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The Data Examiner 03/26/2023

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Lyft Stock Performance

It wasn’t that long ago when we were baffled by the idea of hailing a ride in a stranger’s car. Back then, for many, the Uber-Lyft rivalry revolved around matters of personal preference: pink or black. But Uber has since expanded into verticals that now individually dwarf Lyft’s entire business – and in what some view as a winner-take-all market, Lyft’s future looks increasingly like an uphill battle … Lyft reported earnings that fell below analyst expectations, including a quarterly loss and a lower-than-expected ~$975M revenue outlook for Q1. On Friday, Lyft’s stock had its worst day since going public four years ago, with shares falling 36%+. By comparison, Uber called Q4 its “strongest quarter ever.” It made $4.1B in ride-hailing revenue (+82% YoY), $2.9B from Uber Eats and Postmates (+21% YoY), and $1.5B from Uber Freight (+43% YoY). Some think Lyft may need to merge with the likes of DoorDash to keep up.

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Stephen Curry’s Jock Taxes Breakdown

If you file your taxes through TurboTax or a similar online service, you’ve likely seen a certain question during your annual return: “Did you perform work in more than one state?” Given that this is the 21st century, there’s a decent chance you did. You might have responded to several emails from your boss during a long weekend in Denver or spent a day on Zoom before skiing in the Poconos. But a state’s department of revenue is unlikely to notice that you visited, or that you completed any work. Unless you’re a professional athlete. Their burden is known as the jock tax. Professional athletes owe a portion of their salary to most states and cities they visit – even for a single day. Unlike, say, nurse practitioners or graphic designers, jurisdictions know exactly when athletes are in town. They know how much they make. And they know how to go after them. For years, the jock tax has flown under the radar, known mostly to hardcore sports fans and accountants. Nobody, after all, really cares if millionaires have to file complicated tax returns. But the jock tax matters. Hardly anyone truly benefits from the tax, and one day in the future, even if you’re not an athlete, you may have to pay it.

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Monthly Migrants At U.S.-Mexico Border

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Bank Failures Are Common

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News Sites Are Seeing Fewer Visitors

The Data Examiner – (Notable) Remarks:

** The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end. —- Harriet Beecher Stowe, from “The Pearl of Orr’s Island”

** A study by researchers at Yale published three years ago found that listeners have a better-than-random chance of discerning whether someone has a college degree by listening to the person speak just seven words. Put simply, your tongue gives you away. —- Peter Coy

** “No man treats a motorcar as foolishly as he treats another human being. When the car will not go, he does not attribute its annoying behavior to sin; he does not say, ‘You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go.’ He attempts to find out what is wrong and to set it right. An analogous way of treating human beings is, however, considered to be contrary to the truths of our holy religion.” —- Bertrand Russell, “Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?”(1930)

** Okay fine, I’ll give the baby wine! – Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan last week had this to say about medical sex changes for minors, which have fallen sharply out of favor across Europe but are just gaining steam here: “This is life-affirming and lifesaving healthcare. When our children tell us who they are, it is our job as grown-ups to listen and to believe them. That’s what it means to be a good parent.” As a mom, this is so comforting. Every night when I pour a glass of red wine for myself, our daughter desperately reaches for it. Yes. My six-month-old is a wino (wow it feels good to say it). Listen to babies telling us who they are! Mine is saying “Pass the cab, I’ve had a day.” —- Nellie Bowles

“Intel for Influencers” – Who Reads The Data Examiner?

Amanda Knox, now an author, wife, and mother along with 12 members of the White House staff, 3 Nobel Prize winners, over 100 Academy Award winners, 6 U.S. Senators, and over 300 Grammy Award winners.

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The Data Examiner – Facts:

** The Memphis police gave Tyre Nichols at least 71 commands in 13 minutes. Many were contradictory or impossible to obey.

** California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters continued her longstanding practice of funneling campaign cash to her daughter to run a lucrative operation during the 2022 election cycle, which netted the younger Waters another six figures in payments. Karen Waters pocketed $192,300 from her mother’s campaign to keep her “slate mailer” operation afloat between January 2021 and December 2022, a Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission filings shows. The setup involves outside campaigns paying Waters’ campaign to appear on the slate mailers – or endorsement mailers – sent out to constituents in the Los Angeles area.

