WEBVTT - Understanding the Factors Behind U.S. Gun Violence 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:04.440 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carrol Masser and I'm 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:07.280 Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stanovk. We're here every day bringing 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:09.799 you the latest news from the world of business and finance, 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:13.640 plus technology, politics, economics, all partnising the power of Business 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:17.119 Week reporters and editors, not to mention our journalists and 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.640 analyst in more than one and twenty countries. You can 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.239 download Bloomberg Business Week and iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.160 You can also listen to our radio show at two 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:28.360 pm Eastern Time on Bloomberg Radio or watch us on YouTube. 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:32.720 Search Bloomberg Global News to all Highland Park, Virginia Tech, 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:37.360 Sandy Hook Elementary and Elementary School in Valdi, Texas. I mean, 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:39.760 we could go on and on. The rate of gun 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:45.519 deaths has increased thirty three from or excuse me, in 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.440 the United States that we're talking about nine years. This 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.280 is according to every stat every Town for Gun Safety. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.280 With more on gun violence awareness and prevention, we bring 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.360 in Cassandra Kofossi. She's Associate professor in the Department of 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.560 Health Policy and Management, Deputy director of the Center for 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:02.320 Gun vi Ulent Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:04.960 of Public Health, of course, supported by Michael R. Bloomberg 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.640 founder and Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Mike also a 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:11.160 co founded supporter of every Town for Gun Safety. And 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:14.480 Cassandra joining us on the phone in Annapolis, Maryland. Cassandra, 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:17.280 good to have you with us. How are you? I'm good? 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.760 Thanks thanks for having me. When Carol was going through 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:23.120 the names that we associate with acts of terror and 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:25.880 gun violence in this country, it got me thinking that 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:28.679 after there is an incident like Highland Park, like Vivaldi, 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.800 we talk about gun safety for you know, a few days, 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:34.880 but then it seems to shift to the back burner. 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.600 How do we keep the conversation going without you know, 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.280 these big profile events being in the news. Yeah, it's 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:45.520 a really excellent question, and I think the first thing 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.919 to keep in mind we have been seeing these really 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:54.880 horrendous high profile shootings, UM, but we also have exceptionally 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:59.680 high rates of every day gun violent suicide, an intimate 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:03.720 partner violence. We need level violence, and we need to 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:08.160 be thinking about those factors, um, those types of violence. 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.640 In addition to these mass shootings and so the things 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:14.480 that we've really been seeing change in the last few years, 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:18.679 largely driven by the youth voices. Youth advocates have been 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.919 more attention on drawing parallels, so not just focusing on 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.680 a mass shooting as an isolated event, but understanding how 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.200 there are features or characteristics of a mass shooting that 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:35.240 are similar to other kinds of violence and looking there 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:38.400 for solutions. I want to talk a little bit about 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:41.600 access to firearms, because this is something that comes up 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.840 each and every day with instances like this State's very 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.640 in terms of gun restrictions and what people are able 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.280 to buy. How do you prevent a gun from uh, 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.160 you know, a different state going to a state like Illinois, 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:59.520 for example. It's such a challenging feature of our country. 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:03.760 Our borders are fourth for a reason, right, people and 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:08.080 products move across them. But what that means is states 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:13.519 with strong gunlass like California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, they're 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:17.480 at the mercy of U states with weaker gun law. 