The Best One Yet - 🐂 “Lone Star Stock Exchange” — Texas’s new stock market. Champion’s final sweatshirt. Boeing’s space launch.

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

Texas is building its 1st stock market… either because of politics or competition.Sweatshirt icon Champion is getting sold and (kinda) shut down… because of our Fads rule.Boeing is back after launching NASA astronauts into space… and this involves Elon and urinals.Plus, the hot new investment is actually… the oldest investment: Dinosaur bones.$HBI $BA $ICEWatch us on YouTubeGet the Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Submit Facts & Shoutouts Social: Follow us: on Instagram, TikTok, And connect with us on Nick’s LinkedIn & Jack’s LinkedInAbout Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, June 6th, and today's pod, this, this yetis, this is the best one yet. It's a T-Bin. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. But before we kick off the pod, Jack, you ready? Yeah. Yiddies, I mentioned yesterday that I've never had a Dr. Pepper in my life. It's a true story. We fact-checked. Two Yeties I encounter today forced Dr. Pepper's upon me. We ran into two besties of the pod, and they literally brought Dr. Pepper's for Jack to try on the spot. One of them had him in his back pocket. It was bulging out of his jeans. It was amazing. Thank you so, so much, Corey. So, I tried it. I was delightfully surprised. Did you taste all 22 flavors? I tasted all 65 grams of sugar. Trick question, 23 flavors.

No, it was pretty good. Do you think it tastes like a pharmacy smells? Yes. That's exactly what Dr. Pepper was hoping for. In the meantime, Yeti's Jack just had his first Dr. Pepper. We prepared three fantastic stories for you, and Jack, what's on today's pod? For our first story, nearly 100 years ago, Champion invented the sweatshirt. And that sweatshirt business just sold for $1 billion, because it turns out even champion sweatshirts shrink. For our second story, Boeing is back, baby. Yes, it is.

After launching NASA into space with no door plugs blowing off. Because to create an intergalactic village, it takes a village. And our third and final story. The newest stock exchange in America won't be in downtown Manhattan or midtown Manhattan. Yeties, the newest American stock exchange is coming to, Yee-Ha, Texas. Yeah, we've had a lot of soda, haven't we? You can taste those 65 grams of sugar now, Jack.

But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a fantastic mix of stories for the new Friday. The hottest new investment. What is it, Jack? It's the oldest. investment. Because Yeti's, this new hot investment, it's older than stocks, it's older than bonds. It's older than human beings, like homo sapiens. Because the hottest new investment of all time is dinosaur bones. Dinosaur bones, Jack, sprinkle on some context. Paleolithic reptiles are landing

in portfolios. Yeties, get this. A triceratops just sold for $8 million in 2021. A raptor sold for $12 billion in 2022. And in 2023, a Stegosaurus was discovered that's about to sell at Sotheby's in just a month. And the goal for that dinosaur bone auction? Yes, Jack. It's to break the record for highest-selling dinosaur. Because in 2020, an adult T-Rex sold for $32 million.

I mean, dollars. Small arms. Big money. And Jack, where are these dino vestments ending up, man? Only 20% of these dinosaur skeletons are ending up museums. If so facto, 80% of these dinosaurs are ending up in some dudes home. Apparently it's the latest billionaire flex. Yeah, come over for a play date and we can play with my paleosaurus. Don't mind the terectal in the pantry. Yeah, can I touch it? No,

don't touch it. Yeah, absolutely do not touch it. It's $32 million. This is actually creating a whole new industry of commercial paleontologists. Commercial paleontologists. Ross Geller, he's getting pretty jelly right now, Jack. Now, we should be clear. If you're you do sell a T-Rex skeleton, you still have to pay taxes on it. And why is that, Jack? Because after 165 million years, that's a long-term capital game. And why is that, Jack? Because your cost basis, it's the Cretaceous period.

Literally. Paging Dr. Grant. Life finds a way. Jack, let's say that three stories, man. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, that's it.

I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story, champion, the sweatshirt icon, was just sold for $1.2 billion.

Because even a 100-year-old champion, can suffer from our takeaway. Now, Jack, I got to ask you something. I grew up in New York City. You grew up in Vermont. But there's one thing that unites our histories, and what is that? Our middle school gym teachers? Yes?

wore the same uniform. Mr. Reyes? He was wearing a champion sweatshirt. Mr. Bentley? Uh-huh. He's still wearing a champion sweatshirt. Yeties, Champion actually invented the physical education uniform back in 1950.