** Grateful Dead legend Jerry Garcia’s relatives are truckin’ out of California, apparently because the Golden State’s high taxes and anti-business climate are just too harsh on the family’s marijuana business. Garcia Hand Picked, which the late guitar wizard’s family started in 2020, told SFGate.com the company just can’t make a go of it in the Golden State. An industry expert blamed high taxes, competition from the black market, and soaring crime for the decision to pull out of California.

The Data Examiner – Lens:

Nearly half of parents said they were raising their children differently than they had been raised.

The Data Examiner – Watch:

** Harvard professor answers questions about happiness. WATCH

** How is Trader Joe’s so cheap and popular? WATCH

** Why so many people need glasses now. WATCH

The Data Examiner:

As AI Tools Have Become More Robust, Automation Experts Have Philosophized About Replacing Vast Swaths Of Workers

McKinsey Global Institute recently predicted that 45M workers, or ~28% of the entire American workforce, would lose their jobs to automation by 2030. Most automation efforts have been centered around eradicating so-called lower-level and blue-collar jobs like warehouse workers, truckers, clerical assistants, and food prep workers. More recently, AI has threatened white-collar roles like accountants and journalists. But while executives at the top of the corporate food chain celebrate the cost-cutting virtues of AI displacement, they rarely seem to turn the spotlight on themselves. The incentives for workplace automation are largely financial. So why not start by replacing the highest-paid employee of them all – the CEO? … At Fortune 500 firms, the average CEO pay is now ~$16M per year. Over the past 45 years: The average CEO pay has gone up 1,460%. The average worker pay has only gone up 18%. As a result, today’s average CEO is paid the equivalent of 399 median workers. At larger companies, this ratio is often many multiples higher: For instance, in 2021, Amazon CEO Andy Jassey received a package worth $213M – equal to the collective wages of 6,474 Amazon employees. That’s enough workers to fully staff four fulfillment centers.

The Data Examiner – Reader Poll:

SHOULD CONGRESS AUTHORIZE THE U.S. TO USE MILITARY FORCE AGAINST DRUG CARTELS?

Send your reply to: TheDataExaminer@TimeWire.net

BRANDING – HELP IS ON THE WAY:

Many executives struggle with their branding, but at the award-winning Boundless Media USA, we can help. We work with senior leaders who want to raise the bar with their image but lack time to implement or consistently curate and create relevant, compelling content.

www.BoundlessMediaUSA.com

The Data Examiner – Worth A Look:

1. Nutritionist Samantha Grant
2. R.A. Lee’s Audiobooks        
3. Ugly Mug Marketing            

The Data Examiner – A Different View:…

The Data Examiner Disclaimer: 1.) The Data Examiner accepts no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. The Data Examiner is not associated with any commercial or political organization and is transmitted via the web for the sole benefit of its subscribers. 2.) Unfortunately, computer viruses can be transmitted via email. The recipient should check this mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses.

The Data Examiner 03/19/2023

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The Chicken Sandwich Boom

In the U.S., Chick-fil-A’s sales have quadrupled in the past decade, and it’s now the third-biggest fast-food chain by sales after McDonald’s and Starbucks. Despite being closed on Sundays, Chick-fil-A’s ~2.7K U.S. locations averaged $6.3M each in 2021 revenue, ~4x that of KFC and Popeyes. Since hatching in 1967, Chick-fil-A has tried at international expansion – in South Africa in 1996, and the UK in 2019 – to meager results and local opposition. It now has eight locations in Canada and three in Puerto Rico. Currently, KFC runs the hen in Asia’s ~$33B fast-food chicken industry, with 39% market share. It also leads the way in Western Europe’s $6.1B market. BTW: Last year, KFC owner Yum Brands opened a new restaurant around the world every two hours.

