Strive Asset Management announced a new <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street" target="_blank" rel="noopener">index fund</a> that will push corporate America to pursue <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">profits</a> rather than <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/woke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social</a> agendas.
The company, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-want-companies-to-stay-out-of-politics-ceo-launches-fund-to-take-on-woke-asset-managers">launched</a> earlier this year by entrepreneur <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/vivek-ramaswamy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, will sell its Strive 500 exchange-traded fund (ETF) — a basket of shares meant to track the profits of the nation’s 500 largest companies — on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker STRV. The firm will use “proxy voting and shareholder engagement” to press portfolio companies to maximize “value over all other agendas,” according to a statement from Strive obtained by The Daily Wire.
“Our message to America’s largest companies is simple: focus on your mission, not someone else’s social agenda,” Ramaswamy explained. “Hire talent based on merit over other social factors. We hope to drive positive change through our shareholder engagement.”
The approach appears to counter entities such as BlackRock and Vanguard, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-three-investment-firms-are-turning-companies-like-disney-woke-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back">compel portfolio companies</a> to embrace the environmental, social, and governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESG</a>) movement, which requires the adoption of objectives such as staff diversity quotas, renewable energy transitions, and other policies that mingle left-wing politics with profitability.
The company sent multiple shareholder letters to ask portfolio companies about their reasons for pursuing social agendas that appear to be unrelated to their business objectives.
“Over the past year, Disney has become embroiled in political controversies that have unquestionably damaged Disney’s brand,” Strive <a href="https://strive.com/strive-asset-management-letter-to-disney/">wrote</a> to Disney in reference to parental rights legislation in Florida. “We ask a simple question: what risk-reward calculus justifies taking controversial political positions that risk derailing Disney’s otherwise strong economic prospects by alienating a majority of your customer base?”
Indeed, new domestic subscriptions for streaming service Disney+ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-subscriptions-at-ultra-woke-disney-slow-to-a-crawl-after-company-loses-left-wing-political-battles">slowed to a crawl</a> in the quarter following Disney’s opposition to the bill. In an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-poll-over-60-of-americans-back-floridas-limits-on-k-3-lessons-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity">exclusive poll</a> from The Daily Wire, 64% of Americans — including 62% of Democrats and 57% of independents — supported the Florida legislation, which prohibited students from kindergarten through third grade from learning about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.
In a similar <a href="https://strive.com/strive-asset-management-letter-to-apple/">letter</a>, Strive questioned a “racial equity audit” enacted by Apple. “Racial equity audits generally do not help the ‘audited’ companies: the publication of such reports often trigger more negative news, criticism, and boycotts of the company by certain consumers, while also alienating other consumers who disapprove of the company’s decision to conduct such an audit at all,” the message said. “Such reports may also fuel unwarranted government investigations, employee grievances and meritless discrimination claims.”
According to another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">exclusive poll</a> from The Daily Wire released earlier this year, roughly 58% of investors said that executives enacting their own political agendas rather than maximizing profits is a “bad thing.” As Ramaswamy discussed on a recent episode of “<a href="http://v">The Search</a>” with Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro, many investors are today recognizing that asset managers are encouraging left-wing social activism without accounting for any potential decline in firm performance.
While the pension funds of states such as California and New York still request certain political and social stipulations of their asset managers, officials from conservative states are likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-street-is-trying-to-punish-middle-america-for-religious-and-cultural-views-through-woke-investing-republican-state-treasurers-warn">sounding the alarm</a> over ESG and the risk it poses to their citizens’ way of life. Most recently, the government of Texas <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-cuts-ties-with-blackrock-other-woke-firms-over-their-hatred-for-fossil-fuels">cut ties</a> with BlackRock, UBS, and other firms that are hostile toward the oil industry “without an ordinary business purpose.”

Vivek Ramaswamy

Firm Launches Asset That Will Tell Corporate America To Put Profits Before Politics

Vivek Ramaswamy's Company Launches Asset That Will Tell Firms To Put Profits Before Left-Wing Agendas