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.720 And here is an opportunity to take our regional approach 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.160 to look at where sounds that are recovered in crime 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:29.000 or used to harm others, look at where they're coming from, 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:33.519 and sharing that data across jurisdictions across partners to understand 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.640 are their targets of opportunity in terms of bad apple 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.640 gun dealers are their individuals who are buying a lot 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.560 of guns and bringing them across state lines. I think 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.600 one of the most important factors to keep in mind 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:50.120 when we're thinking about addressing gun violence. No one thing 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.880 is going to help us address this problem. We need 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:57.560 to be thinking about it from a multifaceted approach and 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:02.040 thinking about policies and thinking about gun dealers and access 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:04.000 and supply, but also we need to be thinking about 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:08.360 why people want access to firearms, what is driving this demand, 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:12.040 addressing some of the fear trauma, all of these things 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:16.360 that are associated not just with COVID, but longstanding UH 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:21.280 systematic racism and other issues that we've had in this country. Cassandrew, 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:25.320 where does social media fit into all of this? That's 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:28.960 such a great question. Um. Social media can be a 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:34.000 tool to help spread messages public safety, public health messages, 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.040 for example, but it can also be used as a 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:41.320 tool to stoke sphere or to spread misinformation. One of 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.760 the things that we try very hard to do it 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.120 hence our name for center from Gundivalent Solutions is to 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:49.960 really lift up the things that we know work to 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:55.480 try to counteract the feeling of despair or inevitability anytime 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.760 high profile mass shooting occurs, so we try to counter 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.000 some of those pieces that it can be, unfortunately a 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:06.520 tool to help spread misinformation and here that can drive 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:08.800 gun purchasing. Do you think we get to a point 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:10.560 just in the last minute that we have with you, Cassandra, 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:14.200 where we start to see public funding going to research 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.960 against gun research when it comes to gun violence. We 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:19.640 all know about the dicy Amendment and what that did. 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.960 We have seen over the last several years more federal 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.600 funding coming from the Centers for Disease Control Prevention as 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:32.880 well as an h dedicated to specifically funding gun violence prevention. 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:34.720 And I think that's really going to help us to 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.080 do a couple of things, to grow the field so 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:41.159 that we have more researchers trained to understand and study 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:43.800 this problem, and it's also going to help us answer 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:47.000 some basic questions. We are way behind where we should 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.320 be in our understanding of gun violence prevention and policy 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.160 because of the restrictions on federal funding. But as that's 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.159 loosening up, as we have more funding coming into the field. 0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:59.400 We're going to see that change, all right. We're gonna 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.040 leave it on that now. Hey, Cassandra, thank you so 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:04.480 much for your time today. Cassandra Krafoss, She's Deputy director 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.600 of the Center for Gun Violent Solutions at the Johns 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.679 Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As we mentioned earlier, 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:13.599 supported by Michael R. Bloomberg, founder, BLOOMBERGIL and Bloomberg Philanthropies. 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:15.719 Mike also a co founder and supporter of every Town 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.040 for Gun Safety. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:25.040 Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.280 Let's get to the domestic cover story Bloomberg Business Week. 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.040 This issue, new issue out on newstands of Bloomberg and 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.919 Bloomberg dot Com Slash business Week. All about the AMC 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:36.640 Entertainment CEO Adam Arrant him and I've talked with him, 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.440 who has cultivated an army of followers, who sent the 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.440 stock storing in a retail trading frenzy last year. Who 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.560 could forget that? Yeah, the story by Felix Gillette and 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.600 Eliza Ronald's hand and Felix Gilette his media entertainment and 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.960 telecom editor for Bloomberg Business Week. He joins us this 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.080 afternoon on the phone from New Jersey. Also with us 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:56.000 is Joel Weber, the editor of Bloomberg Business Week. He 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:59.200 joins us this afternoon on the access line from Massachusetts. 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:01.560 So people have been following out of air and Jold. 