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DonkeyCigars

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Posts posted by DonkeyCigars

  1. 16 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

    Re: Pinterest/PayPal -- It's not the Pinterest business that I have issue with. It's who is buying it. It would be like Walmart buying an amusement park or John Deere getting into bitcoin mining. Pinterest may be a great asset, but it's nowhere near PayPal's wheelhouse.

    I generally agree but don’t think it’s so obvious there couldn’t have been benefits at the right price.

    paypal is on a quest to become an all-in-one “super app” like China’s Alipay, so it’s looking to tack on more services, like product discovery, to its current menu. Plus, it’s got money to play with. Thanks to all those orders during the pandemic, PayPal’s stock has more than doubled since January 2020.

  2. 17 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    Numbers like that probably get him pissed off enough to back out so that it all crashes, then go looking for a new partner while demanding numbers like what were forecasted with this one. 

    There are absolutely lessons to be learned from all this. I think of a piece I read recently on ancient Greeks like Socrates and such and how performative they had to be, and ultimately it's always been showmanship and large platforms (cults of personalities) that activate and amplify messages. 

    Trump is the ultimate personification of a begged question. He will fail forward simply because he is Trump, at this point, and a good 30-35% of America rides with him.

    "If [Trump] didn't exist, we'd have to invent him."

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  3. 5 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

    Motherhood is such a beautiful thing

    Paternity leave (for a lot of organizations that pay well and have great benefits, at least, as my experience informs) is paid and for up to 6 months IF you, the father, are a primary caregiver. 

    So for gay dads, one of them can be designated the primary caregiver (Pete B., in this case I'm guessing) which then affords him all the rights and privileges set about in whatever his benefits plan allows.

    So basically, the term Paternity/Maternity in the leave isn't important, it's more about who is the primary caregiver. And from guy friends who have taken 6 months off at full pay, I can tell you that there is no real investigation into whether the wife/mom isn't also taking time off or they are in fact doing the heavy lifting as the primary caregiver. I would never game the system like that due to ethics but there are those who take advantage of culture like that, believe it or not.

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  4. Just goes to show how fall we've fallen (collectively, as a nation). You didn't have F Dubya Bush or F Obama or whatever, even if you didn't like them. Trump has broken the dam of social mores that held back lower-middle class vulgarity. It's unbecoming, but here we are.

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  5. At Friday's $94.20 close those restricted shares are worth about $14 million for each fund. Of course they can't realize that value now, and it’s possible that, six months after the merger closes, TMTG won’t have built a social network, everyone will be bored with this as a meme stock, and the price will have collapsed. I would not bet on that though.[3])

    Also, I have to say, if I’m Donald Trump right now, I’m thinking about retrading. He sold something like 21% of his company for $293 million.[4] That 21% is now worth something like $3.4 billion.[5] None of that extra value is going to Donald Trump,[6] though of course if he owns the other 79% (who knows?) that’s now worth something like $12 billion. Some will go to the SPAC’s sponsors, and to the hedge funds who dumped the stock last week. Most of it will go to people — WallStreetBets retail investors, hedge-fund opportunists, etc. — who bought the stock shortly after the announcement and then watched it zoom up. 

    To be clear, that value is based on nothing, literally nothing at all; Trump Media & Technology Group’s assets appear to consist of a website and some plagiarized code that isn’t supposed to be live yet. Still Trump seems to have sold $3.4 billion of stock for $293 million and that’s gotta sting. Bloomberg News notes:

    With the new media company’s valuation dwarfing the $875 million enterprise value agreed to by Trump, he may have been able to negotiate a sweeter deal. Terms of the agreement will need to be more fully disclosed and could still change before an agreement gets voted on by shareholders, an event that is probably months away.  

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  6. 2 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

    Who knows. But I think shareholders voted with their dollars. It's a silly potential merger. 

    I mean, I can see the merit. I read this interesting stat:

    Quote

     

    Pinterest has a large audience (454m users) that is primarily female and creates content for commerce-friendly verticals like fashion and home decor, according to Bloomberg.

    Right now, the platform makes most of its money with ads, but it’s very under-monetized. By comparison, Facebook has 47x the revenue of Pinterest with only 6x as many users.

    With resources and backing from PayPal, Pinterest could build on-platform ecommerce tools (think of how users make purchases within Instagram). PayPal would get a 2.9% payment fee on any transaction.

     

    I could see where if you are the board/shareholders, you are looking at making a big bet and getting some drags off the cigar.

  7. 59 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

    Tesla is just insane and that's a huge rental car order.

    Meanwhile, PayPal has rumors of buying Pinterest -- drops $30. Sale is off? Up $7.50 and just kind of fading as the day goes on.

     

    I read that Pinterest was game for this but PayPal board was never bought in and quickly cooled and this was all rumor and won't happen. $45bn is expensive.

  8. Also this is Donald Trump we are talking about. His ego and narcissism is such that as long as Forbes or whomever is having to recognize his huge wealth, it doesn’t matter if he can liquidate it. He’s like Kylie Jenner in that regard, I guess.

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  9. Are people really suggesting that this media company isn't a good idea, from a business perspective?