BlackRock

Business

Stock Market

Wall Street

Wokeness

Left-wing activism on the part of corporations has hardly been unusual in recent years. What often flies under the radar, however, is how frequently progressive groups are able to strong-arm private businesses into entering the arena of politics against their will. Credit card companies being forced to track the sales of guns and ammunition is just such a situation.
After years of gun control measures failing at the ballot box and the Supreme Court, Amalgamated Bank — the largest union-owned bank in the country — hit upon a way to end-run around voters and the Constitution.
Billing the company as the nation’s most socially-responsible bank, its CEO Priscilla Sims Brown began lobbying the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to create a four-digit merchant code to track the sale of guns and ammunition purchased on credit. As a global standards body, the Geneva-based ISO has no authority to make laws or enforce regulations. But like many other American industries, the financial services sector willingly allows the group to set policies for their business.
When Brown first made her request to ISO in July 2021, arguing that it’s necessary to stop mass shootings and crack down on gun trafficking, the credit card companies pushed back. As part of an advisory committee on ISO’s decision, American Express argued that employing a specific merchant code in such a narrow retail category would be too difficult. &#8220;Managing long lists of narrowly defined MCCs can become burdensome if there isn&#8217;t a compelling reason for the long list,” Amex wrote. To the company&#8217;s point, while most retail items like groceries and other common goods have merchant codes, they tend to be broad. Before this, for instance, gun sales were simply classified under sporting goods.
MasterCard acknowledged to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bank-credit-cards-suspect-gun-ammo-sales/">CBS</a> at the time that the company “[believes] that it is the responsibility of elected officials to enact meaningful policies to address the issue of gun violence.&#8221; In other words, MasterCard felt the question of whether it is appropriate to track gun purchases properly belongs to the legislators, accountable to the will of the people, rather than an unelected global administrative state.
Amalgamated’s petition was denied.
Yet Brown wasn&#8217;t done. She appealed the decision in February, but was again denied because the code would only apply to small stores that specifically deal in firearms and ammunitions. It wouldn’t capture guns and ammunition purchases at general retailers like Walmart or big sporting goods chains like Dick&#8217;s, placing an undue burden on small venders.
Running a financial institution backed by the SEIU and Workers United, Brown is in a better position than most executives to understand how to ratchet up pressure to achieve desired political outcomes. She went back to ISO a third time after giving <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/business/dealbook/gun-violence-amalgamated-bank-code.html">numerous</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bank-credit-cards-suspect-gun-ammo-sales/">media</a> <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2022/07/14/amalgamated-ceo-on-tackling-gun-reform-track-gun-purchases-through-merchant-codes.html">interviews</a> and soliciting support from the anti-Second-Amendment group, Guns Down America, as well as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and around 40 Congressional Democrats, who sent a letter to the credit card companies urging them to back Brown’s request.
MasterCard and Visa once again made it clear that they did not back the measure, with Visa saying in a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/credit-card-sales-of-guns-and-ammo-merchant-codes/">response</a> to Democrats, “We believe that asking payment networks to serve as a moral authority by deciding which legal goods can or cannot be purchased sets a dangerous precedent.”
This time, however, the pleas of the financial services giants fell on deaf ears. On September 9, ISO agreed to create the new merchant category code.
The issues critics, including the credit card companies themselves, have brought up regarding the gun purchase code have not disappeared — only purchases at mom and pop gun dealers will be tracked and the Democratic process had no hand in the decision. Visa went so far as to post a statement to its web site on September 13, registering its disagreement with the decision. &#8220;It would be an invasion of consumers’ privacy for banks and payment networks to know each of our most personal purchasing habits. Visa is firmly against this,&#8221; it stated.
Yet the company, along with MasterCard, Amex, and Discovery, says it plans to abide by ISO’s ruling, though the body holds no power over them.
Republicans are beginning to mount a response to what they say could easily become a national gun registry.
“I mean, obviously, [the credit card companies] have been pressured to do this,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told The Daily Wire. “We do know that there have been Wall Street banks that have not been willing to provide financial services to people in the firearm industry — that is not anything new. That says to me, this is just one more data point in a direction of a lot of very powerful financial institutions wanting to do indirectly what elected Democrats have not been able to do directly, in terms of in terms of restricting the firearms industry.”
A group of 100 House Republicans, led by New York’s Elise Stefanik, have sent letters to Mastercard, American Express and Visa seeking information about their reported decision to begin implementing the tracking codes. &#8220;Of course, there is no accepted, consistent, scientific, or legitimate way to determine from this date what is and what is not a ‘suspicious’ purchase,&#8221; the letter read. &#8220;A gun control advocate could view any desire to own or obtain a firearm as per se suspicious. Instead, this is a transparent attempt to chill the exercise of constitutionally protected rights and to circumvent existing legal restrictions on the creation of firearm registries by the government.&#8221;
The NRA too, is pushing back, saying in a statement, “Implying that firearm purchases are suspicious demonstrates an obvious bias these attorneys general hold against choosing to exercise a fundamental constitutional right.”
What the history of corporate politics demonstrates, though, is just how difficult it is to get companies to reverse course, even when they’re headed in a direction they clearly don’t want to go.

Credit card detail photo focused on raised printed numbers

How The Left Is Forcing Credit Card Companies To Become Anti-Gun Activists

Banks

Gun Sales

Leftists

Readers Pass

Visa

Asset management <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/business">company</a> BlackRock contends that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve">Federal Reserve</a> is not effectively maintaining a balance between reducing <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> and avoiding a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/recession">downturn</a> amid widespread pressure to control higher prices.
Year-over-year inflation reached 8.5% in July 2022, according to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">data</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a slight moderation from the 9.1% reading in June 2022 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-starts-victory-lap-amid-slightly-less-dismal-inflation-reading">driven</a> by lower energy prices — even as costs for food, new vehicles, medical care, and shelter continue to rise. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jerome-powell-vows-to-restore-price-stability-even-though-federal-reserve-must-first-bring-some-pain">hawkish speech</a> at the central bank’s recent symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that policymakers are willing to “bring some pain” in their efforts to combat inflation.
BlackRock analysts, therefore, said in a <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/ae/intermediaries/insights/global-weekly-commentary">market commentary</a> that the central bank’s policies have been too aggressive. “We think they’re not prioritizing economic implications over pressure to curb inflation,” they remarked. “It seems they do not intend, for now, to manage the sharp trade-off between inflation and growth. That’s a big deal. We think getting inflation back to central bank targets means crushing demand with a recession. That’s bad news for risk assets in the near term.”
To stimulate the economy after COVID and the lockdown-induced recession, the Federal Reserve <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-releases-plan-to-more-urgently-address-high-inflation">pegged</a> a near-zero target interest rate and began buying $120 billion in assets each month — policies intended to lower the cost of borrowing while increasing the amount of liquidity in the economy. With the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-hikes-interest-rates-again-to-combat-bidenflation">rollback</a> of loose monetary policy, however, the cost of borrowing increases, introducing constraints upon business activity and consumer spending.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink noted during an <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-discusses-inflation-esg-investing-energy-sector">interview</a> with Fox Business that “very large” fiscal stimulus packages in the United States and Europe render central bankers’ work to manage inflation “much harder.”
&#8220;We have a disconnect between what policy is being proposed and what the responsibilities of these central banks are,&#8221; Fink commented. “We’ve created policies that are very inflationary.”
President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-signs-740-billion-inflation-reduction-act">recently signed</a> the Inflation Reduction Act — a $740 billion package that includes $369 billion in climate spending. Though administration officials have claimed that the bill decreases the federal deficit, Fink said that “whatever deficit reduction” produced by the law has been offset by other policy proposals.
Fink also acknowledged that the United States is “technically” in a recession given “raw” economic statistics, although economists in the White House have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-economy-identifies-as-growing">rejected</a> such claims. The United States met the rule-of-thumb definition of a recession — two consecutive quarters of negative growth — last month as the economy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-economy-shrinks-in-the-first-part-of-2022">shrank</a> at a 1.5% annualized rate in the first quarter and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-in-a-recession-after-second-straight-quarter-of-negative-growth">contracted</a> at a 0.6% pace in the second quarter.
BlackRock has played a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/investment-giant-blackrock-loses-1-7-trillion-in-six-months">pivotal role</a> in encouraging a shift to renewable energy through its embrace of the environmental, social, and governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg">ESG</a>) movement. As California faces <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-democrat-made-fun-of-texas-for-power-issues-now-hes-reminding-his-state-to-brace-for-blackouts">rolling blackouts</a> and the European Union responds to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/germany-reverts-to-burning-coal-will-keep-two-nuclear-plants-open-ahead-of-winter-months">soaring electricity prices</a>, Fink appeared to acknowledge that a “long-term transition” to green power sources is necessary.
&#8220;We do believe investing in infrastructure is going to be a good alternative,&#8221; he commented. &#8220;Investing in water, investing in gas, investing in hydrogen — these are all going to be great long-term investments for retirees.&#8221;