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.200 They perhaps know him from his time at Veil Resorts 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:06.480 or with the cruise lines at the airline industry early 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.600 in his career. Now he's been at AMC for a 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:12.560 few years. What is he up to? Oh, that is 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.920 a great question. Um. Well, in the time that um, 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.520 we were sort of initially talking about this idea for 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.440 the story. Uh, you know, we're in the middle of 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.440 the pandemic. People were like, hey, movie, movie theaters, that's 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:26.680 not gonna work out. And then lo and behold, AMC 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.000 became this meme stock and you know, I don't think 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:35.000 many people recognized that um Adam Aaron was the CEO 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.120 of the company, and it sort of was like, you 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:43.120 couldn't have imagined a more theatrical CEO to be in 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.040 charge of a publicly traded company happened to be the 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.560 world's biggest theater chain, and he kind of met the 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:53.200 moment in this amazing way where AMC became a meme 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:59.200 stock and he was very flamboyant, very amazing on social media, 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:03.400 and it really kind of made him endearing to all 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.880 these UM retail traders UM, and that set up this little, 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.680 nice little tension between the retail traders and the institutional ones, 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.160 which were all kind of familiar with now. But in 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.400 the middle of all that, we realized that who who 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:17.400 is this guy? We did we had no idea, We 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.800 had no idea what his backstory is. And he ends 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.080 this amazing backstory because he came up through like loyalty programs. 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:27.200 So so Felix um Analyza did this amazing job reporting 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:29.960 this story. I feel like it's like just a perfect 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.720 Business Week cover story. UM Felix, you know you guys, 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:35.959 you guys dug into his back story so much like, 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.120 how did he Why was he the right person for 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.400 for this company at this moment? Well, I think to 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.360 an incredible degree, his entire career was really building up 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:51.000 to this. UM. I mean the whole thing hinges on. 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:54.439 I mean, meme stocks to come and go, so you 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:59.480 have to like keep these four million retail investors somehow 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.040 engage and you have to keep them, you know, involved, 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:04.520 you have to keep them on your side, you have 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.520 to keep them loyal basically, right. And the thing about 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:12.520 Adams fascinated that he spent his entire career basically engineering 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.160 these loyalty reward programs. And if you go back to 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.839 the nineteen nine his first job is at Panama. He 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:21.800 did World Pass, the airline's first loyalty rewards program. Back then, 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:23.719 the whole thing was like, Okay, if we want to 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:25.920 talk to our customers, we're either going to have to 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:28.600 die a really expensive ad on one of the three 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.680 broadcast TV networks or in the national magazine is going 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.600 to cost a lot. And suddenly there was this new way. 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.760 Computers are getting more expensi less expensive, more powerful. We 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:40.640 can keep track of our customers. We can talk to 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:44.360 them directly. You know you kind of like take that. Adams, 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.439 you know, did their first program. Then he went to 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.280 Western Airlines to the loyalty program for them, then Hyatt 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:53.920 Hotel vl uh, you know, Norwegian Cruise Line, the seventies 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.000 six ers, everywhere he's gone, he's kept working on these programs. 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:01.640 Suddenly you get to the present day and using social media, 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:05.000 suddenly you know, he can talk directly to his customers. 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:07.480 The fact that's amazing to me is that he managed 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:12.760 to somehow extend this whole tradition to investors, like if you, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.920 you know, invest in US, you have AMC stock, you 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:18.400 buy stock, you hold on the stock, We're going to 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:20.439 give your rewards. You know, we're going to give you 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.319 a free tub of popcorn. Which sounds insane, right, it 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.439 just sounds completely made up, But actually that's kind of 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:32.160 what he's done, and to remarkable degree, through some combination 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:36.640 of his own charisma on Twitter and his own ability 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:40.199 to kind of, you know, give this sense of exclusivity 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.880 to this large group of retail investors. That's a part 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.320 of something special he's managed so far to hold onto them. 