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Visualizing The 2022 Budget

The latest budget from the U.S. Treasury reveals that, in fiscal year 2022, the federal government collected nearly $5tn in revenue, with more than 50% of that coming from individual income taxes. However, the U.S. government spent even more, leading to a nearly $1.4tn deficit. That’s a hard-to-comprehend-number, but is substantially lower than the $3tn+ deficit recorded in 2020 during the depths of the pandemic. To make up the difference the U.S. government does what everyone who overspends their budget does – they borrow. This then adds to the already enormous tab (AKA the national debt).

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iPhone Made In India

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Netflix Growth Over Time

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Diversity Continues To Grow In Congress

The Data Examiner – (Notable) Remarks:

** “I was in the mall the other day, I went by the store Lululemon, I walk by and in the window of every Lululemon there’s a sign that says, ‘we don’t support racism, sexism, discrimination, or hate,’” he said. “And I’m like, ‘who gives a f***?’ You’re just selling yoga pants. I don’t need your yoga pants politics.” —- Chris Rock

** The fate of a sycophant is never a happy one. At first, you think that fawning over the boss is a good way to move forward. But when you are dealing with a narcissist – and narcissists are the ones who like to be surrounded by sycophants – you can never be unctuous enough. Narcissists are Grand Canyons of need. The more they are flattered, the more their appetite for flattery grows. That is the hard, almost fatal, lesson Pence learned on January 6, when he finally stood up to Donald Trump after Trump asked for one teensy favor: Help destroy American democracy and all we stand for. —- Maureen Dowd

** In a classic study, a trio of psychologists investigated the factors that predicted the formation of friendships among married military veterans at MIT. They found that what mattered most was not similarity, but proximity. In a college dorm or an apartment building, the person you’re most likely to befriend is your neighbor. If you don’t happen to live near a mailbox or stairs, odds are that your friends will be limited to your floor. Although friends may well be the family you choose, you don’t really choose them that carefully. —- Adam Grant

“Intel for Influencers” – Who Reads The Data Examiner?

Nancy Yao is president of the Museum of Chinese in America along with 12 members of the White House staff, 3 Nobel Prize winners, over 100 Academy Award winners, 6 U.S. Senators, and over 300 Grammy Award winners.

Be Smart. Stay Ahead. Read The Data Examiner. Now you can invite your friends and family to sign up for free: www.TheDataExaminer.com

The Data Examiner – Watch:

** The Pangolin: The world’s most trafficked mammal. WATCH

** Street scenes from New York in the 1930s. WATCH

** Why marriage is thriving – and dying – in different American classes. WATCH

** Bizarre medical practices from history. WATCH

The Data Examiner – Lens:

Laura Les and Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs. The duo’s anticipated second album, “10,000 Gecs,” mashes together genres different than those on their electrifying 2019 debut.

The Data Examiner – Digits:

** Trending down: The number of executive administrative assistants in the U.S. Between 2000 and 2021, the count dropped 63% from 1.37M to 508K. By 2031, the number is expected to drop another 20% to 404.4K.

** The price tag on New York City’s 1.5-mile Second Avenue Subway extension to East Harlem is now expected to be $7.7B, up $800M from previous estimates, making it one of the most expensive per-mile railroad expansions in human history.

** So far, the biggest movie of 2023 is 71-year-old Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s Full River Red, with the blockbuster raking in $670.3M so far in China. This week, it’s coming to 150 theaters in the US and Canada.

** It’s rough out there. Per estimates from Redfin, U.S. sales of luxury homes in the three months ending January 31 were down 44.6% YoY, and non-luxury sales were down 37.5%. In Miami, luxury sales dropped 68.7%.

** Instant Pot’s pop: Sales of the kitchen gadget reached a steaming-hot $758M in 2020, but cooled 50% to $344M in 2022. Instant Brands now has ~1.9K+ employees after cutting 15% of its staff.

The Data Examiner:

Where Are The Girl Scout Cookies?