Blackrock Chairman And CEO Larry Fink Visits “The Claman Countdown”

BlackRock Argues Federal Reserve Is Not Maintaining Balance Between Cutting Inflation, Avoiding Downturn

BlackRock Says Federal Reserve Has Been Too Aggressive With Rate Hikes

Federal Reserve

Inflation

Recession

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jp-morgan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JPMorgan Chase</a> CEO Jamie Dimon called for increased <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/gas-prices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oil and gas</a> production last week as part of a program to ensure American energy independence.
Dimon, one of the most experienced and influential chief executives on <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wall Street</a>, quipped about the economy and other global issues during a wide-ranging call with investors, as originally reported by <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jamie-dimon-sounds-off-morning-brief-110044236.html">Yahoo! Finance</a>. In addition to forecasting that <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inflation</a> will not “dissipate that quickly” and pinning dismal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/consumer-sentiment-plummets-to-lowest-level-since-1950s">consumer confidence</a> on “partisan politics and a lot of leftover anger from COVID-19,” he appeared to push for a brand of “woke capitalism” that prioritizes economic opportunity.
“You can ignore the bad part of society. Not hire from them. Not drive through the parts of town. I think it is a mistake because our society is worse off if we don&#8217;t lift up everybody,&#8221; Dimon commented. &#8220;It is far more than woke capitalism.”
Dimon recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-not-woke-2022-6">insisted</a> that he is not “woke” but nevertheless defended “stakeholder capitalism” — the notion that companies have a mandate to involve themselves in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/esg-the-invisible-fist-of-the-economy">social issues</a> while maximizing profits for shareholders. Yet he argued last week that “it is a good thing to lift up our fellow citizens” through economic opportunity, since jobs “bring dignity,” lead to “household formation,” and “reduce crime.” Referring to high rates of youth unemployment in parts of Europe, Dimon added that such situations ensure those nations are “going to have a social problem.”
On the topic of climate change, Dimon contended that high energy prices are pushing many nations to rely upon coal — a phenomenon that could easily be averted through greater oil and gas production.
“We should focus on climate. The problem with that is because of high oil and gas prices, the world is turning back on their coal plants,” he remarked. “It is dirtier. Why can&#8217;t we get it through our thick skulls, that if you want to solve climate, it is not against climate for America to boost more oil and gas?”
The national average price of gasoline was $2.38 per gallon when President Joe Biden assumed office, according to the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&amp;s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_NUS_DPG&amp;f=W">Energy Information Administration</a>, and increased to $3.53 per gallon by the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prices surpassed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gas-prices">$5.00 per gallon</a> in early June before subsiding to $3.95 per gallon as of Tuesday, according to <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">AAA</a>. Yet the commander-in-chief <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/peter-doocy-asks-for-a-straight-answer-on-keystone-gets-the-runaround-from-jen-psaki">nixed</a> an expansion of the Keystone XL Pipeline upon his entrance into office, while top White House officials have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pete-buttigieg-tells-americans-how-they-can-channel-their-pain-at-the-pump">claimed</a> that higher fuel prices will accelerate renewable energy adoption in the United States.
In a <a href="https://reports.jpmorganchase.com/investor-relations/2021/ar-ceo-letters.htm">letter</a> to shareholders written earlier this year, Dimon responded to the Russian invasion by calling for a new “Marshall Plan” — a callback to the World War II policies that rebuilt Europe — centered upon a diverse portfolio of American energy.
“While the United States is fairly energy independent, we need to increase our energy production and get more gas (in the form of liquefied natural gas) to Europe immediately,” he wrote. “Our work with all of our allies should include urging them to both increase their production and deliver some of it to Europe. To do this, we also need immediate approval for additional oil leases and gas pipelines, as well as permits for green energy projects &#8230; we cannot accomplish our goals with misguided and counterproductive policies.”
Meanwhile, Biden is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/money-swells-into-climate-stocks-as-biden-gears-up-to-sign-740-billion-bill">preparing</a> to sign the $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $369 billion to combat “the existential crisis of climate change.”

Key Speakers At The IIF Annual Membership Meeting

JPMorgan CEO Scoffs At Climate-Crazy Energy Policies, Gives His Take On ‘Woke Capitalism’

