2 Buds Talk Stocks

Join Nate and Mike as they take a stroll down memory lane and discuss the market capitalization of Apple ($AAPL) then and now. Microsoft ($MSFT) became the second company to reach $2 trillion. Will Amazon ($AMZN) or Google ($GOOGL) be the next? Facebook ($FB) is knocking on the door to become the 5th company to $1 trillion.

Mike found a website, www.etf.com, to get information on ETF’s (Exchange Traded Funds). You can search by popular companies, sector, and, industries to find ETF ideas. This leads to a discussion of expense ratios, and a couple ETF ideas.

The Ecofin Digital Payments Infrastructure Fund ($TPAY) has several fintech companies that Nate and Mike discuss including Afterpay, Docusign ($DOCU), Square ($SQ), Paypal ($PYPL), MasterCard ($MA), Visa ($V), American Express ($AXP), Lending Club ($LC), and crypto exposure.

The other ETF they dive into is, VanEcks eSport fund ($ESPO), which focuses on video games. Stocks included in the top 10 of the funds holdings are, Activision Blizzard ($ATVI), Nvidia ($NVDA), SEA Limited ($SE), Nintendo ($NTDOY), and Netease ($NTES).

Nate is a fan of both of these spaces, as many of the stocks talked about have multiple paths to profitability. The two wrap up with a would you rather, and a teaser to next weeks continuation of ETF talk. All this and more!

Join Nate and Mike for the second installment of their first ever two part podcast. The second part picks up with a discussion of boots on the ground research in former high flyer Michael Kors, and continues with a convenience store staple of the Midwest, Casy General Stores ($CASY).

This leads to a discussion about sectors and industries, and specifically grocery and discount stores. A round of buy, sell, and hold with Costco ($COST), Target ($TGT), and WalMart ($WMT). No surprise, Nate and Mike have a difference of opinion.

Apple ($AAPL) and Amazon ($AMZN) have been moving sideways for several months now, but this could be a good time to use the dollar cost average approach, and add to your positions.

Facebook ($FB) has been a monster performer for Mike since buying at the IPO. He doesn’t feel great about owning a company that doesn’t align with his views, but did he sell or does he need more encouragement from Nate?

This leads to a deep discussion on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing. As investors we have the opportunity to help shape the world. Two funds that address this are the Vanguard Social Index Mutual Fund ($VFTAX) https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/VFTAX and Rachel Robasciotti’s Social Justice ETF ($JSTC) https://www.adasinaetf.com/.

Neither Nate or Mike are fans of the large banks, but fintech is an interesting space and a way to get exposure to cryptocurrency. A round of would you rather with Madtercard ($MA), Visa ($V), Square ($SQ), and Paypal $(PYPL) ensues.

Are sport franchises like publicly traded companies, are coaches the CEO’s, and would Phil Jackson be the G.O.A.T of CEO’s? Are ride sharing and food delivery companies like Uber ($UBER), Lyft ($LYFT), Grub Hub ($GRUB), and Door Dash ($DASH) a lot like airlines such as United ($UAL) and Southwest ($LUV)? What are Mike’s thoughts on Total Recall? All this and more!

Join Nate and Mike as they close out their discussion on tobacco maker Altria ($MO). Now that Nate has closed out his position what has he used the proceeds to buy?

They revisit the dot com boom and bust and companies like Amazon ($AMZN) and Booking Holdings ($BKNG), formerly Priceline.com that survived. Dollar Cost Averaging into a basket of dot com stocks during the early 2000’s could’ve well outperformed the broad market.

What can a companies market capitalization tell us about their prospects for growth, and how can we compare like companies market caps to get an apples to apples comparison?

Nate and Mike are both fans 5 Guys burgers, but only one is a fan of privately held In-N-Out Burger. Will they ever go public, and does it make sense to go public or stay private? Take a stroll down memory lane as they recount Mike’s flyer on The Spicy Pickle, and what he learned. All this and more!

Join Nate and Mike as they discuss a couple blue chippers. At the height of the 80’s General Electric ($GE) not only brought good things to life, but their stock was unstoppable. The same could be said for tobacco makers, Phillip Morris ($PM) and Altria ($MO).

This is why we don’t marry the stocks of the companies we invest in, and we have to be able to sell if our original thesis has changed, or we don’t feel good about owning companies that make products we don’t align with our values.

Mike sells $GE and $PM and invested in Google ($GOOGL). Now that Mike holds the F.A.A.N.G, Facebook($FB, Apple ($AAPL), Amazon ($AMZN), Netflix ($NFLX) and Google, he may be looking to change it to just AANG.

$MO was Nate’s first ever stock purchase, and he has owned the stock for over 14 years, but has serious reservations about the social aspect about being part owner of a company whose product kills people. Does this make him a hypocrite, and can Mike help him see the light?

$PM was the king of spin-offs, having spun off companies like Nabisco, Best Foods, Mondelez ($MDLZ), Kraft and Heinz ($KHC). This leads to a discussion of the 5 music group spin-offs.

Netflix and Disney ($DIS) are leaders in the steaming space, and Nate also talks Roku ($ROKU). Amazon recently purchased MGM Movie studios. Is the nearly 9 billion they paid worth it, and more importantly what are the best movies in MGM’s library? All this and more.

Join Nate and Mike as they wrap up their discussion of the Dow 30 with a couple addendums, and then discuss if dividends are a double taxation. The AT&T ($T) Time Warner Discovery ($DISCA) deal has made headlines. What does this mean for AT&T, their aspirations as a media conglomerate, and is the end of Ma Bell as a blue chip dividend stalwart? They discuss if Comcast ($CMCSA) is a better investment option in the media space, as well as some of their biggest investment mistakes including selling Microsoft ($MSFT) and Tesla ($TSLA). Mike is looking to add to his portfolio, and Google ($GOOGL) is on the short list, but there is a front runner, and it could have ties to the Tin Can Trust. What can it be? Tune in and find out for this and more!

Join Nate and Mike as we get into some good old fashion Dow 30 stocks. What ever happened to The American Can Company, and where are Navistar and Good Year Tires now? Sears was once an iconic retailer and an earlier version of the everything store, Amazon. Join our discussion of stocks from now and yesteryear and how they can help us on our quest to be better investors.

Join Nate and Mike as 2 buds discuss the God father of value investing, Ben Graham, his formula for calculating intrinsic value, and leaving a margin of safety. Using Google, YouTube, and Finviz.com to better understand valuation and balance sheets.  The recent Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, comparing VTI to Berkshire stock over the last 20 years.  Has Buffett lost his edge?  We discuss Medifast, Penn Gaming, Peleton, Zoom, and most importantly, after 5 years of Netflix debate something has changed.

Join Nate and Mike as 2 Buds talk Grateful Dead, Dollar Cost Averaging, Bitcoin, earnings, give props to our Canadian listener, talk Dominos pizza, Shopify, air travel, Disney, Netflix, CAGR’s, and if action movie stars were Dow Jones Industrial Average components.

Join Nate and Mike as they discuss their thoughts on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, as well as their continuation of the 50 stocks with the highest cagr (compounded annual growth rate) over the last 15 years. As well as how a stocks market capitalization relative to its industry peers can be a tool to gauge potential growth.