The Best One Yet - 🦇 “Your Self-Flying Taxi is arriving” — Volocopter’s $2B flying cab. Bed Bath & Beyond’s Chewy.com. Your $150 gas fillup.

Episode Date: March 8, 2022

If you own a Chevy Suburban, you’re paying up to $150 at the pump. We’re calling it — it’s an energy crisis. Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock nearly doubled yesterday thanks to one word: Chewy. And Volocopter hit a nearly $2B valuation to make self-flying electric air taxis a thing… but they forgot about the “self-flying” part.$JOBY $BBBY $XOMGot 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.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is Snacks Daily. It is Tuesday. T-Boy, Tuesday, March 8th. Rough day for stock markets yesterday. Good day for a pod. Tb.O.I.

Yeah, it's the best one yet. It really is. It really is the best one yet. What's our first story? For our first story, the GameStop guy just bought 10% of Bed Bath and Beyond. And Jack, what happened to Bed Bath and Beyond stock? Bed Bath and Beyond stock almost doubled in one day like GameStop used to. It pulled off the GameStop stock pop.

For our second story, if you drive a Chevy Suburban in California, California. It costs you $150 to fill up the text. Yeah, the Ukraine war. It has triggered an energy crisis. And we've got four examples to prove it. For our third and final story, Velicopter. Can I call it Velocopter? I really want to call it Velocopter. But all right, sure. They hit a $2 billion valuation to make self-driving, sorry, self-flying, electric robot tax. Except one term was missing from their announcement. Self-flying. Snackers, before we hit that wonderful mix. This is such a good mix today.

I love this mix. We have a special announcement today. Happy birthday to the happy birthday song. It actually is a belated birthday. It was the birthday song's birthday over the weekend, but still. And I'm sorry, Adele, but this is the most popular song in the English language. It's not us. It's the Guinness Book of World Record saying that.

If you didn't get candles or cake or serenaded this past weekend, Jack, did you even turn a year older? Nick, this birthday song is the only tradition that's never done. not happening in your life. It's honestly the most consistent thing any of us have ever, ever had. Snackers, you know this one. The birthday song. The birthday song. Originally written this week in 1893. Yeah, its original name though was not the birthday song. It was good morning to all. Good morning to you. Good morning to me. Perfectly al dente, Jack. It was written. Good morning to all. By the sisters, Patty and Mildred Hill. Patty and Mildred Hill. The Simon and Garfield. of celebratory songs.

Now, things really kicked up a notch for them back in 1931 when the birthday song made it into a Broadway musical. The birthday song's big break happened on Broadway. Then things went from funny to money for the birthday song. Oh, yeah. The Hill Sisters copyrighted the birthday song. If you say it looks like a monkey and you smell like one too, you better lawyer up. So for 50 years, any time the birthday song was used in a commercial purpose for profit.

Yeah, like in a movie, a TV show, an actual ad. The Hill family got paid. They did. Happy birthday, T.J. Max. Go ahead and Venmo the Hill Sisters about five grand for that. Yeah, Snackers, the birthday song, it hasn't had a viral moment. It's had a viral forever. In 1988, Warner Music acquired the rights to the song from the Hill Sisters.

Jack, how much money was Warner Music bringing in off the birthday song? That was a $2 million a year royalty profit. Boom. And then in 2015, finally, the birthday song, became part of the public domain. It was liberated. Anybody and any company can now sing it since 2015 without having to cut a check to anybody. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over singing the birthday song?

We should sing the whole song since we can use it freely because it's in the public domain. Or we could quote Beyonce. If you like it, then you better put a trademark on it. Happy birthday week to the birthday song. Let's turn our three stories old. Or are you one story? Or are you two stories? Are you three stories?

are your four stories? You're tuned into snacks daily. Snacks about to hear ain't food. It's air candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so. 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. Robahood Financial, LLC, member FINRA slash SIPC. For our first story, bedbath and beyond, it's stock. surged 85% over the weekend. 85% on the open Monday morning.

Bed bath and beyond. Why? Because chewy. Chewy.com. Yeah. That's why. Chewy.com, which I feel like we should disclose my mom just keeps talking about the stock. I know.

