Degenerate Business School
185 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 months ago - ★★★★★ - 16 ratingsTired of the same dry, monotonous business news and the squawkery of finance television? Here at Degenerate Business School, we aim to give you an irreverent take on the latest news, trends and forces in markets. Plus we acknowledge openly that, in some ways, stock and crypto trading are merely exercises in degenerate, white-collar gambling. But please note, this is not investment advice.
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Episodes
Making the case for an NFL IPO
September 07, 2019 18:00 - 36 minutes - 25 MBIn BUSINESS NEWS: WEWORK's valuation takes a bath, as the world realizes that Adam Neumann is no more than a beautiful con-artist. ZOOM VIDEO gets pummeled for now good reason despite delightful financial performance. And SLACK hits the struggle road much to Greg's chagrin. But he's sticking with it. In SPORTS: We explore the merits of an NFL IPO, and how it might ultimately solve the great CTE crisis that looms like a storm cloud over the land.
How to Beat China
August 31, 2019 02:00 - 35 minutes - 24.2 MBOn MACROECONOMICS CORNER: We explore the mysteries of Presidential power to impose tariffs on the Chinese, or any theoretical country, asking why when the Donald tweets the market reacts strongly to quite strongly. Before the Donald, we knew that the president had the power to deploy the entire nuclear arsenal without permission. What we didn't know is that he actually exercises real power over the economy. #1 How does the president have the power to impose tariffs? #2 Do you agree wit...
How does the trade war with China work?
August 31, 2019 02:00 - 35 minutes - 24.2 MBOn MACROECONOMICS CORNER: We explore the mysteries of Presidential power to impose tariffs on the Chinese, or any theoretical country, asking why when the Donald tweets the market reacts strongly to quite strongly. Before the Donald, we knew that the president had the power to deploy the entire nuclear arsenal without permission. What we didn't know is that he actually exercises real power over the economy. #1 How does the president have the power to impose tariffs? #2 Do you agree wit...
The Mystery of WeWork & Subscriptions to Boxes
August 17, 2019 20:00 - 30 minutes - 21 MBOn MACROECONOMICS CORNER: The Recession looms heavy on the horizon, as the market nets a loss this week. Doom unto the economy. In the BUSINESSES: We explore the fascinating chicanery of WeWork, aka The We Company, which proved itself to be an utter fraud this week with its IPO filing. Evidently the entire operation is a wealth shelter for Adam Neumann and his wife. Somehow valued at $47B on revenue of $400M, we now know that start-up darlings can be conjured out of thin air. We also ...
The Recession is Nigh & The Future is Driver-less
August 11, 2019 01:00 - 35 minutes - 24.1 MBOn MACROECONOMICS CORNER: The market took a dump this week as the US-CHINA trade machinations carry on and the Yuan leaks value. But as James pointed out, the elites are probably looking for a reason to go risk off after earnings and Jear Bear's rate cut announcement last week. What does it all mean? The Great Oil Crisis of 2020 is in serious jeopardy because the broader economy is also faltering. The International Energy Agency cut their oil demand forecast for the 3rd time in 4 months,...
MacroEconomics SuperEdition & Jerome "Jear Bear" Powell
August 03, 2019 20:00 - 56 minutes - 38.9 MBOn MACROECONOMICS CORNER: James Lin returns so we can bash on JEROME "JERRY" / "JEAR BEAR" POWELL once more and wax on about the state of the global economy But more importantly, he has a notion on how to profit from the FED's tomfoolery. And so a new degenerate trade-craft is born. In the BUSINESSES: Robert explains why BEYOND MEAT's valuation is a travesty. And Greg adds more CEOs to our pioneering Value over Sock (VOS) calculation.
The Return of Earnings Season Part 2
July 26, 2019 05:00 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MBGreg returns in glorious triumph to celebrate the greatest pick of his life: SNAP. In the BUSINESSES: Roberta performs Fibonacci Retracement on NETFLIX, establishing why based on Illuminati hocus pocus it will top out at $341. Furthermore, we quantify Steve Ballmer's appalling Wins Above Replacement (WAR), aka Value Over Sock (VOS), thereby juicing Satya Nadella's hall of fame rating and fully contemplating the Ballmer effect in the pre-period.The result may surprise you. And we go on ...