I'm pretty sure they're in this Smithsonian Museum for that one. And yeties, you all know the champion. Champion sweatshirts. Because you can fit your whole family inside an oversized champion sweatshirt. You can fit the gym class. And that logo, like the embroidered logo, you put that in the washing machine, it'll break your washing machine. It's thick, man. I don't know about that. It's a thick sea. It's like three inches sometimes. I don't know about that. Triple wee. I'll let it slide. Triple weave. You don't wear the sweatshirt. The sweatshirt wears you. Yet he's champion is an old soul. It is. Founded in Rochester, New York in 1919 as a knitting company. And Jack, what was Champion's original innovation? It's called the reverse Weave Sweacher. Ah, the reverse weave. It was the first cotton product that would not shrink in a dryer. And get this, Yetis. In the last 10 years, Champion has become a champion. They enjoyed 10 straight years of

growth at the ripe age of 100. Jack, let's sprinkle on more context. Champion is doing $2 billion in global revenue. That's more than the Gap's Athleta brand. Champion has got 5 million followers on Instagram. That's more followers than Lulu Lemon. Oh, and by the way, Champion also in invented the mesh reversible jersey. The mesh jersey. Yeah, like every lacrosse player ever. Yeah, you can thank Champion for what you wear during the summer classes. Every basketball jersey is made with the technology of knitting that Champion invented in 1967.

Although now that I think of the mesh jersey, it's kind of just a jersey with holes in it. It's not that practical more I think about it. No, it's practical. It breathes. It breathes. It breathes well. The mesh jersey. It doesn't fold very easily, but it's great when the weather's 100 degrees.

And Champion invented it. But yet he's hears. the news. Haynes brands, the underwear icon, happens to own Champion, and what did they just do, Jack? Well, they don't own it anymore. No, they don't. Haynes sold Champion for just $1.2 billion, which is a low number, and we'll explain why in our takeaway. But first, in the last 100 years, we have to talk about Champion's relevance. Yeah, because Yetis, this is what Jack and I find fascinating about. Champion, Champion has found relevance with every single generation in America. From the silent generation to Gen Z today.

Jack, let's go back to the 1930s. Champion's first business deal was with the Michigan Wolverines, original football team. In the 1950s, they signed a deal with the U.S. Army for military training merchandise. In the 1990s, Champion was the official uniform of the NBA as we watched Carl Malone dunk in a champion jersey. And in the 2010s, champion became a streetwear icon. Yeah, worn by hipsters in the Lower East Side. If you're walking around Williamsburg, you were doing it in a double-XL

Champion Gray sweatshirt, just like Jackson My Gym teachers. From Carl Malone to post Malone. So Champion was the rare brand with a deep connection to you, your mom, your grandpa, and your great grandpappy. It's a hundred-year-old icon. Yeah, it is. They were arguably the most relevant apparel brand of the last century. But besties, here's the sad surprise about Champion.

In the last few years, all of that changed. It did. Champion tumbled off the podium. Sales fell 26% last year. Faster than the Bulls without Michael Jordan. Champion went from double-digit growth to double-digit dropping, and now they're selling for just $1 billion. And sadly, the new owner is going to sell off Champions factories.

Yeah. They're just going to license the logo to whatever factory is willing to produce a sweatshirt. That big, thick, sea, red, white, and blue logo. So after a century of climbing, Nick and I got to ask. Yeah. How and why did Champion fall so fast? Mr. Bentley! Why did Champion fall?

He told me to do more push-ups, Jack. Your gym teacher told me to do more push-ups. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Champion? Beware of the three Fs of Fads. Food, fashion, and fitness. Yeti's bacon sales surged for 10 years, and then bacon started plummeting. Peloton surged for 10 years, and then started plummeting.

And now we've got another example, and that example is Champion. Champion enjoyed double-digit sales growth for a decade, but recently, they've experienced double-digit sales dropping. Now, Jack and I can't explain exactly why Champion is suddenly so out of style. We jumped in T-Boy style. We walked around the Lower East Side. We can't tell what's going on. The only explanation we have for Champion's decline is that it was a fad.

But that's not a total surprise, because at the end of the day, Champion is a fashion company. And when it comes to fads, three industries are most vulnerable. Food, fitness, and fashion. For our second story, Boeing just got its biggest win in years, because Boeing is bringing NASA into space. And Boeing's big win is all about Elon, astronauts, and space toilets. Yes, space toilets.

But, Jack, can you tell us where you were at 1052 a.m. Eastern Standard Time yesterday. What were you doing? Reading a push notification on my phone. Yeah, right, right, right, right. I learned that Boeing finally did it. It lifted NASA astronauts up into outer space. All right. Take us to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Set the scene, baby. What did we see, Jack? A successful launch. Yeah. Everything went really smoothly. All right, who was involved? What was going on? Two NASA astronauts took off in a Boeing-built starliner spaceship.

And today, just afternoon, they dock up at the International Space Station. But, Jack, here's the funny thing. This giant space mission was actually critical for a toy. Yeah. The ISS, they need a special pump in order to turn urine into water. And apparently up at the International Space Station, that pump broke, and they were getting thirsty, I imagine. There's no Poland spring in the ISS. You don't have gravity up in space, but you still have the urge to go up in space.

And you still have the urge to drink. Yeah, yeah. You age differently, but you still have to go very much all the time. We got it, Nick. We got. All right, I don't have to jump in T-Boys down. I don't need to be a Dr. Pepper to understand what you're trying to spell out for us. Jack, maybe you could just sprinkle on more context for us, though.

This mission was actually supposed to happen five years ago. But Yeties, it didn't happen five years ago because Boeing has had delays after delays after delays. Yeah, NASA is a stickler for safety in ways that Alaska Airlines wasn't apparently. But despite that five-year delay, it finally happened yesterday. Boeing took NASA into space, and Boeing is... now truly a space company. It was a proud moment for Boeing. Boeing spacecraft will eventually land in the desert back on Earth,

not in the ocean, and even that is a first for NASA. A parachute is going to make it land gently in Arizona somewhere. Probably Arizona. But Jack, let's check in with our buddies over in Houston. Houston, Houston, what's going on with the latest on the space move? Boeing's entry into the space industry means two things. One of them is good for Boeing, one of them is bad to be. for SpaceX. First, the good news for Boeing, what is it, Jack? The good news for Boeing is that Boeing

had good news. Yeah, first positive PR headline for Boeing since free peanuts. Boeing's airplane debacles of the last five years have turned the company from a national icon to a national disgrace. So hopefully this space launch is a turning point for Boeing. A new era focused on quality and safety instead of profits and cost cutting. On the other hand, this Boeing space landing was bad news for SpaceX. Because over the last five years, while Boeing has had delays in their space program, Elon SpaceX took a huge lead. Yaddy's, Elon SpaceX has been taking NASA astronauts up to space nine times already. Boeing just had their first successful mission. SpaceX has done this nine times. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Boeing? It takes a village to build a new

industry. Yeties, for five decades, until 2011, space shuttling, was an arm of the U.S. government. It was all done by NASA. But in 2011, NASA retired their space shuttles and turned to the private sector for rides into outer space. And for those last four years, it was only SpaceX doing those NASA rides up into space.

Boeing is SpaceX's first true competitor. And that competition in the intergalactic world, that is crucial. Yeah, the fact that Boeing is now competing with SpaceX means that prices for space shuttle, for rocket rides won't be set by one monopoly company. And that makes the industry of shipping stuff from Mars to the moon to Pluto a whole lot more viable.

The reality of interplanetary commerce, or rocket rides. Or rocket rides. Yeah. Is much closer to a reality now that there's more than one company that can do it. It's going to be a lot cheaper to get one of those journals off the International Space Station soon. One company makes a pioneer. Two companies competing against each other makes a name. industry.

Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story. Jack, I noticed you're not drinking your Dr. Pepper. What's wrong? You don't like it? You don't like the taste? Don't call me out, too. It's all right.

We're videotaping the whole thing, so I'm not calling you out. I'm just observing it's like all our listeners. Yeties for our third and final story. Don't feel peer pressure. You don't have to drink now. I didn't force you to drink. Jack just took a big gulp, but I feel like you did it because I pressured him. What should have feel comfortable in this studio?

I respect the doctor. All right. We'll try again. Yeties for our third and final story. The next new stock exchange in America, it's not coming to New York City, it's coming to Texas. So the big question, Nick and I have,

is this new stock exchange about politics or is it about competition? But besties, to tell this story, Jack and I want to go back to 1792 right after the Revolutionary War. Right after George Washington was inaugurated president, Yes. The first president, in New York City, a paper was signed under a lovely green buttonwood tree. A buttonwood tree, and that paper was called the Buttonwood Agreement.

