1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: Let's get to Kim Forest, our guest for the half hour. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,320 Speaker 1: Kim is founder also the c i O at Boca 3 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: Capital Partners from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Kim, it's always a pleasure. 4 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: Thanks for being with us. A lot to be nervous 5 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: about in markets, particularly in an environment where the Fed 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: continues to talk about tightening. Raphael Bostick on the conservative side, 7 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: maybe a little more dubbish is expecting an additional hundred 8 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: basis points. Maybe we've got another hundred and fifty or so. 9 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: If you're an equity investor, how do you play this? Well? Um, 10 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: the way I always play things is look out further 11 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: in time than a year. A year's kind of arbitrary 12 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: and anything can happen, and that's just it. We don't 13 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: know what is going to happen. So if you're looking 14 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: out three to five years from now, you can make 15 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: some decisions about what should be in your portfolio and 16 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: what all things being considered should grow during that time. 17 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,279 Speaker 1: And um, I think that's a better way to do 18 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: it than shorter time periods. And you know, time periods 19 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: less than a year, that's just crazy, all right, So 20 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: give me some We'll give me some examples of things 21 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: that will grow over the longer term. I mean, is 22 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: technology on that list. Technology is really high on that list, 23 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,199 Speaker 1: but it's probably not the technology that you are thinking 24 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: of when you say that word. Right now, we in 25 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: the last i don't know, maybe fifteen years, have gotten 26 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: used to technology being four consumers and I have. While 27 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: I have followed it, I have not really invested heavily 28 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: in it because consumers are capricious. The best kind of 29 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: technology enables businesses to be more productive. And that's what 30 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,479 Speaker 1: I'm kind of positing out here is that you should 31 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: look for that sort of investment and you're going to 32 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: pay off, or it should pay off because well, it's 33 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: worth it, and um, making people. Making employees more productive 34 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: is something that companies are looking to do, especially now 35 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: with wage inflation. So what it is. There's a company 36 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: like Amazon that is obviously consumer facing a lot of 37 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: the business e commerce related, but there are cloud business 38 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: caters to the corporate client, and there's a situation where 39 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: they're serving both markets. Do you just have to be 40 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: exposed to Amazon just for the cloud side in and 41 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: of itself. Well, I'd say there's a better way to 42 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: do that, because you know, the consumer side is so 43 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: heavily weighted in the revenue and yet very little in 44 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: the earnings part of the equation that is Amazon, and 45 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: I warn you away from that. So looking at a 46 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: company like Microsoft might be a better bet. While they 47 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: have some consumer um uh products like Xbox, most of 48 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: their revenue comes from the stuff that we used to 49 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: be productive, and that would be office and exchange and 50 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: that sort of thing. And I think it's a pretty 51 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: good bet that Microsoft, while they probably will continue on 52 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: with Xbox, most of their money and most of their 53 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: effort is trying to make companies more productive. So if 54 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: you buy into this factory of the future idea right um, 55 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: the dark factory, I guess is another term for it, 56 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: where we're going to get automation and robotics to such 57 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: an extent is that people are going to virtually be 58 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: absent from the from the shop floor. I mean, is 59 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: that a play that you're investing in right now? Um, 60 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: indirectly because you don't really know when something like that 61 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: is actually going to hit a lot of times an 62 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: idea will captivate investors, they'll like pile into it, and 63 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: then it won't pay off in the desired time. Frame 64 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: and then they kind of leave it for dead and 65 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: lo and behold. You know, sometime in the future, you know, 66 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: you have that dark that dark floor or whatever you 67 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: called it. So I think the best way to do 68 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: that is to look at semiconductors that might play in 69 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: that area. UM Now, the thing that we know is 70 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: that technology gives us pretty activity. We don't know what 71 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: software is going to do it, but we do know 72 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: it's delivered on a chip. And looking at the state 73 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: of the world, although we do have a surplus of 74 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: chips that for whatever reason or you know, clogging up 75 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: the supply demand UM pricing scenario of chips, that is 76 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: going to be short lived because we are going to 77 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: use these things to make companies and people more productive. 