The Best One Yet - “Windows TikTok 2.0” — Microsoft’s TikTok-quisition. Levi’s non-Amazon roadmap. Tyson’s new chicken-free CEO.

Episode Date: August 4, 2020

Over the weekend, TikTok learned it might be banned in the US. Actually maybe acquired by Microsoft (or maybe not). We break down the TikTok saga. Levi’s CEO revealed its wild new 5-month gameplan in a world where denim is out. And America’s biggest meat producer, Tyson, just made the boldest CEO hire we’ve ever seen: A Google tech guy.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. It is Tuesday, August 4th. Snackers, good news. Stock markets jump. They jumped. Not bad.

Also, Nick, good news. Your face looks a lot better than before. Did you get haircut? I appreciate it. I did. Vacation haircut. And once again, Jack, didn't go with bangs. I would love to see a picture of you with bangs.

Trying to do what I can. I got to say, nice dimples, because a lot of facial features of your face have been hidden by your wild mane. Honestly, half of me has been shrouded like Jamangi since February. Let's get to our stories. because this is the best one yet. T-B-O-Y, Jack, first story, what do we got? Tick-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-W-W-EX. We're looking at the

UnppRecretting T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-EXX-E-ROW-E-LEC-E-E-LUV-EGV-EGORKKUV-EGY-LU-SV-EGY-LU-SV-EGY-LU-SVAL. For our Third and final story. My profit puppy River is obsessed with chicken. Other white meat. But Tyson Chicken knows everyone else is unimpressed by it. So is Tyson's leadership. So the meat company is hiring a Google tech guy, bold move. The meat company is hiring a Google tech guy. We'll see if it works after them cotton. But Jack, happy T-Boy Tuesday to you. Thank you, Nick. In honor of T-Boy Tuesday, the chocolate chip in your go-to chocolate chip cookie? Know it well. It's broken. It's broken. Snackers. It's outdated. And apparently, we didn't realize this, but apparently chocolate. chips need to be disrupted. You know that funny

tear drop shape with a little wave that like tips over at the top? I know. Well, I feel like that's every third grader's Halloween costume. It wasn't shaped like that intentionally. No. It was shaped like that as a result of equipment limitations 100 years ago when the chocolate chip was created. When we hear that, we think of the old Apple ads. You got to think different

when it comes to the chips. Yeah, pretty sure we don't have equipment limitations anymore. So an engineer at Tesla has redesigned chocolate chips using modern technology. The goal, liberate. the chip from its engineering confines. So this guy put his like three Stanford PhDs to work. You got to round up. And he invented a cutting edge technologically advanced chocolate chip shape that is just superior in shape, deliciousness, and everything else. Jack and I wish we could

have jumped in snack style. We couldn't, but we noticed it's got too thick edges for textual flavor and two thin edges for freaky surface layer. It kind of looks like a stocky pyramid imitating a squished diamond. Anybody who see an avatar knows that jerk CEO showing the sample of unobtanium, that's what this thing looks like. By the way,

the engineer sold that design for the new chocolate chip to a San Francisco chocolate maker. And the engineer's hours on that side hustle is probably why Tesla's Model Y was so delayed. Definitely.

Let's in our three stories. You're tuned in the snacks daily. It's 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 you know, we're not recommending any securities.

Nope. 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. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member Fenra slash SIPC. For our first story, here's the story we have literally never covered before.

A major and popular U.S. product is getting banned. That's right. TikTok will be gone in 45 days, unless Mike. Microsoft acquires it. Yeah. Jack, this feels like the plot twist in like three different HBO shows I'm watching right now. It does. Also, are they going to insert like a Bing search bar at the top of the TikTok app?

Jack, can we finally introduce Gen Z to Clippy that like kind of freaky nightmarish Microsoft paperclip thing? Hey there, TikToker. You know an Oxford combo would be perfect in this TikTok. Now the president, Snackers, he can't just ban a company. No, if he could, we would have already seen Ben and Jerry's get banned a while ago. Yeah. You don't need to be like a constitutional scholar or know that one. But the president is commander

in chief and does have like a bunch of vast, somewhat ambiguous power when it comes to foreign policy. Which brings us to Sifius. Sifius, Sifius. We're talking the committee on foreign investment in the United States. The old CFIUS, their jurisdiction is any company operating in the United States that has foreign ownership. And the Trump administration as a whole says that TikTok is feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist Party. So Friday, Trump ordered his Treasury Department to ban TikTok in the United States. No joke, Friday night, Jack and I just finished recording, we pop open our go-to, like, cranberry-flavored, sparkling polar seltzers. And then things just went downhill from there.

But that wasn't the end of the story, and we figured it wasn't the end of the story. No, I were waiting for today to cover this developing saga. Sunday morning, we wake up, brunch happens, and what else happens? The Microsoft CEO says, hey, I want to get involved in this. They're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If you're worried about China with TikTok, we will happily adopt TikTok for you. Yeah. And make it an American child app. So then the Trump administration puts down its pancakes and says, we're listening. They want to ban TikTok because of the threat. But they're also heading into a presidential election. And President Trump is not keen to bum out 100 million TikTokers by banning their go-to app.

Yeah, that's pretty big. And most TikTokers probably can't vote at their age right now, but they can get very loud. So here's the deal. Microsoft does 45 days. to propose an acquisition of TikTok's U.S. operations that will satisfy the Trump administration. And there are going to be a couple requirements in here. For example, it must like completely sever ties with China if TikTok's going to survive. And they're not going to get TikTok for free. No, Microsoft will probably have to pay somewhere around $50 billion to the existing owner, which is China's company called Bite Dance. Which brings us to Monday where we learned that there are basically 45 days for this company to make a deal.

45 days to make a deal. It basically sounds like something that would be on TBS. Oh, meantime, if you want to use TikTok, it still works for 45 days, then we'll see. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at TikTok? TikTok is a transformative acquisition, but Microsoft isn't the ideal acquire. Jack, I am checking our show notes here. And last week, didn't we say that Congress just finished saying that big tech was too big? Yep, let me app left this thing.

Tech, too big, Congress, done. And Jack, didn't Microsoft not do a great job acquiring Skype and Nokia? Yeah, it pretty much killed them after acquiring them by accident. So Microsoft acquiring TikTok would kind of be like giving your great-uncle Steve keys to a Tesla. He's probably not going to use the self-driving mode. Microsoft is a great company, but they're not that good with, like, young, cutting-edge consumer tech. Not exactly. Adding TikTok to any company would actually be like an epic thing.

Think about it. Right away, you will compete with Google's YouTube. and Facebook's Instagram for the future of social media dominance. Microsoft could do that, and it's had, like, Jack and I'm looking at this, it's had some consumer success before. Right. It failed massively with Skype and Nokia. We already said that.

Yep. But LinkedIn got acquired by Microsoft is still usable. Still usable. And Xbox doesn't just feel like a Microsoft Windows PC, which is a good thing. Jack, have we lowered our standards if we're saying something is still usable? Yeah, we are. But Microsoft is already one of the big tech companies that, Congress is so scared about. It's number three by market cap, and this would only make it bigger.

Over the next 45 days, we would love to see another company come in and offer to acquire TikTok. What about Snapchat or Disney or Verizon? They could all get involved. Then we could solve our concerns about China security and alleviate big tech's dominance over all of us. For our second story, Levi's stock is down 40% this year. So the CEO is taking their five-year roadmap and condensing it into five months, because this is an emergency. Honey, I shrunk the roadmap. Now, Snackers, if you thought, like, khaki's sales were suffering right now, denim sales are frayed.

Not talking, like, the faux fray that makes you want to pay more for those jeans because they're torn. Got a little bit of acid, a little bit of this. We're talking, like, run over by a lawnmower, afraid. Levi's sales are down 62% over the last three months. And with no sign COVID's ending soon, denim sales problems will persist. Full disclosure here, I do not wear jeans. they give me the chills, which is uncomfortable.

Full disclosure, Nick's not qualified to talk about any, like, gene-wearing feelings in this story. If you've got a picture of me and jeans, I will pay for that picture. TMZ will pay more for that picture. Now, Levi's CEO just didn't interview with the Wall Street Journal. Jack and I thought was pretty interesting. It gave us the fashion playbook that's for Levi's, but it's kind of for all of fashion for the rest of 2020. So Jack and I jumped in snack style, checked out this playbook. We're summed it up for you, and we're calling it the little bit of everything strategy, because that's what this is.

Little bit of curbside pickup, a little bit of selling more online, yada, yada, yada. Yeah, that's all the regular stuff. Everyone's doing those things. Your mom is doing those things. We were more interested in the everything part of Levi's strategy. We noticed that Levi's is getting extremely creative with what they're doing. Now, since stores are closed, you might be sick and tired of waiting for Levi's like seven-day delivery. Boom, Levi's hooked up with Uber.

They're doing same-day delivery with Uber in the United States now. Uber's not delivering people. No, they're not. But it can deliver a pair of like boyfriend fit or mom. mom jeans in the backseat. Also, people are buying so much online that they're actually switching up their styles like every month as opposed to every year because they got all this data. And right now, jeans are more sweatpantsy. Yep. They're looking for comfort, like 90s style, low-rise, relaxed fit. We're going back to 96, kind of the Jinko days. Another COVID issue,

are you a 3430 or 3332? You can't try out in the fitting room anymore. Or you've the dreaded 33 and a half. No one knows what to do. We've all suffered the humiliation of not getting the jeans past your hips and doing that awkward like penguin jumping thing. Yeah, Jack pulled a hammy. You don't have these problems in stretch khakis. I just want to say that. That's why Levi's just launched a virtual concierge program to connect you with the store associate. Find the right fit of jeans even if you can't try them on. If you're talking with a store associate online, then they're probably going to press you into the purchase. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Levi's? Physical stores let you survive without selling your soul to Amazon. Snacker, surprising quote from

the CEO of Levi's here, stores are still a critical piece of the shopping experience. Levi's just confirmed they're planning to open 70 new stores by the end of this year. 70. This year, actual physical thing stores. Sounds like the wrong move in the era of COVID, but they're adding stores, not shutting them down. One reason why these physical stores still help in COVID-19 is because of e-commerce. One third of all the online sales delivered by Levi's are actually shipped from the physical stores that are spread out about the country. Yeah, Not big expensive, like, facilities outside the cities. Now, Levi's can't offer same-day delivery without their own physical stores now.

Levi's could offer same day by going through Amazon. True. But that would be a death sentence for their brand. So the CEO also says that sizes won't matter by 2030 because body scanners will literally tailor jeans to, like, every little shape and contour of you. This is a pretty exciting thing, but you'll need a physical store for body scanners. Yeah. To give Nick, like, size Nick.

So we can finally wear jeans for the first time. Every nook of cranny of Nick. Now, physical stores are required to survive without Amazon, and they're the differentiator to Amazon. For our third and final story, Tyson Foods is an old school company that turns animals into packaged food. And shockingly, they just hired one of Google's techiest Googlers as the new CEO. Jack Tyson Foods founded 1935 in Springdale, Arkansas, the fourth largest city in Arkansas. They have a great county fair in Springdale, Arkansas. Now, it's a publicly traded stock Tyson Foods, and they're the biggest meat company in the United States.

Yeah, ticker symbol here, they kind of went basic. They went TSN. It's actually very chickeny. We wish they would have done W-I-N-G, Wing, or T-H-I-5. Yeah, they could have done NOM. They could have done B-O-N-E, bone. There were so many options. The thing about Tyson Foods, from 1935 when they were founded, to 2016, the meat industry experienced this much

change. We're doing, by the way, everyone who can't see, Jack is doing a nothing. He's basically doing nothing. Now, since 2016, Nick, it's experienced this much change. He's spread his arms very wide right now. This is like a lift's worth of change. Snackers, Tyson Foods is looking at the food menus out there. Gluten free vegan cheeseburger? Yeah, that's a thing. Now a thing. KFC's doing 3D printed fried chicken, which we got to assume is probably better for you than the regular fried chicken. McDonald's has a plant-based happy meal. Yeah, which the Tyson execs think is an oxymor. Now, if you do the old ancestry DNA test of, like, Tyson Foods, it's coming back 100% Tyson. 100% Tyson Foods.

They've had the same CEO of a Tyson guy for the past 37 years. Now, the CEO's boss is the chairman of the board, John H. Tyson, who is also the grandson to John W. Tyson, the founder of Tyson Foods. And he celebrates Thanksgiving with John R. Tyson, who's John H.'s son, the chief sustainability officer. Investors are looking at the ingredient label of Tyson foods and thinking, there's too much Tyson in here. We're going to need some new blood over at Tyson. Understandable because Tyson stock is down 30% since COVID outbreak began. Yep, it's at the same point it was back in 2016. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Tyson? Tyson just made the boldest, most different CEO hire

we've ever seen. Snackers, there will be no poultry passionate John Tyson the fourth taken over at Tyson. They just hired a guy named Dean Banks. Great name. And his experience shows where Tyson Foods wants to go. Also sounds like a fake name. And his background is all about this. Googly challenges. That's what Dean Banks does.

Banks was formerly an executive at Google's X Laboratories Division. Yes. Which is where they work on Save the World Moonshop products like internet hot air balloons. So when Tyson's asking, how do we feed 7 billion people in a world of shrinking resources, they're passing that memo on to Dean. Dean also has experience in robotics because he was a venture capital investor knows how to make some techy investments. Well, Tyson wants to lower costs by having machines split out like the chicken fibula from the tibula, and this is the kind of thing he knows how to do. Second category, robotics. Banks was a venture capital investor who knows how to make techie investments. Yeah, and it turns out chronic COVID outbreaks in meat factories have been causing many a shutdown.

Healthcare, third big area for Tyson, Banks was the CEO of a biotech company before Google. so he knows how to kill a virus or two. CMO, not chief marketing officer, medical. Googleie challenges, robotics, health care. These are the questions Tyson needs to answer. If a guy named John Tyson the 7th, we'll still see something called Tyson Foods. Jack, can you whip up the denim-free takeaways for us over there?

TikTok will either get acquired or will be banned by September 15th. It's probably going to Microsoft, which would just make big tech, even bigger tech. Second story, COVID is a major crisis for Levi's jeans. So the CEO is doubling down on everything, including physical stores. For our third and final story, Tyson Foods just promoted an outsider to CEO for the first time ever. He's bringing a resume of tech, health, and automation expertise that Tyson desperately needs. Now, time for our snack fact today.

This one's sent in by Billy Kushner on lovely Mastic Beach, Long Island. Billy's actually looking a little further out on Long Island. Because Montau is where the highest grossing 7-Eleven, America is, beating out the other 7,800 7-Elevens in America. Now, according to our buddy Timmy, who according to his LinkedIn is the king of Montauk, these statistics are both correct, accurate, and he's a contributed to them. And get this, it's not just Montauk. There's something about Suffolk County. The four most lucrative 7-Elevens are all in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. East Patchhog, Southampton, Farmingville, you follow this whole list, just fantastic public school

system. I think that's what the parents say. Fantastic public school systems, fantastic beaches, and great twisted ice teas at 7-11. Bastin runs on Duncan. Long Island lives on 11. Now before we head out, quick happy birthday to Marcelo from Brooklyn. And Sanoo from Nepal. And Maria Vitale from Stillwater, Minnesota. And happy birthday to a bed who's turning 31 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Morita just turned 30 in Washington, D.C. Then the old three-for-one in L.A., happy birthday, Rebecca, Danny, and Paolo. Last but not least, Andrew Hargist from Maryland to happy birthday. Snackers, when you're seeing your friends, when you're chatting with anyone, ask them H-Y-H-Y-S-D. Have you had your snacks daily on Long Island? We'll see you tomorrow. If you know, you know. This is Jack Island Stock of Amazon.

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.