Boneless Wings #36

**NOTHING HERE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED INVESTMENT ADVICE**

Good morning to all my wingmen and wingwomen out there. Here are a few noteworthy and tasty bites worth digesting. Enjoy!

The Real Tiger King

Tiger Woods made in improbable comeback playing in what’s known as one of the greatest sports tournaments in the world. The Master’s Tournament…. a tradition unlike any other.

For the lucky few who have played golf with me, and can attest how my golf game emulates Tiger’s, you know I’m super stoked for his comeback. (…..and so are advertisers as television ratings sky rocket when Tiger Woods is playing)!

To quickly summarize, Tiger is one of the most impressive golfers of all time and is making a return to golf after a severe car crash in February of last year left him with rods, screws and pins in his leg, foot, and ankle. Apparently, things were bad enough that the doctors were discussing the need for amputation at one point. His road to recover included 3 months straights on a medical bed, followed by nonstop physical therapy (….and mental therapy I would assume).

As the saying goes, it’s not how many times you get knocked down….. it’s how many times you get back up. And Tiger has picked himself up a few times.

From a scandal that rocked his marriage and ended with a golf club to his head (…..understandably, his wife wasn’t too happy), to a DUI, to a few back surgeries and now last year’s crash, Tiger Woods is not short on adversity and perseverance. And in the press conference earlier this week, he stated that his goal wasn’t just to play in the 2022 Masters, but to win it. And I can respect him for that.

After his first round yesterday, here’s a recap of Tiger’s Day 1 of the Masters… 

• Birdies: 3

• Bogies: 2

• Pars: 13

• Shot a 71, or -1

If Tiger can play good enough today and make the cut into the weekend, this could be both the greatest sports story, and highest television ratings, of all time.

Regardless of how you feel about Woods (…his past transgressions, his ability, etc…) no one can deny the mere fact he is back playing this week proving to the world…..he’s still got the Eye of the Tiger!

Another billionaire and another 11% stake

Yesterday, Berkshire Hathaway disclosed it has taken a 11% stake in HP, the PC and printer manufacturer, valued at around $4.2 billion at the time. After the news broke, investors saw the stock shoot up like Warren Buffet’s blood pressure…. roughly +20% as of this being written.

So, why does this make sense for the Oracle of Omaha (….aka Warren Buffet) and Berkshire Hathaway? Few reasons…

• Stock yield currently around 3%

• Sells at 8x its earning

• Tends to hit earnings estimates

• Buys back stock

• Raises their dividend

So yeah, it’s hard to argue against the Oracle’s logic. In fact, the company seems to fit perfectly with his philosophy.

Also, worth noting that a stock trading at eight times earnings isn’t an extraordinarily bullish view of a company. However, if the rest of the business fundamentals are there then one could interpret that as undervalued in the long run and view it as an extraordinary opportunity. Enter Warren Buffet from stage left.

And Berkshire Hathaway is no spring chicken….they have wisdom and a history of success to back them up including up around +15% this year. They are the Coach K of investments (…a long history of success, all teams/leagues/businesses respect him, and he’s still getting it done all these years later).

I’m not keen on betting against a credible company. Especially one who generally takes a fundamental and logical view on opportunities in the market (…not wild bets on new trends in the fleeting moment), one who usually/always takes a passive stake in the companies they invest in (…..which speaks to their focus on the businesses fundamentals) and who has proven time after time after time they know what they’re doing. If you don’t believe me, just look at their stock performance in the picture above.

The two cherries on top of it all for me…..are the 91 and 98 year old chairmen who still run the company. 😳

For the record, even though I don’t like Buffet’s stance on everything (e.g. crypto), he still has, and deserves, my respect. Regardless how Peter Thiel feels about the man.

Always low prices. Always.

John Oliver recently undressed the trucking industry (…. he’s a great storyteller but you can’t always just take his stories as complete factuals, however, has some good points here) on his show recently highlighting that there is a significant truck driver shortage that’s causing additional issues within the supply chain. Also interesting is how he points out there’s not a hiring issue, there’s a retention issue……with driver turnover at some companies over 300% (….meaning they’re hiring 3 people for 1 job over a course of a year). Some of the issues are around how drivers get paid (….per mile, not per hour), safety concerns (….not always getting the company support you’d expect when drivers have safety related concerns), relationship between driver and company (….contractor vs employee), and truck drivers finding themselves in sketchy lease/purchase programs with the companies they drive for (….unfavorable terms, pricing and fees).

So how should companies respond? Well, apparently Walmart was watching and is now responding by communicating the following yesterday morning….

• Raising trucker pay to around $110,000 in first year

• 12-week truck program enabling drivers to earn a CDL

• Earnestly trying to keep up with the growth it has seen, and the supply chain mix, given the rise in their eCommerce business.

Walmart is an American icon and one of the world’s most successful companies, and there’s little doubt how much Walmart relies on truck drivers to deliver that success. Not gonna lie, but their slogan of “Always low prices. Always” rings a little different now given the above.

But nice to see they are taking necessary steps to address this issue and close the gap in driver shortages they face……cause Chef Tasty ain’t got time for empty shelves!!!

And you already know what day it is! Cheers to Fri-yay and to an amazing weekend!!

Deuces. ✌️

- Chef Tasty