The Best One Yet - 🏁 “Used Minivan = George Clooney” — AutoNation’s opposite day. Google’s slowly dying. Revenge of the Malls.

Episode Date: February 18, 2022

AutoNation reveals that Used Cars are selling for more than New Cars because they’re channeling their inner George Clooney. Google is 91% of all searches worldwide, but Google Search is dead inside. And the owner of America’s biggest mall chain just said it “kicked the crap out of 2021” (his words).$AN $SPG $VNO $GOOGGot a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @JackKramer @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Got a SnackFact for the pod? We got a form for that too:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe64VKtvMNDPGSncHDRF07W34cPMDO3N8Y4DpmNP_kweC58tw/viewformLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When I eat pineapple, I get so much pineapple in my teeth. Have you ever had too much pineapple so that your tongue gets sore? You can't have too much pineapple. It's the best fruit. It's like a dessert fruit. Are you kidding me? No, there's something about the acid. It like paralyzes my tongue if I eat too much.

I thought this was the thing. And you're telling me I can't eat avocado skin from California. The guy who's overdosing on pineapple over there. Three, two. This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is snacks. Daily.

It is Friday. the Real Friday, February 18th. The Dow fell 2% yesterday on its worst day of 2020. Also some bad news here. Our last pod until Tuesday. Monday's off, holiday, President's Day. I think that's good news. Hopefully most of the snackers are getting Monday off.

In the meantime, Jack, I'm no Magellan, but I think I'm on the complete opposite part of the world from you. I'm in frigid, frigid Vermont. I'm on the smallest Hawaiian Island. I think that's inhabited by people. It's like the size of the pod studio. That was an important suffix because I just looked up. There's 137 islands of Hawaii.

Yeah, well, basically this island's like a few people. It's us and like the microphone. You're like part of the island right now. What time is it there? It's like Saturday there. It's like Thursday for me. I have no idea what's going on. It's tomorrow here.

Snackers, this pod's the best one yet. It's a TBOY. Jack, what's her first story today? Auto Nation just had a record quarter because used cars are the new goal. Yeah, mom's minivan. It's looking like George Clooney. That's a good look. For our second story.

91% of internet searches. 91% in the world happen on Google Search. That's a monopoly on our curiosity. But Google Search may be slowly dying. It's a strong line to that story. Jack, third story. What do we got? Strong line?

How about this one? We kicked the crap out of 2021. That's not just the line. That is a quote. It's the quote from America's biggest mall CEO. It's about America's malls. But Snackers, before we hit that wonderful Hawaiian mix.

I mean a perfect mix to go into the weekend with. Do you like my lay? I got you a lay. I got you a lay tip. You got to have more flowers on this spot. There we go. No, but I need more Insta fabulous pooches. I know what you're talking about, Jack.

Everyone follows an Insta pooch on Instagram. You got to have one. You'd love those Insta pooches. And if you don't follow an Instagram animal, you should. I mean, I follow your Instagram pooch, River. She's adorable. At the Mad River Pup. But funny thing, Jack and I noticed, there is a new thing going on with Instagram

pets. They might be clones. Snackers, the social media puppy that you are ogling over every day, they may not be the original puppy. Hamlin the Frenchie might be a genetic reproduction. We got a copy-paced cloned cockapoo situation, Jack. The rise of the corgi clones. Now, here's the story from CNBC. Texas-based startup called Viagent is taking samples of celebrity dog fur.

And then what are they doing, Jack? Viagin has cloned Barbara Streisand's Havonese dog twice. Oh, ho! Two offspring. Yeah, because she cloned it once and then she cloned it again. Here's the situation. It's a booming business because Insta-famous pets have huge followings. And the owners rely on that profit from the ads.

So owners are cloning their pet fluencer dogs to keep the cash flow coming infinitely. They don't want the ad money running out when the dog years run out. Exactly. Well, Nick, hold on. Can we do this with humans? I think like our DNA is more complicated than a Havonese, but I don't want to insult Javanese. You know, I don't know if we want a clone influencer humans, Jack.

Snackers, here's the example we found. Petfluencer Tinkerbell. She's a five-pound poppetees dog with 500,000 followers. She's a fashion, fabulous fur ball. Yes, she is. Her DNA, it's been harvested for future clones. So Tinkerbell, she's going to live on and on. Darn it, she'll live on.

On and on. So if you like that Instagram famous Icelandic sheep dog, it may not be the original sheep dog. Identical DNA. different dog. Pet clones, they make cuteness scalab. They make adorableness infinite. Jack, why have one last week? When you can have six, let's say our three identical

songs. You're tuned in the snacks daily. Snacks about to hear ain't food. It's air candy. They don't reflect the views of the Rabahood family. It's all informational just so you know. We're not recommending any securities. It's not a research report or investment advice. Not

an offer or sale of a security. Right. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Financial LLC member FINRA slash SIPC. For our first story, Auto Nation, they just had their best year ever because your mom's used minivan looks a lot like George Caluni. It's opposite day for the car economy. Okay, Jack, we should get this out of the way for the Snackers, but if you're listening

and you're in the market for a new car right now, after the story, it won't be. If you own a car already, congratulations. If you need a car, condolences. Get this. new car buyers, you're paying more than the sticker price right now. It's because of the shortage. You're not haggling the price down on the lot like your stepdad taught you to. The dealer is haggling you up.

What do I got to do to make you pay 40% more for this car? Snackers, Auto Nation, $7 billion car company. America's largest car retailer. It's got 300 different locations where they sell cars. This is the Walmart of Wheels, Jack. This is the Costco of chassis. Now, they just announced they sold 20% few. new cars last quarter than the year before.

Yeah, because there's a shortage. But they sold each car for a $6,400 profit. Yeah, which is more than double the markup from last year. That's a huge markup. They're selling a $20,000 car for $26,450. Okay, Jack, let's jump in the front seat here. What we're trying to say is fewer cars were sold by Auto Nation, but each car sold by Auto Nation was at a way higher price.

So profits more than doubled. to $380 million last quarter. Okay, now here's what Jack and I found fascinating about Auto Nation. That's how they did with new cars. But used cars? Used cars? Oh, can we talk about used cars? Used cars are selling even hotter than new cars.

Snackers, the government's inflation report for January. Here was the shocking stat. Used car prices are up 40.5% from last year. So if you own a car, it's probably worth 40.5% more than last year. These used cars are like George Clooney. They're getting hotter with age. It's that rust and dense. It's salt and pepper.

There we go. That hair, it's the perfect shade of gray. Now, remember what that stepdad told you about haggling down the price? He also told you the minute you drive the car off the lot, it loses like half its value. So be careful. Nope. Not the case anymore, apparently. Get this from the Wall Street Journal.

The average new car bought this past April was for $38,000. Okay, $38,000 for a new car. What about today? That same car, nine months later, so a nine months old used car, is now selling for an average $49,000. Wow. $11,000 more. $11,000 appreciation of an infamously depreciating asset, a used car.

And then we got the even crazier part, Jack, the George Clooneyest of these used cars. Can we talk about the fastest appreciating car in America right now? The world's sexiest car right now is a Dodge Grand Caravan. Snackers, the Dodge Caravan minivan, it experienced a 69% jump in prices in the last year. The captain seats. Oh, the captain seats. Yeah, you're talking there's more miles, more wear and tear, more crumbs in the back seat, and yet it's a higher price.

Nick, my car? Rosie? Alex's in my car, a red VW stationway. I've seen that car. It's a great ride. It's an older car, but she's great. She's doing great. Okay, we bought it in 2018 for 21 grand, whatever.

Kelly Blue Book says it's worth the same amount today. Four years later. And Rosie, Rosie's seen some better days, Jack. I'm just going to be up front. This thing's got four-wheel drive. This thing's got automatic transmission. But she drove across the country. She's got a whole lot of crackers in that passenger seat.

