High Growth Stock Mini-Basket Redux

A look back at how my November recommendation has played out.

My “high-growth mini-basket” Let’s look at the tape.

The stocks I recommended in November.

  • Slack (WORK) 11/20/2020 – $29.24 finished at $45.20 on July 20th and acquired by Salesforce (CRM)
  • Twilio (TWLO) 11/20/2020 – $298.31 finished today (08/09/2021) at $376.02
  • Square (SQ) – 11/20/2020 – $195.97 finished today (08/09/2021) at $279.73
  • Shopify (SHOP) – 11/20/2020 – $988.51 finished today (08/09/2021) at $1,549.99

These four tend to move in tandem.

In the basket until COVID is over:

  • Peloton (PTOM) 11/20/2020 – $110.90 finished today (08/09/2021) at $116.58
  • Zoom (ZM) 11/20/2020 – $439.60 finished today (08/09/2021) at $383.34

Basket adjacent:

  • PayPal (PYPL) 11/20/2020 – $192.67 finished today (08/09/2021) at $278.15

At the time I wrote the following “All of these stocks have extremely high valuations, but they are the future of e-commerce. Zoom and Peloton are included because they are considered “e-commerce” growth companies, but they are really benefitting from COVID as much as anything. All of these offer high beta option plays if you dare. WORK and TWLO are our favorites followed by SQ.”

My recommendation today would be to sell 50% of this basket. Look for a reentry closer to the November prices or lower.

Check back in in six months.

High Growth Stock Mini-Basket

Our high-growth mini-basket:

  • Slack (WORK)
  • Twilio (TWLO)
  • Square (SQ)
  • Shopify (SHOP)

These four tend to move in tandem.

In the basket until COVID is over:

  • Peloton (PTOM)
  • Zoom (ZM)

Basket adjacent:

  • PayPal (PYPL)

All of these stocks have extremely high valuations, but they are the future of e-commerce. Zoom and Peloton are included because they are considered “e-commerce” growth companies, but they are really benefitting from COVID as much as anything.

All of these offer high beta option plays if you dare.

WORK and TWLO are our favorites followed by SQ.

Two Ultimate Jersey Mike’s Subs

My idea of what are the two ultimate subs at Jersey Mike’s:

The first is the #17 – Mike’s Famous Philly.

How the menu describes it: “Grilled onions, peppers & white American cheese. This Philly is the real deal. It’s grilled fresh to order with tender steak, peppers, onions, and white American cheese.  It’s a fan favorite!”

For the Romano version, change the cheese to Swiss and add lettuce, raw onion, tomato and mayonnaise on a whole wheat bun.

I don’t like Jersey Mike’s cold cuts very much. They aren’t near Thumann’s or Boar’s Head quality, but the steak is very good. Highly recommend the Romano Philly Cheesesteak.

The second sandwich is my favorite of all time, and since I rarely eat meat, it’s my go to at least twice a month. It’s the #14 The Veggie, listed on the menu as: “Swiss, provolone, & green bell peppers. Crunchy and full of flavor, our Veggie sub starts with layers of provolone, Swiss, and green bell peppers.  Ask for it Mike’s Way to enjoy our freshly sliced onions, shredded lettuce, and perfectly ripened tomatoes, with spices and the juice for a light and refreshing sub.”

On this one, choose whole wheat, lettuce, tomato, extra oregano and mayo, and most importantly (as I put it on the order slip) “an absurd amount of onions.” Leave off the oil and vinegar and ask for Swiss only, but be careful and make sure they replace the Provolone with more Swiss (they don’t do it automatically).

Most of the time I’ve had someone from the office pick this one up for me. The one time I went in, the kid behind the counter whispered to his co-worker, “Hey man, it’s the guy with the onions. He’s here in person.” THAT’s how many onions you want! Try it!

I’ll end with this, Jersey Mike’s is good (my issue with the cold cut quality aside), but if you are ever in northern New Jersey visit my childhood haunt: Big Stash’s at 131 Kearny Ave Kearny, NJ 07032.

Normandy Rice Pudding

Or teurgoule as it is called there. This is a Norman word that means “twist mouth”, supposedly because the cinnamon in the recipe was spicy. Well if it’s the 14th century and you only eat meat, bread, butter, milk and eggs, cinnamon is spicy, I suppose. Let’s not time travel and bring along jalapenos. Could change the course of history.

All you need is a casserole dish with a cover, 4 1/4 cups of milk, 1/3 cup of rice (the kind for risotto if you have it), 1/2 cup of light brown sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon. It cooks for hours and forms a luscious brown skin of starch and cooked milk you are supposed to discard. Personally I like it. I guarantee your dog will like it if you don’t.