JPMorgan CEO Calls For More Oil And Gas Production

JP Morgan

Scion Asset Management founder Michael Burry — whose story was featured in the film “The Big Short” after he predicted the 2008 housing <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/recession" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crisis</a> — has sold all of his firm’s <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stocks</a> except for one, according to a Monday <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001649339/000156761922015999/0001567619-22-015999-index.htm">filing</a> with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
After holding stock in firms such as Meta and Alphabet by its previous <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001649339/000156761922010747/0001567619-22-010747-index.htm">filing</a> submitted at the end of March, the firm has cut its <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-15/burry-s-scion-hedge-fund-cuts-long-us-stock-holdings-to-just-one">holdings</a> from $165 million to $3.3 million. Scion reported holding no stocks save 500,000 shares of GEO Group by the end of June, which invests in private prisons and mental health systems.
Burry made a name for himself by betting against technology stocks during the dot-com bubble, earning 55% returns while the S&amp;P 500 dropped 12%, according to a profile in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-burry-life-story-2017-5">Business Insider</a>. Burry likewise bet against the housing market after evaluating bank balance sheets and subprime mortgage data, earning $100 million for himself and $700 million for his investors — an experience that formed the basis of the 2015 film “The Big Short,” in which actor Christian Bale stars as Burry.
At the end of last week, Burry warned about consumers&#8217; tendency to spend even through economic turmoil. “Net consumer credit balances are rising at record rates as consumers choose violence rather than cut back on spending in the face of inflation,” he said per <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/investing/mr-big-short-issues-a-dire-warning-about-the-economy">The Street</a>. “Remember the savings glut problem? No more. COVID helicopter cash taught people to spend again, and it&#8217;s addictive. Winter coming.”
Indeed, several metrics show that consumers’ financial troubles are on the rise following COVID and the lockdown-induced recession. Debt service payments for consumer loans as a percentage of disposable income have risen from 5.1% during the second quarter of 2020 to 5.6% during the first quarter of 2022 after a marked decline, according to the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CDSP">Federal Reserve Board of Governors</a>. The number of general-purpose credit cards surged past 500 million for the first time during the second quarter, according to a report from <a href="https://eresearch.fidelity.com/eresearch/markets_sectors/news/story.jhtml?storyid=202208040800PRIMZONEFULLFEED8612202&amp;amp;provider=PRIMZONE&amp;amp;product=FULLFEED&amp;amp;category=sectorNews&amp;amp;gic=25">Fidelity</a>. TransUnion Vice President of Research and Consulting Michele Raneri noted in the report that “high inflation and rising interest rates” are primary challenges impacting Americans’ personal finances.
Last month, the United States met the technical definition of a recession since the economy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-economy-shrinks-in-the-first-part-of-2022">shrank</a> at a 1.5% annualized rate in the first quarter and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-in-a-recession-after-second-straight-quarter-of-negative-growth">contracted</a> at a 0.9% pace in the second quarter. In response, the Biden administration has been carrying out <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-does-preemptive-damage-control-as-economy-heads-toward-recession">damage control</a> by eroding the rule-of-thumb definition.
“While some maintain that two consecutive quarters of falling real GDP constitute a recession, that is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle,” the White House said in a recent blog post. “Instead, both official determinations of recessions and economists’ assessment of economic activity are based on a holistic look at the data — including the labor market, consumer and business spending, industrial production, and incomes. Based on these data, it is unlikely that the decline in GDP in the first quarter of this year — even if followed by another GDP decline in the second quarter — indicates a recession.”

“The Big Short” New York Premiere – Outside Arrivals

‘The Big Short’ Investor Who Famously Predicted 2008 Recession Sells All But One Of His Stocks

Several Republican state attorneys general informed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wall-street" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asset manager</a> BlackRock last week that its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shareholder</a> activism efforts “may violate multiple state laws.”
The officials’ <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/executive-management/BlackRock%20Letter.pdf">letter</a>, written in response to a communication from BlackRock Chief Client Officer Mark McCombe claiming that the firm is agnostic on the question of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">renewable energy</a>, contended that BlackRock’s efforts to promote climate policy shows that they act with “mixed motives” beyond the pursuit of profits.
“Rather than being a spectator betting on the game, BlackRock appears to have put on a quarterback jersey and actively taken the field,” the letter said. The officials pointed to BlackRock’s <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/our-commitment-to-sustainability-full-report.pdf">Investment Stewardship Report</a>, which announced that the firm “took voting action on climate issues” against 53 of its portfolio companies in 2020 while putting 191 others “on watch.”
Likewise, the attorneys general noted that BlackRock has aligned itself with groups such as the Net Zero Managers Alliance and Climate Action 100+ — the latter of which “aims to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change” by forcing companies to comply with the Paris Agreement.
“BlackRock’s past public commitments indicate that it has used citizens’ assets to pressure companies to comply with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement that force the phase-out of fossil fuels, increase energy prices, drive inflation, and weaken the national security of the United States,” the letter said. “These agreements have never been ratified by the United States Senate. The Senators elected by the citizens of this country determine which international agreements have the force of law, not BlackRock.”
BlackRock — which maintains a 4.2% stake in <a href="https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AAPL&amp;subView=institutional">Apple</a>, a 4.5% stake in <a href="https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=MSFT&amp;subView=institutional">Microsoft</a>, and a 3.6% stake in <a href="https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AMZN&amp;subView=institutional">Amazon</a> — is among the most influential asset managers in the world. Combined with the holdings of Vanguard and State Street, the three firms control an average <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-three-investment-firms-are-turning-companies-like-disney-woke-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back">20% stake</a> in every Fortune 500 company and have been willing to jointly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/activist-investors-are-seizing-companies-to-push-social-justice-measures">exercise their power</a> toward activist ends.
According to the attorneys general, such activism implies a departure from the maximization of returns for shareholders. “BlackRock has a private motivation that differs from its public commitments and statements,” the letter continued. “This is likely insufficient to satisfy state laws requiring a sole focus on financial return. Our states will not idly stand for our pensioners’ retirements to be sacrificed for BlackRock’s climate agenda.”
Amid its commitment to the Environmental, Social, and Governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESG</a>) movement — by which executives commit themselves to pursuing green energy, appointing a certain number of minorities to serve as managers, or otherwise blending profitability with a Left-wing agenda — BlackRock <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/investment-giant-blackrock-loses-1-7-trillion-in-six-months">lost</a> over $1.7 trillion in client assets during the first half of 2022. According to one analysis from <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-07-20/how-blackrock-lost-1-7-trillion-in-six-months">Bloomberg</a>, no other firm has ever lost more money over a six-month period than BlackRock.
“The first half of 2022 brought an investment environment that we have not seen in decades,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in the company’s second quarter <a href="https://s24.q4cdn.com/856567660/files/doc_financials/2022/Q2/BLK-2Q22-Earnings-Release.pdf">earnings report</a>. “Investors are simultaneously navigating high inflation, rising rates and the worst start to the year for both stocks and bonds in half a century, with global equity and fixed income indexes down 20% and 10%, respectively.”
BlackRock and other large asset managers direct the policies of corporate America on the basis of their clients’ funds — which is often the retirement and pension savings of typical American investors. However, an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">Daily Wire poll conducted by Echelon Insights</a> showed earlier this year that 64% of respondents believe “individual investors whose savings are being invested” should decide whether retirement funds and pension plans are allocated according to ESG criteria. A mere 20% believe that “Wall Street asset managers” should make such decisions.

