The Best One Yet - “The Crocs of Ecommerce” — eBay’s all-time high. Volkswagen’s e-investment. May’s shocking Jobs Report.

Episode Date: June 8, 2020

Remember eBay? Shares just hit an all-time high, but we think we know how they can keep the mojo going. Germany’s support for electric cars like Volkwagen’s is showing what 21st century investment in infrastructure looks like. And the May Jobs Report pretty much shocked everyone who read it, so we jumped into the little black book of hiring/firing (congrats, dentists).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. And this is Snacks Daily. Welcome back. It is Monday, June 8. Nick, this is the best one yet for the NASDAQ stock exchange, which just hit a record high. Holyest of holiest cows. Can we buy a consonant? This thing looks like a V-shaped recovery. But snackers never forget, put it on a pillow, making a tattoo. The stock market and the economy, they're like cousins. They're not twins. Different things. Jack, the best one yet. What have we got today? We had our tissue box ready as we jumped into the jobs report for the month of May. Snackers, you need to put together a support group whenever they come out with this the first Friday of every month. But we were wrong. Yes, the economy shockingly added two and a half million jobs last month. Snackers, we're expecting it to lose two and a half million jobs. It did the opposite. Classic opposite month situation.

Second story, Jack. eBay. eBay, eBay, eBay, eBay, eBay, eBay. Born back when you spelled email with a dash between the the E-Bee's initial innovation was the capital B after the lowercase E. Confusing every time we start a sentence. The stock, though, is at an all-time high now that it's 24 years old. It thinks it made fetch happen. We've got a bold idea for it can keep making fetch happen. For our third and final story, Fafugnugn. That is the German word for getting

$10,000 off of Volkswagen. Rolls off the tongue, it's Germany's big stimulus to get Germans buying cars back big time. Their government is spending big on electric cars like Volkswagen, and they're focused on the future. Ours is not. But before we hit those stories, I want to flash back to May of 2018. Jack's hair was right about down to here. And we hadn't started our legal battle with Jay Kruh about the trademarks to the slamming salmon color. We're coming at you, Jay.

We're going to win this thing. Nick and I were full hustle on our startup, which was called Market Snacks, before it got acquired by Robin Hood. We were constantly jumping on like the two train here or the city. bike there. We just launched the Market Snacks Daily podcast. We'd go to a venture capital meeting in Tribeca, a biz meeting in Midtown, a podcast recording on the Upper West Side. It was crazy. And in between all those subway platforms, we were working at Hotel Lobbyes every single day. That's right. Hotel lobbies was our office space. Nomad or Arlo Hotel, boom, you buy a small latte to support the business.

And then after that, we squatted for eight hours, milking the crap out of that $4 latte. Where it was like, can we refill that for you? You're like, no, I'm totally good. Finished it 12 hours ago. We basically put up a sign that said, we're good. We don't need another drink. We didn't have that much money, and we spent all that we had on T-boy T-shirts for Snackers to grow the business. It's a good thing we had those hotels, though, Nick, because we could not afford a we work.

It was out of our budget. And you know what, Snackers? We weren't questioned. We weren't bothered. And we weren't told we had to buy two more blueberry scones or we'd have to leave. The truth is, the fact that we got to work in those hotels for free as long as we want, as many days as we want, that was straight up white privilege. It was a part of our founder experience we probably wouldn't have got if we looked different. Nick and I grew up with the privilege of being white with the

benefits every day that are so easy for us to take for granted. And going forward, Snackers, Jack and I don't to avoid the uncomfortable realities about social injustice, especially when it comes to economics, business, and markets. This isn't something political. This is business for us. It's straight up business. And our snack facts have always been about a fresh perspective. You know that they always happen. And the same approach. to the ones we've been highlighting on economic injustice. So our request, keep on sending us your incredibly enlightening snack facts. And not every day is going to be about racism in the economy like last week,

but we'll have a bias for the ones that matter, even if they make us uncomfortable. This pod's a tea boy, lets in 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 air candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so.

recommending any securities. It's not a research report or investment advice. Not an offer or sale about security. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member FINRA slash SIPC. For our first story, shockingly, truly shockingly, the unemployment rate just fell in May. 2.5 million new net jobs were added to the economy.

Not taken away, added. Snackers, economists thought the unemployment rate was going. going to rise to a post-war record high of 20%. Instead, it fell to what's still pretty much a post-war record of 13.3%. Jack and I woke up Friday morning, looked at the numbers, called each other, were like, hey, this is like Fast and the Furious Five. We thought it would be terrible, but it's actually pretty good. Yeah, this has got Vin Diesel, circa 2011 abs on this thing. A month ago, we saw the unemployment rate in the United States moonshot from 3.5% all the way up to 14.4%. Just like all the economists out there, we assume things could get worse in May, as more companies had to let workers go.

But then the opposite happened. America added two and a half million jobs in May, and the unemployment rate dropped to 13.3%. Naturally, the Dow surged a thousand points on Friday in jubilation on the news. Now, Snackers, you know, no econ report is too boring for Jack and I, and the employment report that comes out every month is like a little black book with some juicy relationship details. Let's start with the industries where jobs were created. And the winner here is dentistry. A full 10% of the 2.5 million jobs added last month were in dental offices. Have you smelled your mouth lately?

Offices for dentists have been closed for a month. You got pent up demand for plaque removal in the Zoom economy. So the dentist got back to work, hopefully with masks, although they should have been wearing masks before COVID, right? Definitely. This is going to be the awkward. So how are things going right now? I got you know, early. And then another major job creator, like,

last month was in the construction industry. Projects had to resume work and people have been pimping out their homes. Now, there were also industries where jobs were lost last month. True. Hotels, for example. You don't want to stay in a room where a stranger was just like an hour ago. And if you're not staying in that room, the hotel's not employing staff. And then sadly, government jobs continue to be shredded away month after month. Snackers, think about the states and the cities that have spent way more of the last couple months than they've brought in in taxes. When social services are needed most right now with super high unemployment and a pandemic, one and a half million government jobs

have been lost in the last two months. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who put together this lovely monthly employment report? The economy is still using training wheels, and those training wheels get taken away in July. Snackers, the US government splurged $450 billion in one month on unemployment benefits.

That is one month on one thing, and it's the same amount of spending as the entire Australian government budget for an entire year. You cannot even count the number of shrimps on that Barbie. So the government did us a huge solid for people who got laid off. And then at restaurants and bars, they got quite another big favor by the government. Yeah, dentists get all the love these days, but technically, restaurants and bars were actually the biggest job gainer.

They represented over half of all the jobs at it. Might want to put an asterisk there, because that's thanks to the PPP government loans, which encourage restaurants to reopen and rehire workers, even though no one was there. But all these enhanced unemployment benefits we're talking about, they end in July. After that, people are going to have a lot less money and may dramatically cut their spending. So either the government's going to print more money to save people, or we'll have a harder time saving people. The training wheels, they come off in July. For our second story, eBay stock just hit a record high.

I'm just surprised they're still around. We had no idea this was still thing. This is kind of the crocks of e-commerce. It's like Yahoo's younger brother. Everyone's ripping on it. but it's still winning and doing strong. eBay stock is up 30% higher than its peak before COVID-19 began. We're talking the OG of e-commerce.

It's been reborn. Oh, by the way, stands for eBay, Electronics Bay, as in like Bay Area. Kind of a lame name. I was hoping for something better. We were really excited for something better. Now, they announced their earnings last month, but they just quickly out of the blue, randomly updated investors. They're like, hey, we are, quote-unquote, performing significantly better.

So they whipped out a new report, like an update thing, I wish we could do this every other week. And they claim that 6 million new and reactivated users join the platform in April and May. Reactivated user is when like you try to buy something on eBay and they're like, you have an account already. You're like, what? Oh yeah, JK Baseball 1988. That was my username.

You got to throw in random numbers and one hobby. That's how you make it work. Now, 55% of the jump in eBay's business is from small businesses signing up to sell their stuff on eBay. It's a lot easier to just enter. the eBay market, then go out on your own with a Shopify-based account. You could do your own thing on Shopify. You could do Amazon or Etsy, or some companies are doing eBay. But Snackers, we saved the best for last year. The shocker of shockers was that eBay pulled off the best timing merger and acquisition ever. Remember that they sold Stubhub for $4 billion. eBay used to own

Stubhub, and they closed the deal on February 13th. Literally like the day they stopped doing live events, they got to sell their live events business. On February 14th, Stubhub's value started to plummet to zero. Now, Jack and I, after reading this report, decided to jump in Snacks style, researched eBay a little more, and we noticed a new strategy through their website. We may or may not have splurged on a Chris Weber in 1992, Michigan Wolverines, that's because eBay is now mixing in every type of e-commerce company they can find on their homepage. Kicking it off with the OG Marketplace. This feels Craigslisty. It's auction-style. online Wild West e-commerce. Then they got the next section is

certified refurbished. Kind of feels like the real, real, you're getting an Arme's bag, but it's been remastered. You've got to trust us. It's legit. Another section of eBay's website is Daily Deals, which feels like Groupon, and then the brand outlet, which feels like Overstock.com. But then they've also got the fancy stuff. Designer,

high end, like Moda Operendi. They're doing exclusive face masks with artists. Then they're stealing a trick from Amazon with recommendations. Oh, you bought a yoga mat? You might want a couple of yoga blocks. eBay's product team is like the blob. They're just absorbing every e-commerce thing they see on the web. It's getting bigger.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies doing this at eBay? Snacks' original take here, eBay should add their own QVC-like TV channels. Snackers, right now, eBay is getting small business signups because physical shops are closed. And it's got the tempting advantage that it has millions of eBay shoppers to bring those small businesses online. But long term, we think it needs to keep it. both the buyers and the sellers engaged post-quarantine. Imagine if eBay.com brought you right to a home shopping network style QVC-loving TV show showing you what's for sale on eBay. Then they start streaming eBay versions of like Antiques Roadshow or Pond stores for eBay users. This would be high-quality

content and an alternative to like scrolling Instagram and buying things that show up in an app. Media has the power to engage. eBay will need that post-quarantine. eBay, feel free to take that idea for no commission, but if you want to shoot a vintage Joe DiMaggio jersey my way, feel free. Coming from Brad's basement in Idaho. For our third and final story, the Germans just renewed their vows with electric cars. Beautiful. Volkswagen loves it. Tesla, not so much. Snackers, the Germans have had fewer COVID deaths than the U.S., but their economy is hurting badly.

Since the medieval days, Germans have assumed their lager has been poisoned. Yes. And that's served them well in the COVID era. But their economy is already officially, literally by definition. in a recession. So the German government over at the Bundestak, they found a way to kill two birds with one stone. Which is a phrase, Jack and I think, needs an

aggressive update, two birds and one stone. You're like, make two insta posts with one click. Clean two shirts with one laundry pot. We don't know. Tweet us at Robin's snacks if you got better two-for-one ideas. Either way, the government's decided to double the incentive for customers to buy electric cars.

And this supports the German car industry and helps continue to fight climate change. Nice combination. Jack, can we get into the details. Get the snackers, Germany is offering Germans a 9,000 euro off coupon if they buy a better electric car. Oh, I wish this were a physical thing. In the United States, that's about $10,000 off a full-priced electric vehicle. Now, for comparison, here in the States, we offer about $2,500 to $7,500 off in an incentive because electric cars are something we should be supported. But one caveat, fancy cars, don't get that government support. It's only for cars

under $40,000. Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, they've all got EVs, but pretty much none of their electric fancy cars will qualify. So if you get like the Tesla Model 3 with, you know, no paint, milk cartons for seats, that's how you qualify for this thing. Oh, you wanted C! So that's going to be an extra $3,000. You're going to have to go with the $80,000 model for that one. Now, this government policy by Germany, it actually seems tailor-made for Volkswagen, which is launching their $33,000 electric golf this summer. And this is all just part of Germany's giant apology strategy for the Dieselgate scandal. You remember, when they sprayed the world with diesel crud and lied about it for years and years.

VW stock jumped 2% on the news because VW benefits on the news. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies hitting the auto bond and they're jeddives? Germany is investing in its future. We're only investing in our present. Snackers, to save our economy, so far we've invested in two main things, unemployment benefits and loans. Germany, on the other hand, is helping their drivers get brand new cars that won't pollute the environment. And they're spending a cool $2.5 billion with a beat to do this.

And that's like borderline, affordable, and fine because interest rates are so low, governments can borrow whatever they want. Investors are London trillions to the U.S. government right now for practically nothing of interest in return. Now is the time to invest in the future with government programs like this German one. Das German one. Jack, and you whip up the takeaways for us to start the week. The U.S. economy added two and a half million jobs in May after April's 20 million job,

bloodbath. Things improved partly thanks to government training wheels. Second story, your eBay seller score used to be as important as your Uber rider score today. Now every time you get a package from eBay, you're like, is this anthrax? Is this a bomb scare? It's some arbitrary cardboard. But it stocks at a record high. Third and final takeaway, Jack? The government of Germany is dishing out $9,000 euro off coupons for electric cars. Tesla's affordable car is too unaffordable to qualify. Now, time for our snack fact sent in from Shane in lovely Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Shane, Patrickino's best cheese steak we want to hear. Let us know after. Nick Saturday was June 6th, aka the 76th anniversary of D-Day, aka the reinvasion of Europe,

retaking it for the good guys. Turns out the origin of the coffee and Americano came from American soldiers based in Europe during World War II. Yeah, when Americans ran out of coffee rations, they were forced to frequent, you know, the local cafes, the trotterias, that only served the espresso. And very much like me, if I go to Europe, I just want a coffee. I don't want the fancy whipped up latte, frothy this, frothy that. So they started mixing up espresso with hot water

into a 16 ounce cup of coffee, and they gave it a name. They called it the Americano. Way better than the other name, the Tourist Special. Shane, by the way, thanks for your service on the New Jersey National Guard. Now, Snackers, we also want to give a shout out to Aaron Maidman, a snacker who just bought her first home in Pittsburgh. Not too shabby. Hope you're snacking while you're like working on the soil in the backyard or whatever it is you do in the backyard.

Snackers, thanks for spending this pod with us. Ask your buddies H-Y-H-Y-S-D. Have you had your snacks daily? We want the answer to be yes. We'll see you tomorrow. If you know, you know. This is Jack. I own stock of Volkswagen and Amazon.

And this is Nick and I own shares of Shopify. 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, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The podcast is for informational purposes only, 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.