When’s The Good Part?

Almost DailyBrett discovered the power of five simple, monosyllabic words forming a very frank question.

On several occasions, a well-respected LSI Logic manufacturing executive vice president calmly listened to accounts of vexing political problems at our production sites and then calmly asked: “When’s the good part?”

In a sense his rhetorical question produced a momentary comical response, and still posed a challenge to our team: ‘Okay, when can we reasonably expect good news for a change?’ Unfortunately, the same is true with the state of affairs of the United States of America.

President Joe Biden with his underwater 42.1 percent RealClear Politics approval rating pushed back by nearly two months his constitutionally required State-of-the-Union (SOTU) until Tuesday, March 1. The good part for the president is he running 3 percent ahead of mean-spirited Kamala Harris in favorable/unfavorable surveys.

Believe it or not, the same is true for Donald Trump.

Reportedly, POTUS is looking for something, anything good to report to the nation. When’s the good part, Mr. President?

In 10 days, we will commemorate poet Amanda Gorman reciting “The Hill We Climb.” It was also the day that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were inaugurated. What has not happened since that glorious day with so much celebration, so much promise of “unity,” so much partisan media glee?

Have we climbed any hills in the past year?

Never Ending Covid/Accelerating Inflation/Skyrocketing Crime

“The prerequisite for prosperity is public safety.” — Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams and former NYPD captain

Is the never-ending pandemic a distant memory? Is there a Covid-22 “malaise” in the country (Carter crisis of confidence speech reminder uttered by Kamala)? Is it a federal responsibility or the obligation of the states? Seems like no one in our government is sure.

Speaking of memories of Jimmy Carter, the nation’s inflation rate has reached 9.6 percent per annum, caused in large part by unrestrained government spending, a nationwide shortage of workers and empty shelves. Inflation’s impact is worst of Americans on fixed income, who can least afford skyrocketing food and utility prices.

Is it Evening in America?

And now the administration wants to add $1.75 trillion in social spending to the swelling money supply, adding to our staggering $29.70 trillion debt (127 percent of GDP), financed by the nation’ fourth largest expenditure of $442 billion in … debt service spending.

Why is it, that progress is only measured by how many unsustainable massive spending bills can be rammed through Congress on strictly party line votes? Must government always grow larger and less controllable, while the national debt reaches once unthinkable levels, interest rates surge and double-digit inflation returns?

Let’s see there was $1.9 trillion for stimulus and $1.1 trillion for infrastructure in 2021. Defenders say don’t worry be happy, interest rates are low. Earth to Bidenites: The Federal Reserve may raise rates four or more times this year to combat … you guessed it … spending-induced inflation.

Almost DailyBrett believes from his years in public affairs, the number one responsibility of any government is to ensure for the protection and safety of its citizens. After nearly two years of mindless “Defund The Police” choruses, what happened on the streets in our major cities (e.g., Portland)? Twelve U.S. cities set homicide records in 2021.

Kamala Harris was assigned to serve as the border Czarina. She eventually went to the border once kicking and screaming (e.g., El Paso, Texas), but the problem grows ever worse with every day. If the vice president doesn’t care, is there anyone in the administration who is willing to step up and take responsibility for border security?

The precipitous decline in Biden’s once hopeful approval ratings commenced with the chaotic exit from Afghanistan, costing the lives of 13 American troops and leaving unknown number of Americans to the tender mercies of the Taliban.

Can anyone with a straight face look back at the past year and salute the administration for a job well done?

More to the point Almost DailyBrett and conceivably millions of other Americans must rhetorically pose the question: ‘Mr. President and Madam Vice President, When’s the good part?’

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/07/first-joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-set-for-march-1.html

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president-biden-job-approval-7320.html

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/12/19/kamala_harris_is_a_liability_146892.html

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/other/FavorabilityRatingsPoliticalLeaders.html

https://abcnews.go.com/US/12-major-us-cities-top-annual-homicide-records/story?id=81466453

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

Kamala Harris’ 27 Percent “Approval” Rating

Viral Images Are Worth Thousands Of Words

Trading Burgers For Buns

Almost DailyBrett made the decision to sell Big Macs and buy sexy $100 yoga pants.

Not literally. Your author took a profit in McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) and plowed the proceeds into LuLuLemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU).

McDonald’s operates 40,000 stores around the globe and feeds 1 percent of the planet’s population every day. What other fast-food firm can make that claim? Absolutely no one. Sounds like a great investment.

The reason for selling MCD was simple: It was time. McDonald’s made a solid run during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was time to ring the register. That doesn’t mean the stock will not once again overachieve. It will. For your author, it was time to take a nice profit.

To borrow some overused Wall Street metaphors: “There are bulls and there bears and pigs get slaughtered.” And “Never apologize for taking a profit.”

More importantly, “Buy Low Sell High.” Where have you heard that one before?

The decision was made: Sell Big Macs higher and buy high-margin yoga pants lower. Shouldn’t that recipe always be the plan?

LULU took a dive right after reporting solid fourth quarter/annual earnings (e.g., buy on rumor, sell on news). Even through your author already owned shares of Nike (NYSE: NKE), the decision was still made to invest in another athletic apparel provider, one that had a particular appeal to the fairer gender.

Couldn’t Almost DailyBrett simply invest in a discretionary consumer mutual fund that holds both McDonald’s and LuLu? Sure, but where’s the fun in that?

Besides who wants to pay commissions?

Your Own Personal Mutual Fund?

“Put your money in 401ks. Put your money in pensions and just leave it there. Don’t worry about it. It’s all doing fine. — When are we going to realize in this country that our wealth is work? We are workers.” — Jon Stewart to CNBC’s Mad Money host and former Goldman Sachs hedge fund manager, Jim Cramer

In this fleeting era of commission-free trading before Biden doubles the capital gains tax on investments: Why not be your own mutual fund manager?