78 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: So that's it in a nutshell. So semiconductors, really that's 79 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: a pretty broad category. Their memory chips. There are different 80 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: types of micro processors. They're the graphics card chips that 81 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: in video manufacturers. There's some of the smaller chips that 82 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: are used in mobile phones. Is there a segment of 83 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: the semiconductor market that you're favoring right now? Well, right now, 84 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: we kind of like um Intel for the reason that 85 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: you kind of snuck in there is that they're building 86 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: more fabs. And the reason why we like Intel and 87 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: I understand its problems and its culture slip up and 88 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: you know how far behind it is um its main competitor, 89 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,359 Speaker 1: Taiwan Semi, but we believe that the company still has 90 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: some good assets in there, and moreover, they are moving 91 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: more towards the US rather than building on Taiwan, and 92 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: I think that's going to be um what a lot 93 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: of chip designers, which in video and a m D 94 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 1: are more chip designers than makers because they don't have 95 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: their own fab plants. And we believe that um Intel 96 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: has a good shot at getting some of uh Taiwan 97 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: Semi business if it can come back up and you know, 98 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: revamp its technology and catch up, and we think they can. 99 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: We were just talking in the last half hour about 100 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,039 Speaker 1: some of the benefits of the US Inflation Reduction Act 101 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: as it relates to green energy. The f T had 102 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: an interesting piece talking about well it was actually an 103 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: interview with the head of Bristol Myers Squib that the 104 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: company is going to likely cancel some of its drug 105 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: development programs beginning next year because of new pricing rules 106 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: that allow the government a more flexibility to determine how 107 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: much the government will pay for for prescription drugs. That's 108 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: a part of the Inflation Reduction Act. When you consider 109 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 1: politics and you consider the fact now that the House 110 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: of Representatives is going to be controlled by Republicans, does 111 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: it change you're thinking on how to put money to work? 112 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: Not really even the Inflation Reduction Act that chip manufacturers 113 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: are going to benefit from, that that's kind of a 114 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: short term blip. And actually and tell how to strategic 115 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: relationship or built a strategic relationship with a company called 116 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: brooke Field Asset Management, and they are going to supply 117 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: you know, some debt to and tell so companies can 118 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: work around that. The whole Uh, whether or not pharmaceutical 119 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: companies are going to go on and do their drug development, 120 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: I mean, that is a that's an issue, but um, 121 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of up to them about what 122 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: kind of company they want to be. And uh, we'll 123 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: see if that really impacts the whole industry or if 124 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: it's just going to be a handful of larger companies 125 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: that really kind of outsourced drug development to the biotechs. Anyhow, 126 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: are you tapped into the market for some of the 127 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: Newark Technologies. When I think of Pittsburgh, I think of 128 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: Carnegie Mellon. I think of the robotics lab there. I 129 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: think that lift for a while. It may still be 130 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: the case was using Pittsburgh as a testing ground for 131 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: autonomous vehicles. Talk to me a little bit, very quickly, Kim, 132 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: about what you're observing where you are in Pittsburgh. Sure, well, 133 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: we just had actually Uber was there, and then a 134 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: company called Argo, which was funded by and noticed there 135 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: was right, was funded by Ford and VW. And they 136 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: just closed up shop a couple of weeks ago. And 137 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: this is absolutely shocking to me on a couple of fronts. 138 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: But the most shocking is that the company just went 139 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: out of business, as opposed to trying to sell some 140 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: of the stuff they developed. Although I've not been a 141 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: believer in truly autonomous cars in the next five years, 142 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: with that was what everybody was saying. There's still a 143 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: lot of systems that they've developed and monetize. So this 144 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: has been shocking. I think this is a short term 145 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: um problem, but we'll see what happens. Okay, Kim, good stuff. 146 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. Kim Forest of Boca 147 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: Capital Partners, this is Bloomberg,