BlackRock offices in New York City. Founded in 1988,

BlackRock May Have Broken The Law With Its Woke Investing Schemes, Republicans Argue

Climate Change

Wall Street asset fund managers and the federal government are aggressively pushing the use of non-financial factors to guide investment strategies. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics promise to open a path for people to invest with value preferences and make more money doing it. The Biden Administration has even gone as far as to <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/dol-s-esg-and-proxy-voting-proposal-8196860/">propose</a> a rule that would require fund managers to consider “climate change related factors” when investing. However, there is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/esg-feeds-inflation-hurts-growth-business-roundtable-dei-stakeholders-profit-economy-stagflation-11657050965">growing criticism</a> that values-based investing is contributing to the record inflation that has plunged the economy into a<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-economy-shrank-second-quarter-entering-technical-recession"> recession</a>.
A primary focus of ESG is decarbonizing the economy by utilizing sustainable goods. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/larry-fink-ceo-letter?cid=ppc:CEOLetter:PMS:US:NA&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwxIOXBhCrARIsAL1QFCam1nofBewyzbQaYw3q4xSQrQFinPD5o5WkY0va2B0nGkvYVdbDK-EaAuHmEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">Annual Letter</a> notes the challenge of this endeavor by stressing the need for “honesty” because “green products often come at a higher cost today” or what he calls a “green premium”. CBS News said <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buying-green-is-too-pricey-for-the-average-consumer/">three years ago</a> that green products are “too pricey” for the average consumer and appeal to affluent shoppers. One estimate even deems sustainable products to be <a href="https://www.nl.kearney.com/consumer-retail/article/-/insights/why-todays-pricing-is-sabotaging-sustainability">75-85 percent more costly</a> than conventional ones. Translation: ESG is expensive.
Regardless, ESG policies that increase costs for businesses and consumers march on. For example, Southwest Airlines <a href="https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2022/06-01-2022-180048947">announced </a>in June that it is investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as part of a Department of Energy backed program. SAF is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/11/sustainable-aviation-fuel-costs-more-but-consumers-willing-to-pay-iata.html">twice the cost</a> of conventional jet fuel which means that Southwest will pass costs to their passengers. Perhaps coincidentally, <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/24/southwest-airlines-unveils-fares-change-to-attract-travelers/">in March</a> the airline announced the creation of a fourth fare category designed to boost revenue by attracting more business people. Southwest’s decision to invest in SAF appears counterintuitive until you consider the pressure that publicly traded companies are under from Wall Street and the federal government to boost their climate change credentials. Unfortunately, Main Street pays the price.
The infatuation with sustainability practices corresponds with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-13/us-inflation-accelerates-to-9-1-once-again-exceeding-forecasts#xj4y7vzkg">9.1% record inflation</a> prompting the Fed to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/fed-decision-july-2022-.html">again hike interest</a> rates .75% and another <a href="https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product">decline in GDP</a>. Asset management firm Alliance Bernstein recently issued a <a href="https://www.alliancebernstein.com/americas/en/institutions/solutions/insights-and-solutions/the-intimate-linkage-of-esg-and-inflation-esg-and-the-hegelian-dialectic.html">white paper</a> titled “The Intimate Linkage of ESG and Inflation.” David Henderson and Marc Joffe opined in the Wall Street Journal that ESG “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/esg-feeds-inflation-hurts-growth-business-roundtable-dei-stakeholders-profit-economy-stagflation-11657050965">depresses output and raises prices</a>” because corporations divert attention from maximizing profits. The evidence that ESG practices contribute to inflation cannot be denied. The question is how long can middle-class Americans continue to foot the bill for a social experiment that’s making it harder for them to put food on the kitchen table and purchase baby formula?
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) rule making will exacerbate the issue by directing that fund managers “<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/14/2021-22263/prudence-and-loyalty-in-selecting-plan-investments-and-exercising-shareholder-rights">should” take into account “climate-related financial risk” factors</a>. The <a href="https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/10/rubio-slams-biden-s-new-woke-investment-rule">rule would impact</a> over 140 million workers and roughly $8 trillion in assets and has drawn sharp criticism from Capitol Hill. <a href="https://www.braun.senate.gov/sen-braun-colleagues-introduce-bill-maximize-americans-retirement-funds">Several Republican Senators recently joined</a> in sponsoring the <a href="https://www.braun.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2022-07/WIL22235.pdf">Maximize Americans’ Retirement Security Act</a>, which would void the DOL guidance. The administration should abandon the DOL’s proposed ERISA rule rather than doubling down on an ESG ideological crusade that is contributing to our economic nose-dive.
ESG policies driven by Wall Street fund managers and our federal government deserve a closer examination because of evidence that they have triggered record inflation that is at the root of our recession. Main Street Americans can’t afford the “green premium” that comes with sustainable products being shoved down their throats by companies like Southwest and the federal government. The Biden Administration’s ERISA rule will add to the chaos by exposing $8 trillion in assets to costlier investments based on unproven climate-related financial factors. As Larry Fink said, we need honesty.
Chuck Flint is an attorney and former U.S. Senate chief of staff.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Readers-Pass—Flint—ESG-And-Biden’s-Recession