The Girl Scouts of the USA are in a cookie shortage. Girl Scout troops sell ~200M cookies per year, bringing in ~$800M to fund activities. They’re so popular, other cookie companies cut advertising and lower sales expectations during the January-to-April selling season. But this year… cookies are in short supply, especially for online shoppers. When the Girl Scouts began selling cookies in 1917, members baked them. But as sales scaled, troops turned to commercial bakers. Today, ABC Bakers in Virginia makes ~25% of the cookies, and Ferrero-owned Little Brownie Bakers (LBB) in Kentucky makes ~75%, per CNBC. Since January, LBB has experienced delays due to supply chain issues, labor shortages, and weather-related power outages. Ferrero maintains it’s still on track to meet initial orders, but many Girl Scouts have been unable to meet their sales goals.

The Data Examiner – Reader Poll:

SHOULD DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY BE CONSIDERED IN APPOINTMENTS TO THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY?

Send your reply to: TheDataExaminer@TimeWire.net

THE POWER OF PUBLIC RELATIONS:

A smart, strategic P.R. approach typically touches the owned and earned aspects, supplementing paid advertising and strengthening a multifaceted marketing program. In other cases, P.R. stands alone to deliver a particular set of outcomes, which may include: Obtaining what cannot be bought, such as prominent coverage in select consumer and business media; The need for specific targeting of certain individuals and groups that cannot be reached through mass media channels; Budgets that dictate laser-like focus versus scattershot outreach, especially for emerging businesses.

www.BoundlessMediaUSA.com

The Data Examiner – Worth A Look:

1. Author Nova Wallace “Bipolar Bears”
2. Lenny Esmond CPA                           
3. Alen Lal Answer Communications      
4. The Last Waltz Amazon book             

The Data Examiner – A Different View:…

The Data Examiner Disclaimer: 1.) The Data Examiner accepts no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. The Data Examiner is not associated with any commercial or political organization and is transmitted via the web for the sole benefit of its subscribers. 2.) Unfortunately, computer viruses can be transmitted via email. The recipient should check this mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses.

The Data Examiner 03/12/2023

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Pressing Pause – VC Investments In Esports

In recent months, the two most valuable esports groups, Team SoloMid and 100 Thieves, have reduced headcount. Major game publishers, best positioned to tolerate losses in the space, are also narrowing their esports operations. FaZe Clan – essentially a publicly traded brand of gaming pros – has seen its stock plummet ~80% since going public. Monetization is proving to be the biggest problem. Esports’ 216m viewers each generate only $5.30 in revenue per year. Sponsorships help, but crypto firms reportedly made up 15% of that revenue in 2022 – the value of which is likely to shrink. Still, esports may have a bright future. The industry draws in 261m viewers every month, and Saudi Arabia has invested ~$1.5B into esports as part of a $38B gaming bet this year alone.

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Uniform Crime Report For Homicides

The red for homicides shows a rapid rise around 2020, with the dull color representing solved cases barely increasing. Some experts blame the spike in 2020 on the pandemic, with the Big Apple among major cities to see shootings and murders skyrocket that year but later show signs of settling.

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Americans Suffer Chronic Pain

One in five Americans suffer chronic pain. Percentage of adults aged 18 and over with chronic pain in the past 3 months.

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Market For Natural Food Coloring

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A Budding Industry

The Data Examiner – (Notable) Remarks:

** Without Trump, January 6 would never have happened. It was his idea, and his alone. No one in his closest inner circle believed he had won the election on November 3. They all knew that the Trump presidency was “the rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg’d, / Nor tackle, sail, nor mast.” None of them would have attempted to keep it afloat. —- Andrew Sullivan

** Fatherlessness is the root issue beneath so many ills that plague society today. Statistically speaking, a child who grows up without a father in the home is more likely to experience homelessness, commit crime, serve time in prison, abuse drugs, drop out of school, be obese, suffer from poverty, and so much more. And the United States has the highest share of single parenting in the world. —- Amala Ekpunobi

** If the woke continue to gain ground, where will we skeptics go to educate our children, transact commerce, find fair adjudication of our custody disputes? Where will we publish when not only the New York Times has a “gender director” – when every publication does? —- Abigail Shrier, writer, author of IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (2020)

“Intel for Influencers” – Who Reads The Data Examiner?