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.080 What I love about this piece, among the many parts 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:51.880 about it, is that you include some of the memes 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:55.000 the art department just fantastic and being able to include 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.480 days and if you're watching us on YouTube you can 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.040 see some of these means of course, they call in 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:01.640 the silver backs. They're lot of sort of guerrilla themed 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:06.160 memes that have proliferated on social media. Felix, let's talk 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:10.400 about gold mining, because your piece has some incredible color 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.920 as to how this deal went down. Yeah, because we 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:15.959 all kind of heard it when they announced it and 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:20.800 they said, you know, AMC's you know, just acquiring of 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.480 this gold mine in the body. Everyone was like, what, like, 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.600 what are you talking about? Literally is no, it's a metaphor, right, 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:30.839 there's a crypto mining operation. Like, no, it's actually a 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.560 gold and silver mine out there in the Black Rock desert. 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:36.559 So for months we were like just we're dying to know, 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.600 like how did this whole thing go down? And one 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:41.559 of the fun parts of the article, of the fun 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.000 parts of reporting that was kind of doing the TikTok 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:47.440 of like these guys, you know, showing how this deal 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:52.040 came together. Um, Jason Mudrick, Mudrick Capital really brought it 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.719 to AMC Um you know, Adam talking about why he 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:58.839 wanted in on it. Then jumping on an airplane, you know, 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.480 flying you know, picking and everybody up going out to 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:06.760 this tiny little airport and win a Muka nevada um. 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.360 And then you know, driving out to this gold mine 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.719 at dawn. I mean, the whole thing is just incredible, Um, 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:17.480 the way it went down and hilarious on many different levels. Um. 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.240 And then just like the thought of like what it's 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.800 like they get the kind of like pile into this 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.199 trailer at this gold mine in the middle of nowhere 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:28.760 it's the only place has WiFi for like hundreds of miles, 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:30.880 and then have to like jump on the phone and 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:33.719 sell this to all the AMC board members like this 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.559 is why you know it makes sense for a you know, 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:41.640 the world's largest movie theater chain in two thousand twenty 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.439 two to be invested in the gold mine. Felix I said, godman, 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:46.719 you really made me scratch my head. I remember when 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.439 that crossed the Bloomberg reading your story. What made me 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.360 scratch my head? Is Nicole Kidman, the first lady of AMC. Like, 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:58.280 like every aspect of the story, you just kind of like, what, yeah, well, 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:02.480 I mean that's part of you know, part of the branding. Um. 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.319 I think, you know, there's only so many ways you 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:08.960 can brand the movie theater chain. And I think typically 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.280 people choose what movie they're going to go to based 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:15.360 on the product and the proximity it is to their house, right, 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:17.240 they don't care usually if they're going to go to 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:21.719 like an AMC or Regal whatever, and especially with the multiplexes, 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:24.760 but there are theater chains out there have done incredible 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.800 job of branding themselves. I always point to Alamo, which 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:29.920 Alamo Drafthouse. I think they do a great job. And 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:31.800 one of the ways they've done a great job of 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.920 brandon selves is those pre movie attractions they show you. 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:39.400 It's always like very instinctive and cool feeling. And you know, 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.880 I think this is kind of like the AMC version 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.480 of that, which is like, we have an opportunity before 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:48.000 the movies come on, um to do something that makes 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.280 it feel like special somehow. In this case, you know, 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.520 they went out in the cool kidman did these promotions, 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.559 talked about oh you know there's a coming back. It's 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.760 American institution, as we want to know, in like a 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:02.559 Another aspect of this story is like how when she 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:05.440 got paid Jill quick thoughts as we wrap up here, 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:07.760 you know, just as we wrap it, you know, it's 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:09.880 the meme stock moment. It's like, you know, we have 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:12.240 these ebbs and flows to it. I'm just gonna be 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.839 really curious to watch how AMC fairs. Uh, you know, 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:19.720 we're obviously watching bed Bath and Beyond Dowid's Thing. Am 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:22.920 wanted another one to watch, no doubt about it. AMC 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.280 by the way down eight percent today, Joel Weber, Felix Gillette, 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:31.360 thank you so much. This is Bloomberg Business Week with 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:36.760 Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Well, 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.040 the most read story on the Bloomberg is what about 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.240 the individual who put an end to the crazy six 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.560 day run of meme stock bed Bath and Beyond, a 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:47.000 run that added something like a D to the share price? 