‘Green Premium’: Wall Street’s Leftist ESG Standards Are Making Inflation Worse

Biden Admin

Environmentalism

BlackRock <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">lost</a> $1.7 trillion of its clients’ money since the beginning of the year — the largest sum ever lost by a single <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business">firm</a> over a six-month period, according to a Wednesday report from <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-07-20/how-blackrock-lost-1-7-trillion-in-six-months">Bloomberg</a> analyst Marc Rubenstein.
Among BlackRock’s largest holdings are technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Tesla, according to <a href="https://whalewisdom.com/filer/blackrock-inc#tabholdings_tab_link">filings</a> with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), even though technology firms were the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs">lay off</a> large portions of their staff as the stock market entered its months-long tailspin.
“The first half of 2022 brought an investment environment that we have not seen in decades,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in the company’s second quarter <a href="https://s24.q4cdn.com/856567660/files/doc_financials/2022/Q2/BLK-2Q22-Earnings-Release.pdf">earnings report</a>. “Investors are simultaneously navigating high inflation, rising rates and the worst start to the year for both stocks and bonds in half a century, with global equity and fixed income indexes down 20% and 10%, respectively.”
Rubenstein attributed the loss to an increased reliance on passive investment, which tends to suffer during short-term declines in the stock market. “BlackRock is increasingly giving up: At the end of June, only about a quarter of its assets were actively managed to beat a benchmark — rather than track it seamlessly as passive strategies are designed to do,” Rubenstein wrote, observing that BlackRock’s “roots” lie in active fixed income.
BlackRock has also garnered attention for its embrace of Environmental, Social, and Governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg">ESG</a>) investing, which in turn has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virtue-signaling-isnt-free-how-woke-investing-fell-apart-once-the-economy-got-bad">suffered</a> in the current downturn. By adopting ESG goals — or, in the case of BlackRock, pushing portfolio companies into adopting ESG goals — executives commit themselves to pursuing green energy, appointing a certain number of minorities to serve as managers, or otherwise blending profitability with progressive politics.
For instance, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/308574/ishares-esg-msci-usa-leaders-etf">ESG Aware MSCI ETF</a> — which has its largest holdings in companies like Microsoft,  Alphabet, and Tesla — is down 18% since the beginning of 2022, slightly lower than the overall S&amp;P 500 index. Meanwhile, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239741/ishares-global-energy-etf">Global Energy ETF</a> — dominated by oil and gas conglomerates like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Shell — has risen nearly 25% over the same time period.
A May <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/blk-esg-investment-statement-web.pdf">report</a> detailing BlackRock’s “firm-wide” ESG efforts said that the company seeks to “engage with investee companies on ESG issues to enhance long-term value.” Indeed, Fink said in 2017 that he desires to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cCs9Kh2Q08">change the direction</a> of corporate America toward progressive outcomes. “At Blackrock we are forcing behaviors,” he said of the company’s ESG scoring approach. “You have to force behavior and if you don’t force behavior whether it’s gender or race or any way you want to say the composition of your team, you’re going to be impacted.”
BlackRock — which maintains a 4.2% stake in <a href="https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AAPL&amp;subView=institutional">Apple</a>, a 4.5% stake in <a href="https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=MSFT&amp;subView=institutional">Microsoft</a>, and a 3.6% stake in <a href="https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AMZN&amp;subView=institutional">Amazon</a> — is among the most influential asset managers in the world. Combined with the holdings of Vanguard and State Street, the three firms control an average <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-three-investment-firms-are-turning-companies-like-disney-woke-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back">20% stake</a> in every Fortune 500 company and have been willing to jointly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/activist-investors-are-seizing-companies-to-push-social-justice-measures">exercise their power</a> toward progressive ends — for instance, by placing three environmental activists on the 12-person board of oil giant Exxon Mobil.
In essence, BlackRock and other large asset managers direct the policies of corporate America on the basis of their clients’ funds — which is often the retirement and pension savings of typical American investors. However, an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">Daily Wire poll conducted by Echelon Insights</a> showed earlier this year that 64% of respondents believe “individual investors whose savings are being invested” should ultimately decide whether retirement funds and pension plans are allocated according to ESG criteria. A mere 20% believe that “Wall Street asset managers” should make such decisions.

FRANCE-POLITICS-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATECHANGE

Investment Giant BlackRock Loses $1.7 Trillion In Six Months

Money

Netflix released “better-than-expected” results in its second quarterly <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q2/FINAL-Q2-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf">report</a> on Tuesday, which showed the streaming service only lost about half of the two million subscribers projected initially earlier this year.
The report shows approximately 970,000 subscribers canceled their membership during the last three months. The number comes after the service took a massive hit in the first quarter when it lost 200,000 subscribers between January and March. 
While Reed Hastings, the company’s CEO, praised shows like &#8220;Ozark” and “Stranger Things” for keeping the results lower than the anticipated forecast, the company still saw its biggest loss in customers since its foundation 25 years ago.
“If there was a single thing, we might say ‘Stranger Things,’” Hastings <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niA_ECTcpvM">said</a>. “But again, we are talking about losing 1 million instead of losing 2 million.” 
“So our excitement is tempered by the less bad results,” he added.
The company, which currently holds about 220 million subscribers, said accelerating revenue growth is a “big challenge.” The report now projects that the company will add another million subscribers by the third quarter. 
“We’ve been through hard times before,” the company said in its shareholder letter. “We’ve built this company to be flexible and adaptable, and this will be a great test for us and our high-performance culture.&#8221; 
Netflix on Wednesday announced a new partnership with Microsoft to implement an ad-supported subscription plan, which viewers can anticipate interrupting their programs in early 2023.
“We’ll likely start in a handful of markets where advertising spend is significant,” the company said. “Like most of our new initiatives, our intention is to roll it out, listen and learn, and iterate quickly to improve the offering.”
The company said its advertising business would likely look different in a few years than it does at launch. 
Netflix has also begun implementing new ways to curb account sharing, and has already launched an “add extra member” feature in Central and South American countries.
The company paritially blamed the loss of subscribers last quarter on competing with other streaming services and massive account sharing. Now with the looming global recession, skyrocketing inflation, and the war in Ukraine playing a significant factor Netflix officials warned shareholders that as the US dollar strengthens and global currencies weaken, the historic pace could disrupt its global market, which makes up about 60 percent of its revenue.  
So far this year, the company has laid off over 450 employees, dozens of part-time and contract workers, and lost roughly 70 percent of its stock.
However, despite its concerns, Netflix still touts its fortune.
CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/netflix-nflx-earnings-q2-2022.html">reports</a> as Wall Street closed on Tuesday, the company’s shares traded just above $200. Last year Netflix shares traded for approximately $700. According to a Refinitiv survey, Netflix earnings per share prices at $3.20, while the company holds $7.97 billion revenue.
“We’re confident and optimistic about the future,” the company said.

Netflix Headquarters Ahead Of Earnings Figures

Netflix Loses Nearly 1 Million Subscriptions, Largest Drop In Company History 

Netflix Lost Nearly 1 Million Subscriptions, Largest Drop In Company History 

Netflix

Stranger Things

Hedge fund Coltrane Asset Management earned a 223% <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">return</a> by betting against overpriced <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/big-tech">technology</a> stocks, according to a Tuesday report from <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/one-hedge-fund-is-up-223-this-year-thanks-to-a-big-bet-against-tech-stocks-11658223000?mod=hp_lead_pos10">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Mandeep Manku, a managing partner at the fund, began shorting tech stocks in 2020 after he saw that many were trading at more than ten times their revenues. Though the fund lost 56% in 2020 and gained 19% in 2021, Coltrane — left managing less than $200 million of its previous $1 billion in assets — then reaped 223% so far this year as tech stocks collapsed.
“In our industry, lots of people who ended up right weren’t able to be there when they were right because they were closed out or clients took their money away,” Coltrane investor Stuart Roden told the Journal.
Indeed, as the stock market has declined more than 19% since the beginning of the year, growth industries like technology — which historically have produced short-term yields rather than long-term results — have suffered the most, while value industries like energy have reaped the strongest returns. Companies such as Microsoft, Lyft, and Tesla were the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs">lay off</a> significant portions of their staff or slow hiring as the stock market began its tailspin.
For instance, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/308574/ishares-esg-msci-usa-leaders-etf">ESG Aware MSCI ETF</a> — which has its largest holdings in companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Tesla — is down nearly 20% since the beginning of 2022, slightly lower than the overall S&amp;P 500 index. Meanwhile, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239741/ishares-global-energy-etf">Global Energy ETF</a> — dominated by oil and gas conglomerates like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Shell — has risen more than 18% over the same period.
“Success is about having a consistent approach that’s true to your world view, staying grounded and calm,” Manku said in a statement, per the Journal. “We are still very much at the beginning of our journey but have, we hope, learned a few valuable lessons already.”
The implosion of tech stocks has further <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virtue-signaling-isnt-free-how-woke-investing-fell-apart-once-the-economy-got-bad">called into question</a> the validity of Environmental, Social, and Governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg">ESG</a>) investing, through which asset managers pour money into firms with leftist values — such as technology companies — rather than purely pursuing profits.
“If ESG vendors would openly admit that they were moving their gaze away from the pursuit of returns for their clients, it would be more defensible,” Jerry Bowyer, who serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Cultural Leadership, told The Daily Wire. “Clients would then know that they’re likely making a little offering to the gods of social responsibility in the form of lower returns. But what has happened is that the ESG industry has pretty consistently denied the return sacrifice and engaged in highly speculative arguments that ESG is good for shareholders.”
When left to their own devices rather than allocating their capital to large asset managers, American investors tend to avoid ESG, according to a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">Daily Wire poll conducted by Echelon Insights</a>. While 29% of respondents agreed it is a “good thing” for companies to use their financial power for political or social means supported by executives, 58% — twice as many — said it is a “bad thing.”
“The ESG movement’s realization that shunning traditional energy companies sacrifices profits proves what everyone else already knew: virtue signaling isn’t free,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-want-companies-to-stay-out-of-politics-ceo-launches-fund-to-take-on-woke-asset-managers">launched</a> an asset management firm centered upon “excellence capitalism,” told The Daily Wire. “Large asset managers are desperate to go back to the days of investing money to make money, but their hands are tied by the ESG rope of their own making.”

GERMANY-TECH-APPLE-COMPUTERS

Hedge Fund Brings In 223% Return By Betting Against Big Tech

Hedge Fund Takes Contrarian Bet Against Big Tech, Reaps Huge Returns

Big Tech

Netflix is expected to report its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the morning bell on Wall Street.
The 25-year-old streaming service <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q1/FINAL-Q1-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">projected</a> last spring that two million users would cancel their membership by the second quarter after taking a massive hit of losing 200,000 subscribers at the beginning of this year.
&#8220;Our revenue growth has slowed considerably, as our results and forecast below show,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;However, our relatively high household penetration — when including the large number of households sharing accounts — combined with competition is creating revenue growth headwinds.&#8221;
Andrew Hare, a senior vice president of research at Magid, told <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/17/investing/stocks-week-ahead?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_newsbreak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN Business</a>, &#8220;all bets are off&#8221; once Netflix becomes undervalued by the market.
&#8220;There will be hell to pay if they report a number that is significantly higher than the 2 million loss being thrown around,&#8221; Hare said.
Yahoo <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.yahoo.com/video/netflix-nflx-set-report-q2-153403843.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> the company forecasts its second-quarter earnings to be at $3 per share, which indicates a year-over-year decline of 20 percent.
Aside from attributing the loss to competing with other streaming services and massive account sharing, the company said the looming global recession, skyrocketing inflation, and the war in Ukraine also play a significant factor.
Benjamin Swinburne, head of U.S. media research at Morgan Stanley, told <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-second-quarter-earnings-report-subscriber-drop-1235180346/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hollywood Reporter</a> a recession and the ever-increasing inflation could hit Netflix harder than expected.
&#8220;Streaming video revenues may prove more vulnerable than expected to a global recession and lower consumer spending levels,&#8221; Swinburne said. &#8220;While Netflix&#8217;s leading engagement should help it retain customers, its relative price premium is likely an offset as consumers look to trim their streaming bill.&#8221;
Still, 221.6 million subscribers worldwide currently have the option to log in and scroll for hours before potentially finding something to watch.
But other factors indicate the company is going through something.
So far this year, the company has laid off over 450 employees, dozens of part-time and contract workers, and lost roughly 70 percent of its stock.
CNN Business reports what happens with Netflix&#8217;s Q2 report could reshape the company&#8217;s future and the entire streaming industry.
Hare, the senior vice president of Magid who spoke to CNN Business, said investors would give the company time to &#8220;right the ship&#8221; but would need to hear how it plans to grow back the numbers immediately.
&#8220;It&#8217;s all about communicating how they are evolving the business to ensure they continue to win in streaming,&#8221; he said. &#8220;No one has the stomach for a business losing millions of subscribers every quarter.&#8221;
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on Wednesday announced a new partnership with Microsoft to implement an ad-supported subscription plan.
The company has also begun implementing new ways to curb account sharing and launched an &#8220;add extra member&#8221; feature in Central and South American countries.
&#8220;It&#8217;s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly,&#8221; a spokesperson <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/update-to-paid-sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;But today&#8217;s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service.&#8221;