Here you go:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine milk, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over the uncooked rice you have placed in the casserole dish. Put on the lid and cook for at least 3.5 hours. I have used typical long grain rice and jasmine rice. Still delicious.

As with many simple farm recipes it’s not hard and there is a very short list of ingredients. All you need is time and patience. Like farming itself.

And if you want to taste this in France, book a Normandy tour at Link Paris.

Sell, Sell, Sell, Mortimer

Trauma’s true consequences and effects often show up long after the event that caused the initial harm.

The DOW touched 30k today with the announcement of the Pfizer vaccine.

I think the real economic problems from COVID-19 will show up much much later in ways we don’t expect. I wouldn’t be a buyer here. In fact, I’d go short on the market today. I’m sure I’m playing the role of Cassandra here for market bulls, but I think I’m right. Be careful.

Also gives me a chance to post a clip from my favorite movie of all time, “Trading Places”.

Palm Groundhog Springs Day

When you watch Palm Springs you get the distinct sense that screenwriter Andy Siara was hanging out with his buddies playing the “What would you do if you could remake Groundhog Day?” game.

Siara takes it a step further and actually does it. Palm Springs is a modern day twist on the iconic Bill Murray film. I loved it.

Sure, I could write a longer review, but what’s the point? Palm Springs is a good movie. It’s on Hulu. Watch it.

I don’t know why movie reviews are so long. I don’t ask friends for a movie recommendation, and then say “Pick one you like and talk about it uninterrupted for five minutes.” Uh…no. If you like long reviews/interviews here is a good one with Andy Siara.

Okay, I’ll add one more line – Andy Samberg kills it here. Best I’ve seen him.

Enjoy.

A Few Interesting Drawings

Going through my computer cleaning things up. Found these drawings I did a few years ago.

No idea what all of the extended arms and tongues mean. I bet a therapist would know. But as an old comedian friend said upon learning the root of his problems from his psychologist, “Doc, I would’ve paid you not to tell me that.” 🙂

Beverly Hills For Trump

Went to lunch in Beverly Hills today. Coincided with a huge Trump rally/parade.

I guesstimate about 5,000 people marched past us while we ate. Most people just yelled the standard “USA! USA!” chant you’d hear at a soccer match. One lady yelled through a megaphone that “we”, meaning me and everyone at the restaurant with me, were voting for a pedophile on Tuesday. That was news to the couple next to us who were wearing Trump t-shirts for sure.

Earlier, I met a fellow while waiting for the bathroom at the restaurant. We chatted for a moment or two and I mentioned I own a travel company and how bad things are at present for our industry. He replied, “I’m taking flights again, that’s good at least.” I asked if it was weird on planes. He said “no, I’ve heard of incidents but not on my flights,” he paused, smiled, cocked his head and said, “I don’t fly coach anyway.” This same guy ran out to the front of the restaurant and started screaming “YOU ARE ALL RACISTS! ALL OF YOU!” over and over as soon as the Trump parade happened by.

According to the police a competing ANTIFA rally was a few blocks away. They didn’t march past our restaurant though. Darn. I was hoping for a second parade.

One thing hit me during all of this. People are marching for Trump or against Trump for sure, but I think the above image of a boarded up Neiman Marcus on Wilshire Blvd. explains more about the angst and anger in our country than anything else. This is a store in the heart of Beverly Hills just a stones throw from Rodeo Drive. If a high-end boutique can’t survive there, where can it survive? The economy is in a tougher spot than people realize. COVID’s devastation will only show its true impact once the government stops writing checks and bailing out business. No doubt.

A few other random thoughts:

Another boutique that wasn’t boarded up and closed had this outfit in the window:

I think it was custom made for the Chairwoman of T-Mobile and she forgot to pick it up.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Palm trees against a crimson sky. LA sunsets are beautiful.

Coach has designed some limited edition Jean Michel Basquiat inspired hand bags.

The bag pictured is $395, but will probably be a collectors item before you know it. If you are inclined, buy it and put it in a closet and forget about it.

Restaurant: Mirame 419 N. CAÑON DR, BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210. Definitely recommend. Small bites Michelin starred chef.

Inside

So there is this guy on Wondery that does this podcast about the making of famous movies. The first two series were excellent: Inside Jaws and Inside Star Wars. I haven’t listened to the third or fourth installments Inside Psycho and Inside The Exorcist, but assume they are good.

I have to warn you though, the narrator voices every voice himself and it is really annoying…for about five minutes. Once you get used to it you’ll love it. I probably wouldn’t listen to the show anymore if he stopped doing all of the voices.

Hoping the next one is Inside The Godfather or Goodfellas.

Follow the host Mark Ramsay @markramseymedia on Twitter.