There are no commissions in the Almost DailyBrett mutual fund. Sometimes mutual fund managers win and sometimes they don’t, and they still charge you. Your author may win or maybe not, but sometimes there are dividends and zero commissions.

For way too many mutual fund buy side analysts, it’s not their money. Instead it’s impersonal AUM or assets under management. When it comes to personal assets, your author wants to be the investment manager.

Don’t get Almost DailyBrett wrong. There are mutual funds in your author’s portfolio (e.g., Fidelity Contrafund), but the majority of assets including cash are win or lose under his management. As a retiree, your author will not put all of his golden eggs in one basket and will diversify — to a point.

The most important consideration is a question always posed to your author’s university Corporate Communications/Investor Relations students: “How does a company make money?”

Almost DailyBrett has no clue how speculative Bitcoin makes money, it’s a Ponzi Scheme. No one knew how Enron made money, and as it turned out the celebrated energy trader lost its derriere year-in, year out and lied about it.

Keeping in mind that one-half of all the companies on the Year 2000 Fortune 500 list are now kaput, your author only invests in established well-managed companies with great track records and totally understandable business models. Better yet your author invests in company shares in which he uses the products (e.g., wearing Nikes to Starbucks and paying for lattes with an Apple smartphone).

Another key is to invest in best-of-breed market leading companies run by great chief executive officers, who care deeply about both Fiduciary Responsibility (Doing Well) and Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR (Doing Good). The absence of empathy about shareholders and employees or about a company’s impact on the environment and the community is always a warning sign for investors.

It doesn’t hurt in your author’s eyes that Salesforce.com is run by fellow USC alum Marc Benioff or NVIDIA was founded by former LSI Logic colleague Jen-Hsun Huang. One is a pioneer in enterprise software, the other is the undisputed leaders in graphics semiconductors.

A mutual fund manager retiree should always invest, not trade. Watch CNBC. Check your Charles Schwab account daily. Keep track of personal wealth.

Somedays you are making money, and other days you are not. Don’t get giddy, don’t get depressed.

Most importantly, don’t pay commissions to someone else. Pay yourself.

http://therebeller.blogspot.com/2009/03/jon-stewart-pummels-jim-cramer.html

Fiduciary Responsibility vs. Corporate Social Responsibility

Farewell LSI Logic

Wall Street Is Not A Video Game

“Here come the short apologists. Give them no respect. Get Shorty.” — Elon Musk

Remember being asked in the 1990s, if Almost DailyBrett had a minimum of $500,000 to invest.

The question was answered with a question: “Did you ever see ‘Bull Durham?'”

‘Yes.’

Your author was the Durham Bulls, not the New York Yankees.

As a relatively young corporate public relations director at LSI Logic back in the Alan Greenspan “irrational exuberance” 1990s, Almost DailyBrett was learning about markets as a Charles Schwab retail investor. That quest for knowledge to responsibly invest persists three decades later and never stops.

It seems that so many are getting their collective bowels in an uproar or knickers in a twist over the insane hedge fund 144 percent shorting of GameStop (NYSE: GME) and the massive buying of the same stock by Millennial and Z-Gen retail investors.

The initial wave of borrowing of GameStop shares came from hedge funds (e.g., Melvin Capital) literally shorting the stock, betting the stock would plummet. Alas for Melvin Capital (53 percent loss), Millennial and Z-Gen retail investors using Reddit social media and commission-free Robinhood and other trading/investment platforms were bidding up the stock.

Melvin Capital ended up holding the bag being forced to cover its short position at a huge loss. Damn those Millennials and Z-Gens. Retail investors are not supposed to control Wall Street that’s the job for Buy Side and Sell Side institutional investors, including Melvin Capital.

If you don’t believe Almost DailyBrett just ask the hedge funds.

David vs. Goliath Story?

Some may quickly learn that just because investing is commission free does not mean that all social media/smart phone trading will end well. Social media (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) may all be free, but Wall Street commission-free trading comes with risk — and it may not be calculated risk but pure speculation (e.g., Bitcoin crpyto-“currency”).

When society was shut down because of Covid-19, many digital native Millennials and Z-Gens turned to video games and streaming video as a release. Others wisely used the very same digital platforms to trade (good) and invest (better) in their futures.

Millennial investor Keith Gill, 34, is drawing gobs of media attention from transforming his $54,000 trade in GameStop two years ago into a $48 million gain last week. Your author must ask: ‘Where is the harm?’ Are we upset because hedge fund Melvin Capital took it in the shorts (pardon the pun) and Keith Gill won?

Shouldn’t we be cheering for the underdog or should we call upon big government to put an end to the alleged Wall Street playification party? Former Facebook executive, now Social Capital CEO, Chamath Palihapitiya, celebrated on CNBC this week Millennials and Z-Gens learning through the real-time experiences about investing, trading, and (others) shorting in global markets.

Almost DailyBrett remembers all the hue and cry about T. Boone Pickens (1928-2019) and his corporate raiding (e.g., hostile takeovers) in the 1980s. Some called for increased regulation. Others were at peace with open markets: “Let the raiders, raid.”

When The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) called for stricter SEC enforcement of market trades on CNBC. She was unsure whether the GameStop trades was a David vs. Goliath story. Her solution is always her remedy: more regulation, federal preemption and higher taxes.

She repeated her call for the establishment of am unconstitutional “two-cent” federal wealth tax on already taxed assets (i.e., investment portfolios, real estate, cars, boats and planes) on America’s makers and achievers. If entrepreneurs opt to leave America to avoid the tax, they would lose their citizenship.