And she hasn't depreciated a buck in four years. Auto Nation, they sold 21% more used cars last quarter at a 32% higher markup. New cars are doing great. used cars are doing even better. Shocker. That's why Auto Nation stock is more than double the price at any point it was pre-pandemic. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Auto Nation? It's opposite day for one of the most important parts of our economy.

Snackers, used cars, they're selling for more than when they were new. That's the opposite of how it usually is. Jack, the dying minivan is now the thriving minivan. That's the opposite of what you'd expect. Jack, you've heard of pre-owned cars and you've heard of previous owned cars? Yeah, it's a used car. basically, right? Well, there's a new thing called the pre-sold car. We're talking cars that haven't even arrived yet. They've already been paid for. Everything is the opposite with cars. Yeah, the lack of

chips caused a shortage of new cars, which caused used minibands to become George Clooney High. It's opposite day in the car economy. Henry Ford would freak out. For our second story, Google, it's where 91% of the world's search happens. But one critical article online titled Google Search is Dying, Has us wondering if Google may be vulnerable. Okay, Snackers. Little snack fact here early on we're going to drop. Google, you know, Google, it actually used to be called back rub.

But then Sergey Brin and Larry Page pulled a Zuck and rebranded it to Google ASAP. Move fast and rename things. That's apparently the theme these days. And after that, when Google search was up and running, it murdered some of the primitive search engines that Nick and I used to use in elementary school. Check. RIP Alta Vista. Yeah, hooligans. Do you remember that one? Let's ask Jeeves.

Jeeves, where are you? Where are you? Snackers, today, the power of Google over the internet is truly shocking. Yeah, it's 91% of the world's internet search. And that's, you know, Google's big, but like, we're talking about entire countries ban Google. And it's still 91% of the research. That's according to Stack Counter, a research firm. The way we see at Google, it has a monopoly on mankind's curiosity. If you exclude books and physical magazines, if you want to find something out, Google is your way to do it. But despite that hero statistic, that huge number, one critic thinks that Google is dying and here's why.

An anonymous blogger, known as DKB, posted a blog post. And those remarks have lit a fire on Twitter. Jack and I'll tweet this out this morning. Yeah, we'll tweet the blog post. And this anonymous blogger identified three reasons why they think that Google search is dying. We're going to focus on the first two reasons. Yeah, we thought the first two were the most interesting. So reason number one why Google is dying. First, too many ads.

There's just too many ads. So many ads. When Google was founded in 1998, Larry Page, the co-founder, wrote this. Giving the top spot of search results to an ad is, and I quote, insidious. So Google's co-founder is basically saying, we're not going to do ads in Google, but now they do it too many ads in Google. Today, we've all seen it. Google gives like the top four spots in some cases to paid ads and barely distinguishes the paid results from the legit results.

You're totally right. You can barely tell the different. Snackers, type in mattress right now, like you're searching for a mattress. You're going to get three ads. Type in Casper mattress. Oh, yeah. You're going to have to cruise past four Casper competitors who paid to get ads before Casper actually shows up. Even though you literally told Google, you just want to see Casper mattress.

Mattress, mattress, mattress. mattress. Now, the number two reason why Google is slowly dying, according to this blogger, is the SEO industry, search engine optimization. The algorithm that decides what shows up in Google is a mystery. And search engine optimization is the study of that mystery. Companies know how important it is to show up in the top results in Google. Oh, totally. So they pay SEO consultants for the tricks that make Google's algorithm happy, so they show up on page one. case and point, experience this Monday, trying to make Valentine's Day dinner, trying to make the Carbonara, looked up a recipe. You know what I saw? You didn't see the recipe. No, you get to the recipe

on like Bon Appetit and notice there's 1,500 words before you finally get the recipe on that page. I just wanted to know what temperature to preheat the olive oil. Yeah, and the reason is some SEO consultant probably advised Bon Appetit that you will be the number one hit when someone Googles Carbonara recipe if you have all these words in your article. I just wanted to know how many eggs and I got 1,500 words about the history of Italian cuisine. It turns out it's two eggs, but it took me a half hour to read the recipe. How long do I cook the pasta? It's all I want to know, Google.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Google? This is an example of pros over coes when companies put profits over customers. Jack, our favorite example of putting pros over coes? Cable TV, the classic. Cable TV favored profits by giving a, expensive bundles, a two-year minimum commitment, equipment fees, early termination fees, fee fees, a remote fee. You hate the fee fees.

But cable, it's half dead now because more customer-friendly solutions came along. Google is clearly favoring profits, not customers by jamming four paid ads before the legit results below. Now, we're not saying that the author is right here and that Google search is dying. We're all still using Google. We are saying that there are elements of Google that aren't customer-friendly. anymore. We've all seen them. Yeah. And that makes Google vulnerable to a better search engine. For our third and final story before the long weekend, America's biggest mall company just

said it kicked the crap out of 2021. Their words. We've got a tale of two storefronts. Suburbs and cities. Okay. Not the most creative name, but Jack, we talk about Simon Property Group, the $50 billion mall company. They've got over 200 malls. Yeah, they do. And this isn't your Auntie Anne's pretzel. No, no, it's not. You're not seeing like kiosks with like little swatch watches being sold. You're not going to Spencer's to get some crazy wig. No, no, no.

This is a premium mall. We're talking Kate Spade, Prada, Lulu, Lemon, and then you're going to get lunch at Shake Shack. Okay. The Simon Property Mall that I used to live near. Oh, and there's a Tesla Gallery. There was a Tesla Gallery. Yeah, there was a Tesla Gallery.

Now, you've seen their locations maybe. They're at Phipps Plaza, Atlanta, Premium Outlets, New Jersey. and that's Stanford Shopping Mall. And 197 others. And last year, Simon Property Group, the biggest malls in the country, doubled their profits to $2.2 billion. Now, they doubled from 2020, which was a really bad year for malls,

but that's still a big, juicy profit. Oh, and this year, you see what they're doing this year, Jack? I heard about the Nobu Hotel. Yeah, they're doing a Nobu Hotel because Miso Black Cod is extra. Extra. Now, Jack and I found fascinating about Simon Property Group's mall earnings report is that their CEO sounded more like Stone Cold Steve Austin. Here's one line from his earnings call.

Unlike others who make investments and lose money, we make investments and make money. Yeah, that's what the Simon Mall CEO said. And then he went on to say, we kicked the crap out of 2021. And then he like ripped off his t-shirt and like jumped off the stage and tackled an analyst. On the other end of the retail spectrum from Simon Property Groups, you have Vornado. Yes, Vornado Realty Trust, another publicly traded real estate company, but they're different than Simon Property Group's malls. They're not suburban high-end malls. Vornado is a city slink.

Yeah, it's a mix of retail and office and residential space, you know, regular and premiums. Vornado collects rent. That's what this company has for its revenues. And Snuggers, if you want a deal on a New York City apartment from the pandemic, you're too late. Oh, yeah. New York City apartment prices. They're back up to like Jay Lowe, Giselle, Arod, Tom. That kind of prices. But Jack and I wanted to focus on Vornado's retail real estate. So we jumped in Stackstar. If we focus on Vornado's retail real estate, then we can compare Simon to Vornado apples to apples. And then we get a pretty good comparison of suburban retail to city retail.

Right, because Simon's malls are spread across the country. Vornado is just New York. Right. But it's still a pretty close Apple's. to apples, suburban retail to urban retail comparison. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in shopping retail? We've got a tale of two retail recoveries. Snackers, overall spending at physical stores is recovering just at different speeds. People at malls are splurging and the suburbs are almost back. City shopping, not as much.