I know. She's really into it. But Snackers, bed bath and beyond, it is hanging on by like a shower curtain. Bedbath and beyond stock. It is falling 44% in the past year. Compare that to the average American stock. Please, Jack. The average stock is up 16%.

So bad look for Bedbath and Beyond. It's even worse if you look at the past 10 years. They got a Drano situation over at Bed Bath and Beyond. Bed Bath and Beyond stock is down 69% in the past 10 years. Jack, how is the average American stock doing in the past 10 years? As measured by the S&P 500, it's up 284%. Ipso facto, if you own Bed Bath and Beyond stock, you have underperformed the rest of the stock market until yesterday.

Yesterday was a big day for Bedbath and Beyond. It was. Because Ryan Cohen, the guy who co-founded Chewy.com, the pet stock, has bought 10% of all of Bedbath and Beyond stock. We're talking about the guy who co-founded the e-commerce for pets company, Chewy.com. But you may know him for his other role. Yeah, Ryan is actually also the guy who turned GameStop into a meme stock one year ago. And here is Ryan's playbook. Here it is.

He's doing the same thing with Bed Bath and Beyond that he did. in 2020 with GameStop. I feel like we found the playbook on the floor jack and now we're just reading it to all the people. Here we go. Step one. Buy up 10% of the company's stock. He just did that.

So step one's done. Step two is you write a letter. Yes. And Ryan wrote a letter to GameStop's board in November of 2020 and he suggested some ideas to turn game stop around. And here's why we think it's a playbook because Ryan just wrote a letter to Bed Bath and Beyond's board suggesting turnaround moves. He published it online.

He did. And we read it. And we also read it. And we also read the one he published in 2020 for GameStop. We look to both. They look very, very, very. Yeah, it appears as though he did the old save as new file situation. He took GameStop as his template and just like change the few words.

Google Docs is like, you want a new title? He's like, yeah, sure. So Nick and I jumped in snacks style. Here's what's in the letter that Ryan Cohen wrote to the board of Bed Bath & Beyond. Honestly, it's mainly just general ideas for the most part. His first suggestion is the company focused more because a dozen priorities is too many. Yeah. And then he suggests that, you know,

know you pay the CEO in stock instead of cash. Yeah, because executives are better motivated when their compensation is linked to the stock's performance. Now, to be fair, there actually was one very specific idea that Ryan had to turn around Bed Bath and Beyond and it has to do with a fourth B. Ryan thinks that Bed Bath and Beyond's best asset is Buy Buy Baby, a chain it owns that's just for babies. Like less detergent, more diapers kind of a thing.

Ryan thinks Bed Bath and Beyond should sell Buy Buy Baby Baby because he thinks that it's worth more as an independent company, separate from bedbath and beyond. You want Isle 6 to just be like plush robes for people fourth inches tall. I don't know, however tall babies are. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at bedbath and beyond? The most important part of Ryan's plan, though, was the word chewy. Chewy. Snackers, GameStop, it is a household name.

Not because of Ryan's turnaround plan, but because of the word chewy.com. built chewy chewy.com into an e-commerce success for pet lovers, like Amazon, but for pet lovers. Yeah, Jack, Chewy, they know your puppy so well. They will literally send her a birthday card. This company gets it. So when Ryan bought stock and GameStop, people thought that Ryan, the Chewy co-founder, could transform GameStop into an e-commerce success too. And one year ago, that excitement is what made GameStop a meme stock and caused it to search. But if you look at GameStop's business, it's not. had a turnaround at all. Snackers, if you check out the revenues and profits for GameStop,

they've actually barely moved in the last one and a half years. They have barely improved since Ryan took over. So the word chewy was really the start of GameStop's meme stock journey. That's why the most important part of Ryan Cohen's turnaround plan for bedbath and beyond. It may just be the word chewy. For our second story, the Ukraine war has triggered an energy crisis. Carbon-free, carbon-heavy, it doesn't matter. We're just looking to replace. Russian oil right now. Okay. Perfect timing because we mentioned yesterday, the United States is finally moving to ban Russian oil. Not official yet, but it looks like Congress is going to pass a ban. Now, when you hear the words energy crisis, that's a big term. You got to have evidence if you're

going to say that term. Your Honor. Yeah. May I address the journey? Yes, you may address the journey. In fact, Jack, you may even, you can approach the stand if you'd like. Exhibit A, the price of natural gas in Europe has tripled in just one month. Now, we always hear the term natural gas. But natural gas is actually critical right now because natural gas is what heats your homes during the winter. That's why Germany won't stop buying Russian oil and gas, despite Putin's war, because they have no short-term alternative. And it's March. Germans will literally freeze and die if they don't have access to Russian oil right now. So, yeah, it's a crisis.

Exhibit B. Exhibit B. Gasoline prices in the United States just hit a nationwide average of $4 a gallon. Jack, what is happening if you happen to own a Chevy Suburb? these days. If you own a Chevy Suburban, we're sorry. Yeah. Because you might need to get a second job to pay just for gas. Honestly, this isn't a car. This is like a third child for most people. If you live in the state of New York, it costs you $118 to fill up your 28-gallon Chevy Suburban. At this point, like, why have a car? You may as well get a bunch of horses. In California, it's $150 to fill up a Chevy Suburban at $5.34

cents again. Save the money and get a polo habit. So it's a crisis. Exhibit C. Stocks just hit a new low yesterday with the S&P 500 down 14% from its all-time high. The tech-heavy NASDAQ, it has now fallen 21% from its all-time high. The reason, these high oil prices mean higher inflation, lower economic growth, and smaller profits. With one exception that we really should mention. Oil companies. Oil companies. They're doing great right now. They're thriving from this energy crisis with ExxonMobil up 10% in just the past week. Just ExxonMobil stock, which leads to Exhibit D closing arguments. Even Elon Musk, the CEO of a sustainable energy company, tweeted last week that the world

needs to pump more oil right now. Yeah, Snackers, you know how we're facing an energy crisis? When the founder of an electric car company says we need more oil. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all of our buddies who are at the gas tank right now? Crisis accelerates change. Yeah, Snackers, the solutions to this energy crisis, they're all very bad. There's talk that Europe needs to turn on all of their dormant nuclear power plants right now. Yeah, because nuclear energy is an alternative source to Russian gas.

President Biden is reported to be debating whether to ask Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela to pump more oil for us. You don't need a map on you right now. That combo is not exactly America's geopolitical friends. And many in Congress want America to drill more oil and drill more gas from our own land. At exactly the time when climate change demands we do the opposite of all that. Because we run on oil, our options to solve this oil crisis are very bad. But there is nothing that accelerates change like a crisis. For our third and final story, Volocopter, not Velocopter.

But Volocopter just hit a $2 billion evaluation for self-flying electric taxi. It's easier to describe what it does. It gets you somewhere quicker than a cab. Then what it is. A robo electric chopper taxi? All right. The best part of a taxi, you get in and don't have to do anything. The worst part about a taxi is you're doing nothing because you're in traffic for the next three hours.

The solution? Make your taxi fly in the sky. It's not really an industry name. It's basically a sentence. It's really hard to describe what these products are. Can we talk, though, about Germany's volocopter? Based just outside of Munich, they just raised $170 million to hit a $1.87 billion pre-IPO private startup valuation. Those Germans are precise. Do not round up to $2 billion.

They're like, do you want to hit $2 billion? It'll be a better press release. They're like 9-9. We're doing 1.87 and calling it a day. Now, we looked at the website. The product, this flying vehicle, it looks like a giant air pot. Yeah, it does. It's designed by Star Wars. It's not like one big blade, like a helicopter. It's a dozen propellers like a volocopter. Like a velicopter.

I call it velicopter. Nick calls it. Volocopter, we're not sure. My German degree does not help me with a pronunciation, by the all. We're just going to say bellociraptor. Not the use case for this flying vehicle, it's not just Midtown Manhattan to JFK Airport to avoid the traffic. Exactly. This isn't just for one-off trips.

They're envisioning this as part of like your daily commute kind of a thing. Urban mobility of all kinds, as they say. And this isn't the first flying electric. Robo helicopter that's out there. They actually compete with several other non-commercialized electric chopper caps. None of these companies are commercialized yet. No. Lillium, Kitty Hawk, and Joby Aviation, they're all in the same space.