Streaming

Netflix To Report Q2 Earnings, Projects Losing Two Million Subscriptions

Mainstream Media

As the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">stock market</a> goes down the tubes, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">Wall Street</a> investors are reaping the whirlwind of their addiction to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/woke">woke</a> investing.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg">ESG</a>) investing, which is in vogue among leading corporations and financiers, has suffered the most in the current downturn. ESG investors tend to select stocks from growth industries like technology, which often favor short-term yields over long-term results. Though tech companies are well known for bankrolling social justice initiatives in reaction to national events like the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-year-after-george-floyd-americas-biggest-corporations-earmark-37-billion-for-racial-equity">death of George Floyd</a> or the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-woke-businesses-vowing-to-cover-travel-costs-for-employees-abortion-tourism">overturning of Roe v. Wade</a>, they were the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs">lay off</a> large portions of their staff as the stock market began its months-long tailspin.
For instance, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/308574/ishares-esg-msci-usa-leaders-etf">ESG Aware MSCI ETF</a> — which has its largest holdings in companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Tesla — is down over 21% since the beginning of 2022, slightly lower than the overall S&amp;P 500 index. Meanwhile, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239741/ishares-global-energy-etf">Global Energy ETF</a> — dominated by oil and gas conglomerates like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Shell — has risen nearly 16% over the same time period.
“The ESG movement&#8217;s realization that shunning traditional energy companies sacrifices profits proves what everyone else already knew: virtue signaling isn&#8217;t free,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-want-companies-to-stay-out-of-politics-ceo-launches-fund-to-take-on-woke-asset-managers">launched</a> an asset management firm centered upon “excellence capitalism,” told The Daily Wire. “Large asset managers are desperate to go back to the days of investing money to make money, but their hands are tied by the ESG rope of their own making.”
Asset managers BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — which, on average, control a combined 20% stake in every Fortune 500 company and manage $21 trillion — have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-three-investment-firms-are-turning-companies-like-disney-woke-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back">advanced</a> ESG efforts within the ranks of their portfolio companies. By adopting ESG goals, companies commit themselves to pursuing green energy adoption, appointing a certain number of racial minorities to serve as executives, or otherwise mingling profitability with progressive politics.
Investor and author Jerry Bowyer, who serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Cultural Leadership, told The Daily Wire that recent stock market outcomes prove that “ESG is not a serious approach to investing for return.”
“If ESG vendors would openly admit that they were moving their gaze away from the pursuit of returns for their clients, it would be more defensible,” Bowyer argued. “Clients would then know that they’re likely making a little offering to the gods of social responsibility in the form of lower returns. But what has happened is that the ESG industry has pretty consistently denied the return sacrifice and engaged in highly speculative arguments that ESG is good for shareholders.”
A November 2019 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/Strategy%20and%20Corporate%20Finance/Our%20Insights/Five%20ways%20that%20ESG%20creates%20value/Five-ways-that-ESG-creates-value.ashx">report</a> from consulting firm McKinsey, for example, argues that companies which intentionally lower their energy consumption can benefit from cost reductions and reap higher returns by avoiding investment opportunities that “may not pay off because of longer-term environmental issues.”
Bowyer said that state treasurers are currently noticing that “arbitrarily excluding a major center of value creation such as oil, gas, and coal companies is not consistent with their fiduciary responsibility to pension investors.” Indeed, several Republican state treasurers have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-street-is-trying-to-punish-middle-america-for-religious-and-cultural-views-through-woke-investing-republican-state-treasurers-warn">sounded the alarm</a> over Wall Street’s efforts to use ESG metrics as an excuse to discriminate against public financing efforts from states with conservative values.
“The world of retirement funds is waking up to the problems earlier because the law is clearer regarding obligations to put investor interests first,” Bowyer remarked. “But in general, those people in the industry who are closest to investors — for example, financial advisors — are more aware of ESG problems than the top-down part of the industry in gigantic institutional money management.”
While large asset managers continue to push ESG, an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">Daily Wire poll conducted by Echelon Insights</a> recently indicated that there is a desire among American investors for more opportunities apart from progressive investing. Respondents recognized that ESG tends to promote “more liberal positions” than “more conservative positions.” While 50% believe the former and 16% believe the latter, only 21% believe that ESG investing is neutral.
David Bahnsen, the founder of Manhattan-based wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group, told The Daily Wire that “the pendulum will swing” away from “ESG insanity” in light of recent stock market trends.
“But along the way, will there be ongoing damage from those who have already dug their heels in? I am sure that is true, too,” he added. “The objective must be for markets to punish the ESG zealots enough that market forces usher in a reasonable pivot. Here, I do not merely mean stock prices, but rather the response of employees, managers, vendors, suppliers, and more.”
Indeed, the pendulum may be swinging among the broader American population. While 29% of respondents to The Daily Wire’s poll agreed it is a “good thing” for companies to leverage their financial power for political or social means supported by executives, 58% — twice as many — said it is a “bad thing.”

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