- 2023-07-24
- Posted by: kimsite
- Categories: Commentary, Insights
Click here to listen to Part 1
Click here to listen to Part 2
NEIL CAVUTO: All right. It’s all anyone is talking about in the social media universe right now. Well, actually, they’re talking about a lot of other stuff, like how hot it is and the presidential race and what to make of the markets. But but for the purpose of this segment, it’s Elon Musk deciding to get rid of the bird. The Twitter bird is going away, even though it will still be called Twitter.com. Now he has a big, bold X in black or white, depending on on what you like to sort of entice people into believing that it is a whole a whole new creature and an online creature at that. Scott Martin who’s very hip with these things because I just discovered this thing called the Internet. So he thought he would help me out with it. But Scott, what do you make of this move? Will changing the name of the approach or the symbol or the marketing change what we’ve got here?
SCOTT MARTIN: Gosh, Neil, I mean, I’m sure Neil or Neil, I’m sure Elon Musk hopes so. But the reality is this, I mean, not that original. Just to throw a letter there and just kind of leave it at that. But maybe that’s the whole point here is just to make some controversy and kind of make it a shock value type thing. But it does speak to the fact, Neil, as we’ve seen with with Mr. Musk here and how he’s taken over Twitter and somewhat made it its own or made its own kind of being at this point rather than being under the control of some of the executives prior to is that it’s effectively a way for him to put another stamp on Twitter and make it kind of unique to what he wanted it to be. But does it end up really drawing people in, especially with Threads emerging on the meta platform and some of the other things that are out there? Probably not, because as we’ve seen, branding is branding, but effectiveness and efficiency and actually execution is really what brings them to the yard.
CAVUTO: Now obviously, if you have something he might not like, the prior management’s over at Twitter, I get that. But that that bird is iconic, I guess. And that’s a tough thing to change. And I’m just wondering, could it be a new Coke classic Coke battle here where, you know, you’re damaging a brand that however controversial it might be? I don’t know if there’s a lot of controversy here. You could be jeopardizing.
MARTIN: I agree with you. And I personally am going to miss the bird. I think the bird is a very soft, nice kind of subtle symbol that makes me feel good when I click on it, frankly. And you’re right. I mean, if we’re going to this new era or this new existence of Twitter, as it were, what really brings you in there? And is it this new existence and this new education that Twitter gives us That really is what people are coming for, I’m not so sure. So when he does this rebrand of the symbol and maybe even changes the name Twitter over the course of time, Neil, it’s got to bring something else to the table besides something cosmetic as such.
CAVUTO: Let’s switch to the markets. You don’t mind the Dow racing ahead. We’re up almost 200 points. This would be the 11th straight gain. You know the drill. You know, those who are short the market are getting drilled or at least short prominent down names of the Dow itself. This is extending today, unlike a couple of other days to the S&P and the Nasdaq. But, you know, some would argue it’s getting long in the tooth. Others would say, no, the Dow is just playing catch up because it’s way behind the gains in those averages, particularly in Nasdaq. Where are you on this?
MARTIN: Yes. And I think the Dow move here definitely cuts the mustard on where the market should be. However, when you speak of those getting drilled. Neil, you’re speaking about a lot of analysts, aside from a few of us on Fox Business here who have been talking about valuation in the market being too low, say, in January, February and March of this year. So listen, I think it can keep going. But the worry I have here is that as we get through earnings season, which likely will be better than expected as it has been the last couple of quarters, more folks that get on board Mo Forks, that more folks that change their tune, that jump in with that cash that they have on the sidelines and talk about how great the market is and how we’re not going to have this recession that 90% of people predicted, which never happens because it’s already foreseen and already in the cards, makes me a little bit worried that this might be a short term top in time to take some risk off the table.
CAVUTO: So when you say take some risk off the table, where is that risk?
MARTIN: Great question. So it’s usually in equities. Now, here’s the thing. The funny thing about equities this year is there’s been some great stories and some bad stories. So I think unfortunately, you have to start looking at some stuff that’s lagging, say, the consumer staples, health care, even industrials, or maybe even our good old friend, the shiny metal gold, which tends to hedge both against bonds and equities. I know it sounds crazy, man, but we’ve had a crazy run in the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 today. And actually this year, I think we’re going to continue to see gold get some fervor here, especially as the Fed takes a step back as that starts to say a few days.