Actually, you may remember Joby Aviation because they went public just two years ago in 2020. And Jack, how are they doing? And the stock's down. It's down about 50% like a whole bunch of spas. Well, let's look at this from 35,000 feet. Literally and figuratively. The dream of self-flying air taxis has existed in our imagination for decades. Yeah, Sackers, this is what Jack and I find fascinating about this story.

This has been around for a while. George Jetson's commute was literally in this product. You got the noise they make? I think that's exactly what they sound like today, probably. And when this concept finally appears within reach, we noticed one thing was conspicuously absent from Velocopters press release about this fundraiser. This is actually what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The self-flying part was missing from the press release.

They didn't mention autonomy, autonomous, self-driving, or self-driving. flying in the fundraise news. Again, this is a self-flying taxi in the air electrified that's supposed to fly itself. But it looks like they deleted the self-flying part to manage our expectations. Yeah, and according to TechCrunch, Volo actually says it's going to launch with a pilot. With a human pilot, which makes it just an electric helicopter that looks like an AirPon. And they also said they're going to delay their launch date for another year. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Volocopter? Self-flying electric taxis is like Jelleroen.

You can't quite grasp what it actually is. Okay, so Jack, is it replacing helicopters or replacing cars or replacing airplanes? All three, I think. Okay, it looks like a helicopter. It feels like an airplane, but it functions like a daily car? Yep, it's confusing. Okay, it'll start with a pilot, but then it eventually flies itself, kind of like what we've heard from every car.

Yeah, and the branding of the product is totally unclear. Okay, self-flying electric taxi. That is a mouthful. Velocopter says the industry they're in is urban air mobility. Right, but Jack, Jobi, says the industry they're in is the electric aerial ride share industry. And investors group this in the category EVTOL, which is electric, vertical takeoff and landing machines. Because there's nothing venture capital likes more than a good acronym. Fortunately, though, for Velocopter,

they've got at least two more years until they launch to figure out how to describe themselves to us. Because right now, it's not a solid and it's not a liquid. It's Jello. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over there? Game stops Ryan Cohen, now owns 10% of Bed Bath and Beyond. And Chewy's Ryan Cohen now owns 10% of bed bath and beyond. Keyword Chewy. Keyword Chewy. For a second story, a potential disruption of Russia's oil and gas has caused an energy crisis.

But here's the thing. A crisis, that can accelerate change. Our third and final story is electric self-flying, flying taxis. They're getting venture funding. Yeah, they are. They're not here yet, but the industry, it has a jello problem. What is this? Well, the answer is always cherry jello. Now, time for our snack fact of the day.

This one whipped up by Jack and me because it's actually international women's day. Here in the United States, women didn't get the right to vote until 1920. Yeah, that was the 19th Amendment. Didn't come around until 1920. But that was federal. That was a amendment to the Constitution of the United States. But on the state's level, it was a different situation. In Wyoming, they were a half century ahead of the 19th Amendment. Yeah, get this, Snackers, Wyoming. They actually gave women the right to vote back.

in 1869. Before it became a state. Yeah. And 51 years before the 19th Amendment. Wyoming, ahead of an era. Equal rights is actually Wyoming state model. Snackers, you look fantastic today. If you haven't yet, turn to someone next to you and say,

happy birthday because you can and you won't get sued. Nick and I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, happy birthday to Snackers, Simian Rivalaz over in Miami. Happy birthday to Matt. Andranes in Darien, Connecticut. And Doug Stewart, enjoy the birthday in South Florida. And congrats to Lorraine, who's retiring as a special agent with the Wisconsin DOJ. And congrats to Sorab, who just enjoyed the one-year workovertery over at Meta in San Francisco.

And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-Bla. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I'm on stock of Amazon. 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, Inc. 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 on the basis for any investment decision. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial, LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal and past performance, does not guarantee future results. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Keep it in. I have no problem embarrassing myself as long as it's for the benefit of our audience. Can we make that?

Yeah, I'll take at the end. I think that's actually the intro. I think that's a takeaway to the whole product.