DHUnplugged Podcast

Twitter in the news - what a surprise. China Covid policy shaking things up. Year end moves that we are watching. Update on the 2022 Closest to The Pin Cup! PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter Warm Up - Questioning integrity of Twitter - Trump sells out NFT collection - Losing streak for NAZ continues - Throwing in the towel on 2022 Market Update - Rolling over into the EOY 2022 - Lead Blanket Discussion - Yen Rallies - Massive move after Surprise Move - FedEx and Nike Earnings just released - Economics Upcoming... Earthquake in California 6.4? - North of San Fran....... Markets - MTD Dec 2022 - SPY    - 6.5% - QQQ   - 8% - TLT   +0.52% - IWM - 7.5% - EEM  - 4.25% Year To Date - By The Numbers YTD 2022 Yen Surprise - Almost 4% gain TODAY YTD 2022 Nike Earnings - NIKE beats by $0.20, beats on revs, gross margin down 300 bps, which is better than its prior guidance of down 350-400 bps; North America up 30%, Greater China down 3% - Stock up 12% A/H FedEx Earnings - FedEx beats by $0.36, misses on revs; guides FY23 EPS below consensus, reduces capital spending outlook by $400 mln; expects to generate FY23 cost savings of approx. $3.7 bln - - - Second quarter results were constrained by continued demand weakness, particularly at FedEx Express. - - - FedEx Express operating income declined 64% year-over-year due to lower global volumes, partially offset by an 8% package yield increase. - - - FedEx Ground operating income increased 24% year-over-year, due primarily to a 13% yield increase and cost reduction actions. - - - FedEx Freight operating income increased 32% year-over-year, driven by an 18% yield increase. - Not a great outlook overall from management - but maybe better than feared? - Stock up slightly A/H Economic Data on Tap - This week - Consumer Confidence (Tomorrow) GDP (3) Leading Indicators (Thursday), Durable Orders, PCE Prices and Personal income and Spending (Friday) - Last week's Retail Sale (-.6%) Retail Sales Highlights (Briefing.com) - Total retail sales, which are not adjusted for price changes, declined 0.6% month-over-month in November (Consensus -0.1%) - Retail sales, excluding autos, fell 0.2% month-over-month (Consensus +0.2%). Key Factors - Motor vehicle and parts dealers sales declined 2.3% following a 1.6% increase in October. - Furniture and home furnishing store sales declined 2.6% following a 2.0% increase in October. - Electronics and appliance store sales fell 1.5% following a 0.9% decline in October. - Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers sales declined 2.5% following a 1.3% increase in October. - General merchandise sales dipped 0.1%, paced by a 2.9% decline in department store sales, following a 0.3% decline in October. - Clothing and clothing accessories store sales dropped 0.2% after being flat in October. - Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book store sales declined 0.6% following a 0.7% increase in October. - Gasoline station sales slipped 0.1% following a 4.8% increase in October. Musk Items - Please explain the use of polls to do his dirty work? - Using "public" to choose outcome  by wording question/poll to what he expects? - ---  Also, can't he just push the numbers to gain his desired outcome. --- FOLLOW UP - Poll to see if he should step down as Twitter CEO ------ TSLA stock cap down $600-700 BILLION since high - much attributed to Twitter nonsense -- -OH NOW - Voting on Policy will be only for Blue Members Twitter Seeks Infusion - Elon Musk’s team has reached out to investors to raise new funds for his struggling social media platform Twitter, one of the investors said.