12 members of the White House staff, 3 Nobel Prize winners, over 100 Academy Award winners, 6 U.S. Senators, and over 300 Grammy Award winners.

Now you can invite your friends and family to sign up for free: www.TheDataExaminer.com

The Data Examiner – Bookkeeping:

** A 30-year-old Portuguese purebred livestock guardian has just unseated a 23-year-old chihuahua who was erroneously crowned as the world’s oldest dog just 2 weeks ago. READ

** A 2021 survey showed that police departments nationwide saw resignations jump by 18% – and retirements by 45% – over the previous year, with hiring decreasing by 5%. The Los Angeles Police Department has been losing 50 officers a month to retirement, more than the city can replace with recruits. Oakland lost about seven per month in 2021, with the number of officers sinking below the city’s legally mandated minimum. The list goes on: Chicago has lost more cops than it has in two decades. New Orleans is backfilling its shortfall of officers with civilians. New York is losing more police officers than it has since such figures began being recorded. Minneapolis and Baltimore have similar stories. St. Louis – one of the most dangerous cities in America – has lost so many cops that there’s a seven-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide pile of uniforms from outgoing officers at police headquarters called “Mount Exodus.” And in San Francisco, just across the bay from Richmond, the police department has seen 50 officers out of a force of fewer than 2,000 take off for smaller, suburban departments, according to Lieutenant Tracy McCray, the head of the city’s police union.

** NASA is sending a spacecraft to study Psyche, an asteroid roughly the size of Massachusetts that may contain $10 quintillion worth of iron.

** CVS and Walmart will cut pharmacy hours, citing a pharmacist shortage. Walmart will close most of its ~4.6K U.S. pharmacies at 7 p.m. as opposed to 9 p.m. READ

The Data Examiner – Reader Poll:

WILL GOVERNOR NIKKI HALEY BE A SIGNIFICANT FORCE IN THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION PROCESS?

Send your reply to: TheDataExaminer@TimeWire.net

The Data Examiner:

Americans Want Revenge On Companies For Bad Service:

Now is not the time to mess with the American consumer. Per The Wall Street Journal, the National Customer Rage Survey indicates more people than ever are pissed off at companies. New results show 74% of consumers had a problem with a company’s product or service in the past year – up from 66% in 2020, 56% in 2017, and 32% in 1976, the first time a similar survey was released.

People are angry because… of a decline in quality across the economy. Between 2018 and 2022, the American Customer Satisfaction Index fell from ~77 to 73 on a scale of 0-100, the lowest level since the early 2000s. Industries like fast food, gas stations, and hotels saw declines in satisfaction. A rising number of frustrated consumers are letting companies hear about it: 43% of Rage Survey respondents said they raised their voice when sharing their complaints with a company, up from 35% in 2017. They get even louder when they find out they’re talking to a robot. Rage Survey respondents described “being forced to listen to long messages” before speaking to a human as one of their biggest beefs.

Revenge levels are up, too. Per the Rage Survey, 9% of Americans, up from 3% in 2020, have sought revenge against a company by publicly complaining online or in person. That’s still down from a 17% average between 2003 and 2017. All that anger can be expensive. In 2020, researchers behind the National Consumer Rage Survey estimated that bad customer service could cost corporations $494B. “It is not that many companies have poor customer service, it’s that they have no customer service. Frankly, it’s a disgrace. The companies should be ashamed of themselves and certainly know better,” said Michael Levine, best-selling author of the classic business book “Broken Windows, Broken Business.”

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The Data Examiner – Worth A Look:

1. Bertha Mae’s Brownies
2. Nick Computer Network Expert
3. Ugly Mug Marketing

The Data Examiner – A Different View:…

The Data Examiner Disclaimer: 1.) The Data Examiner accepts no liability for the content of this email, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. The Data Examiner is not associated with any commercial or political organization and is transmitted via the web for the sole benefit of its subscribers. 2.) Unfortunately, computer viruses can be transmitted via email. The recipient should check this mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses.