaking Christopher Nolan Dolby surround sound situation.

Jack, I almost lost an ear during inception. I heard Pete Townsend went deaf because he's a Christopher Nolan fan. But Snackers, if you're staying home to watch Jojo Rabbit, which he should. It's a great, great film. Grab a tub of popcorn from your local movie theater. And if you want to watch Mad Max Fury and really experience the Fury, you can drop $99 and book the place for you

and your COVID-Bioom family. That's how I almost lost the second dear. Extra credit to the snacker who sends us a pick of either of those two things happen. At Robin Hood Snacks, let's hit our three stories. You're tuned in the snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something legal out the way.

The snacks about the hair ain't food. It's ear candy. They don't reflect the views of the Robin Hood family. It's all informational just so. You know, we're not. any securities. Nope. It's not a research report or investment advice. Not an offer or sale of a security. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member FINRA slash SIPC. For our first story, the first big tech giant just got sued for being a big tech giant, Jack.

Google is the first, and Facebook and Amazon could be next. And Jack and I are looking at this. This comes after, like, a year of issuing subpoenas and investigating and ironically Googling on Google all about Google. I hope they did it on an incognito browser. Now, a bunch of attorneys general have finally made their move. Jack, that is the best plural in the game. Attorney's General. Doesn't get any better. You got geese? Yep. You got hippopotamine. You got attorneys general. Yes, you do. And that's why the United States America and 11 U.S. states have teamed up versus Google LLC. This is the first major government case against an alleged monopoly since Microsoft. Yeah.

Way back in 1998. Yeah, Jack, the big crime against humanity in 98, Windows 98. 1998, great year for the New York Yankees. Yes, it was. Bad year for Microsoft Incorporated. Now, Snackers, the allegation here is that Google's been acting like a monopoly, and that's harmed you, it's harmed me. It's harmed your mom.

It's not fair. The tides have turned, though, Nick, against Google. Do you remember the movie The Internship? It was adorable. So charming, great laugh. loud moments, but took a while to get into it. Googleers were young Superman and Supermood and trying to change the world for the good. Now, Vince Vaughn's like boss's boss is getting charged with the top corporate crime. Now, the key distinction of this lawsuit against Google, this is key. Being a monopoly

is legal. True. And we shouldn't punish companies for their success. Yeah, case in point, look at Google. Its products have a fantastic user experience. You're all probably on them right now. They're free. They have tons of complimentary services that work seamlessly together. like a beautiful Philharmonic orchestra. You got your Chrome browser, you got your phone browser, you got your Android. They're all syncing up in a way that only Jack's poetry in that last line could describe.

You Google Pat's cheese steak on a computer and the directions pop up on your iPhone. It's incredible. And the reviews confirm that it's better than Gino's cheese steaks. Now, Snackers, what is illegal? Is engaging in anti-competitive and exclusionary practices? That's exactly what. the government has accused Google of doing.

Yeah, we're looking at the numbers here. All, Jack. So Google owns, you know, give or take, about 80% of all internet search. I don't work in the Justice Department. No. That feels like a monopoly-like number. You don't have to do too much rounding on that one. Now, the 80% domination of online search isn't illegal in and of itself.

No, but acting like a monopoly, that is what is illegal. And here's where Google has crossed the line, according to the government. They're using their massive size to buy up the competition, and to preserve their dominance. Yeah, I mean, look at the competition here. Google's main search competition, honestly, is it's YouTube. Which Google conveniently acquired back in 2006. All right, moving on, Exhibit B here.

The biggest online ads competition for Google is probably, I don't know, maybe double-click. Hilarious because Google acquired them in 2007. That's in the past, but Snackers, let's look to the future. What's going on there, Jack? They're still using their massive size to become the default internet search browser everywhere a device is living. Google is paying Apple billions of dollars to become the default search on iPhones,

and Google already owns all those Android's too. With that kind of dominance, no search or online ad competitor startup has a chance of cracking through to customers. This is like the Hawks in D1. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Google? Big tech monopolies are unlike other monopolies because they actually save us money.

Snackers, this is why Jack and I find this fascinating. The key thing the government needs, to prove is that the Google monopoly actually harms you and me. Now, when big chicken cartel colludes on price, the harm, Nick, is very clear to you and me. We've seen this play out in real life. Big chicken companies raise prices. Chicken McNuggets start costing more. But Google is free to you and me. So the harm that Google has on consumers is much less obvious. That's why the government's going to have to strategically argue that we suffer from a lack of innovation in online search because of Google. And they're going to argue that businesses suffer from the high price of online ads. And let's be honest, businesses

probably can't get discovered by customers without Google's online ads. And after making that case, then the government is going to want some structural changes to come about. Like splitting off YouTube or the Chrome browser that Google owns into separate companies. And then, of course, the X factor here is that the election could result in a whole new attorney general because politics is driving this whole thing anyway. This case is probably going to be in the courts for years, but the seal has been broken. Big text. Now, defense against D.C. For our second story, P&G, Procter & Gamble,

just reported their biggest global sales increase in, you know, 15 years. Their earnings report is a mirror into the shelf behind the mirror in your back. So, Snaggers, Jack and I jumped into this snack style. And the first thing we noticed, we just thought this was, this was too good not to include. Unlike the first page of their earnings deck, P&G refers to themselves as, quote, unquote, constructive disruption. Bit of a dig at Uber.

We're moving fast, but we're careful not to break anything. But if we break anything, we've got products that can clean it up. We have plenty of products that can clean it up. Oh, so we look for Procter & Gamble's earnings report because it's like stepping into the family home of America. Let us list off the All Star lineup here. You got tied, pamper's, bounty, always, Oral B, Don, all owned by P&G. These are all brands owned by Procter and Gamble. And we call it the aspirational boomer pantry. Honestly, Jack, there should be like a fantasy league where you can like play with all these household items. Like, who you got, you got, Have you got it? Well, these are all like 30 point per game all stars. These are high-end brands.

Now, the big question that Jack and I were asking when we jumped into this thing is, so like, what does the American home look like seven months into coronavirus because P&G basically tells us? In a word, it looks different. It does look a little different. Let's go, uh, should we go section by section, department by department, Jack? Let's kick it off with the beauty department. Lovely. Where sales at Procter and Gamble jumped by 7% compared to last year. Full disclosure, Jack and I were kind of shocked. you're not going out. You're not putting on as much blush, you'd think. You'd think. But we also have

like two extra hours at home because we're not commuting and we're not doing anything socially with friends. So you can do that deep pore cleansing treatment that's been in the back of your pantry. Also full disclosure, Jack, and I have very deep pores and we're okay saying that. They're deep, but they're not wide. Second department, grooming and oral care. Yeah. Interesting situation here because it was actually flat for the grooming and oral care division. One part of it was really up, one part of it was really down. See, saw effect. out, America is brushing their teeth more. Yeah, they are. Rock out, you know, electric toothbrush sales, apparently up 15%. Also, full disclosure, Jack and I brush before and after the podcast.

Turns out, though, grooming of your face and shaving of your face is down for both men and women. Yep, we're looking at pretty much everyone out there. Yep, everyone's kind of shaving less, all you snackers. Grewing and hair removal, it's down. We are a hairier nation. But the star of this entire earnings report was the home care department over at Procter & Gamble. P&G's home care sales jumped by 30%. And for a company as giant as Procter and Gamble, that is a gigantic jump from the previous year. Jack, thank you for sprinkling some context on this thing. We're talking about their brands like Swiffer, Mr. Clean, Fabriz, all saw surges in demand again after the previous quarter. Before the pandemic, your house may have experienced like two days of dust creation

per week because the other five days you're in the office. Now you got like, little Jimmy zoom school on his way through fifth grade over from the living room. It's Friday you look over. You have an inch of accumulation on the top of the armoire. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Procter & Gamble? Cleanliness has moved from fad to trend. I was really hoping that would rhyme that. Stackers, I knew, I knew he was hoping it would rhyme. We covered Procter & Gamble sales, you may remember, just a few months ago, and they jumped earlier this year, and that was the accidento hoarding, just your usual hoarding that happened in the spring.

We had no idea what COVID-19 was all about. No. So we bought a 40-pack of Mr. Clean for the bunker just in case. Why not? But even as the economy has opened up since then, this lading's earnings show us that P&G thinks demand for clean-related goods has only risen more. Procter & Gamble calls this a sustained focus on home cleaning,

which is very good for the sustained profits of Procter & Gamble. The other interesting kicker jack, and I noticed, is that hygiene is such a priority right now that sales of like, you know, basic, generic, private label brands like Walgreens detergent, those are actually down a little bit. That's right. You're splurging on the snooty tide option because you really like your family and you're going to pay more for it. And that's what's so different about this recession than any other recession.

We're saving money by not traveling and like doing entertaining things, but we're splurging on top shelf toothpaste. For our third and final story, the next big update in the consumer space race is Jack the honors. is partnering with Elon Musk's SpaceX. Boom. For intergalactic cloud connectivity. Snackers, let's say you're trying to get a handle on this whole space business situation.

Basically, there are three main players you got to know who are focused on the consumer side of space. The first is Virgin Galactic. Excuse me, Sir, Virgin Galactic. Sorry to offend you, Virgin Galax. Yeah, Richard, not a snack. Is he a snack? I think he's a snacker. Is the head of this publicly traded company,

which has a big, bold vision for consumers. A five-minute vacation in orbit for $200,000 on a space machine. Sounds great if you are Sir Richard Branson. The second up is Blue Origin. Owned by Jeff Bezos, they see a future where we can extract raw materials from foreign planets and from like asteroids. That's what they're doing in space. Maybe they're going to dabble in some like space e-commerce kind of a thing. Here's the idea there.

I think it's safe to say that'll be included with any prime membership. But then the third and final consumer-focused space company here is SpaceX, the artist formerly known as Space Exploration. Owned and CEOed by Elon Musk, their short-term goal is shuttling stuff up into space for NASA. And their long-term goal is a very casual, colonized Mars. Their long-long-term goal is to clone Elon Musk to become the president of Mars. But in the meantime, while all that's going down, all three of these consumer-focused space companies are pretty far from those goals. so they're doing the next best thing. Stargazing. Constellations, that's the near-term business focus of these three space companies. Not the big depper, not Orion's belt. Constellations,

we're talking human-made tiny satellites that orbit the Earth. And SpaceX is kind of leading here. They're developing a cast of them. They've got like 800 is the goal right now. They're going to beam down internet to remote parts of the Earth. The U.S. government is also interested, not for internet, but to detect military missiles shot from one part of the planet so that they can quickly respond and hopefully save lives. So if you're SpaceX, how do you ensure that your new internet beaming satellites don't collide with the U.S. Army's missile tracking moon? Ironically, the cloud, ironic because there's no cloud in outer space.

Nope, you're going to need to track all this data and all this movement with a cloud system which Microsoft happens to provide down here on Earth. Which brings us to yesterday's news. Microsoft is teaming up with SpaceX to manage all of SpaceX's information through its cloud. So if you're Microsoft in this situation, you're thinking, you know, some of your investments, hopefully they're short-term payouts for yourself. This one, though, is long-term. It gives Microsoft a chance to become like the Google of outer space in 20 years.

Yeah, post-Mars colonization. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at SpaceX? The more things change, the more things stay the same. Straight out El Gato Pardo. Who is number one and number two when it comes to cloud service rivals here on planet Earth? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Amazon and Microsoft. We've got a correct answer in the back. Now, Jack, who also just announced they had launched their own cloud initiative in space only a few months ago. Amazon did,

and now Microsoft is. Snackers, the barriers to actually entering the space industry, they're like staggeringly high. Good luck launching a satellite propulsion startup from Kickstarter. Throwing five more dollars and we'll put your name on the turboblaster. Just $100 more, everybody, and we've reached our goal. Now, as a result of that, Jack and I have noticed, that the same tech companies dominating here on Earth already have the major head start when it comes to space. What we see down here, we're already seeing way up there. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over there?

Google just got the biggest antitrust government lawsuit since Microsoft in 1998. It's going to be really hard to prove consumers are harmed, but the antitrust seal, it's been a broken. According to Procter & Gamble's sales earnings report, we've become the United States of a little hairier than before coronavirus. At home cleaning isn't a fad. It is a trend. For our third and file story, SpaceX needs a cloud provider for their space satellites.

You got Amazon? Or you got Microsoft. Same options down here on Earth. Constellations. Now, time for our snack fact of the day, which James from Cambridge, Massachusetts, apparently knew we were going to cover space today, impressively. Well, James is kind of showing off his MIT degree because space, according to James, is an infinitely expanding space. But that's not all. Apparently space is also a vacuum. I know what you're thinking. What's a vacuum? Since it's a vacuum, there is no medium through which sound can travel through.

It is entirely silent in space. The takeaway to our buddy James from Cambridge Mass. Space is both infinitely expanding and entirely silent. That sounds terrifying. The extra takeaway, throw in the word medium whenever you can. It will make you sound so much more technical. Snackers, if you want to help snacks daily, that help us grow, drop a review right on Apple, scroll down, give us five stores, or click

follow on Spotify. In the meantime, you all look fantastic. Jack and I'll see tomorrow. And before we go, congrats to Angelo graduating with a computer science degree over in Bari, Italy, where my family's from Angelo, look for some Martello, tell him I say hi. That's right. Nick dropped the O when he got to Ellis Island. It's a long story. It's a long story. And big shout out to the Warren family who snacks in the car on the way to school from San Francisco, California. And congrats to Joey and Melanie engaged over in Queens. And happy birthday to Danny Dan Shoe from Portland, Oregon. And to Marina Chagie in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

And CJ from Santa Barbara, California. And Ila Dadaka in Northville, Michigan. And Ellie Howard from Greenville, South Carolina. And Jessica Katina in Denver, Colorado. And Krista from Huntington, Long Island, I think the same town as Mariah Carey. Right on that NASA Suffolk, Suffolk. And happy birthday to Mike in the Bronx. This is Jack.

I own stock of Amazon. Nick own stock of Apple. The Robin Hood Snacks podcast you just heard reflects the opinions of only the hosts who are associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC and does not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a recommendation to buy or sell any security and is not an offer or sale of a security. The podcast is also not a research report and is not intended to serve as the basis of any investment decision. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Thank you.