Anheuser-Busch stock slips in wake of Bud Light's transsexual marketing fiasco and boycott



ESG-conscious executives at Anheuser-Busch may have discounted the initial backlash against Bud Light's partnership with female impersonator Dylan Mulvaney, but they are unlikely to ignore the Monday morning drop in their company's share price.

The stock price for Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD) closed last week at $66.34 per share. Monday morning, the price fell precipitously, opening at $64.99. As of the time of publication, the price continued to slide.

ScalpIt, a Twitter account that discusses investment opportunities, suggested last week that it might be a good "time to short $BUD" as merchandisers noted the consumer backlash to Bud Light's reported partnership with Mulvaney was having a visible impact.

An individual claiming to work for an Anheuser-Busch affiliate recently noted online that few if any are now buying the company's various alcoholic beverages. Other images circulating on Twitter appear to anecdotally corroborate his claims.

\u201cJUST IN: Anheuser-Busch affiliate, whose primary sales is bud light says NO ONE IS BUYING THE PRODUCTS and when this happens he can\u2019t feed his family.. \n\n\u201cThey DON\u2019T KNOW their clientele\u2026 \u201cThanks, Anheuser-Busch.\u201d\n\n\u201d
— Chuck Callesto (@Chuck Callesto) 1680959190

TheBlaze previously reported that the initial announcement — that a TikTok performer who simultaneously boasts about having become a "girl" and sporting a "bulge" would be a spokesman for the Bud Light — sparked outrage and disbelief.

Townhall columnist Derek Hunter wrote that Bud Light is now "the groomer of beers," a knock on Budweiser's old claim to be "king of beers."

Jaimee Michell, founder of Gays Against Groomers, tweeted, "Dylan Mulvaney is the new (botched) face of Bud Light [clown emoji] @budlight either doesn't know their customers or they do and just don't give a sh**. I'm guessing the latter. What a disgrace."

Rock music artist Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, came out against the announcement with guns blazing.

In a now-viral video, Ritchie said, "Let me say something to all of you and be as clear and concise as possible," then fired numerous shots at several cases of Bud Light beer.

He concluded by saying, "F*** Bud Light, and f*** Anheuser-Busch. ... Have a nice day!"

Country music legend Travis Tritt went much farther than Ritchie's full metal jacket, announcing last week that he would "be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same."

Tritt's tweet was retweeted over 21,700 times and liked over 210,000 times.

Tritt noted that he had been sponsored by Budweiser in the past but that those days are gone: "A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame."

TheBlaze reported that esteemed country music singer John Rich similarly revealed he would be ditching Bud Light at his Nashville bar following the company's woke initiative.

Rich polled his followers online, asking them, "Are you thirsty for a Bud Light now?"

With 30,842 votes cast, the result was resoundingly, "Hell Naw."

\u201cAre you thirsty for a Bud Light now?\u201d
— John Rich\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@John Rich\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1680567448

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh called on conservatives to band together to boycott woke businesses, suggesting that efficacy was dependent upon picking a company, ganging up on it, and making "an example of it."

"We can't boycott every woke company or even most of them," tweeted Walsh. "But we can pick one, it hardly matters which, and target it with a ruthless boycott campaign. Claim one scalp then move onto the next."

Podcaster Tim Pool noted that those interested in boycotting Anheuser-Busch must target several brands:

\u201cand these\u201d
— Tim Pool (@Tim Pool) 1680784200

TheStreet reported that despite the Monday drop, Anheuser-Busch stock continues to outperform the shares of its peers. It is unclear whether the stock will rally or whether the Monday slip signals the beginning of a trend.

This video is part of what spurred the reaction and the boycott:

\u201cBud Light knows hiring Dylan Mulvaney won\u2019t help sales \u2014 but that\u2019s not why they hired him. \n\nIt will, however, significantly improve their ESG score. That\u2019s why they did it. \n\u201d
— Mythinformed (@Mythinformed) 1680487838

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Report: Execs of the San Francisco bank now getting $30 billion bailout had dumped stock ahead of collapse



Biden's Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued a joint statement Thursday along with the heads of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, announcing that 11 big banks would deposit roughly $30 billion into First Republic Bank to stabilize its balance sheet after its stock cratered last week.

