The Best One Yet - 🙋‍♀️ “Soccer’s growth story” — Women’s World Cup $$$. Buses are back. AT&T’s lead empire.

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

The Women’s World Cup kicks off Thursday in New Zealand (and Australia) — But we think the Women’s World Cup is a growth stock, while the Men’s tournament is a value stock. AT&T shares just fell to their lowest level in 30 years on a WSJ investigation into its lead cables — But the real problem for AT&T is its failed empire. And the new “it” mode of transportation this summer? It’s the bus — The bus industry is surging thanks to a quote from Napoleon. $T $VZ $SPY Want merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.com Follow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypod And now watch us on Youtube Learn 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, Syvichay Wednesday, July 19th. And today's pod is the best one yet. It is a team boy, isn't it, Jack? The summer is extremely hot. The stock market might as well be, too, right? Oh, Yetis, the Dow has jumped for seven straight days.

Seven days of winning in the middle of the summer. Jack, the S&P 500 is about the jump in the pool. First story, what do we got? For our first story, the Women's World Cup kicks off tomorrow in New Zealand. and Team USA is going for three in a row. Here's how we see it, Yetis. The women's tournament is a growth stock. The men's tournament is a value stock.

For our second story, AT&T stock just failed to its lowest level in 30 years. Because AT&T has a poison problem and an empire problem. And our third and final story is the winner of the summer 2023 travel apocalypse. Yes, who it is it, Jeff? The bus. The bus. The bus is back, baby. and it's all thanks to Napoleon Bonaparte.

But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. A lovely mix of stories, Jack. For our 1,000th episode, we asked for things that you've done a thousand times. Jack and I called it the 1,000 for 1,000 challenge. Nick and I have made producing a podcast a daily habit. So we wanted to know what's the daily thing that you've done a thousand times too. And we got about 1,000 responses. Yeah, like give or take, they were off.

Awesome responses. All a thousand of them. We loved them. For example, Gina has worn sunscreen 1,000 days in a row. Or Sarah Thornberg has practiced Spanish on Duolingo for a thousand days in a row. Alexandra Coli, she's finished a Rubik's cube to completion a thousand days in a row. Luis Andre Kuna has written a diary entry for his daughters a thousand days in a row. Those were fantastic. But our favorite thousand for thousand entry is this one. Because this is one wild, 1,000 story.

Nisha Asnani is a musician and a songwriter who listens to this pod. And you may have heard Nisha's own song called Feel Good. It's a great song. It's Feel Good. Nick and I listened to it before this episode. You can hear it on Spotify. We just listened to it. Well, in 2017, that song went platinum. And Jack, can we sprinkle on a little context about going platinum? Going platinum means you sold a million albums or streaming equivalents.

Going platinum? That's what you want to do. That's what the Beatles do. But here's the key. Before that one song went platinum, Nisha wrote a thousand. different songs. Exactly. She had to write a thousand songs before one went platinum. That's dedication. That's love for what you do. And that's a win to celebrate. And that is why Nisha's is our favorite 1,000 story yet. Because it took a thousand tries. And that 1,000th one was the best one yet. What's in 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 one yet. But the best is. No one 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. For our first story, the women's world cup kicks off tomorrow in New Zealand and it ends in Australia. The way we see it, the women's world cup is a growth stock and the men's world cup is a value stock. Jack, take us back to 2015.

Who is on the podium, my friend? The women of Team USA won gold in 2015 in Canada. But then, Jack, what happened in 2019? Talk to me about that. They won gold again in 2019, in France. And guess what? The U.S. Women's World Cup team is the favorites to win their third in a row this year starting tomorrow. Three World Cups in a row, something that's never happened on the men's side or the women's side. It actually be their fifth overall World Cup win, something only the Brazilian men have done.

Much obrugado. Tomorrow, on Thursday, the tournament kicks off in Auckland, New Zealand. Yes, at 3am Eastern. Oh my God, standard time. Everything happens in this tournament's happening 18 hours in the future. New Zealand actually is on time warp time zone. That's how this works. Speaking of New Zealand, the locals there typically watch like rugby or cricket or like Hobbit throwing. Yes, those are the classic sports of the area. But they're excited to embrace soccer for the next month.

Yeah, the last match. The final is going to be held in Australia. New Zealand and Australia are actually co-hosting the event. They're co-hosting, like Nick and I co-host. Now, ladies, here's what Jack and I wanted to talk to you about this story. It's U.S. star Megan Rapino's last World Cup, but there are so many financial firsts in this tournament. For example, this is the first Women's World Cup where every player is guaranteed to get paid.