It was signed in Lower Manhattan, and it was the most important financial document in U.S. history. And why was that, Jack? It established the New York Stock Exchange. It began the New York Stock Exchange. It was signed by 24 stock traders in Young Manhattan, and from then on, New York City became the center of American finance. Did those 24 stock traders have blue eyes? Trust fund, 6-4. I'm pretty sure they did.

Yeah, I think they were taken. 64 was really tall back then. And yet he's over 200 years later, nearly 100% of all stock trading in America is still done through the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ in New York City. But funny thing, everything is bigger in Texas. And Texas would like to trade stocks too.

So here's the news. A startup has raised $120 million to build the third major stock exchange down in Dallas. That third major stock exchange would be called the Texas Stock Exchange. The TXSE. Or as Jack and I like to call it, the Lone Star Stock Exchange. We think Lone Star Stock Exchange is better brand.

They're going to have a different dress code. Yeah, yeah. This is like less Brooks Brothers, more bolo ties. And they're going to eat different. Less sweet green, more brisket. But they're not trying to trade cattle or livestock. The goal is to trade stocks and ETFs by 2025. Yes.

With their first IPO by 2026. Like we said, less Wall Street. more Walker, Texas Ranger. Instead of ringing the bell, you're going to ride the bull when you go public on the Texas Stock Exchange. Jack, you know how they find out your valuation on the Texas Stock Exchange?

It's how long you stay on the bull. The longer you stay on, the more valuable your company. That's actually a great idea. I think it works. Now, yet, he's, this state of Texas, it's got some major business mojo right now, right, Jack? Texas just tied New York for number two

as the state with the most Fortune 500 companies behind California. But frankly, it is our first thought when we heard about this Lone Star Stock Exchange? This is political. Yeah. And you know what? We found a lot of evidence to support the fact that the Texas Stock Exchange sounds pretty political. First, one of the financial backers of this new stock exchange is Citadel.

Citadel is a finance company founded by Ken Griffin. And Ken Griffin happens to be a billionaire Republican donor. Second, the Texas Stock Exchange main pitch to investors is fewer rules, fewer regulations, and it won't be woke like the New York Stock Exchange. And that's a response to NASDAQ up in New York, which has a rule for diversity on the board of directors of the companies public on NASDAQ. And third, Texas Governor Greg Abbott just signed a bill to create a new thing in Texas called the Texas Business Courts. The Texas Business Courts. And their mission sounds a lot like this new Texas Stock Exchange. Be friendlier to CEOs like Elon Musk.

So yet he's added all up. And this Texas Stock Exchange, it has a political smell to it and it ain't just the brisket. However, despite all that evidence that this is political, maybe the Lone Star Stock Exchange is more practical than political. Yeah. And so we thought about it again, and we came up with this takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Lone Star Stock Exchange? Wall Street may need to be unmerged. Yeties, funny thing few know about financial history.

But 20 years ago, America actually had several stock exchanges. There was the Boston Stock Exchange? Yeah. The Chicago Stock Exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Jack, on my way walking a business school, I would walk by the old Philadelphia Stock Exchange building. But in the 20 years since then, America's regional stock exchanges all got folded into New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. And what's the result of that, Jack? A duopoly.

A duopoly. Those two exchanges set high fees for every publicly traded company that wants to be traded in America. They can set high fees because there isn't much competition at all. And that's why we think this is interesting. The other big investor in this new Texas stock exchange is BlackRock. Black Rock is led by Lawrence Fink, who is a progressive guy. Yeah, not a conservative guy. Yeties, what we are saying here is that this Texas stock exchange is actually a rare case

when a conservative guy and a liberal guy in finance are agreeing on the same thing. They both think there should be a third option for stock exchanges. Because besties, after a whole bunch of mergers, Wall Street has become a doopoly in New York. duopoly may need to be unmerged. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Champion sweatshirts is getting sold and transformed into a license model, a downfall for the 100-year-old company. Yates, we've said it a million times before.

Beware the three Fs of Fads, food, fitness, and fashion. For our second story, SpaceX has competition now that Boeing completed a successful manned rocket launch to save the urinals. Yeties, it takes a village to build a... a new industry. And our third and final story, the Texas Stock Exchange just raised $120 million to disrupt New York's dominance of finance. The old Lone Star Stock Exchange. It's a political move, but it's also a practical move to break up a duopoly. By the way, Jackson, my idea, how about they build a third stock exchange in New York, the Harlem Stock Exchange? Keep it all New York.

Yeah, you get an exchange uptown, you get one downtown, you get one in Midtown. It's actually very diverse. It would break up the duopoly. It would. But, yeah, This pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, May was the 12th consecutive month that set a global average temperature record. The last year was by far the hottest in human recorded history for the Earth. And here's the thing, El Nino or La Nina this summer, it's going to be hot and it's going to be hurricane. And second, NVIDIA and Apple, both rose in the stock market yesterday, and both just passed a $3 trillion valuation.

But for the first time ever, Nvidia is now, get there. this worth more than Apple. Invita trails just Microsoft, which happens to be Nvidia's biggest customer who buys up all those AI chips they make. And finally, New York's governor just paused New York City's congestion pricing plan weeks before it was about to be implemented. It was going to charge every vehicle that entered the bottom part of Manhattan a toll, a fee. And the reason she paused it, the economy. In this economy, the governor doesn't want to charge toll. for driving into Manhattan. New Jersey can sleep peacefully tonight.

And Westchester and Long Island. Now, time for the best fact yet, this one whipped up by Jack and me. 80 years ago was D-Day, the day that America and the Allied forces retook Europe. June 6, 1944, not just any day, but the day that changed the course of the world.

D-Day swayed the tide of the war against Nazi Germany and resulted in an Allied victory less than one year later. And to this day, At the Normandy American Cemetery, there are still 9,387 immaculately tended to graves of U.S. soldiers who died there. The president is visiting that cemetery today. Okay.

Have you been to Normandy, by the way, Jeff? No. Okay. Well, you're going to be going to Paris, actually, later this summer. It's not too far from Paris. It's a different side of a trip, but it's a powerful side of a vacation that you don't typically see on a vacation when you visit Normandy. Is it a beautiful beach? You know, that's what's kind of strange about it.

You see people sunbathing on the beach, and it just feels wrong because you can tell as soon as you're there that it's a place where something happened. Because of all the cemeteries. Yeah. And when you are there and you can appreciate those cemeteries, it just gives you a very different perspective

on why you're even there. Thanks for the context, Nicholas. We're visiting. Yeties, you look fantastic for the new Friday. Jack, you're almost partway, midway, done that Dr. Pepper drink. I can't handle a full bottle on my first. We're going out to dinner in Los Angeles later tonight, so you can finish it at dinner, Jack.

I won't be watching, but I'll be watching. Yet he's the best way to help grow the show is to tell your buddies, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. Have you had the best one yet? And make sure to follow us right now on Instagram, because Nick and I have all sorts of behind-the-scenes content from this rowdy Los Angeles trip around right now. If you want to see Jack and I consume a hot fudge Sunday that was mostly hot fudge last night, we're putting that up there. And if you want to see Jack have an ice cream float tonight, we can have that up there too. Did you know that Nick does push-ups before every pod recording?

Yeah, yeah, I do. You can see that if you follow us right now at T-boy Pod. Jack and I will see you at T-Boy Pot. And as always, we will see you for the Real Friday tomorrow. And before we go, a shout out to Yeti's Monica and Shiva in Atlanta, Georgia, celebrating 10 years of marriage and listening to T-Boy Daily. This couple is always saying H-Y-H-H-T-B-O-Y to all their buddies. Apparently they say to each other and they're 10 years strong.

We're just saying there may be a correlation there. Congratulations to May Lynn Leacock in Newton, Mass, who just graduated high school with straight A's. Just outside Boston. And Allison and Braylin Balinteen in Temakula, California are graduate in high school and middle school. Congratulations, guys. Happy 42nd birthday to Robin Duda in Georgia, who launched Rocket X, the first ever festival for all Rocket X sports. And a happy 37th birthday to Meek. Kiss in Newberry Park, California from all the bobcats.

This Yetty is still besties with elementary school friends today. And Mekis turned their friend group onto T-boy. Thank you, Mekis, for the H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. And to anyone else, celebrate something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick owned stock of Lulu Lemon, and we both own stock of Peloton and Apple. And neither of us owns dinosaur bones.

But if I had to pick one dinosaur, I'd pick a Terodactyl. I'd pick a velociraptor. Velociraptor. That's what I said, Velociraptor. Wait, spirulina. Is that the thing in the Bieber? Yeah. It's like an algae.

Not scary. It's got a little spirulina. It's just an algae.