I like the ride sharing business and use both Lyft and Uber, probably more Uber. It is very convenient when I have to go downtown for a meeting. It is cheaper than the cost of parking and less stressful.
I am concerned about the prospect of Uber ever — EVER — becoming profitable. You have to ask yourself how a company can come public at a huge value when they are neither profitable nor are they likely to be in the near term.
Allow me to admit up front that I am a closet supporter of a $15 minimum wage. I don’t think it is a smart policy, but I like the idea. Unfortunately, it has been tried in several locations, the report card is in, and the results are not good.
A good number of reliable sources prophesied that a $15 minimum wage would devastate the restaurant business whereat that wage is applicable to kitchen workers, bus boys, servers, and even some cooks.
Turns out those prophesies were correct. Let’s take a look at New York City restaurants. This chart comes from an American Enterprise Institute publication by Mark J Perry that was sent to me by my pal Jeff Carter.
You may remember the Gillette ad made in the aftermath of peak #MeToo that scolded American males about what it meant to be a “man” in the modern, toxic masculinity, #MeToo, woke world in which we now live.
Your Big Red Car is not one to praise regulation or regulators. No surprise there, eh?
Your BRC, in fact, is guilty of railing against regulation. Fair play.
Today, I rise to praise the outcome of a regulatory action — the approval of the T-Mobile – Sprint merger that leaves the country with three wireless providers of some significant substance. This was good regulation with a good result on the eve of 5G, creating three worthy competitors for your wireless dollar. Bravo.
The big three will serve 95% of the market as follows:
AT&T serves 100,000,000 customers.
Verizon serves 100,000,000 customers
The new T-Mobile/Sprint serves 90,000,000 customers.
William Painter Sunglasses
Your Big Red Car does not do product endorsements. That is mostly because nobody has offered the Big Red Car any meaningful baksheesh for his endorsement. Trust me. I can be bought. [I’m easy.]
I love William Painter Sunglasses. I do not own any William Painter Sunglasses because I wear bifocal sunreaders that cost $10. I am going to buy some. Any day now.
WP Sunglasses cost $185, but in the rarefied Land of Cool wherein pricey Raybans are de rigeur, I dig William Painter Sunglasses.
Go see for yourself. Here is their website.
Because, “your face is your moneymaker.”
That’s it. Oh, yeah, they’re made from titanium. Have unbreakable lenses. Lots of cool color combos. One of them doubles as a beer bottle opener. They are inspired by NASA. If you wear them, it looks like you may have to get a piercing and a tattoo, but I may be wrong about that.
Very. Cool. Sunglasses.
William Painter Sunglasses. No, William is not my nephew.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
Americans are a forgiving people. In the case of Chipotle (CMG stock symbol), they forgive them for years of food-borne-illnesses such as an E Coli outbreak or two or three or four.
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How do I know this? Because their stock price — after weathering a huge hit based on food-borne-illness scandals — hit an all time high yesterday.
In the midst of their troubles, the stock hit a low price of $255.46/share in February of 2018. Pre-market price indicators today, you ask? $762. You do the math. Wow!
Did you buy on the bad news, dear reader? NO, you did not because you, like everyone else, just said, “Gross!”
I have always been a fan of arbitration as a means of dispute resolution in business contracts as opposed to using the legal system. Arbitration — yes! Lawsuits — no!
Recently, companies have been requiring new employees to agree to a basis of employment that includes a dispute resolution technique based solely on binding arbitration. [Note: This is different, though similar, than binding arbitration in business contracts. Similar.]
The employees are being asked to give up their right to sue the company, their employer, as a condition of employment.
Good idea or nefarious overreach by the employer?
These are not contract employees, but “at will” employees. A contract employee has an Employment Agreement and the at will employee has an “understanding” or a “basis of employment” while still being subject to termination for no reason or good reason or any reason.
It is perfectly normal for an Employment Agreement to have some form of dispute resolution spelled out as part of the deal. This falls under the umbrella of “you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.”
Today, it is reported that more than 60,000,000 US employees are working under a mandatory arbitration arrangement for employment disputes. So, it is not uncommon.
[Note: Unions have their own dispute resolution procedures as part of their collective bargaining agreement. It often is based on arbitration or a form similar.]
The Apple Store (since 2008) and the Google Play Store (a few months later) exact a thirty percent tax on all transactions. That’s 30%! This is called the Apple Tax.
Folks who sell through the Apple and Google Play stores believe that is an obscenely high fee. Color your Big Red Car amongst those who hold that opinion. [Note: In this blog post, I will consider the interests and behavior of Apple/Google as one and the same for simplicity.]
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