The Return of Earnings Season Part 1
July 20, 2019 20:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBIn the MACROECONOMICS: Bobby Nunez calls the ball, as the FED telegraphs a 25 bps rate cut in service to the lords of Global Finance. We worry still about the bubble in corporate finance and asset prices it portends. In the BUSINESSES: NETFLIX busts on subscriber guidance, reporting domestic net losses for the first time in 8 years and sending shares to damnation. But do we lose heart? And do I sell before Disney+ comes into the world? MICROSOFT beats on earnings riding the Cloud into t...
Confronting Past Mistakes, the German Nightmare & IBM's doom
July 13, 2019 21:00 - 29 minutes - 20.1 MBWE'RE BACK! In the MACROECONOMICS: Jerome JERRY Powell goes to Washington, and we are now all but convinced that he will cut rates. He may be independent of the president, but he is the servant of Wall Street. In the BUSINESSES: DEUTSCHE Bank savages its New York operations, all while its executive team was being fitted for $1,800 suites. Tough look. But it fits into GERMANY's national nightmare. IBM closes its acquisition of Red Hat, pretending to now be relevant in the Cloud. This s...
The Greatest Credit Card of All & the TRIPLE TOP
June 29, 2019 20:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBIn the MACROECONOMICS: VIETNAM becomes the new backdoor for tariff-less goods from China. The Supreme Court rules that trademarks can't be racist. In the BUSINESSES: The Chase Sapphire Reserve, the greatest credit card ever to exist, strains relations with its airline partner United. We dig in to the business rationale for this beautiful gift from the gods.
Oil on fire & Slack goes public
June 22, 2019 22:00 - 30 minutes - 20.7 MBIn the MACROECONOMICS: War looms against Iran and refineries burst into flames in Philadelphia. Robert tells us what it means for OIL. We discuss Jerome "Jerry" Powell's announcement and the implications to James' Corporate debt apocalypse. The Commerce department bans 5 Chinese companies from buying American semiconductor parts. The Cold War abides. In the BUSINESSES: SLACK hits the public markets. Greg talks about the merits of its future.
The Great Crisis Update: Oil, Commodities & Corporate Debt
June 15, 2019 23:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBJames returns! And Robert ghosts. In the MACROECONOMICS: James gives us an update on OIL, which abounds in the earth right now, and why it might compromise the oil shortage of 2020. He also weighs in on commodities and CORN. And finally, he raises his concerns about Corporate Debt. Should we be nervous in the era of free money? In the BUSINESSES: Pet subscription darling, CHEWY, rakes in chips over it's IPO. But as it surges, does it really have anything to offer value investors? I ...
Pinterest Explained & The Corn Shortage
June 09, 2019 03:00 - 41 minutes - 19.2 MBFirst up! the PINTEREST CORNER special edition. Elena stops by to demystify the mysteries of PINTEREST. In the MACROECONOMICS: Robert explains why this year's Corn harvest could be in serious jeopardy. And what's corn in? We also try to understand why everything we talk about is a crisis, real or imagined. In the BUSINESSES: The Fiat-Chrysler & Renault merger goes up in flames after 10 days of brewing distrust. Praise be. Although, who was excited about it anyway? The Tech sector to...
The Rare Earth Metals Crisis & MEGA Mergers never work
June 01, 2019 20:00 - 32 minutes - 14.8 MBOn this week's episode of Degenerate Business School, now available on iTunes, Spotify & Google: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/degenerate-business-school/id1450738646 In the MACROECONOMICS: The saber rattles harder as CHINA threatens to cut Rare Earth Metal production. Why should we be concerned? As the people of America, for many reasons. As degenerate investors in VALERO, even more so. We explain. In the BUSINESSES: MEGA MERGERS never work. Fiat-Chrysler & Renault, two unimpres...