“Asking them to step up and pay a little more and you’re telling me that they would forfeit their American citizenship … I’m sorry that’s not going to happen.” — Elizabeth Warren on CNBC’s Closing Bell.

If it isn’t going to happen, why are you talking about it Senator?

Capitalist — Not Socialist — Millennials and Z-Gens

“There are bulls. There are bears. And pigs get slaughtered.” — CNBC’s “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer

“There are two paths to go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on.” — Jimmy Page, Robert Plant

In the second iteration of your author’s career, the task at hand as a college professor was to teach corporate communications and investor relations to Millennial students. Some even wondered if the class was oriented toward learning how to day trade.

It wasn’t, but these optimistic students were learning to buy low and sell high. None of them had any interest in being poor. By taking corporate communications and investor relations they were embracing economic freedom.

Will they make mistakes as investors/traders during the course of their careers? Is the Pope Jesuit? Will they learn from their errors and become better at using due diligence to evaluate the fundamentals of companies, including their income statements, balance sheets and price/earnings ratios? One would hope that is indeed the case.

According to Business Insider, Millennials are oriented toward stocks not bonds and self-directed investing using Robinhood to trade and Reddit to communicate.

Should the government clamp down on Millennial/Z-Gen trading through imposing stifling regulation, doubling capital gains taxes on positive returns and introducing taxes on what are now commission-free trades?

Is nothing, sacred?

How about enticing and encouraging successful citizens to give back to society? Remember to put on your own airplane mask first before assisting others.

And most of all, let’s teach our Millennial and Z-Gen leaders of tomorrow the wonders of economic freedom including the tried-and-true ‘Buy Low Sell High.’

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/chamath-palihapitiya-closes-gamestop-position-but-defends-individual-investors-right-to.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/keith-gill-drove-the-gamestop-reddit-mania-he-talked-to-the-journal-11611931696

Warren calls CNBC reporter’s ‘bluff’ on rich leaving US over wealth tax

Buy Low Sell High

Buy Low And Sell High Millennials

Farewell LSI Logic

In Search Of First Person Plural: We, Us And Our

“Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: ‘We the People.’”

“We did it. We weren’t just marking time, we made a difference. We made the (shining) city (on the hill) stronger – we made the city freer – and we left her in good hands.  All in all, not bad. Not bad at all.” — President Ronald Reagan Farewell Address, January 11, 1989

President Ronald Reagan was not a first-person singular leader: I, Me, Myself.

Even though he was completing one of the most successful presidencies in American history and was justifiably entitled to take a bow, he still for the most part gravitated toward first-person plural even in his farewell address: We, Us, Our.

These vital pronouns salute the team that makes it happen, the linemen who protect the quarterback, the pit crew changing the tires in less than three-seconds, the people who write the emails, send the letters and form the coalition that makes a politician and a movement successful.

Donald Trump is an über first person singular type of guy, and that is his greatest weakness. He could learn from Heisman Trophy Winner Marcus Mariota, Five-Time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, and most of all from Ronald Reagan.

Almost DailyBrett was privileged to devote two decades of his career, directly serving two first-person plural leaders: Former California Governor George Deukmejian and LSI Logic founder, chairman and chief executive officer Wilf Corrigan.

Did both of these overachievers have healthy opinions of themselves? Of course.

Did they have big egos based upon their proven records of self-made success? Naturally.

One was the most popular governor of California in the modern era; the other was a successful entrepreneur immigrant worth, $432 million.

But when push came to shove, it was about the people around them, the citizens and customers they served, the investors and their shares … we, us and our.

“I Have Returned”

Did you note MacArthur’s first-person singular is his most remembered quote, and his follow-up in first-person plural is forgotten?

Didn’t the collective strength of the U.S. Army and Navy facilitate MacArthur’s return to the Philippines?

MacArthur was later fired by President Harry S. Truman. Surprised?

Will Donald Trump be fired by the American people in 13 months time, despite a robust economy, no new military involvements in the Middle East (or elsewhere) and way too-far-to-the-socialist-left potential opponents? It can happen, but will it?

Under similar circumstances Reagan crushed Walter Mondale in 1984. Reagan won 49 states worth 525 electoral votes, capturing 58.8 percent of the vote. Mondale recorded his home state of Minnesota and DC for a total of 13 electoral votes, 40.6 percent of the vote.

Almost DailyBrett can state with impunity that incumbent presidents have decided advantages heading into re-election years (i.e., Obama, George W., Clinton, Reagan), but not certainty (i.e., Carter, H.W. Bush). Recent presidents with the tailwind of economic prosperity … “It’s the economy, stupid” … all were re-elected.

Your Enemies Will Always Be Your Enemies; Your Friends … ?

Having said that, Trump is his own worst enemy, and that is magnified by his first-person singular devotion on steroids.

Why couldn’t his own campaign quietly conduct opposition research when it comes to Hunter Biden being selected for the board of directors for Ukraine’s natural gas supplier – Burisma Holdings — while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president of the United States? This question is particularly magnified considering Hunter’s well-chronicled repeated problems with cocaine, and zero experience in energy.

For some reason, Trump decides that he … and only he … can conduct this oppo research directly with the leader of Ukraine … and as a result an impeachment proceeding was born. Will he join the ranks of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as impeached presidents, but not convicted in the Senate (if it goes that far)?

The larger question is whether he pulls defeat out of the jaws of victory when his friends (e.g., high propensity Republican fidelity) are still his friends? Will his personal embrace of first-person singular (I, Me, Myself) trigger mistake-after-mistake, and his friends stop being his … friends?

Maybe a little more Reaganesque first-person plural … we, us, our … and some good old fashioned humility would do the trick.

Don’t count on it with this president.

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/551270

The Governor, Who Changed My Life

Farewell LSI Logic

If A Follically Challenged Dude Blogs In A Forest …

… and no one is there to read his posts, do they make any sound …

… and does anyone give a particle of bovine excrement?

Ten years ago today, Almost DailyBrett was digitally born by means of hundreds of keystrokes on an IBM compatible, WordPress and an Internet connection.

Drum roll: A grand total of seven souls (page views and/or unique visitors) ventured to read your author’s blog in the summer month of economic discontent,  July, 2009. The predictable and rhetorical ‘Why Bother?’ question was not far behind.

Your author’s life was changing. He was guided by the immortal words of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page:

“Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on.”  

Was my blog the commencement of my own, “Stairway to Heaven?’

Even though your author’s odometer was already showing mid-life mileage a decade ago, there was still plenty of fuel in the Miata. There was an acute need to move the personal brand to New Frontiers and yes, to decide on a new path and to change the road.

Since that pivotal day 10 years ago — July 21, 2009 — Almost DailyBrett’s 573 posts …

Garnered 520 reader comments …

Generated 162,373 page views …

Enticed 110,421 unique visitors …

Hailed from approximately 170 countries around the world.

It is humbling to contemplate the equivalent of a Michigan “Big House” with each seat occupied, spending some of their precious irretrievable discretionary time reading Almost DailyBrett.

Did some arrogant academic (redundant?) types suggest that Web 2.0 blogging is dead? Yes there are oodles of deceased blogs along the path — they all started with great enthusiasm and better intentions — but thousands of decomposing writers laying by the roadside should not be interpreted as the end of blogging, maybe just the end of the beginning.

Those Troubling Widowers

Looking back on Almost DailyBrett’s nearly 600 posts, there are wide variety of topics and themes, which constitute the Top 10 blogs:

1. The Trouble With Widowers (This post keeps on giving each day even though it was composed in 2012), 18,990 page views
2. NASDAQ: WEED (Predicted publicly traded marijuana companies), 14,653
3. Farewell LSI Logic (What is and what should have never been?), 4,379
4. The Decision to Pose for Playboy (Bared my opinions), 4,106
5. Fiduciary Responsibility vs. Corporate Social Responsibility (Not mutually exclusive), 4,023
6. Magnanimous in Victory, Gracious in Defeat (Easier said than done), 2,423
7. Smile on the Lips Before a Tear in the Eyes (Joe Biden on horrific family loss), 2,247
8. One Page Memo: Now More Than Ever (Makes more sense than ever in our digital world), 1,902
9. Competing Against the Dead (She’s gone, and she is not coming back), 1,628
10. California’s Rarefied Air Tax (April Fool’s blog; Don’t give Gavin any ideas), 1,050.

Your author would be remiss if he did not point out that his “About” page has drawn 1,071 page views.

Yes, a successful blog can pay dividends in terms of personal branding and the ongoing perception of accomplishment. Writing Almost DailyBrett certainly did not hurt yours truly in securing a tenure-track assistant professorship of public relations at Central Washington University at 59 years young. 

Total Douche-o-Rama

“This person is an idiot … Perfect for Ph.D candidacy.”

“This whole blog is an audition for a commentator position on Fox News.”

“Total Douche-o-Rama.”

These are just some of the nicer comments your author approved for posting on Almost DailyBrett.

After 10 years in the blogging trenches sending out rhetorical salvos and more than a few occasions receiving less-the-pleasant feedback and name calling, here are 10 hard-earned rules for blogging:

1. No one was put on this planet to read your posts. A blog is the ultimate discretionary read. Someone is spending precious nanoseconds of their finite life to read your blog. Boring and lame does not cut it.
2. Digital is eternal. The most important public relations is your own personal PR. Never blog when you are upset, sleepy and certainly not when you are intoxicated (Mark Zuckerberg’s character in The Social Network)
3. Double Check and Double Check Again. The difference between “pubic relations” and “public relations” is one letter. The level of embarrassment is huge. Don’t rely on the Microsoft Spell Check. If the wrong word is spelled correctly, you are still personally wrong
4. Employ Pull and Push (in that order) to Generate SEO/SEM. Juicy tags and alluring categories are irresistible to the Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing algorithms. Your blog should always be on page one following a Google search. Social media uploads are essential
5. Write to Your Strength/Experience. Not everyone shares your interests. Some blogs will do better than others. Follow your passion. Accept that some blogs will barely register a blip on the rhetorical Richter Scale
6. Be Provocative, Not Notorious. The last thing anyone wants or needs is another partisan rant on social media. Almost DailyBrett has a point of view (e.g., Buy Low Sell High),  but refrains from being another screaming talking head
7. Avoid Overt Partisanship. In our increasingly tribalized society, your blogs are not going to radically shift public opinion.  Offer new ways to approach an issue. Who knows? You may move the dial just a smidge, and in our polarized world that is and of itself … an accomplishment.
8. Buy Low Sell High. Offer a proven philosophy. Demonstrate through thoughts and example that economic freedom (albeit not perfect) is still the best way to provide for prosperity and in the end, the pursuit of happiness
9. Have Thick Skin … to a Point. Don’t blog if you can’t take the heat. Inevitably, someone will not be pleased with your prose. Celebrate responses to a point. You do not need to accept slurs, profanities and name calling
10. “Opinions Are Like Assholes, Everyone Has One.”  There are times when your personal experience (e.g., press secretary), if you are sure you want to share, maybe can help others. If so, a blog author can be closer to an angel as opposed to an ass ….

And as recommended by University of Oregon Journalism Professor Carol Stabile, write 15 minutes every day. Some days will be better than others. Blogging is a gift of the digital age. The ability to project your thoughts to all continents in mere nanoseconds was inconceivable before 1995. There is a great responsibility that comes with blogging, but an incredible opportunity as well.

Almost DailyBrett note: Even though he went to UCLA and received his B.A. in English (and eventually rose above this baby blue malady), the initial inspiration came from my forever friend and colleague Brian Fuller, editor in chief at ARM. The former editor of EE Times recommended blogging in general and WordPress in particular at a time when his advice made the greatest impact. The success of Almost DailyBrett is in part is attributable to Brian. Buy Low Sell High, my eternal friend!

The Trouble with Widowers

NASDAQ: WEED?

Farewell LSI Logic

The Decision to Pose for Playboy

Fiduciary Responsibility vs. Corporate Social Responsibility

“Magnanimous in Victory; Gracious in Defeat”

Smile on the Lips Before a Tear in the Eyes

The One-Page Memo: Now More Than Ever

Competing Against the Dead?

California’s Rarefied Air Tax

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfuller24/

 

 

 

 

Not With My Money, Salesforce.com

A “memorable” $211,703 Porsche or Land Rover?

A “visible” $86,423 Rolex?

And let’s not forget the applicable taxes on these two giveaways: $179,977 and $38,005 respectively.

For those scoring at home, Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) provided $516,108 in goodies to one man: newly minted co-CEO Keith Block, 57.

The Salesforce.com Compensation Committee justified the corporate largesse in its proxy statement filing:

“In this case, the committee approved this award because it believed that recognizing Mr. Block’s leadership and success in achieving company goals was warranted, and that doing so in a memorable and visible way would be motivational not only for the executive, but for other employees who observe exceptional performance being rewarded in exceptional ways consistent with the company’s philosophy of paying for performance.”

Paying for exceptional performance?

Does Block walk on water? Does he change water into wine? Does he dole out loaves and fishes to feed the hungry?

Before being named co-CEO last August, Block was already earning $2.3 million annually in salary and bonuses (not including stock option exercises) as the company’s vice chairman, president and chief operating officer.

Almost DailyBrett extensively researched and taught the relationship between fiduciary responsibility (doing well) and corporate social responsibility (doing good) as a master’s student at University of Oregon and later as a PR professor at Central Washington University.

Your author also served as the director of Corporate Public Relations for LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI) for a decade including preparing 10-Q, 10-K and 8-K news releases and regulatory filings for financial media and the SEC.

More to the point, Almost DailyBrett is a long-time Republican, free-enterprise supporter, and up-to-now a more than satisfied shareholder of Salesforce.com founded by fellow USC alum Marc Benioff.

Let’s state here and now: giving away a cool car and groovy watch (plus paying related income taxes for these two goodies) is inconsistent with Salesforce’s fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders … including not trying to be SaaS-see,  yours truly.

God help the company’s corporate PR department.

Ready to make chicken salad out of chicken feces?

How do you defend the indefensible? How do you stand-up on behalf of the untenable? Did the Compensation Committee discuss its decision with the PR types before giving away a Porsche and a Rolex to Monsieur Block?

And where is Salesforce.com located? San Francisco.

Do you think Bernie, Kamala or Elizabeth supporters residing in the Sodom and Gomorrah by the Bay are going to seize about this outrageous caper as an example about everything wrong with corporate America?

Occupy Salesforce?

Publicly traded corporations (e.g., Salesforce) provide the products we need (e.g., enterprise software), employ millions (e.g., CRM, 29,000) and provide a return on capital to millions investing in their retirement, health care or children’s education.

Buy-side (i.e., mutual funds, retirement systems) and sell-side (i.e. Goldman, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley) institutions hold 82 percent of Salesforce’s 774 million shares outstanding.

In contrast, Almost DailyBrett is a lowly Charles Schwab retail investor with 300 shares.

If your author threatened to sell all of his shares because he is upset by the Keith Block giveaways, would company even notice, let alone care?

Heck, your author’s holding is a friggin’ corporate rounding error.

Salesforce has demonstrated by its regulatory filing temerity, it really doesn’t take fiscal stewardship and fiduciary responsibility seriously.

Actions speak louder than words. The perception and reality both stink.

No carefully massaged explanation and no amount of corporate social responsibility (CSR) – including calling for local tax increases to take care of the homeless – are going to change the undeniable fact that giving away a luxury car, a costly watch and paying the related taxes for one lousy executive … is wrong.

Dead wrong to be precise.

Almost DailyBrett editor’s note: According to Business Insider, the company did not disclose the exact make or model of Keith Block’s new car and watch. However, an educated guesstimate was made by the digital publication based upon the disclosed sales prices and related tax payments for the two luxury items. If the company actually bought Block a Lamborghini instead of a Porsche, your author will accept personal responsibility for the egregious mistake.

https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-keith-block-car-watch-2019-4

https://www1.salary.com/Keith-Block-Salary-Bonus-Stock-Options-for-SALESFORCE-COM-INC.html

https://www.salesforce.com/company/leadership/bios/bio-block/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/fiduciary-responsibility-vs-corporate-social-responsibility/

 

 

 

The Best Network on Television

Tired of screaming talking heads?

Are you just done … with polemics?

Want real news that is more than 24-7-365 bashing of Donald Trump?

How about real-time information, which is 100 percent relevant to at least 54 percent of Americans who constitute the nation’s “investor class”?

Digging deeper one finds that 73 percent of those with bachelor’s degrees and above, and 83 percent of master’s degrees and above, own publicly traded company shares or stock-based mutual funds … many in employer 401K plans or IRAs.

Buy Low, Sell High!

With all of these stats in mind, Almost DailyBrett welcomes you to the best network on television: CNBC.

What ever happened to critics who proclaimed that around-the-clock Wall Street market coverage would never work?

They are the same naysayers who proclaimed that 24/7/365 sports wouldn’t fly when ESPN was launched in 1979.

How did either of these forecasts work out?

Just as ESPN’s proven business model fostered a plethora of imitators (i.e., Fox Sports, CBS Sports, NBC Sports Network), the same is true with CNBC, born in 1989.

Two years later, CNBC’s parent acquired Financial New Network. There was obviously moola to be made from those who care about global markets, particularly their NYSE and NASDAQ investments.

Never-shy-about-about-exploiting-an-opportunity, Rupert Murdoch, debuted CNBC’s major competitor Fox Business in 2007, including raiding CNBC for proven on-air talent (i.e., Maria “The Money Honey” Bartiromo, Neil Cavuto, Liz Claman …).

Fox Business now leads in the Nielsen Ratings for cable business networks, just as Fox News is on top for cable news channels.

Almost DailyBrett believes that competition makes everyone better, and contends that CNBC can take full advantage of the opportunity that comes from adversity.

Can’t Quantify PR?

Working for the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in the mid-1990s, your author as director of communications was interviewed each month on the chip industry’s book-to-bill ratio … or what is the relationship between the booked orders and the already billed orders.

One always wanted the former to be higher than the latter.

As a director of Corporate Public Relations for LSI Logic, Almost DailyBrett booked our CEO Wilf Corrigan on CNBC whenever we had good news to report, provided the markets were open and trading.

One particular time our stock was trading at $86 per share when the interview began. Three-or-more minutes later (an eternity on television), LSI Logic shares had jumped to $89 per share or x-millions more in market capitalization (number of shares x stock price)

And who says, you cannot quantify effective public relations?

The direction of a company’s shares can head to the north, but to the south as well, thus resulting in the term for a stock being a volatile, “Dow Joneser.”

Recently saw a sell-side analyst explaining on CNBC why he downgraded Nike from a buy to a hold with a lower sales target … the stock sold off during the interview. That is the awesome power of an analyst being interviewed on a financial news network.

Almost DailyBrett contends from years as a loyal viewer that CNBC covers real news: What’s happening with global markets, consumer spending, newest gadgets and gizmos, trade wars, Brexit, Federal Reserve rate hikes or cuts/quantitative tightening or quantitative easing ….

Is CNBC perfect? Far from it. Yours truly rolls his eyes whenever yet another report focuses on East Coast dino-tech legends General Electric (GE) or Itty Bitty Machines (IBM). The former is Sears in drag, and the latter is just a few steps further back on the same bridge to nowhere.

Having said that, there is a healthy consistency that comes from Bob Pisani from the floor of the NYSE and Bertha Coombs from the NASDAQ.

Who can avoid smiling when Jim Cramer is throwing bulls and bears on “Mad Money?” David Faber (a.k.a. “The Brain) is always solid with his reporting.

Carl Quintanilla, Morgan Brennan and John Fortt are especially credible with the coverage of technology to start the day. Wilfred Frost and Sara Eisen put a capper on the trading day by hosting “Closing Bell” with Michael Santoli providing analysis of the just competed trading day.

If you want wall-to-wall about what is wrong with the relationship between Donald and Nancy, there are networks, which can provide you with all the gory details on a 24/7/365 basis. Go for it.

And if you can’t wait for another update on the no talent Kardashian family, CNBC is not your cup of tea … and never will be. Thank the good Lord.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/211052/stock-ownership-down-among-older-higher-income.aspx

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-amount-of-americans-not-saving-for-retirement-is-even-worse-than-you-thought-2017-02-21

https://www.cnbc.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNBC

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2018/10/02/lou-dobbs-maria-bartiromo-lead-fox-business-to-big-ratings-win/#4e449fd924bf

How Fox News Keeps On Winning The Ratings War

Never Blindside The Boss

“I must be a mushroom because everyone keeps me in the dark and feeds me bullshit.” – Urban Dictionary

The rocket scientists at General Motors made the decision to close five factories in the United States and Canada, impacting 14,000 workers/15 percent of salaried employees. Meanwhile the GM truck production lines would keep on humming … in Mexico and China.

GM tenderly issued a Monday news results about these Ohio, Michigan and Maryland facilities/people … saying they “will be unallocated in 2019.” 

Unallocated?

Hard to believe that any PR pro worth his or her salt could actually write these words, and with a straight face actually advocate for their approval with management.

Almost DailyBrett concurs with CBS Money Watch in its designation of “unallocated” as one of the worst corporate euphemisms ever employed, if not the absolute worst.

No one is laughing, General Motors.

Before going further, Almost DailyBrett will remind readers of the four tenets of Crisis Communications:

1. Tell The Truth
2. Tell It All
3. Tell It Fast
4. Move On

There is little doubt that GM’s corporate PR types toyed with the idea of dumping this dead-dog factory closure announcement on the ultimate bad news distribution day of any year – Black Friday or the second day of the long Thanksgiving Weekend.

Nice way for big bad GM to give thanks to its affected workers during the holidays?

Ultimately, the folks who used the ridiculous, twisted in knots verb – “unallocated” – couldn’t bring themselves to drop this bomb the day after Thanksgiving, so they opted for the following Monday, November 26.

And yet, there was the little matter of the resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, who carried Ohio and Michigan.

The Fifth Tenet of Crisis Communications

There may even be a fifth tenet of Crisis Communications: Never Blindside The Boss.

Could GM inform Donald Trump concurrently with the factory closures/14,000 layoffs announcement? Not a chance.

Even at the risk of a leak/premature disclosure, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra had no choice but to pick up the phone and call the president this past weekend.

The alternative of the mushroom treatment, keeping POTUS in the dark and feeding him fertilizer, was clearly not an option. The resulting Trump tweets about being disappointed could well have reflected that he was furious, if he was not informed in advance.

In a series of wrong calls, give GM credit for getting this one right … there was absolutely no upside in blindsiding the president.

Seven Layoffs in Three Years

When the Internet Bubble burst in March 2000, the technology business – particularly semiconductors — crashed into the wall … and there were no skid marks.

For Almost DailyBrett’s employer, LSI Logic, we enjoyed a post-split share price of $90 in 2000, full-running factories, $2.7 billion in revenues, and about 7,700 employees.

Within three years, our stock price plunged to $3, we eliminated two factories, revenues sank to $1.8 billion, and our workforce was reduced to 3,900.

In short, we did everything we could … to survive.

Included in this effort was the issuance of seven news releases, announcing a cumulative series of job cuts and factory curtailments-closures (i.e., Gresham, Colorado Springs, Santa Clara). Eliminating jobs and closing factory gates does not get better with age.

We also instinctively knew there were certain audiences, who needed to be briefed in advance, preferably hours before the news release crossed the wires. Predictably, they (i.e., governors, city council members, county supervisors …) were disappointed, but they understood the economic imperative of our decisions.

The GM case is much trickier. The company received a $39.7 billion taxpayer bailout in the dark days of 2009. Is this “unallocation” of factories and people the way GM says thanks to America during Thanksgiving?

At least Mary Barra picked up the phone and called the big boss.

Can you imagine being a fly on the proverbial Oval Office wall?

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=treat%20em%20like%20a%20mushroom

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/worst-corporate-euphemism-ever-gms-unallocated-factories-a-contender/

https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2018/11/28/General-Motors-layoffs-factory-shutdown-Lordstown-Ohio/stories/201811280038

 

 

 

Marissa Mayer’s $50 Million Reward For Failure

“I love Yahoo, and I believe in all of you. It’s important to me to see Yahoo into its next chapter.” Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer in her July 25 employee letter announcing Verizon’s $4.8 billion cash acquisition of Yahoo!

What next chapter?

Want to take an Internet pioneer, first-mover $125 billion company and transform it into an also-ran, acquisition target for four pennies on the dollar?

And to top it off, reward Yahoo! chief executive officer Marissa Mayer with more than $50 million in severance pay?

Wonder why so many are so upset with Wall Street?

What is it with high-accolade, lofty-expectations, lavaliere-strutting narcissistic chief executives, who are ostensibly hired to reverse the fortunes of struggling companies?

Much later, we all discover their real personal agenda was to simply put the corporation on the auction block, and to get paid handsomely for the privilege.

Where can I sign up for this lucrative gig?

The author of Almost DailyBrett will gladly say all the right things for a few years, bloviate at a few “developer” conferences, CES, SXSW and TED Talks and then when no one is looking, sell the company to the highest of low bidders and get rewarded for creating … nothing, absolutely nothing.

Hold That Horizontal Pose!

Alas, one thing your author will never be asked to do is pose for Vogue. Sorry, I don’t own a Michael Kors dress … and never will.

Almost DailyBrett three years ago questioned why relatively new Yahoo! CEO Mayer would accept Vogue’s invitation for a horizontal spread in a fashion magazine? Was she trying to impress buy-side and sell-side institutional investors?

Women have long and justifiably complained about being objectified. What was telegenic Mayer doing with her Vogue reclining pose?

What did her PR team think about her proving once again that sex sells? Did her photo draw even more eyeballs to rival Google’s market-leading search engine?

Before you start thinking that Almost DailyBrett is solely focusing on the lucrative PR disaster record of one Marissa Mayer, please consider that many are still smarting over how Abhi Talwalkar drove LSI Logic into the ditch and received at least a $5.74 million severance payment for burying the company.

Your author served as the director of Corporate Public Relations for LSI Logic. Even though I left after 10 years to join Edelman Public Relations in December 2005, one could already see what Abhi had in mind … shed as many assets as quickly as possible to make the company more attractive to buyers.

As Almost DailyBrett previously reported, LSI Logic was the innovator of the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) specialty semiconductor market for nearly 25 years under the leadership of founder Wilfred J. Corrigan.

It took Abhi less than nine years to end its existence, eventually accepting Avago Technologies (H-P’s former semiconductor business) for $6.6 billion offer in late 2013. LSI Logic is no more, but Abhi’s contract provided for the following:

1. In the case of our Chief Executive Officer, a lump sum payment equal to 2.75 times his or her base salary and average bonus received over the preceding three years. In the case of a participant other than our Chief Executive Officer, a lump sum payment equal to two times the individual’s base salary and average bonus received over the preceding three years. 2. Full acceleration of all unvested equity awards. 3. Reimbursement of COBRA premiums for health insurance for 18 months. 4. In the event that a participant’s “parachute payments” are subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code, then LSI will make a supplemental payment to the participant in an amount that equals the excise tax on the parachute payments, plus any additional excise tax and federal, state and local and employment income taxes, on the supplemental payment. However, the total supplemental payment shall not exceed the sum of the participant’s (i) base salary immediately prior to the change in control, and (ii) target bonus for the year in which the change in control occurs.

Glad to see the “supplemental payment” would not exceed Abhi’s $2.09 million annual salary. Enough is enough … Right?

It’s even better that Vogue didn’t ask Abhi to pose horizontally in a Michael Kors dress.

His severance was obscene enough.

http://fortune.com/2016/04/19/verizon-yahoo/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2016/07/25/yahoo-sells-to-verizon-for-5-billion-marissa-mayer/#7b9c799b71b4

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2016/07/25/here-is-marissa-mayers-final-letter-to-yahoo-employees/#54a12ae875ba

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2013/08/18/mayer-vogue-nasdaq-yhoo/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/farewell-lsi-logic/

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/avago-to-buy-lsi-for-6-6-billion/?_r=0

 

 

One Ducky Dude

Invested in Oregon football season tickets 27 years ago, and also seats for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.

Whatever happened to those yawn-a-minute classical music tickets?

Reflecting on the purchase of Oregon season seats and directly related contributions to the Duck Athletic Fund, the author of Almost DailyBrett can categorically state: My life has been totally transformed partly as a result: super spouse, college professorship, advanced degree and even a little Valley Fever to build a little character.

Never conceived even for a nanosecond or two that my two humble tickets in Section 33, Row 15, Seats 7-8 near the 30-yard line at Autzen Stadium could mean so much.

When I ordered the season tix, there were only 12,000 brave Oregon season ticket holders. There was an alumni tent in the gravel parking lot. The average crowd was about 25,000, and the mean, hateful, despicable Don James-era Washington Huskies ruled the Pacific Northwest, if not the Pac-10 Conference.

Today, there are more than 42,000 season ticket holders for the always packed friendly confines of Autzen Stadium, where it never rains. The Ducks have beaten the Huskies a series-record (and counting) 12 straight times.

Back in 1990 the Ducks were … the Ducks. They were always a tad above mediocre. Bill Musgrave was the quarterback, surrounded by decent talent. Oregon went 8-4, including a landmark upset of Ty Detmer’s No. 4 BYU Cougars, but lost in the frickin’ Freedom Bowl.

The author of Almost DailyBrett was determined back then, he did not want to go to the Pearly Gates without once watching the Ducks in the Rose Bowl. Oregon was predicted for 10^th in the Pac-10 in 1994. And then there was the magical October 22 game against Washington in Autzen Stadium.

For a few seconds, it seemed that time stood still: “Kenny Wheaton is going to score. Kenny Wheaton is going to score … “

The band was playing “Mighty Oregon” on the floor of the Rose Bowl on January 2, 1995. There was not a dry eye on the Oregon side of The Granddaddy of Them All. We lost that day, wearing Champion jerseys and pants in uniforms that would make the Green Bay Packers proud.

Uncle Phil was not on the sidelines. That would soon change.

Akili, Joey, Kellen and Dennis …

Some of the greatest to ever play quarterback for Oregon starred during the Mike Bellotti era (116-57) including Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Kellen Clemens and Dennis Dixon. They handed the ball off to Reuben Droughns, Maurice Morris and Jonathan Stewart. The likes of Haloti Ngata plugged up the middle on defense.

The big moment during the Bellotti tenure was blowing out Colorado 38-16 in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl (we should have been in the Rose Bowl) to finish No. 2 in the country at 11-1.

The author of Almost Daily Brett worked for LSI Logic and Edelman Public Relations during this era and would make frequent trips to Eugene and to road games (e.g., Michigan Big House in 2007) from Silicon Valley – all for the love of Oregon football.

Unfortunately, breathing in the Valley Fever fungus before Oregon’s tight win over Fresno State in Fresno almost led to curtains. Never thought that going to a Duck game could be so deadly to my health. Fought the little Valley Fever bugger to a standstill and dodged prostate cancer as well. The net result: The Chip Kelly era of Oregon football, matrimony, an advanced degree and a second career.

LaMichael, Kenyon, DeAnthony, Darron, Jeanne …

Headed up to Eugene during Chip Kelly’s first year for a game against Cal. Went to more than a football game that fall day in 2009. Stopped off at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

Could I be a college teacher? Sure, take the GRE, apply for a fellowship, serve as a TA and devote 15 months of my life to earning a Master of Arts degree.

All the rest is history.

Oh BTW, Oregon went 46-7 in Chip’s four years including a trip to the “Natty,” a thrilling win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl with a high-speed, spread offense that revolutionized football.

Uncle Phil was stepping up big time with the Moshofsky Indoor Practice facility (no more alumni tent in the gravel parking lot), an academic support center for athletes and an incredible football complex.

Landed an emergency adjunct instructor position at Oregon, which led to a July 4, 2012 Match.com date with a fantabulous Fraulein by the name of Jeanne. She is now Jeanne Brett.

Heisman Marcus; Rose Bowl Blowout

Nearing the end of my sixth decade on the planet, my UO advanced degree, teaching experience and my extensive background made me competitive for a tenure-track assistant professorship in public relations and advertising.

The drive from Ellensburg’s Central Washington University to Oregon’s Autzen Stadium is about six hours. It has been worth every minute as the Ducks continued to overachieve under Mark Helfrich (33-8). Marcus Mariota won the Heisman, and easily outdueled Jameis Winston in the Jan. 1, 2015 Rose Bowl, 59-20.

The Ducks have come a long way from the days when yours truly wondered if they would ever play in Pasadena on New Year’s Day, let alone twice competing for the national championship.

If you are scoring at home, Oregon is 226-100 ever since your author bought his season seats in 1990. The Ducks have won seven conference championships, went to two national championship games, played in four Rose Bowls, winning the last two, and two Fiesta Bowls, winning both. All-in-all, the Ducks have been to 23 bowls during this time.

More importantly, the tickets have been so much more than precious pieces of cardboard with bar codes. They have represented new love (e.g., Jeanne), a challenge (e.g., Valley Fever), an intellectual achievement (e.g. M.A. degree); valuable teaching experience (e.g., adjunct instructor): and a new career as a professor and mentor (e.g., assistant professor).

All-in-all, I am One Ducky Dude. Can hardly wait for fall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqlcRAZfRHc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYt2GDh9PgU

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/washington-cancels-oct-17-game-against-oregon/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/rooting-for-oregon-before-it-was-cool/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/the-world-through-corvallis-eyes/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/the-right-woman/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/prostate-cancer-a-piece-of-cake-compared-to-valley-fever/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/from-press-secretary-to-professor/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/launching-a-second-career-2/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/give-some-credit-to-rich-brooks/

https://almostdailybrett.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/ducks-vs-dawgs-to-end-the-season/