There we go. They're not treating the Women's World Cup like it's an internship. They're treating it like a major soccer tournament. This is also the first Women's World Cup where each national team gets a base camp. Okay, this is kind of cool. You get a permanent hotel and practice. field for the whole tournament must be nice. You're not hopping from hotel to hotel like you have in the past. And we all know you're going to forget something in your room and then it's an awkward go back.

Then you get benched. It's a horrible situation. And this is the first World Cup with 32 national teams participating. Which is a big jump from the 24 last time and the 16 teams back in 2011. Oh, but the biggest change from this World Cup to previous years? Good point, Jack, because this isn't just a soccer tournament. There's some money on the line. It's the prize pool. It's 110.

million total to divvy up between the teams. Now, Jack, can we sprinkle on a little more context to this prize pool? $110 million for the women is a quarter as big as the prize pool for last year's men's tournament. Okay, but Jack, let's sprinkle on a little more context to the context we just sprinkled on. Yeah. Why is the women's amount a quarter as much as the men's amount? Well, the women's viewership happens to be one quarter of the men's viewership. Yeah, the reason is TV. That's why. But Yeties, The gap is shrinking. It's shrinking fast. And the reason is because of our takeaways. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies down under at the World Cup? The Women's World Cup is a growth stock. The Men's World Cup is a value stock.

All right, yeah, aides, follow us in this one. Here's what we're thinking. The Women's World Cup is still young. Its first tournament was like 30 years ago. The men's first tournament was 100 years ago. So the women's tournament is still enjoying some huge growth spurts that the men's tournament isn't. Get these numbers back in 2011, the Women's World Cup was watched by 15 million people globally. The 2019 World Cup, the most recent one, was watched by 260 million people globally. Whip out the whiteboard yet. He's got a 1,600% growth in just eight years. For the men, over the same period, growth was just 50%. So Jack and I are looking at these World Cup numbers and we're thinking, wait, these are like two different types of stocks in the stock market.

The men's World Cup is like your Apple, your Coca-Cola, your Berkshire Hathaway. It's a value stock. It's not growing fast, but it's already huge. The Women's World Cup, on the other hand, is more like a fast-scaling tech startup. It's a growth stock. It's not giant yet, but it's growing fast. The Women's World Cup is a growth stock. And the men's World Cup is a value stock. For our second story, AT&T stock just fell to its lowest level, and get this, 30 years. Because AT&T has a lead problem and an empire. Probably. 30 years, 30 years. Jack, that's 1993. What were you doing in 1993? I was like eating chicken nuggets and buttered noodles at a restaurant.

I think like my dad snuck me into Jurassic Park and that was cool. Yes, that was a good move. John Williams. Well, that was the last time AT&T was having any fun. 1993 was the last time the A&T stock price was at the level it's at today. 1993 back when Zach Morris's cell phone from AT&T was ringing off the hook and it was the size of a shoe. Yet these AT&T stock is down by 60% in the past six years, despite its cozy Thriopoly status in the cell phone industry. Now, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The latest AT&T stock drop is because of one single article. That article is written by the Wall Street Journal, and it's really an investigation. Because the Wall Street Journal discovered that many of AT&T's underwater cables contain poisonous lead.

The Wall Street Journal found 2,000 lead cables. owned by the telecom companies, and they are leaking. They're leaking upward into like the schools, the homes, the playgrounds, the lakes, even the drinking water. Now that is an alarming, scary, freaky kind of an article to read. Yeah, for like everyone. But it's the most scary for shareholders and execs at Verizon and AT&T. And here is why. That article, it came out last week, but the story actually goes back 150 years. This story begins when the first telephone was invented. Oh, yes, it does. Jack, today it is 2023. We just spoke about 1993, but take us back to 1883. 1883 is when AT&T's predecessor, a company called Bell Telephone Company, was led by Alexander Graham Bell.

Ever heard of him? He invented the telephone. Seriously, ever literally heard of him. Back then when he invented the telephone, lead was as common as plastic as today. Like, lead was everywhere. Like, you'd go to a deli and you'd be like, I'll have a bacon egg and lead sandwich. Lead was in pencils. It was in paint. It was in batteries. It was in gasoline. It was even in cosmetics you put on your face. And for all telecommunications, including phone and internet today, it was lead cables that delivered the information. Only in the 1970s did we start phasing lead out because lead exposure can cause major health defects. So, Jack, fantastic. So happy to hear we started phasing out. Lead, I feel safe already.