The Great Trade WAR & CEO WAR Part Deux
May 25, 2019 20:00 - 37 minutes - 17.1 MBOn this week's episode of Degenerate Business School, now available on iTunes, Spotify & Google: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/degenerate-business-school/id1450738646 On ADVANCED METRICS CORNER: James Lin helps us refine our framework for CEO WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT (WAR), launching the world's most pioneering business metric into the stratosphere. In the MACROECONOMICS: We return to the great TRADE WAR with China and how it might decrease the possibility of the GREAT OIL CRISIS ...
Advanced Metrics Special Edition: CEO Wins Above Replacement (CEO WAR)
May 18, 2019 21:00 - 34 minutes - 15.7 MBOn the newly created ADVANCED METRICS CORNER: We evaluate the merits of CEO pay, by pioneering a new business metric inspired by the world of sports. Who is truly irreplaceable, who destroys value and who could be replaced with a sock? CEO Wins Above Replacement (WAR) establishes a new paradigm for understanding executive performance: In the BUSINESSES: PINTEREST fulfills its destiny and starts its nosedive into oblivion after missing guidance. At last Wall Street has asked what we alwa...
The Rideshare Super Edition & the Death of China-America Trade Talks
May 11, 2019 22:00 - 33 minutes - 15.3 MBIn the MACROECONOMICS: China-America trade talks sputter into nothingness. But besides the short-term agitas for the stock market, how much does a political settlement actually mean against the structural entanglements between both economies. In the BUSINESSES: Uber stumbles epically in its first day on the block after IPO, losing 7% in a single day despite attempts to open conservatively. In the context of LYFT's woes, what does this suggest about prospects for Rideshare? We tell you w...
Buying real estate in America & the lessons of earnings season
April 27, 2019 19:00 - 37 minutes - 17.3 MBIn the MACROECONOMICS: We return to the topic of the closed economy in China and how Chinese foreign nationals actually gobble up real estate in the West despite capital controls. Do we have all the answers? Absolutely not. GDP growth in 1Q annualizes to 3.2% growth in 2019, beating forecast of 2.5%. But is any of it real, or merely cosmetic? In the BUSINESSES: Earnings season is upon us. Let's highlight some key themes and outcomes so far: The Cloud is killing it The world is addict...
Real estate money laundering & the lessons of earnings season
April 27, 2019 19:00 - 37 minutes - 17.3 MBIn the MACROECONOMICS: We return to the topic of the closed economy in China and how Chinese foreign nationals actually gobble up real estate in the West despite capital controls. Do we have all the answers? Absolutely not. GDP growth in 1Q annualizes to 3.2% growth in 2019, beating forecast of 2.5%. But is any of it real, or merely cosmetic? In the BUSINESSES: Earnings season is upon us. Let's highlight some key themes and outcomes so far: The Cloud is killing it The world is addict...
The Greatest Business Comebacks of All Time
April 21, 2019 02:00 - 34 minutes - 15.7 MBIn the EASTER WEEKEND super edition: Greg and Roberta honor the greatest comeback artist of all time, Jesus of Nazareth, by cataloguing the greatest business comebacks of all time. In BUSINESSES: Netflix sandbags 2nd quarter guidance, completely a volatile week on the back of the Disney+ incursion. I ask again, are we at peak Netflix? And if we are, what is the right short-term investment strategy? Pinterest and Zoom sandbag their IPOs to achieve artificial growth. But let's return to t...
Disney Streams & the Macroeconomics Super Edition
April 13, 2019 20:00 - 49 minutes - 22.9 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: Semi-professional economist James Lin schools us on the yield curve, the national debt and the so-called Great Oil Crisis of 2020. In turns out all the world is debt, not oil. But we're definitely right about the oil crisis, aren't we? In BUSINESSES: Disney soars on the news of its firm streaming service launch in November priced at $6.99 / month. The company telegraphed a hilariously wide ranging forecast of 60-90M subscribers by 2024. What doom does this spell for N...
Tesla sucks & We might be Geniuses
April 05, 2019 07:00 - 28 minutes - 13.2 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: Jobless claims reach their lowest level since 1969, superficially allaying concerns about the doomed macro-economy. The Wall Street Journal finally catches up with us, publishing a story about the Oil crisis in global shipping that will follow the maritime laws for clean fuel in 2020. But what did they get wrong? And is there another way to crack beta out of the barrel? In BUSINESSES: TESLA airballs on deliveries in Q1, building on its storied history of dumpster fi...
LYFT goes public & GRINDR brings down America
March 30, 2019 07:00 - 35 minutes - 16.4 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: Quick update on the yield curve, it reverted back from inversion! Good news, I guess? The US Committee on Foreign Investment orders Chinese company Beijing Kunlun to jettison its majority stake in Grindr. Why you may ask? The answer could blow apart tenuous trade talks between the US and China. In BUSINESSES: LYFT enters the public markets, popping to 87$ a share in a frenzy of exuberance before nestling down to $78 at the bell, but still up near 9% on the day. What ...
Shaq joins Papa John's, the best athlete businessmen of all & the great yield inversion
March 23, 2019 07:00 - 27 minutes - 12.6 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: The storms clouds are gathering! The great yield curve hath inverted as long term rates fall below short-term rates, signalling the doom of the economy. But according to the experts, it must remain inverted for some time before we can reliably say the next recession shall come. What does it all mean and why? The deficit balloons even more, growing 39% in the first 5 months of 2019. Should the worst happen, and the government must spend its way out of a recession, will ...
Britain collapses, Boeing loses altitude & the man behind the college bribery scandal
March 16, 2019 07:00 - 28 minutes - 13.3 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: What was once the greatest empire in commercial and maritime history has now degenerated into a European backwater that can't manage basic monetary policy. The UK shot down the measly agreement Theresa May negotiated with Europe and barely agreed to seek more time with the bureaucrats in Brussels. Does any of this actually save the British elites from massive capital flight and relegation to the junior leagues of Global Finance? And how can we profit from the chaos? In...
Britain collapses, Boeing loses altitude & the man behind the college bribery scandal
March 16, 2019 07:00 - 28 minutes - 13.3 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: What was once the greatest empire in commercial and maritime history has now degenerated into a European backwater that can't manage basic monetary policy. The UK shot down the measly agreement Theresa May negotiated with Europe and barely agreed to seek more time with the bureaucrats in Brussels. Does any of this actually save the British elites from massive capital flight and relegation to the junior leagues of Global Finance? And how can we profit from the chaos? In...
All the World is Oil, Future Oil crisis, Facebook's chicanery & Tesla's misfire
March 09, 2019 08:00 - 29 minutes - 13.5 MBIn BUSINESSES: Facebook pretends to care about privacy despite all evidence to the contrary, introducing a private messaging platform that will merely allow them to collect yet more data. When will the hawkery of Facebook's business model stop surprising people? Tesla's distribution strategy starts in the dumpster. And back after a 1 week hiatus, the award for Degenerate Champion of the week goes to Martin Shkreli, who used a contraband cell phone to work from home in prison. In MACROE...
Robots take our jobs, Amazon doubles down on groceries & Tesla leaves retail behind
March 02, 2019 08:00 - 27 minutes - 12.8 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: The US has added jobs in 100 consecutive months. Unemployment is near a 49 year low. Wages & employment are up across nearly all segments of the population except farm people and coal miners. But when will the Robots destroy it all? In BUSINESSES: AMAZON sets to launch a new grocery store chain in parallel with WHOLE FOODS. But what, we ask, is the point? For this is not in the Cloud? It's in the Earth. TESLA accomplishes the near death of its retail footprint and piv...
