Meatless Snack Attack Feedback, Crocs Off Road, Virtual Padded Walls

Sarcasm Great Stuff vs. Reader Feedback Meat Loaf meme

Friday Feedback: The “Paradise By The Wall Street Lights” Edition

I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday. Trading by the Street, and there was not another stock in sight.

And I never had a reader looking any better than you did. And all the other newsletters were wishing they were me that night…

It’s Friday Feedback day, Great Ones! And it never felt so good — it never felt so right. The Great Stuff inbox is glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife. (Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife!)

So, come on! Hold tight!

Come on! Hold tight!

What I'd miss keep Greatness flowing meme

Though it’s cold on Wall Street in the deep dark night. You can see paradise by the Great Stuff lights!

Ain’t no doubt about it!

That’s right, Great Ones. Today’s the day we dive into the Great Stuff inbox like a bat outta hell to answer your stock market and investing questions … and ramble about whatever else you send my way.

If you wanna join in the conversation, all you have to do is email Great Stuff at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com!

And now for our featured presentation:

Meatless Musings

Boy, howdy, did we hit a nerve with Beyond Meat (Nasdaq: BYND) in yesterday’s Great Stuff. So many emails. I love it! Here’s a choice selection of what y’all bombarded me with:

Hi, ya alls,

A few observations to support the meatless trend. There are some people that have been put onto a Vegan diet for health reasons. From the past some will crave anything that remotely resembles meat. They will buy this stuff because they just can’t stomach another green salad…

— Larry

I prefer my plant-based food unprocessed or processed by animals (real meat) – not labs or factories.

— Bill W.

I could barely tell which side you fall on the fake meat fence. Usually, you are much more decisive.

— Dan G.

I’m writing to inquire if the author of your hit piece on meatless “meats” has ever even TRIED a vegan meat item? I inquire as an ethical vegetarian of over 35 years. My husband, a family doctor, and I started down the veg path LONG before most of today’s meatless products were even thought about…

So please stop with the portrayal of meatless products as icky, gross and disgusting slimy green “hippie food”. Please educate yourselves on the realities of today’s vegetarian foods vs. the screaming, crying, faces-laced, rotting, bloody inhumane mess you accept as being “good to eat”. I’ll be glad to help point you in the right direction if you have the courage to inquire further. Thank you.

— Jenny C.

I think that about covers all of your opinions.

OK, so … first things first. I make fun of literally everything, even if I like it. And my humor, while entertaining — mostly just entertaining for me — can make it hard to figure out where I stand on an investing topic sometimes. I get that.

Jenny and I go together meat sadwhiches meme

So, Jenny, Jenny (who can I turn to?) … you don’t have to give me vegan guidance to hold on to. It’s not that I don’t like vegetarian or vegan foods — it’s that I don’t particularly like Beyond Meat’s products.

They taste and smell like overcooked and burnt salmon croquettes — which, honestly, is an improvement over most fake meat offerings.

What I really love — and what I have several packages of in my freezer right now — is Impossible Foods’ meatless patties.

To me, Beyond Meat tastes like a vegetarian designed a meatless hamburger for vegetarians, while Impossible Food’s meatless wonders taste like they were designed to convert meat-eaters to a plant-based diet … which is to say they taste so much more like actual meat.

Honestly? I prefer actual hamburgers and real meat. Yes, Jenny, I find that “screaming, crying, faces-laced, rotting, bloody inhumane mess” to be absolutely delicious … and “good to eat” rarely enters into the equation, much to my doctor’s chagrin.

Furthermore, as so many of you pointed out, there are some very, very good reasons to switch to fake meat … global sustainability and personal health among them. I get it. I understand it. I’m working on moving that direction … mostly because I know my doctors are eventually gonna make me eat healthier. It is what it is.

When it comes to meatless meat, all I can do is keep on telling you. Keep on telling you…

I want BYND. I need BYND.

But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love BYND.

Now, don’t be sad. ‘Cause two out of three ain’t bad.

Baby we can talk all night, but that ain’t getting us nowhere. I told you everything I possibly can…

No. No, you didn’t. Where do you stand on investing in meatless meat?

Right, I forgot about Dan. The problem with the meatless meat trend is that there is really only one investment option: Beyond Meat.

While I don’t like Beyond Meat’s products, it’s a very savvy and well-run business. It has a massive vegan/vegetarian market to tap into, and Beyond’s revenue is only going to grow from here.

How can you have any pudding don't eat Beyond Meat meme

As Great One Harry M. wrote: “One billion folks in India are waiting for this.”

Ain’t that the truth. So, from an investing standpoint, I love BYND stock as a big player in the meatless meat market … I’m just not “in love” with the company’s products.