CAVUTO: All right, Scott, great catching up with you, my friend, as always.
MARTIN: See you.
NEIL CAVUTO: I want to get Scott Martin’s quick reaction to this and some other matters. But, Scott, this goes through, and you have pilots who don’t necessarily approve a contract, and they could walk. We already know writers and actors are walking. This could build here and have a big impact.
SCOTT MARTIN: It’s a lot of walking that probably ends up running itself into the economy, Neil. And that’s really the scary thing. Now, we’ve seen this before with even the train system as well, where there’s a lot of talk, there’s a lot of bluff here, and then things get worked out in the 11th hour. Even our friends in DC have done that to us with the debt ceiling like 35,000 times. So I believe some cooler heads are going to prevail. There’s probably a little give and take from each side, but it’s certainly something to keep in mind here as the economy so desperately relies on these services.
CAVUTO: You know, switching gears, though, the backdrop for all of this is still pretty strong consumer-wise. And if he or she finds what they like in the movie theater, they’ll take advantage of that. Apparently, Barbie and Oppenheimer fit the bill. You know, the two of them together helped account for a big, big weekend of ticket sales for theaters across the country, the strongest this year at over 300 million. What do you make of all that?
MARTIN: An interesting match, isn’t it, between those two. Now, this may shock you, Neil. I own a lot of pink clothing. Yes, I know. That’s amazing to hear.
CAVUTO: It’s a family show here, but go ahead.
MARTIN: I don’t need an excuse. Right. Well, hey, let’s make it family. I don’t need an excuse to go out and wear my pink on this show.
CAVUTO: Whatever happens on this show, stays on this show. Go ahead.
MARTIN: That’s right. We’ll strike it from the record. But, Neil, I’m seeing a lot of people out there wearing their pink going to the movies. I mean, I was near some movie theaters this weekend, and they were mobbed. So it’s great to have, I guess, some buzz out there. It is the summer movie season, which is a lot of fun as we kind of prepare for the kids to go back to school. But one thing I’ll tell you, though, you see about movies these days, Halloween, by the way, is one of my favorite movies of all time. There are like 20 versions of them. Doesn’t it seem like there’s a lot of retreads in Hollywood these days of the same similar stories and things like that? Like, where’s our biography about us, man, The Taco Bell incident from last October, for example. That’s movie-worthy.
CAVUTO: It is movie-worthy. And you’ve been a gentleman about it. You know, one of the things, though, that interests me about this whole thing is I thought it was a weird pairing the way it was being marketed. Go see Barbie, go see Oppenheimer. And I thought of the late, great Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, who we know had this sort of guarded accent and discussion when he was talking about this. But I could just hear him saying, “Who is this Barbie?” And yet it worked, right? I mean, it clearly worked. And I’m thinking, if you’re savvy at this in Hollywood, you might do the same. You might start linking, you know, shows that have nothing to do with one another. Now, I know AMC started this, but it burst out across the country as, “Hey, yeah, we’re going to pair these two together.” What do you think?
MARTIN: It seems to work. I mean, maybe Barbie is the one pushing the button for the A-bomb. Maybe it’s the fact that people wanted to take the bomb to the Barbie franchise. Whatever it is, it seems to have worked. I mean, you showed the numbers earlier here. It’s pretty amazing considering that I thought one of these would succeed. I thought it’d be Oppenheimer. And it looks like Barbie is pulling ahead.
CAVUTO: Yeah, but, you know, is it Oppenheimer is an R-rated movie. It’s three hours long, kind of. No.
MARTIN: So you can’t bring kids under eight, right? I don’t know under eight, rather?
CAVUTO: I don’t know. And I’m just saying that my kids are of age. They don’t want to go with me. So I would be the person they would be taking, not the other way around. That’ll change soon enough for you, young man.
MARTIN: I’ll go with you, man.
CAVUTO: Okay. There you go. You’re the best. Scott Martin, thank you for all of that. I don’t know if…