    Quote

     

    "Former President Trump announced he was creating a new media venture last Wednesday and since then, the share price of a company that’s taking it public has been on a ride reminiscent of GameStop and AMC in the early days of 2021.

    Digital World Acquisition Corp., which is a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company), soared from $9.96/share before the announcement to $94.20—a jump of 846%. Even in the wild world of SPACs, that’s an unhinged rally, and it reflects heightened interest among retail traders looking to make a quick buck.

    The implied value of the new company is now more than $8.2 billion. Since Trump appears to own more than 50% of the enterprise, according to SEC docs, it would make him the richest he’s ever been."

     

    Two points:

    1) Those who were saying back when he was on twitter, if he would just create his own "twitter" and get all his followers to join because they are sheep; y'all were right.

    2) This guy can't lose. He has to be the luckiest guy in the world. He's going to live to be 120 years old and succeed where he should fail at every turn. He's obviously made a Faustian deal with the devil, right?

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  10. 11 minutes ago, troph said:

    Oh we are playing the long game and it requires all of the above. Don’t kid yourself. 

    I respect and appreciate your honesty, in all matters and at all times, it seems. I might not be an ally to your community on the macro level, but I am on a micro level a troph fan-- rock on out there in the free world.

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  11. 23 minutes ago, troph said:

    ONLY those that can be stealth. Trans women who are visibly trans don’t have the white privilege the way Dave thinks they do. White and male are the powers that control here. And if stealth you are only one fuck up from being outted. If you’re outted in the wrong situation as having unilaterally rejected maleness you can flat out have your life taken away from you. I walk though life with that underlying anxiety. 

    Yes, now. Just like there was a time being gay or flaming gay or whatever (is that okay to say? Mean to say the gays who don't pass as straight or are obvious and not stealth) was a death sentence, pre-societal acceptance and normalization.

    Again, DC's fear it seems is that he foresees a time sooner than later that Trans women who are not stealth will leapfrog black folks by virtue of being white (and potentially rich), because at the end of the day, having black skin in America is the worst disability you can have. Being black and poor is the worst thing a person can be in America; that seems to be his fear from what I can tell, at least.

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  12. I think this is the heart of it: “Gay people are minorities until they need to be white again.”

    Because I think the core fear or what makes DC so funny and good is his ability to see ahead and be prescient, I think what he's seeing is that EVEN Trans white people are even going to leapfrog black people in American society sooner than later.

    You already kinda see it happening with Caitlyn Jenner who is ridiculed and mocked until she starts politically aligning like a typical rich white person, and then doors of acceptance somewhat open.

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  13. Donda mostly sucked IMO, but he's not even a musician anymore than he is a billionaire fashion designer. His "red octobers" or whatever the foam yeezys are again the hottest drop and Yeezy's brand is one of the most hot/topical in fashion right now. 

    But nobody can ever take a handful of some of the most beautiful albums from him, so idk.

    Read this on highsnobiety today for those unfamiliar with the weezy foam runner lore:

    Quote

    Do you remember when Nike and Kanye West dropped the Air Yeezy 2 "Red October" in 2014? The surprise online release sent the resale market into a frenzy, with pairs still selling for up to $12,000 in 2021.

     

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  14. 12 minutes ago, Mdhorn said:

    I hate the word cancel culture because everybody does it--throughout my time on this planet, whether it was the Dixie Chicks, NWA/2 Live Crew, Andrew Dice Clay, whatever.  I can't imagine Dave gives a shit one way or another--how is trans anything a big role in his environment, unless he actively seeks it?  It's not a large enough community to put a dent in his acts--people still pay a lot of money to see him and tix sell out damn near immediately, and nobody goes to a DC show hoping he will speak at length about the trans community. He likes to provoke and invite criticism on hot topics.  It's attention which he invites and can sell, whether it's another special, series, or individual shows, he's being talked about and is smart enough that he can point to the fact that he doesn't at any time condemn trans people, just actions.  

    Trans people, especially kids have it hard--identity issues, peer and family acceptance, and religious wackos.  I can't imagine.  But the pronouns usage is silly because everybody has names--use them, or say things like how are you doing, what are your/their plans, etc.  There's so many ways around gender pronouns that it's a non-issue.  

    I think you missed my point. Not "cancel culture" directed to DC but rather to the NFLX CEO, who I said has come out and apologized for his defense of the special as it pertains to both media and internally with his employees and actions, etc.

    Again, the point you seemed to miss was, it is much easier to cancel the non-celebrity CEO for optics and hot-button/social/political issues than it is DC, was my point, but for NFLX having a great Q3 earnings report and bounce back growth which insulates him from this latest stir.

    Regardless, if I'm the Netflix CEO I apologize as he did for the optics and to get over this mess and then advertise my direct influence and impact to bring Squid Game to life even though depending on who you listen to, Squid Game as a sleeper hit and phenom hasn't been factored into the numbers and wasn't part of the Q3 earnings.

  15. Pretty impressive numbers for a show we all generally think was creative and interesting but not amazing and probably a 7/10 or a B-/B+ review:

    Quote

     

    The gory Korean drama has become Netflix’s most popular show by far, with 142 million accounts tuning in within its first four weeks—demolishing runner-up Bridgerton’s lifetime viewership of 82 million by 73%.

    Squid Game reportedly generated $900 million in value, and it cost only about $21 million to make.

    It was also the No. 1 show in 94 different countries, showcasing Netflix’s extensive global reach.

     

     

  16. 5 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

    Duh. Real estate is so localized that if you don’t have good people as boots on the ground I don’t see how you can make this work- outside of just being a lucky idiot in the right spot at the right time with a sizzling hot market where you can rely on the greater fool theory to bail you out. 

    Yea i just thought it was interesting how two (zillow offers and opendoor) SEEMINGLY similar business motions (iBuying) are actually much different.

    Quote

     

    Remember, Zillow is in nearly every respect already an Aggregator: it is by far the number one place people go when they want to look for a new house, and at a minimum the starting point for research when they want to sell one. They own the customer relationship! What has always been missing is the integration with the purchase itself.  Zillow is making a play to be a true Aggregator — one that transforms its industry by integrating the customer relationship with the most important transaction in its respective value chain — by becoming directly involved in the buying and selling of houses.

    The challenge for Zillow is that buying and selling homes is just a fundamentally different business than lead generation for realtors; as I noted in that article that meant potential problems with Wall Street, given the very different margin profiles and capital requirements, and also channel conflict given that Zillow was now competing with its own customers (realtors).

     

     

  17. 15 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

    They could use a got damn Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus (the old one, not the new version). The character traits and attitude, not the gender and race necessarily. "Get messy and make mistakes", and she sure didn't advocate for sitting on your hands in the classroom.

     

    image.png.fcd355c495441caf4984531e3e303efd.png

    Please let this be a normal legislative session

    With the Friz? NO WAY!

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  18. 6 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

    Jeselnik is like "how the fuck can I piss these people off even more?"

    On a side note, Netflix management just has to ride out the next 28 days or so, and then Tiger King Season 2 drops, and the Chapelle stuff will be completely forgotten.

    Netflix management is just fine because $$ talks and BS walks and their earnings were good with a growth bounce back Q3 earnings report yesterday. Everyone is happy with management right now except a small group of people.

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  19. Netflix CEO is crawdadding a bit and apologizing for how he handled the defense of the Chappelle special, so that's at least something. Whether you think it is good or bad or kowtowing to cancel culture I think depends on which side of the divide you sit.

  20. On 10/18/2021 at 2:28 PM, Gil Bang said:

    Real estate industry giant Zillow has put a pause on its ibuying because the company can’t seem to stay apace of high demand, Bloomberg reported late Sunday night.

    The company acquired more than 3,800 homes during the second quarter, following an expansion of the Zillow Offers program in 2018, but today, can’t work quickly enough to satisfy an insatiable demand from consumers.

    The pause will last at least through the end of 2021 while Zillow works through its backlog of properties that already have contracts signed and require any renovations. During this time period, Zillow will keep marketing and selling homes through Zillow Offers.

     

    “We’re operating within a labor- and supply-constrained economy inside a competitive real estate market, especially in the construction, renovation and closing spaces,” Zillow Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Wacksman said in a statement. “We have not been exempt from these market and capacity issues and we now have an operational backlog for renovations and closings. Pausing new contracts will enable us to focus on sellers already under contract with us and our current home inventory.”

    Prospective sellers who might have worked with Zillow Offers will instead be connected with a local Zillow Premier Agent partner.

    Following the news, Zillow shares were down more than 6 percent in premarket trading on Monday. As of last Friday’s close, stock had declined 31 percent in the year to date.

    Given the company’s market power and huge amounts of data at hand, it has the ability to essentially plan out its inventory and acquisitions in advance, and speed up or slow down business as needed, Inman Contributor Mike DelPrete told the Wall Street Journal. Therefore, the announcement, which covers all Zillow markets, is a bit surprising.

    No other major iBuyers have made any similar announcement to halt purchasing homes this year so far. In fact, iBuyer Opendoor reached out to Inman directly to confirm they are still continuing to acquire homes.

    “We know how important certainty and convenience are to homeowners seeking to move and we’ve worked hard over the past seven years to ensure we can continue to deliver our experience at scale,” a spokesperson for Opendoor said in a statement emailed to Inman. “Opendoor is open for business and continues to scale and grow.”

    Opendoor was set up from the very beginning to be good at one thing: accurately evaluating the worth of a home, purchasing it, getting it ready for sale, and selling it. Customer acquisition was outsourced to advertising, which is expensive: Opendoor spent $96.5 million in sales, marketing, and operations last quarter (as compared to $158.8 million in gross profits), an increase of $49.3 million over the year prior; $33.4 million of that increase went towards customer acquisition.

    It also worked: Opendoor bought around 8,500 homes in the second quarter, more than double the amount that Zillow bought. More importantly, Opendoor, at least according to its public pronouncements this week, isn’t having any trouble turning its houses around, and is eager to buy more. It certainly appears for now that focusing on the core competency of acquiring and selling homes outweighs any advantage that comes from easily acquiring customers.

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