President's circle
A strategy U-turn at Hertz
Good morning, gearshift gurus. This is your Stock Market Rundown for January 23rd, 2024. Thank you for reading. Let’s get started:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
When you rent a car, you don’t really expect to have to hand-crank it to get it started. But that’s what it was like to rent a car from Hertz back in 1918, the year it was founded. The company launched with a fleet of twelve Model-T Fords—back then, the pinnacle of automotive technology.
John Hertz sold the business to General Motors in 1926, but then repurchased it in 1953 and took it public. Then later on, Ford Motor Company owned it for a period. Over its corporate lifetime, Hertz has been turned over more times than the odometer on my grandma’s Cadillac.
Hertz filed for bankruptcy in 2020—the pandemic travel pause made it crash like a demolition derby car. Upon its re-entry to public markets in 2021, management boldly announced Hertz would buy 100,000 Teslas, and later vowed to transition 25% of its fleet to electric.
Well, when Hertz put those Teslas on the road, they got a nasty surprise: fixing EVs after a crash costs thousands more than fixing regular cars. Plus, renters aren’t keen to pay up for a Tesla Model Y when they can get a perfectly acceptable Kia Sorento for less.
Upside: if you’re in the market for a used Tesla, Hertz’s fire sale is your chance to snap up your electrified dream car for a cut-rate price. Just don’t forget to check that odometer.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
The plants are evolving, and that’s trouble for us humans. Weeds are developing resistance to herbicides, leading to plants like waterhemp and ragweed spreading in farmers’ fields across North America. Unlike your cute little houseplants, these weeds are invaders that choke out crops.
Show of hands, who didn’t realize Walmart employees make this much money? The retailing giant is upping the average salary for store managers to $128,000 a year, plus bonuses. Downside: you might have to chase a few shoplifters down the power-tools aisle.
With sanctions preventing Russian airlines from buying planes from Boeing and Airbus, they’ve been forced to keep planes in service that are over 50 years old. If you’re flying from Moscow to Murmansk and happen to notice there are ashtrays in the armrests, keep your seatbelt securely fastened at all times.
For over a decade Samsung has been the #1 global smartphone maker, but not anymore. In 2023 Apple surpassed Samsung in number of handsets sold. Understandable… I hear green chat bubbles give girls the “ick”.
So concludes today’s program, friends; tune in tomorrow for more at our usual morning hour. Yours in capitalism, The Axe