Investing is more of a discipline than anything else. And while I promised myself to not make any portfolio moves until the next major correction, inspiration to make a move now arrived from a most unusual place – Colin Kaepernick.
Once a diehard football fan, I drifted away when those bastards started disrespecting my flag and national anthem. Hey, if they can’t stand for my flag I can’t sit and watch their stupid game. If they have “free speech” I have freedom of choice. The significant drop in television ratings for the NFL over that last few years shows that I am not alone.
United We Stand.
One of the great rights that come with a free country is the right to be stupid. Stupidity like the kind Kaepernick and his ilk demonstrate to our flag would have them killed in many countries around the world – countries that Kaepernick idolizes. Recall that Kaepernick once arrived to an interview wearing a T-shirt of oppressive Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Who wouldn’t love to see Kaepernick kneeling at the Cuban anthem in Havana? He’d never be seen or heard from again.
The flag stands for one thing – unity. It is the only thing that all Americans have in common. Indeed, Americanism means different things to different people. The Left has a completely different set of ideals than the Right. Independents, too, have their own blend of standards. All things considered there is plenty that divide us – but the flag should never be one of them. Because once that is gone there is nothing everyone can agree to, nothing to bind us, no standard of unification.
Divided We Fall.
Those who follow the game of football as I did know that Kaepernick was in jeopardy of losing his job long before he ever knelt at the anthem and flag. Cynics like me thought he did so to create a controversy so great that it would force the San Francisco 49ers into keeping him on the roster against their rightful mind and free will. Well it didn’t work out that way; Kaepernick was cut shortly after the kneeling began.
Kaepernick is big, strong and fast, and has a cannon for an arm – yet he is still not an active player in the National Football League. The reason for that is simple: he can’t read a defense or make the appropriate adjustments in the short amount of allotted time. He makes too many poor decisions, and is easily deceived by intellectually superior defenders and strategic Defensive Coordinators.
In short, it is Kaepernick’s lack of intelligence that is keeping him out of the NFL – and he is leader of the kneeling movement, which should tell you everything you need to know about it.
The reason no one has said such things is because the intolerant Left would automatically label that person as a “racist” in this highly charged and oversensitive world – even though race has absolutely nothing to do with the assessment.
Plenty of white players have fallen short of the NFL’s intellectual grade – Matt Leinart and Johnny Maziel are two that quickly come to mind. They surely don’t share the same total package of physical gifts as Kaepernick, but like the 49er they too lack the intelligence and internal fortitude to overcome their glaring weakness. All three quarterbacks are misguided in their own way — and once again, race has nothing to do with the evaluation.
Nike was added to the 15-51 Indicator™ as “the market” underwent dramatic changes in the aftermath of the 2008 crash. It was added to maintain a connection to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and to properly cover similar market segments. And it has done very well for the 15-51i portfolio. But the decision to feature Kaepernick in a national (and perhaps global) marketing effort is too confounding for me to overcome – especially after witnessing the dramatic drop in NFL ratings as a result of the anthem kneeling epidemic.
I’m not interested investing in management that makes those kinds of irrational decisions.
When upper management does something you hate it’s time to liquidate and move on. They’re like a double-crossing partner; after the dirty deed is done it’s impossible to trust them again, or to look at them the same way. It’s time to go separate ways at the earliest convenience. Heck, there are plenty of fish in the sea. No sense in staying with one that stinks to you.
So at the end of business on Friday, October 5, 2018, Nike has been removed from the 15-51 strength indicator and replaced with German sportswear supplier Adidas. Adidas is a well-managed company that is growing strongly. In addition, I have purchased several Adidas products over the last several years (mostly golf shirts and shorts, golf shoes and sneakers) and they are superior to Nike’s not only in fit and finish but also quality; and their products can be easily found in all the establishments I frequent. The same can’t be said for Nike or UnderArmour.
Kneeling during the anthem and/or at the flag are direct messages I do not endorse and cannot condone. So I am eliminating Nike now, before the next big one as originally intended, because the decision to glorify someone so wrong, disrespectful, and misguided is insulting to me and every other proud citizen, not to mention every veteran who put everything on the line to serve this great nation, its flag, and the honor of its anthem.
Like there is no good reason to hesitate dealing with a cheating partner, the same is true when addressing poor management decisions by one of your investments. Nothing good comes from delay.
So I say let those who Nike is trying to attract with the Kaepernick ad campaign to also buy their stock, because this investor – and consumer – is gone baby gone.
Stay tuned…