While this bailout — blessed by the Biden administration — is intended to bolster depositors' confidence, a new report has revealed that First Republic's own executives have not done much in recent weeks to inspire diffidence.

The Wall Street Journal reported that top executives of the San Francisco-based bank dumped millions of dollars of company stock ahead of its crash last week.

It is presently unclear if First Republic executives did so suspecting possible trouble on the horizon. Nevertheless, they sold off and donated a bulk of stock when share prices were over $100.

This week, First Republic stock price dropped as low as $19.80 amid two credit downgrades. It took the Treasury's and Fed's joint statement to boost the price to $34.35 by market close.

James Herbert II, the bank's executive chairman who contributed thousands to former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) in 2022, reportedly has sold $4.5 million worth of shares since early January. In one instance, he sold 15,000 shares (when priced at $123.51) in late February, according to FDIC filings.

The Journal noted that in two of Herbert's recent stock dumps, he sold off 7% and 5% of his holdings at the time, respectively.

Robert Thornton, First Republic's president of private wealth management, sold 73% of his outstanding shares valued at $3.5 million on Jan. 18 — his first trade in roughly two years.

The bank's chief executive officer, Michael Roffler, sold approximately $1 million worth in January after having previously dumped $1.3 million worth in November 2022.

David Lichtman, the bank's chief credit officer, has sold off $2.5 million worth already in 2023, including a sale on March 6, just days before Silicon Valley Bank began teetering.

The New York Post noted that filings show Lichtman and his wife also sold $2.5 million in shares last year.

"In all, insiders have sold $11.8 million worth of stock so far this year at prices averaging just below $130 a share," said the report. "The bank’s chief credit officer, its president of private wealth management and chief executive together sold $7 million worth of stock."

According to the Journal, the executives' trades went largely under the radar, largely because they didn't have to report their insider sales to the Securities and Exchange Commission. First Republic is reportedly the only company listed on the S&P 500 not to do so.

Despite this obscurity, the trades were, however, reported to the FDIC.

The executives' sales were reportedly not executed under 10b5-1 plans, meaning they may be open to accusations of insider trading.

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, and acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu said in their statement that First Republic's bailout "demonstrates the resilience of the banking system."

In a corresponding statement, various banks involved in the bailout — including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley — said the action "reflects their confidence in the country’s banking system and helps ensure First Republic has the liquidity to continue serving its customers."

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Tech stocks have worst month in over a decade as the Federal Reserve weighs rate hikes and inflation continues to spiral out of control  ​​​​​​​​​



The Nasdaq Composite experienced its worst monthly performance in more than a decade as technology stocks fell to deep lows while out of control inflation and rising interest rates increased fears of a looming recession.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the tech sector selloff “has erased trillions of dollars in market value from the tech-heavy gauge” as investors sour on everything from software and semiconductor manufacturers to social-media giants.

On Friday, the Nasdaq dropped 4.2%, increasing its overall losses for the month of April to more than 13%. This marks its worst showing since October 2008. Overall, the index is down 21% in 2022, marking the worst start to a year on record.

The S&P 500, generally considered to be a broader index, similarly has seen considerable losses in the month of April. With four consecutive weeks of losses, the S&P 500 has lost 8.8% and 13% in year-to-date losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has suffered a similar fate falling 4.9% this past month and is down more than 9% so far this year.

April 2022 has been the worst month for both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average since March 2020 when the economy began a massive downturn at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Journal suggested that the drastic decline in tech stocks marks a “dramatic shift” from economic trends in recent years. Investors ditched their holdings in some of the biggest tech companies which have been “stock-market darlings for much of the past decade.” Many of these stocks kept the market and its indexes afloat during the economic lows of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the most reliable stocks from the past few years became the market's biggest losers. Netflix decreased by 49% in April, Nvidia fell by 32%, and PayPal Holdings declined by 24%. These three tech stocks are down more than 35% in 2022.

Similarly, the FAANG stocks consisting of Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms, Apple, Amazon.com, Netflix, and Google’s parent company Alphabet have collectively lost more than $1 trillion in market value this past month.

Stocks began the year with record highs but as worries about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and inflation continue to grow stocks fell at a rapid pace.

Aashish Vyas, an investment director at Resonanz Capital, said, “We’re going into a higher volatility regime, when fundamentals matter again. It does seem like we are at a systemic shift.”

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