But wait, quick question, quick question. What about those cables that were underground that were hard to get to? The lead ones? How about those? What are those looking like? The ones that carry our email still today? Yeah, how are those looking? We didn't dig those up. They're still there. Ah, yeah, we didn't.

It turns out, in fact, many cities today, their telecommunications cables are still 50% lead cables. And the Wall Street Journal's fantastic reporting shows that the underground lead from those cables can seep out and infect our drinking water. For example, Jack, what's going on over at lovely pristine Lake Tahoe in California? In Lake Tahoe, laying on the lake baths. are six miles of cable owned by AT&T that contain lead. How much lead is in those cables? The water surrounding those cables has 2,500 times the legally permissible amount of lead, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And that is just one site yet he's added all up. And Wall Street is describing AT&T's lead cable situation as an unquantifiable liability. Now, AT&T is defending itself. They say that they're following the law and they're following best practices. Yes, they are. But that doesn't mean that. they're not going to get sued. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at AT&T? It's the shortest takeaway yet. Yeah, it is. Empires fall.

Yet is this poisoned lead problem? It's just the latest problem for AT&T. Yeah, the stock was down 60% in six years before the lead allegations. So you got to wonder when you hear this story, why didn't AT&T just dig up and replace those 2,000 pipes? Why didn't AT&T just eliminate this existential risk? Maybe because AT&T has been distracted by some disastrous acquisitions. Because Yeti's, in the last few years, AT&T wasn't just a cell phone and internet service was a jack. No, AT&T also acquired DirecTV and Warner Brothers Movie Studio. AT&T even owned HBO for some reason. When you were enjoying Game of Thrones, AT&T was making the money off your subscription.

Now, in the last couple of years, AT&T had to sell off all that stuff for tremendous losses to the company. Yeties for years, AT&T didn't want to just be a profitable cell phone and internet provider. It wanted to become an empire. And now that empire hath fallen. For our third and final story, one form of American travel is having the biggest comeback of all. And that travel is the bus. The bus. The bus is beating airplanes in America right now, thanks to a quote by Napoleon.

The bus, the bus, the bus. Spaghetti's here's the reality. The bus. We all have a bus nightmare story. Oh, like the time I got out of the Lincoln Tunnel. My apartment was literally on the other side of the window, but I couldn't get out of the bus and I had to wait 45 minutes until I got to Penn Station. You started in Chinatown. You're stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel. The thing breaks down on the Jersey Turnpike on you, Jack. There's no water. The bathroom barely works. There's no toilet paper in that little bathroom. Next thing you know, you got to take a $300 Uber with some stranger named Dennis who you met on the bus. Dennis gets your number, keeps texting you, even though you don't even.

don't want to know this guy anymore. You should contact the police, I think, about this deadest guy. Well, you try contacting the bus company, no one how, anyway, anyway, Yeti's, here's the deal, the bus. It is the no frills, no fun, no rush. The bus is the last resort, the cheapest option, the backup plan. But Nick, who's living their best life right now? Beep, beep, beep, beep. It's the bus, baby.

The bus. Yeties, this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The bus has gone from plan B to plan A to get you from point A to point B. That is get this. Friday before the 4th of July, it was actually the biggest day for flying in America ever. Yeah, airline passengers were up 15% from last year to an all-time high. But bus travel over the same 4th of July weekend? What kind of numbers, Jack?

It was up 63%. And guess what mode of transportation had its best 4th of July in decades? Greyhound. Greyhound, the bus company. Greyhound passengers were up 70% over the 4th of July from the year before. Now, Yeti's to sprinkle on more context here, Greyhound Bus Company, the American Bus Company, is actually owned by a German bus company called Flix. And Flix is reporting record revenues right now.

They expect their revenues to grow 20% this year to an all-time high. Now, Jack and I jumped in T-boy style and we noticed something else kind of funny. As bus demand rises, we're getting fancier buses too. They're actually called coaches, Nick. Like the jet bus in New York City. Sit down, stand up, and stay seated a while. These buses have memory phone seats, reliable Wi-Fi, and motion-cancelling shock technology that eliminates 90% of the bumps.

This is like the kind of stuff that they have on SpaceX. But yet, Jack and I should point out something else about the bus surge lately. A third of the bus companies actually went out of business at the beginning of the pandemic. Because bus companies didn't get a bailout like the airline industry did. Good point. So the bus companies that survived are reaping outsized demand benefits right now. And it turns out there's just not enough bus seats for all those butts. Except Dennis's butt. No, I don't want to get together for a coffee. It was one Uber ride. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the bus industry? Never interrupt your enemy when they're making a mistake. Never interrupt your enemy when they're making a mistake. Yet he's, that's a quote from Napoleon, the short, powerful 19th century French emperor who,

Joaquin Phoenix is about to play in a movie. As Napoleon said, if your enemy is messing up, just let the mess up. Don't interfere with them screwing up. Don't intervene. And that's what the bus industry is doing right now. The bus industry is using Napoleon's military strategy, but using it on airline. Yeah, because it's the summer of airline angst. Everyone has an airport horror story from the last two weeks.

Over that same July 4th weekend, we were talking about 8% of flights in America were canceled. 30% of flights were delayed, but 100% of passengers were unhappy. about it. Because the worse airlines perform, the better the bus looks. Buses are following Napoleon's advice right now. When the competition is making mistakes, don't interrupt them. Just let it happen. Let it keep happening. Yeah, can you whip up the takeaways for us for Civeche Wednesday? The Women's World Cup kicks off tomorrow with a prize pool that's one quarter of the size of the men's.

But the women's tournament is a growth stock. The men's tournament is a value stock. For our second story, AT&T is at a 30-year low because of Wall Street Journal's lead cable. investigation. AT&T tried to create an empire, but empires fall. And our third and final story is buses. Buses are the it form of transportation in America this summer. As Napoleon said, when the airlines are making mistakes, the buses should just let it happen. Don't interfere. Just sit in traffic. With Dennis. Yeties, here's a couple other stories, not in the pod, but we think you need to know today. First, President Trump received an order to appear before a federal grand jury.

This time, it's related to the attacks on the Capitol on January 6th, and this would be his third indictment. And second, the big bank earning season is just wrapping up. And frankly, the numbers looked fantastic. Morgan Stanley stock jumped 6% yesterday for its biggest day in three years. And finally, the fight over Taco Tuesday is officially over. Taco Johns is abandoning their Taco Tuesday trademark. That means that anyone can use the term Taco Tuesday and not get sued. Really feel like we should copy rights to be your Wednesday now.

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one's sent in by Al Rubio from lovely San Antonio, Texas. The Tour de France, sorry, the Tour de France. Oh, there we go, Jake. There is a bike race that ends this weekend. It is a grueling 21-day bike race across France. Over the course of three weeks, bikers will burn 120,000 calories going up and down those hills.

In any even day, the bikers are burning. and 6,000 calories a day. I believe that's three times the surgeon general's recommended amount. Yeah, it is. And I still don't really understand when they eat, Jack. I actually heard that they consumed gel, like throughout, almost through a straw, like through a camelback. I know you could put crepes in a straw, but I like what they're putting out, Jack.

Yeties, before we go, one quick correction to yesterday's podcast. This one was alerted to us by Afonzo Marquez and Tejas Tamba. We said that Lino Messi had the most Instagram followers of any athlete on earth. It was a soccer player, but not that soccer player. Turns out Cristiano Ronaldo has more Instagram followers than Messi does. Yetis, you look fantastic today. And if you have a crazy combo or a paradoxical pairing, Jack and I still want to hear it.

Hit us up at T-BoyPod. We made a post on our Instagram account. You can comment right there. Jack likes watermelon and feta. I like ice cream and olive oil. And everyone enjoys lawn mowing to Mozart. It really does sound pleasant. actually sounds really good. That's a good thing to do. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow.

If you know, you know. Before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Santiago Segora down in Bogota, Colombia. Happy birthday to Nick Olsner in Santa Clara, California. And Brian Stein, the husband of Maddie Stein, has a lovely birthday over in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Happy 18th birthday to Maddie McGregor in Peoria, Illinois. And Natalie householders celebrating that 20th birthday at a crab shack, snapping some crabs in Pooler, Georgia. Oh, happy 21st birthday to Sarah Bourne in New York City. And Aditya Singh, happy birthday.

And thank you for listening to all 1,000 T-Boy episodes down in Dallas. Legendary. And congratulations to Josh Graham, who starts his periodontal residency today in Winter Park, Florida. And Peter D. Maria, one of the best bats in Tufts baseball history is retiring from the great game. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-Boh. Celebrate the win. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple, and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500, and I own stock of Berkshire Hathaway. No, I don't want to get together for a coffee. It was one Uber ride.