The KRAFT HEINZ ketchup massacre, PINTEREST & LYFT going public and Jerome "Jerry" Powell
February 23, 2019 08:00 - 33 minutes - 15.3 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: THE FED in the body of JEROME POWELL says the Financial System is safer than before the great recession because of countermeasures instituted during the crisis. Are they to be believed? In BUSINESSES: KRAFT HEINZ drives off a cliff in 1st gear, writing down the value of Kraft & Oscar Mayer by $15B, disclosing an SEC investigation into accounting fraud & slashed its dividend. It became clear that the 20th century hot dog slathering titan was distorting EBIDTA growth by ...
China Trade & the National Debt, Amazon Escapes New York & the Evolution of Spotify
February 16, 2019 08:00 - 32 minutes - 14.7 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: CHINA offers our exalted leader Trump $200B over six years to buy semiconductors as a sweetener for trade detente, bringing joy to the markets. Why does the stock market react so strongly to whispers about trade agreements between nations? THE NATIONAL DEBT ballooned to $22T, reaching uncharted territory. Robert spits in the face of conventional wisdom and loses his shit, telling us why we should all be ready for the apocalypse. In BUSINESSES: THIS WEEK'S DEGENERATE C...
Bezos turns degenerate, NETFLIX & its culture of savagery, MACAU loses its high rollers & the demise of toys
February 09, 2019 08:00 - 30 minutes - 13.9 MBThe Great BEZOS, intergalactic imperator of the AMAZON EMPIRE, accuses the National Enquirer of blackmail in a fascinating saga of tabloid espionage. After Bezos invoked investigators of his own to find out how the Enquirer illegally obtained his text messages, the tabloid counter-measured by threatening to release pictures of an embarrassing nature. What does it tell us about the Silicon Valley cult of celebrity? Next we explore the NETFLIX culture of savagery, fear & radical candor. Every...
The Fed & the Macroeconomics, GE & your grandfather, Amazon and Microsoft, Facebook is Evil
February 03, 2019 08:00 - 38 minutes - 17.8 MBIn MACROECONOMICS: The FED inaugurates the great pause, bringing quietude to the markets. What does this mean? Who actually understands macroeconomics? What are the consequences of the Fed's reticence to ratchet up interest rates? The jobs report clocks strong to quite strong growth of 304k. That's nice. In BUSINESSES: GE flips the narrative, if the not its actual business, after successive years of disaster. Outsider CEO Larry Culp appears to have lowered expectations sufficiently to pu...
The Cloud, The Fog, The FA-ANG's and 21st Century Cold War
January 26, 2019 05:00 - 42 minutes - 19.6 MBIn our inaugural episode, Greg and Roberta discuss the businesses and the markets: IBM beat on earnings against unimpressive expectations, negotiating a multi-year re-set around the "Cloud." But does anyone really understand the Cloud or Cloud computing? TSLA returns to the struggle bus, cutting production. Is TSLA the next DeLorean? NETFLIX started the FAANG earnings cycle last Thursday, clocking a mixed result as the street would say, clobbering subs on the back of international expans...
The Cloud, The Fog, The FA-ANG's, 21st Century Cold War and Robert's Stock Pick of the Week
January 26, 2019 05:00 - 42 minutes - 19.7 MBIn our inaugural episode, Greg and Roberta discuss the businesses and the markets: IBM beat on earnings against unimpressive expectations, negotiating a multi-year re-set around the "Cloud." But does anyone really understand the Cloud or Cloud computing? TSLA returns to the struggle bus, cutting production. Is TSLA the next DeLorean? NETFLIX started the FAANG earnings cycle last Thursday, clocking a mixed result as the street would say, clobbering subs on the back of international expans...
The Cloud, The Fog, The FA-ANG's and 21st Century Cold War
January 26, 2019 05:00 - 42 minutes - 19.6 MBIn our inaugural episode, Greg and Roberta discuss the businesses and the markets: IBM beat on earnings against unimpressive expectations, negotiating a multi-year re-set around the "Cloud." But does anyone really understand the Cloud or Cloud computing? TSLA returns to the struggle bus, cutting production. Is TSLA the next DeLorean? NETFLIX started the FAANG earnings cycle last Thursday, clocking a mixed result as the street would say, clobbering subs on the back of international expans...