Headlines of Interest for Holders of Preferred Stock or Baby Bonds

10 thoughts on “Headlines of Interest for Holders of Preferred Stock or Baby Bonds”

1. Diana Shipping, out of Athens, likes to pick ship names from Greek mythology. Alcmene is the birth mother of Heracles (Hercules, the famous rugged strong man) who got his name from his adoptive mother, the goddess Hera.

   Alcides was Hercules birth name, a rare name and coincidentally the same as my heavy-work shop mechanic. The other mechanic, a genuine Spartan, prefers rugged Hercules tires over Michelins. So let’s do some auto related / tariff / Made in USA / Greek myth / word association:

   Hercules all-terrain tires are popular for Jeep Wranglers (which are built in Toledo Ohio). A generic brand, they are made in Findlay Ohio USA by Cooper Tires, in turn owned by Goodyear Tire, based in Akron Ohio USA. GT
   The auto industry is notoriously cross-border, so this post is not Wholly Toledo. (pun) . Cooper now makes tires in Serbia for Europe and in China for China and export to Asia. USA Goodyear got pinched for cash so its selling its UK-Dunlop tire brand to Japanese-based Sumitomo, Goodyear will make UK-Dunlop tires for Sumitimo in Europe. I hear England seceded from Europe. Customs officers will be busy sorting this out.

   Wranglers with TerraTracs handle better in deep snow than Goodyear does on dry pavement on Wall Street. GT has skidded down 30% Y2Y. It trades in the single digits and doesn’t pay a dividend. Its market cap is a tenth of competitors Michelin and Bridgestone, GT has attracted some outside interest and some speculate that tariffs will help. Goodyear GT reports today, JMO. DYODD.

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   1. Bear,
      Ahh, memories of Toledo Ohio. Spent a week there decades ago on business. Never been back…
      https://youtu.be/0iuZQnMUbvg?si=Dt4Os8ZMU4ezij8F

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      1. I was in Toledo OH with my son last summer. I liked the changes I saw. Plenty of commercial space for creative small businesses. I collect vintage firecracker bricks and visited one of the older firework stores/ex-manufacturer called Miller Fireworks. My son who is young likes Pokemon so we visited some local card/comic stores. I saw a lot of new road construction and things seem better. Yea rough around the edges but it is that type of town that differs from everywhere else. So many unique small businesses there due to cheaper rents.

         One never knows what might spring up from such an area. Very different then the area where I live where you have to give an arm and a leg to start up a small biz.

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         1. I worked in Detroit decades ago. Toledo was a short hop away. Had a good impression. Was interested in art glass so I visited the local art museum. Toledo is famous for its glass manufacturing. Libbey housewares, LOF auto glass, O-I. The local food was basic and good. Saw the old Jeep plant, though I was a Ford driver then. The Midwest is seriously under-rated for good living. Less frantic than the coasts, and you can have a decent life style on less money.

            FYI – Goodyear reported and beat estimates on a less bad than expected earnings drop. 0.39 reported vs 0.31 estimated. JMO. DYODD.

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            1. So Bear interested in glass huh? Have you been to the Corning glass museum or the glass museum in Tacoma?

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               1. Never been to Corning. Tacoma, a drive through. Too much to see/do around Seattle, salmon swimming upstream or flying at Pike Place, expresso at OK Hotel, riding the ferries, seeing Tumwater.

                  More interested in buying art glass than looking at it in a museum. Glass is tactile – needs to be held up to the light to be appreciated. There are many artists markets/ street fairs (Ann Arbor) and studio open houses (Greenpoint) where you can buy directly from young artists and support their work. A lot of the work is surprisingly good and surprisingly inexpensive. JMO, DYODD,

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                  1. Bear, I forget about the glass studios Benicia. I keep wanting to get over there. I gave Christmas ornaments from the Glass Eye Studio in Seattle for years to my family. My sister was disappointed when I quit the tradition.
                     https://glasseye.com/collections/ornaments?srsltid=AfmBOopUiTySDD57phD94EJLnnbzS9KhNiDGlpCdFafLEP2qIi67iCc6
                     I used to collect depression era pottery, but ran out of room and none of my family wants the collection. Similar story to a lot of companies in America. Pottery studios in the 30’s and 40’s became quite successful then with the imports from Japan in the 60’s and 70’s most companies couldn’t compete with the cheap imports and went out of business.

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2. EIC…Vote of confidence thru June anyway….

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   1. Is their situation that precarious?

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      1. Their dividend is not covered currently and their floating rate portfolio of BB and B CLO debt will continue to rate reset off Term SOFR lower this and next quarter.

         Precarious, no. Dividend not covered and getting even less covered, yes.

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