Simon's malls are up to 93% occupancy, just two percentage points off their pre-pandemic level. Vornado's city real estate, though, they're very. retail occupancies just 81%. Here's the interesting thing. You can see that uneven retail recovery in these two company stocks. Vornado, which specializes in cities, is still down 30% from the start of the pandemic. Simon's mall stock is up from the pandemic. Vornado's CEO recently commented why.

Big city shopping. It lags the open-air malls with palm tree plazas, which have done well during the pandemic. So within two earnings reports, we can get a pretty good tale of two retail recoveries. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over there? Auto Nation's new car and George Clooney used car profits are at a record high. Yeah, because it's opposite day in the car economy. Google search is dying, according to one buzzy blog post. When you put pros before co-profits before customers, you become vulnerable to a better product.

And our third and final story is Simon Properties. That company and Vornado are a tale of two retail recovers. Yeah, suburban malls are back. The city retail not quite. Now time for our snack fact of the day, this one sent in by Aja Hardy over in lovely Chicago. John Baptiste Pointe D'Sabal is the founder of Chicago. Born in Haiti around 1750 of African and French descent, he traveled to North America in his 20s and settled on the shores of Lake Michigan with his Potawami wife. A black pioneer who explored the Great Lakes, together they built a farm near the opening of the Chicago River and lived there until 1800.

The founder of Chicago was celebrated in 1968 with Pioneer Court, a plaza just located. off of Michigan Avenue by the Chicago River. Chicago doesn't just do logistics. I'm glad they commemorated him at Pioneer Court because that's the most beautiful river lake intersection city spot ever. It's like Paris on a lake. It's a wonderful place. It's really cool.

Snackers, you looked fantastic this week. Jack, I'm going to end up seeing you on Tuesday. What time is it there? I'm having like Pocay breakfast right now. I don't know what's going on. We are eight hours apart. Mahalo. I had to stay up late for this recording, which is fun.

I'm thrilled you're out there. This is the best pod we've ever done. Yeah, actually, tomorrow's pod is you're going to be up early. I'm going to be up really early. Actually, waking up in two hours. Snackers, have a fantastic long weekend, and we'll see you Tuesday. Can't wait. And before we go, congratulations to Snackers Pedro and Woffredo and Santiago and Miguel,

who are graduating together with master's degrees in Caracas, Venezuela. And happy birthday to Vichie Malavia in Delhi, India. And Nicole Pat, Enjoy the maternity leave over in New Jersey. Early congrats. Happy birthday to Ben Galtz in Anchorage, Alaska. And Jenny Jean in Portland, Oregon. And Grayson in Bellingham, Washington.

And Jennifer Kahn, last day in her 20s in January. That's the way to do it in the city. Crushing it. And happy birthday to Jenny Lee from Chicago where they do logistics. And Cheryl Schallenberg from the Ventura, California. Happy birthday to Daniel Prado in Paramount, California. Oh, also getting married this weekend. Big weekend.

There you go. Jake Whitney, happy birthday in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Happy birthday to Madeline Torres in Oregon.

And Dominic Aloff over in Glendora. And Etsy legend Kevi Delalow. Happy birthday. You've been snacking every day since 2018.

Wow. We know it. And Matteo Askinner, enjoy the birthday in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Happy birthday to Christina

from New Providence, New Jersey. And Taylor down in Austin. And Franco Bettencourt in Miami. And Varage DeSai, happy birthday in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

And to anyone else Celebrating something today. Make it a T-Bow. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick owned stock of Lulu Lemon and Shake Jack, and I own stock of Volkswagen, and a Volkswagen. Robin Hood Snacks, newsletters, and podcasts reflect the opinions of only the authors who are associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC and do not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are meant for informational purposes only and are not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, cryptocurrency, or investment strategy in any account. This is not an offer.

or sale of a security, not a research report, and is not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robinto Market Inc., Robinto Financial LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. All investments involve risk, including loss of principle and past performance, does not guarantee future results. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Mattress, mattress, mattress, mattress.