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:52.120 The individual activist geralda Ryan Cohen, who apparently Tim now 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.280 kind of wants to say bye bye to Bed Bath 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:59.800 and Beyond. Let's get all the details. B B not 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.480 be confused with Best Guys ticker, which is quite a bit. 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.760 Give you a. Balg is Equity America's team leader for 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.240 Bloomberg Near. She joins us via zoom from our bureau 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.520 in Toronto, Canada. Did you help us understand what's going 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.200 on here with Bed Bath and Beyond? So Ryan Cohen, 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.480 people know him from Chewy fame with his now activist 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:22.480 and activist investor fund Our Ventures bought a steak in 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.200 Bed Bath and Beyond back in March. So he is 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.080 he fully filing to get out of it because he 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.040 may sell up to this many shares, right, I mean, 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.120 it sure looks like it at this point. You know, 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:35.800 he has put in a filing saying that he would 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.640 like to sell all of his shares and some call 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:42.040 options as well on bed Bath and beyond. I mean, 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.600 there's rumors going around that he's already sold his stake. 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.320 There are other people who think that he might sell 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.520 it in batches. You know. Right now we're just sort 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:51.760 of waiting to see what he has to say about 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:53.520 this whole thing at this point. But you know, you 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:56.360 guys are right, it's just been such a wild ride 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.680 for this dock at this point. What I love about 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:00.800 this is it reminds me we talk so much about 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.920 retail traders, right this is their game and they're playing 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.080 with all of these meme stocks. It says to me, though, 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.480 this is a reminder though, that are there are some 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:10.640 big time investors in this name as well, and other 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:14.600 Memes stocks potentially. And that's exactly it. You know, they 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.600 have this whole notion of Yolo you only live once 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:20.840 that they're getting into the stock, and they for some reason, 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.200 I cannot understand this why they love Ryan Cohen so much? 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:26.240 And you know when they get into it. They are 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.640 pumping up their own investment and their own shares, right, 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.160 They're getting excited about it, and they're doing this. And 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.920 now when you get like proper news that's coming out 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:38.760 on the stock and a potential super large shareholder trying 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:41.400 to get out of this company, that's where they're really 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.400 taking a hit at this point. And I'm not sure 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.800 a lot of them actually fully understand what's at stake 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:49.120 at this point. Yeah, who is Ryan Cohen? Just to 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:51.680 give our audience if they're not familiar with him, like, 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:55.640 who is this guy? So he is an activist in 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:58.280 the world of finance at this point. You know, his 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.480 claim to fame, or at least what we tend to 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.920 think of as his claim to fame, is when he 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.680 got into Chewy Um the pet company, and he made 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.479 you know, massive restructuring with the company and since then 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.159 it's done really well. And I think that's what retail 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:15.120 traders really got into in this case. When he got 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.080 into game Stop, they were really hoping for a similar 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.400 turnaround that they saw with Chewy. They did the same 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:23.440 thing with Bed Bath and Beyond, and frankly, I just 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.080 have not seen that with Ryan Cohen and both of 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.680 these companies at this point. With game Stop he brought 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.960 in a bunch of new executives, mainly from Amazon. And 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.440 with bid Bath and Beyond, you know, he outstead the 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:36.800 CEO and brought in a new CEO and he also 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:41.200 got three independent directors at the company. But fundamentals wise, 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:44.600 both these companies are still struggling at this point. We 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.800 have not seen a corporate growth turn turnaround for game 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.800 Stop and bed Bath and Beyond. Most recent earnings results 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.720 were still pretty dismal. Um for investors out there, is 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.879 this meme stock rally different than the memestock rally we 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:01.760 saw in the winter? You yeah, it is. It's definitely 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.280 on a smaller scale at this point. I mean when 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.000 we saw it with game Stop and even a m C, 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:09.639 you know, more than a year ago, you were seeing 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.600 a hundred percent move, a hundred and fifty percent rallies 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:17.480 on any given day and swift reversals as well. Trading 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:20.199 volumes were a lot bigger than we're seeing right now 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.120 with Bed Bath and Beyond. Um, and it really spread 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.280 out to a lot more stocks than what we're seeing 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.960 right now with these companies. So it's different and yet 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.760 the same in the sense that you are seeing big moves, 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.800 they're just not as massive as what we saw um 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:37.600 a year and a half ago or even almost two 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.359 years ago. I gotta say caveat to m tour, you know, 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.359 buyer bware like I feel like when you look at bed, 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:44.800 bath and beyond. I mean you've got fort of the 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:48.199 float shorted. I mean investors have to understand that there 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:50.399 could be a big swing either way. Correct and just 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:53.760 got about thirty seconds. Absolutely, and that's really it. You 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.440 know there will be big swings. You have to be careful. 0:18:56.520 --> 0:19:00.240 Analysts are saying, pay attention to the fundamentals more sold 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.840 than anything else that's going on on the retail side 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:04.399 of things. Look at the sale side of thing in 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:06.960 terms of analyst you've got one by four hold and 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:11.720 twelve cells on this name. Just say that doesn't match 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:13.280 with what we've seen in the performance of the stuff. 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:15.080 I'm gonna do some shopping there ahead of my daughter 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:18.800 going back to college. So you got off coupons. You 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:20.840 gotta love those coupons. Yeah, they send them to you 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:25.000 electronically too. Those things are great. Oh yeah, of course 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:34.320 I'm bro journal. Yeah, but you let me drive. Oh no, no, no, no, 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:40.159 who's going home? Right? Please, I'll do the dravel. I 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:48.399 want to drive. It's a good question drive. This is 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:54.560 the Drive to the Clothes on Bluebird Radio. All Right, 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:56.080 we have about ten and a half minutes left in 0:19:56.119 --> 0:20:00.359 today's trading session and we've been bouncing around in today's trade. 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:02.680 Right now, just turning off our highs of the day. 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:04.960 We're in the green age. You heard from Charlie Pellett 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:09.600 on all those major averages. But just up a tad, Tim, Well, 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:11.720 we're very pleased with to have with us this afternoon. 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:16.719 Alan Zafronia little wacky to Alan, but that's okay. I mean, Alan, 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.280 don't forget that Alan zafron Um. One time when he 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.280 was on air with us there was an earthquake and right, 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:24.760 oh my good, good memory. M Alan. It's good to 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:27.280 have you with us. How are you. I'm doing great 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:29.040 and it looks like the markets are shake it too, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:31.960 but straight up recently right yeah, like I even you know, 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:34.000 you even got some big laughs from the control room 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:36.440 there on that one. I like that. Um. Alan Scotting 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:38.640 partner and co Cy at i e Q Capital joins 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.120 us on the phone from Foster City, California. So it's 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:45.000 puzzling to me. Alan. We have FED officials coming out 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:47.879 and you know, saying over and over again, day in 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:50.760 and day out, we gotta raise rates to combat inflation. 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:53.119 We're nowhere close to being done with that, you know, 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:56.840 in similar phrasing. But yet the market marches higher. What 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:01.520 gives well, what gives tims A s that the technicals 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:04.240 are once again ahead of the fundamentals. We see the 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:08.000 time and again. So if you believe the stock market 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:12.600 with this incredible technical uh flush upward we're having, the 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:14.600 Fed's gonna get it right. We're gonna thread the needle. 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:17.080 We're going to avoid a recession, is what the stock 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:20.240 market is signaling, or at a minimum, the recession will 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:22.440 be so shallow that you won't actually see it. Earnings 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:25.359 recession companies will can you grow earnings like eight percent 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:28.479 a year and we'll mitigate all these concerns. We'll get 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.439 through this scare and we'll be back to a more 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:33.680 normalized world. That's what the stock market is telling you. 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:38.399