As I’ve said repeatedly about fake meat: “Customers want plant-based proteins if and only if they taste good — end of story.” And on that front, Impossible Foods wins hands down.

I can’t wait until Impossible finally goes public, which could happen this year.

To sum things up:

• I apparently joke too much.

• I like BYND stock.

• I don’t like BYND products (personal preference).

• I’d rather invest in and eat Impossible Foods.

• Impossible Foods might go public this year.

Finally, thank you to everyone who wrote in on Beyond Meat. I absolutely loved the conversation … yes, even Jenny.

If today’s meatless matters left you hungry for more investing insights, here’s a new tasty tidbit for you to munch on (Don’t worry — it’s vegan approved):

Yesterday, Ian King revealed a trading strategy called Profit Framing that’s been handed down by professional traders for decades.

What makes Profit Framing so unique is that these trades not only pay you upfront every time you trade … but also let you choose how much profit you could make on each trade.

Click here for all the details.

All right, Great Ones. If you’d like to continue the great meatless debate, email us at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com. With that out of the way, let’s see what else the Great Stuff inbox has to offer:

Out Of The Frying Pan…

Years ago, I worked as an ER Doc for a large hospital that had a large psych wing. The ER role was to screen the patients and then have them escorted to the floor for admission. Once in the psych ward, it was hard to tell the patients from the staff as the moronic nursing director thought that it was threatening to the patients to have the staff wearing name tags!!! But I digress, the METAVERSE is where all these types will meet again…

Glad to be out of the ER (after > 100,000 patients.)… HNX Mr H!!! — Bill in Nürnberg

Wanted the metaverse but not like this Walmart meme

Guten Tag, Bill. Thanks for writing in!

So, you’re worried that people like your moronic nursing director or your former patients (or both!) will all meet up in the metaverse?

I completely understand your fears. However, I would argue that they are already all meeting up online in places like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Reddit.

At least in the metaverse, we can give them fake padded walls to play with and keep them occupied.

Even better, since you will likely be able to control your own interface with the metaverse to some degree … you can personally give them name tags.

Imagine the fun you can have with that!

To be clear, I like the idea of the metaverse … but mainly for video games. I like the idea of a completely immersive experience that puts me right in the action of places and things I will likely never be able to do in real life.

What I don’t like is Nike NFTs or virtually shopping in a Walmart. The metaverse has unlimited possibilities, and corporations think I want to virtually walk down the same Walmart aisles in virtual Nikes shopping for the digital versions of the same real-world stuff I have at home? Seriously?

Now that is insane in the membrane.

I think the most profitable metaverse investments are the ones that will drive creativity and expansion … not the ones that try to mimic daily life.

Bill, you’ve probably already read this, but if the rest of you want a list of five stocks I think will rule the metaverse, click here now.

I love your rants, Bill. Thanks again for writing in!

For Crying Out Loud

That EV with Duracell batteries! Where could I get one of those? Oh… I know, Toys R Us.

— Don G.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Don, but Toys ‘R Us is gone. It has joined the choir invisible. It is an ex-toy store.

I used to be a Toys ‘R Us kid, Don. And now I’m sad. Thanks for reopening that wound.

(By the way, if you were actually looking for electric vehicle (EV) batteries … skip the Duracells. They’re never included anyway. One startup has cracked the EV battery code — click here to learn more.)

But I Won’t Do That…

OK so, Crocs are GREAT! Particularly the Off Road version with thick soles and velcro adjustable heal strap. I like the camouflage pattern and wear them pretty much every single day! You really need to grow a pair and get a pair!

Sure wish I would have picked up some CROX stock over a year ago when I was considering it! What a run! — Brent J

And I would do anything Great Ones — I’d run right into hell and back.

I would do anything, Great Ones. I’ll never lie to you, and that’s a fact.

But I’ll never forget to wear socks and shoes, oh no. No way.

And I would do anything Great Ones, but I won’t wear Crocs.

No, I won’t do that.

Thanks for writing in, Brent. I’m glad you like your camouflage, offroad, Velcro Crocs. And, clearly, you’re not alone or Crocs wouldn’t be making bank right now. But I’m never going to buy a pair myself. I’m just not Crocs’ demographic.

I’m more of a Doc Martens kinda guy. They keep my toes safe in the mosh pits, after all.

But Crocs the company and stock? They have potential if this casual footwear trend lasts beyond the pandemic. I’m not convinced, but stranger things have happened.

Keep on crocin’ it, Brent.

That wraps it up for this week. On a final note, you may have noticed today’s Meat Loaf theme in the lyrics. Rest in peace, ya crazy rocker! You will be missed.

If you have any stock market questions, investing rants or stocks you want covered in the hallowed halls of Great Stuff, email us at GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com.

In the meantime, here’s where you can find our other junk — erm, I mean where you can check out some more Greatness: