July 28, 2025 • 32 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's that time time time time lucking load. So Michael
Very Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
By looking into Mica, we gotta feed a beard. I
don't plan to shave, and it's you the thing, but
I just gotta see. I'm doing it all right, Will,
I'm making support. It's I'm beating ready, Tom, that's the true.
(00:41):
It's neither drink nor drug and noo, I'm just done
all right.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Instagrat dead.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Suns still shining on a close my eyes.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
It's ft times in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The back and a political junkies tend to enjoy the
back and forth that punches, the jabs and knockouts, the wheelhouses,
the points scored. You can read about it on Twitter.
(01:19):
So and so was destroyed, but not really. It's all
for sport. There are things that matter in the bigger,
grander scheme of things, and one of those was this weekend.
It doesn't make for sexy headlines, but it's extraordinarily meaningful.
(01:41):
President Trump cutting a deal that is very much in
America's favor with the European Union, one of our major
largest trading partners. So good was that deal after the
concessions that europe opions would be giving America. The American
(02:04):
newspaper reporters and television reporters who hate Donald Trump we
know this, asked, what's what's America giving up? This seems
a bit one sided. And the leader of the European Union,
she said that the trade relationship was imbalanced, and this
(02:27):
is going to she sort of said, right, size it.
This is going to make it a more equitable trade relationship.
It will include over seven hundred billion dollars of European
investment in the United States, reduction of tariffs on American
products abroad, and it would appear, at least for now,
that Trump's economic policy is working. We will get to
(02:52):
that in just a moment. But first we are back
at full strength, which is where I hope the Astros
will be short for their playoff run. We are back
to full strength, with Chad back from Hawaii, Ramon back
from his suspension. The whole gang is in play. But
before we start with politics, a good story, a Houston story.
(03:19):
Pitcher Billy Wagner was inducted into the Hall of Fame,
and we start with him and his faith, giving, giving praise,
giving all honor to his Lord and Savior.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
But one of my former setup guys, Ross Springer gave
me some advice.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
She said, take a deep breath.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
And remember all the times.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
That he faced the three, four, five hitter, so that
I could blow away the six, seven, eight hitter. Teammates, right,
bullpen guys. Being up here today, I feel like my
baseball life has come full circle.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I was a fan before I could play, and.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Back when baseball wasn't so available on TV. Every Saturday
morning I watched Johnny Bench and so many of the
other greats.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I want to show the baseball.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
Bunch now here I am standing among you.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
It's really hard to believe. I grew up listening to.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
Braves broadcasters Skip Carrey, as well as Pete Van Wering,
Don Sutton, and Joe Simpson. Along the way, the great
Milo Hamilton called my games as an astro. Then Chip
Carry called my last game as a brave. Full circle,
(04:50):
and now that am I playing days are over and
I'm back to being a fan. But I'm lucky enough
to be a fan with the inside view of this
great game a kid in a candy shop. This journey
was shaped by my love of the game, by the
lessons from the game, and by the love and support
I got from my family, teammates and coaches.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my
Lord and Savior.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Without you, Amen, without you, none of this would be possible.
And with you, nothing is impossible, not even a five
foot and nothing, one pound, nothing making the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
God is great. He would go on to talk about
Lance Berkman and that Lince Berkman should be in the
Hall of Fame, which made me very, very happy.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
He also said this in conclusion to every kid out there,
this is my to you. Obstacles are not a roadblock.
Obstacles are stepping stones. They build you and shape you,
refine you. I wasn't the biggest, I wasn't left handed.
I wasn't supposed to be here. There were only seven
(06:15):
full time relievers in the Hall of Fame. Now there
are eight.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Because I refuse to give up or give in.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
I refuse to listen to the outside critics, and I
never stopped working. That's what this game does for you.
It teaches you about life. It teaches you how to persevere.
Don't fear failure, embrace it because perseverance isn't just a trait,
it's the path to greatness. Thank you to the Hall
(06:48):
of Fame for the incredible honor. Thank you to every teammate,
every coach, every fan, every person who believes in me
along the way. I am forever grateful. This game is
more than numbers and metrics. It's winning the moment. It's
being excited for your teammates when they succeed. It's being
(07:09):
crushed when you don't come through in the clutch. It's
knowing that there is always tomorrow. The love of the
game has meaning, and it's not about salaries and rankings.
It's about perseverance, passion, grit, and pursuit of perfection. It's
about the one two, three inning play to win and
(07:32):
let God take care of the rest. Thank you and
God bless.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
What a wonderful way to accept the honor of a
lifetime for a ballplayer is to make it about what
life lessons we can take from it and thanks to
God for his success. I think that says a lot
about Billy Wagner. I'm going to see if Chad can
(07:59):
track down the comment he made about Lance Berkman, because
I thought it was it was really, really good. We
have had a number of losses of famous people that
we didn't know lately, and so I and a number
of our friends were worried with Uncle Jerry going in
for a big surgery next week, and unfortunately it's not
(08:23):
all good. I'll tell you about it coming up Michael
Berry's show. I don't know if this year has been
worse than years past for people that we didn't know personally,
but they were part of our lives, part of the
(08:47):
pop iconography that when you lose them, you feel like
you've lost a friend in some way. It started on
January first with Wayne Osmond of the Osmond Family, the
famous Mormon singing group that feel like they've been around forever.
Peter Year. That was January first. A few days later
(09:08):
Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary passed, Sam Moore
of Sam and Dave with soul Man and hold on
Him Come In and the great Stax duo. And then
there was David Lynch, the amazing director. There was Bob Yuker,
who made such an incredible career out of self deprecating humor.
(09:33):
I don't know. I mean, he's up there with Rodney
Dangerfield for just taking a style of humor and absolutely
owning it. We lost Garth Hudson before January would turn
the calendar page, the last surviving member of the band,
the second greatest band of all time, Marianne Faithful as
(09:56):
Tears go by, roberta flack of Kill Me Softly, And
that was before January was even over. Then there was Jane.
Then there was a Gene Hackman and the tragic circumstances
not only behind his passing, but the manner in which
(10:18):
he passed ninety five? How did Gene Hackman? Just how
did we wake up and Gene Hackman was ninety five?
How does that happen? Michelle Trachtenberg, the Buffy, the Vampire
Slayer and Gossip Girl actress. George Foreman, our dear friend,
passed on March twenty first, at only seventy six. I
(10:39):
thought he lived to be one hundred. He was so tough,
so strong. Two time heavyweight champion, inventor, father, friend, pastor,
great American hero. Richard Chamberlain, the Great Actor, passed March
twenty ninth. Val Kilmer April first, Boy did he ever
give some great performances? Loretta Sweet Hot Lips Hula Han
(11:03):
from Mash sly Stone in June. I'll confess I figured
sly Stone was probably dead already because there was a
lot that happened there. Brian Wilson, the impetus behind the
Beach Boys, Jimmy Swaggert in July July was Jimmy Swagger,
Michael Madisen, Sam Haskell, Connie Francis, THEO from the Cosby Show,
(11:29):
Ozzy Osbourne, Chuckman, Jioni, Hulk Hogan, all just in a
row there. So my best friend, if you know, Uncle Jerry,
if you ever came to the RCC, My kids started
calling him Uncle Jerry. Everybody calls him Uncle Jerry. Jerry McGill.
If you've seen him in the last five years, you've
seen him in a boot because he was a professional
motocross rider in his late teens, and the pounding on
(11:52):
his foot shattered the bones in his foot. And finally,
after five years, his wife and I talked him into
having sir and he went and all the bones in
his foot were shattered. The surgery was successful, except the
way the bones were shadowed. They had to take off
his pinky toe, so we add to our sense of
loss those taken from us too early. Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
(12:20):
This is just a little tune. Little Biggie went to
market about things lost far too soon, A little bigges
stay at home. So join me as we rememb about
we miss Kurt Krobang left us.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
In nineteen ninety four, Jimmy Hendrix changed the world that
set fire through the score. Janice Joplin left a little
piece of her hard at Heaven's door.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Begamin with the angels now and Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
Fox, I'm a piggy Rose. They no longer standing. The
days of music died still hurts like John Denver's landing.
Selena's dreams were stolen by a fan's obsessive woes.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
They're shining up.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
In gulgry weird Uncle Jerry's pinky.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
Toe rufully kicked the bucket a dragon in the Knights.
Sharon Tate so young and sweet that helter skelter fight.
Chris Harley went too hard, too fast, with all they
waiting too.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
They're inoving down by the river with Uncle Jerry's stinky too.
Otis sweet, otis on the duck of the bay. Imagine
a world where John Lennon never went Oh Wait River Phoenix,
Amy Winehouse.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
Marilyn Monroe, the answering in the cosmos.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Weird uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
In town, you were just a dove, and now you're
all alone. You went we we we all the way home.
Speaker 9 (14:31):
You went we we we all the way.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Peggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
This little piggy had roast beef, This little piggy had none.
The last little piggy got called by God back home.
Speaker 8 (15:02):
Goodbye Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
You're the best toe.
Speaker 10 (15:07):
The river was.
Speaker 8 (15:10):
Restling piece, rested peace, resting power, Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
It's a far apartment of place that you're going to.
If you're a light, you're a light in.
Speaker 7 (15:22):
A dark place Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
And that dark place was Uncle Jerry's sock and food.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Goodbye Uncle Jerry's pinky toe. Goodbye, so war saying our
Uncle Jerry's pigky toe till this time.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Goodbye, mister Michael Berry's shaken from us far too soon.
Americans are the best salesman in the world. That's really
not open for a dispute. There are companies that will
(15:59):
hire Americans to lead their sales team of their products
to the rest of the world, even where they're not
selling an American product or they're not selling to America.
It's common in Europe, it's common in Asia. Japanese companies
have long hired Americans to lead their sales force. Americans
(16:21):
are very, very good at messaging and storytelling of a
good or service. One of the best I've ever known
that it is Robert Reese. And I have said this
before and I'll say it again. Good salesmen. The two
folks who sell my show the most are Grant Patterson
(16:42):
and Robert Reese. And they're not cold callers. They're not cheesy,
laugh at your stupid joke kind of people. It's not
how salesmen are portrayed in Glengarry glen Ross, where you're
just trying to get somebody to sign a deal even
if they don't want to do it, and then you
don't let them out of it. It's relationships. A good
(17:03):
transaction should be a win for both sides. And a
good salesman is a relationship manager. They help a person
achieve their goals. That's what they should do. So it's
Robert Reese's birthday, and I asked him what he wanted
for his birthday, and he said, I'd be appreciative if
you just did what you did for me last year,
(17:24):
and that is mentioned the Michael Berry Show. Sponsors that
are my clients. So here we go. Hold on, there
are quite a few. Abaca's Plumbing, Ace Hardware, Texas A,
Corey Dimond In Design, CCS, Presentation Systems, Chad T. Wilson
Law Firm, Daniel Dean Land Clearing and Dredging, Dean and
(17:46):
Draper Insurance, Design Tech Homes, Deroche Partners, dun Fence, Elite
Medical Hospitals, Federal American Grill, Grengo's, Jimmy Changas, Guy Lewis
Cosmetic Dentist, Hawthorne Capitol, Heritage, Legacy Films, Houston Motorsports, Houston
Powder CODs, Christine Weaver Law Firm, Lamont Brands, Oops Steam Cleaning,
(18:11):
Percento Technologies, PTSD Foundation. That's not a paid sponsor. We
donate everything to them. But he manages that relationship, which
is pretty cool because obviously he doesn't get paid for it.
There's no money that transacts. But that was my passion
and he took it over as his passion. Republic Grand Ranch,
(18:32):
Redstone Payment Solutions, Republic Boot Company, Rick Doak Shade, Doctors,
Southern front Doors, Texas Pools, Texas State Rentals, Texas Renters,
The Pipe Yard, Top Tax Defenders, Trader Wheel and Frame,
US Coins and Utility Tax Remover. Happy Birthday, Robert Reese.
(18:56):
So Billy Wagner's speech at the Hall of Fame, I'll
have to tell that story later because I don't have
time in this segment. But there is a story about
Eddie Martini and me at the Cooperstown Hall of Fame induction,
one of the great experiences. So we have great economic
(19:17):
news of President Trump's meeting with the leader of the
European Union where he struck an amazing deal. And that
is really the art of the deal. That's the understanding
of negotiation. In most politicians have zero business and so
they have no sense of how negotiation works. But Donald
(19:37):
Trump does. He cuts deals. He's a deal maker. He
understands what the other person wants, what he wants, and
how to get what he wants rather than what they
wants want. It's not always a win win. He wants
to win the deal, and in this case, he's winning
the deal on behalf of Americans. And that's exactly how
I want it. But some unfortunate news and these things
(20:01):
just happen. More than five hundred Chevron employees and Houston
will be laid off after a merger with Hess. ABC
thirteen with the story.
Speaker 9 (20:10):
Oil and Gas jobs cut. A federally required notice filed
earlier this week with the Texas Workforce Commission reveals five
hundred and seventy five Chevron employees will be laid off.
Speaker 11 (20:21):
These kind of layoffs are pretty standard in the industry
during a consolidation phase, and right now we're in a
consolidation phase.
Speaker 9 (20:29):
Energy industry veteran Bob Kavnar says in mergers like the
one between Chevron and Hess, there are also duplicate jobs
that are often eliminated.
Speaker 11 (20:37):
HESS has a large office here that has a number
of employees and are laying off over thirty percent of
the Houston employees.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
That's a pretty good cut.
Speaker 9 (20:47):
In a statement, Chevron says, in part, we are working
quickly to integrate the Hess workforce and are focused on
maintaining safe and reliable operations throughout the transition period. These
are difficult decisions which we do not make lightly. But
experts added this could also impact companies across the industry,
like those drilling the oil and gas.
Speaker 10 (21:07):
It definitely has a trickle down effect that has you know,
kind of a you know, a ripple effect through the through.
Speaker 11 (21:12):
The supply of the value Chaine the service companies. The
biggest challenge the service companies have is that they have
to ride the curve also and they're generally the last
ones to be hired and the first ones to be
fired when you go into an upswing or downswing and
say it could impact costs.
Speaker 10 (21:29):
But you know, when you have the supply pull dick
and you know and then pulledack, you know from from companies,
generally that kind of starts a new cycle of higher prices.
So that's something that I do expect.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I didn't know Bob Kaevanor was quoted in that story.
My wife worked with Bob Kaevanar at El Paso Energy.
It was a high time to be at El Paso
Energy in the late nineties early two thousand. She kind
of rose through the ranks of that company heading their
y two K efforts and ended up as associate General
(22:05):
council at a time that ol Passo was going and blowing.
It's a great story, actually, little BdL Paso David that
bought the Goliath. It was a little El Passo Energy
from El Paso, Texas that managed to buy Tenaco, which
was a legendary, legendary Houston company, and a lot of
(22:27):
folks from El Paso came to Houston. A lot of
folks from Teneco moved out and they needed to rebuild
and restructure and reload. And she was doing a lot
of legal work for the entity that was Tenneco then
El Paso, and they asked her to come in and
join that company. And it was heady times for us.
We were just kind of hitting our stride professionally. I
(22:49):
had just gotten elected to city council. She was rising
through the ranks of a major corporation as a lawyer.
It was good times. It's unfortunate. It's unfortunate that you
lose your job when you've done nothing wrong. And that's
the five hundred Chevron employees. They've done nothing wrong. But
(23:10):
that doesn't make it any easier. Ramon, You ever been
fired or laid off suspended? Yes, good lord, you've been
suspended a lot of time. It's kind of to the
point now it's laughable. We either need to fire you
or stop suspending you. Because you've been suspended too many times.
You like Terrell Owens, you know you're toxic to the work,
(23:32):
to the locker room. You're out there. What was he
doing the push up? Remember he's doing the push ups
for the media. You got to imagine if you're the
coach and you're trying to keep the team focused and
there's Terrell out doing push ups with his gold chains
hanging around his neck, and it's a team sport last
time I checked. So our hearts go out to the
(23:53):
five hundred Chevron employees who lost jobs. But our economy
is looking up. Things are going to be good. You're
going to be good. Houston's going to be good. Mit
the Michael Berry taken from us far too soon. The
(24:14):
little band from Texas, zz Top played Red Rocks Park
in Amphitheater in Jefferson County, Colorado, or just Red Rocks.
As it's now a week from today. I've never seen
zz Top in person. I will fix that. A week
from today, after our evening show, we will be attending
(24:38):
a zz Top concert for the first time, and I
must admit I am very very excited. Is exciting I
get to meet Frank Beard, drummer who I've come to
understand is a fan of the show along with his
son Rory and their entire family, and have apparently listened
for years and years, So it should be a good
(25:01):
time and then I will immediately be back in Houston
after the Tuesday show. Traveling for me is very difficult
because I can only travel in between the shows or
after a show, and since our day is kind of
seven to seven, with just that little pocket in between,
it's hard to travel in between at least commercial Han
(25:21):
ramon against what I'm saying is, you know, if Eddie
Martinez would maybe splurge, it would be nice for us
to just roll up to the FBO, roll up on
the tarmac, hop on the plane, and then we could
get done what we need to get done and still
do the show and not be so stressed out. Do
you know what I'm saying? Do you agree with Moon?
You with me on this one? So one of many
(25:43):
newsletters I follow is out of the Wall Street Journal.
They actually send out quite a few, and it's about
the stock market, and it begins a big week, started
out with upbeat news a US EU trade deal ahead
of Friday's deadline. Still to comer quarterly reports from about
one third of the companies in the s and P.
(26:04):
Five hundred, including four of the Magnificent Seven. Those four
of the Magnificent seven that are due will be Apple, Amazon, Meta,
which of course is Facebook, and Microsoft Microsoft, and they
are set to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday and Thursday.
(26:27):
That should be interesting. But the article was about the
seventies and economic news in the seventies, and those of
you who were investors at the time will remember these days.
He writes, gas lines, Watergate, and ugg Disco. The indignities
of the seventies even extended to the stock market. Returns
(26:47):
were sapped by the longest and worst stretch of inflation
in all of American history. Let me read that again.
Returns were sapped by the longest and worst stretch of
inflation in America in history. It was the Carter administration
that gave us the Reagan administration. The decades saw one
of the classic contrarian magazine covers of all time, Business Weeks,
(27:11):
the Death of Equities in nineteen seventy nine. And you,
of course know equities is the stock market. The good news,
sort of is that the seventies weren't as bad as
our memories would have us believe the bad news high
stock valuations and the possible erosion of federal reserve independence
could be setting markets up for similarly lousy times. This
(27:32):
fellow is famously a contrarian, so he's wrong more often
than he's right. I'm giving you the historical information, not
his perspective, as I don't think he's right. Middle aged
or older US investors have endured worse real returns than
the seventies without anyone saying the stock market was dead.
Although the ten years beginning in bubbly two thousand didn't
(27:54):
see rapid rises in consumer prices, they still ended with
a whimper thousand dollars investment in the S and P
five hundred at the start of the decade, so at
two thousand would have been worth only seven thousand and
eighty one doctors by the dollars by the end of
two thousand and nine, after including dividends and inflation, so
you would only be left with seventy percent of the
(28:16):
money you'd put in the stock market to begin with
in the two thousands. Compare that with nineteen seventy three,
when inflation was about to kick into high gear and
the air came out of the nifty to fifty stock bubble.
The real or inflation adjusted ending value of ten thousand
by the end of eighty two a not as bad
eighty three hundred and twenty seven. It's kind of funny
(28:37):
because if you are younger than me but old enough
that you've been spending the last five or ten years
or more up to say fifteen, and every paycheck you
put money into your retirement account, you've seen that money grow,
and just as with real estate, I find it fascinating
(28:59):
that people think that if you just put money in
the stock market, it'll continue to grow. It's like a
savings account. There'll be more in there tomorrow than there
is today, and the more you put in, the more
you make. And it doesn't work that way. It's a
legalized gamble. I have said this forever. It is legalized gambling,
(29:20):
and I mean that, and it's important that people understand that.
That's why you should diversify and not put everything into
the stock market. The idea that because the stock market
has been up on a sustained level for fifteen years
or more, everything posts two thousand and eight has come
up mostly roses. Depending on what you were invested in.
(29:40):
If you were in mutual funds are diversified, then that's
certainly the case and the idea of being well, we'll
just continue to do that and it'll continue to grow.
That's like flipping a coin forty nine times and it
coming up heads and thinking on the fiftieth that it's
got to come up heads because it's been heads forty
nine times before that. Consumer prices rose quickly during the seventies,
and there were three receipts between seventy three and eighty two,
(30:02):
but stock valuations were less frothy. The S and P
five hundreds cyclically adjusted price to earnings ratio was eighteen
times in nineteen seventy three. That more reliable price to
earnings ratio measure encompasses ten years, so it reflects at
least one complete business cycle. By the peak of the
(30:22):
tech bubble, the adjusted price to earnings ratio was at
an all time high at forty four times, and the
S and P five hundreds dividend yield was near an
all time low around one point two percent, because the
dot com companies didn't need to throw off dividends. For
those of you who remember those days, it was interesting
(30:45):
time because everybody was getting into dot com because you
couldn't lose, and there were twenty seven year old college
dropouts hanging out in coffee shops who had the name
rent dot com or bubble dot com or car dot
com or shoe dot com, and all of us sudden
their companies were worth billions of dollars, and nobody could
understand how this was happening, But there there was a snapback.
(31:08):
More surprising, stocks also did better during the Great Depression
than during the oughts. They were very expensive at the
twenty nine peak, but not as much as during the
tech bubble. Their real return also was boosted by deflation
during the thirties and dividend yields that were much higher
than any scene this century. A ten thousand dollars investment
at the start of nineteen twenty nine actually grew a
(31:29):
little to three hundred and twenty three and inflation adjusted
dollars ten years later. While inflation may stay tamed today
in the face of tariffs and fed uncertainty, valuation is
a cost for concern. The cyclically adjusted price to earnings
ratio just topped thirty eight times, and stock's dividend yield
is a mere one point two percent. Does that necessarily
(31:52):
foretel seventies like returns, NOE investors might still be willing
to pay today's historically lofty multiple for US stocks in
twenty thirty five, or at least something a lot higher
than after the supposed death of equities, and some economic
force who know like AI could help earnings grow much
faster than expected. The good news is AI is going
(32:14):
to make companies far more profitable. So, as an investor
or your stock portfolio, I think you're going to get
better returns than in the past. I also think a
lot of people are going to lose their jobs. Those
two are not mutually exclusive.
It's that time time time time lucking load. So Michael
Very Show is on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
By looking into Mica, we gotta feed a beard. I
don't plan to shave, and it's you the thing, but
I just gotta see. I'm doing it all right, Will,
I'm making support. It's I'm beating ready, Tom, that's the true.
(00:41):
It's neither drink nor drug and noo, I'm just done
all right.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Instagrat dead.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Suns still shining on a close my eyes.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
It's ft times in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The back and a political junkies tend to enjoy the
back and forth that punches, the jabs and knockouts, the wheelhouses,
the points scored. You can read about it on Twitter.
(01:19):
So and so was destroyed, but not really. It's all
for sport. There are things that matter in the bigger,
grander scheme of things, and one of those was this weekend.
It doesn't make for sexy headlines, but it's extraordinarily meaningful.
(01:41):
President Trump cutting a deal that is very much in
America's favor with the European Union, one of our major
largest trading partners. So good was that deal after the
concessions that europe opions would be giving America. The American
(02:04):
newspaper reporters and television reporters who hate Donald Trump we
know this, asked, what's what's America giving up? This seems
a bit one sided. And the leader of the European Union,
she said that the trade relationship was imbalanced, and this
(02:27):
is going to she sort of said, right, size it.
This is going to make it a more equitable trade relationship.
It will include over seven hundred billion dollars of European
investment in the United States, reduction of tariffs on American
products abroad, and it would appear, at least for now,
that Trump's economic policy is working. We will get to
(02:52):
that in just a moment. But first we are back
at full strength, which is where I hope the Astros
will be short for their playoff run. We are back
to full strength, with Chad back from Hawaii, Ramon back
from his suspension. The whole gang is in play. But
before we start with politics, a good story, a Houston story.
(03:19):
Pitcher Billy Wagner was inducted into the Hall of Fame,
and we start with him and his faith, giving, giving praise,
giving all honor to his Lord and Savior.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
But one of my former setup guys, Ross Springer gave
me some advice.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
She said, take a deep breath.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
And remember all the times.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
That he faced the three, four, five hitter, so that
I could blow away the six, seven, eight hitter. Teammates, right,
bullpen guys. Being up here today, I feel like my
baseball life has come full circle.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I was a fan before I could play, and.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Back when baseball wasn't so available on TV. Every Saturday
morning I watched Johnny Bench and so many of the
other greats.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I want to show the baseball.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
Bunch now here I am standing among you.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
It's really hard to believe. I grew up listening to.
Speaker 5 (04:27):
Braves broadcasters Skip Carrey, as well as Pete Van Wering,
Don Sutton, and Joe Simpson. Along the way, the great
Milo Hamilton called my games as an astro. Then Chip
Carry called my last game as a brave. Full circle,
(04:50):
and now that am I playing days are over and
I'm back to being a fan. But I'm lucky enough
to be a fan with the inside view of this
great game a kid in a candy shop. This journey
was shaped by my love of the game, by the
lessons from the game, and by the love and support
I got from my family, teammates and coaches.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my
Lord and Savior.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Without you, Amen, without you, none of this would be possible.
And with you, nothing is impossible, not even a five
foot and nothing, one pound, nothing making the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
God is great. He would go on to talk about
Lance Berkman and that Lince Berkman should be in the
Hall of Fame, which made me very, very happy.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
He also said this in conclusion to every kid out there,
this is my to you. Obstacles are not a roadblock.
Obstacles are stepping stones. They build you and shape you,
refine you. I wasn't the biggest, I wasn't left handed.
I wasn't supposed to be here. There were only seven
(06:15):
full time relievers in the Hall of Fame. Now there
are eight.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Because I refuse to give up or give in.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
I refuse to listen to the outside critics, and I
never stopped working. That's what this game does for you.
It teaches you about life. It teaches you how to persevere.
Don't fear failure, embrace it because perseverance isn't just a trait,
it's the path to greatness. Thank you to the Hall
(06:48):
of Fame for the incredible honor. Thank you to every teammate,
every coach, every fan, every person who believes in me
along the way. I am forever grateful. This game is
more than numbers and metrics. It's winning the moment. It's
being excited for your teammates when they succeed. It's being
(07:09):
crushed when you don't come through in the clutch. It's
knowing that there is always tomorrow. The love of the
game has meaning, and it's not about salaries and rankings.
It's about perseverance, passion, grit, and pursuit of perfection. It's
about the one two, three inning play to win and
(07:32):
let God take care of the rest. Thank you and
God bless.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
What a wonderful way to accept the honor of a
lifetime for a ballplayer is to make it about what
life lessons we can take from it and thanks to
God for his success. I think that says a lot
about Billy Wagner. I'm going to see if Chad can
(07:59):
track down the comment he made about Lance Berkman, because
I thought it was it was really, really good. We
have had a number of losses of famous people that
we didn't know lately, and so I and a number
of our friends were worried with Uncle Jerry going in
for a big surgery next week, and unfortunately it's not
(08:23):
all good. I'll tell you about it coming up Michael
Berry's show. I don't know if this year has been
worse than years past for people that we didn't know personally,
but they were part of our lives, part of the
(08:47):
pop iconography that when you lose them, you feel like
you've lost a friend in some way. It started on
January first with Wayne Osmond of the Osmond Family, the
famous Mormon singing group that feel like they've been around forever.
Peter Year. That was January first. A few days later
(09:08):
Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary passed, Sam Moore
of Sam and Dave with soul Man and hold on
Him Come In and the great Stax duo. And then
there was David Lynch, the amazing director. There was Bob Yuker,
who made such an incredible career out of self deprecating humor.
(09:33):
I don't know. I mean, he's up there with Rodney
Dangerfield for just taking a style of humor and absolutely
owning it. We lost Garth Hudson before January would turn
the calendar page, the last surviving member of the band,
the second greatest band of all time, Marianne Faithful as
(09:56):
Tears go by, roberta flack of Kill Me Softly, And
that was before January was even over. Then there was Jane.
Then there was a Gene Hackman and the tragic circumstances
not only behind his passing, but the manner in which
(10:18):
he passed ninety five? How did Gene Hackman? Just how
did we wake up and Gene Hackman was ninety five?
How does that happen? Michelle Trachtenberg, the Buffy, the Vampire
Slayer and Gossip Girl actress. George Foreman, our dear friend,
passed on March twenty first, at only seventy six. I
(10:39):
thought he lived to be one hundred. He was so tough,
so strong. Two time heavyweight champion, inventor, father, friend, pastor,
great American hero. Richard Chamberlain, the Great Actor, passed March
twenty ninth. Val Kilmer April first, Boy did he ever
give some great performances? Loretta Sweet Hot Lips Hula Han
(11:03):
from Mash sly Stone in June. I'll confess I figured
sly Stone was probably dead already because there was a
lot that happened there. Brian Wilson, the impetus behind the
Beach Boys, Jimmy Swaggert in July July was Jimmy Swagger,
Michael Madisen, Sam Haskell, Connie Francis, THEO from the Cosby Show,
(11:29):
Ozzy Osbourne, Chuckman, Jioni, Hulk Hogan, all just in a
row there. So my best friend, if you know, Uncle Jerry,
if you ever came to the RCC, My kids started
calling him Uncle Jerry. Everybody calls him Uncle Jerry. Jerry McGill.
If you've seen him in the last five years, you've
seen him in a boot because he was a professional
motocross rider in his late teens, and the pounding on
(11:52):
his foot shattered the bones in his foot. And finally,
after five years, his wife and I talked him into
having sir and he went and all the bones in
his foot were shattered. The surgery was successful, except the
way the bones were shadowed. They had to take off
his pinky toe, so we add to our sense of
loss those taken from us too early. Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
(12:20):
This is just a little tune. Little Biggie went to
market about things lost far too soon, A little bigges
stay at home. So join me as we rememb about
we miss Kurt Krobang left us.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
In nineteen ninety four, Jimmy Hendrix changed the world that
set fire through the score. Janice Joplin left a little
piece of her hard at Heaven's door.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Begamin with the angels now and Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
Fox, I'm a piggy Rose. They no longer standing. The
days of music died still hurts like John Denver's landing.
Selena's dreams were stolen by a fan's obsessive woes.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
They're shining up.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
In gulgry weird Uncle Jerry's pinky.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
Toe rufully kicked the bucket a dragon in the Knights.
Sharon Tate so young and sweet that helter skelter fight.
Chris Harley went too hard, too fast, with all they
waiting too.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
They're inoving down by the river with Uncle Jerry's stinky too.
Otis sweet, otis on the duck of the bay. Imagine
a world where John Lennon never went Oh Wait River Phoenix,
Amy Winehouse.
Speaker 7 (13:55):
Marilyn Monroe, the answering in the cosmos.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Weird uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
In town, you were just a dove, and now you're
all alone. You went we we we all the way home.
Speaker 9 (14:31):
You went we we we all the way.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Peggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
This little piggy had roast beef, This little piggy had none.
The last little piggy got called by God back home.
Speaker 8 (15:02):
Goodbye Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
You're the best toe.
Speaker 10 (15:07):
The river was.
Speaker 8 (15:10):
Restling piece, rested peace, resting power, Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
It's a far apartment of place that you're going to.
If you're a light, you're a light in.
Speaker 7 (15:22):
A dark place Uncle Jerry's pinky toe.
Speaker 6 (15:26):
And that dark place was Uncle Jerry's sock and food.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Goodbye Uncle Jerry's pinky toe. Goodbye, so war saying our
Uncle Jerry's pigky toe till this time.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Goodbye, mister Michael Berry's shaken from us far too soon.
Americans are the best salesman in the world. That's really
not open for a dispute. There are companies that will
(15:59):
hire Americans to lead their sales team of their products
to the rest of the world, even where they're not
selling an American product or they're not selling to America.
It's common in Europe, it's common in Asia. Japanese companies
have long hired Americans to lead their sales force. Americans
(16:21):
are very, very good at messaging and storytelling of a
good or service. One of the best I've ever known
that it is Robert Reese. And I have said this
before and I'll say it again. Good salesmen. The two
folks who sell my show the most are Grant Patterson
(16:42):
and Robert Reese. And they're not cold callers. They're not cheesy,
laugh at your stupid joke kind of people. It's not
how salesmen are portrayed in Glengarry glen Ross, where you're
just trying to get somebody to sign a deal even
if they don't want to do it, and then you
don't let them out of it. It's relationships. A good
(17:03):
transaction should be a win for both sides. And a
good salesman is a relationship manager. They help a person
achieve their goals. That's what they should do. So it's
Robert Reese's birthday, and I asked him what he wanted
for his birthday, and he said, I'd be appreciative if
you just did what you did for me last year,
(17:24):
and that is mentioned the Michael Berry Show. Sponsors that
are my clients. So here we go. Hold on, there
are quite a few. Abaca's Plumbing, Ace Hardware, Texas A,
Corey Dimond In Design, CCS, Presentation Systems, Chad T. Wilson
Law Firm, Daniel Dean Land Clearing and Dredging, Dean and
(17:46):
Draper Insurance, Design Tech Homes, Deroche Partners, dun Fence, Elite
Medical Hospitals, Federal American Grill, Grengo's, Jimmy Changas, Guy Lewis
Cosmetic Dentist, Hawthorne Capitol, Heritage, Legacy Films, Houston Motorsports, Houston
Powder CODs, Christine Weaver Law Firm, Lamont Brands, Oops Steam Cleaning,
(18:11):
Percento Technologies, PTSD Foundation. That's not a paid sponsor. We
donate everything to them. But he manages that relationship, which
is pretty cool because obviously he doesn't get paid for it.
There's no money that transacts. But that was my passion
and he took it over as his passion. Republic Grand Ranch,
(18:32):
Redstone Payment Solutions, Republic Boot Company, Rick Doak Shade, Doctors,
Southern front Doors, Texas Pools, Texas State Rentals, Texas Renters,
The Pipe Yard, Top Tax Defenders, Trader Wheel and Frame,
US Coins and Utility Tax Remover. Happy Birthday, Robert Reese.
(18:56):
So Billy Wagner's speech at the Hall of Fame, I'll
have to tell that story later because I don't have
time in this segment. But there is a story about
Eddie Martini and me at the Cooperstown Hall of Fame induction,
one of the great experiences. So we have great economic
(19:17):
news of President Trump's meeting with the leader of the
European Union where he struck an amazing deal. And that
is really the art of the deal. That's the understanding
of negotiation. In most politicians have zero business and so
they have no sense of how negotiation works. But Donald
(19:37):
Trump does. He cuts deals. He's a deal maker. He
understands what the other person wants, what he wants, and
how to get what he wants rather than what they
wants want. It's not always a win win. He wants
to win the deal, and in this case, he's winning
the deal on behalf of Americans. And that's exactly how
I want it. But some unfortunate news and these things
(20:01):
just happen. More than five hundred Chevron employees and Houston
will be laid off after a merger with Hess. ABC
thirteen with the story.
Speaker 9 (20:10):
Oil and Gas jobs cut. A federally required notice filed
earlier this week with the Texas Workforce Commission reveals five
hundred and seventy five Chevron employees will be laid off.
Speaker 11 (20:21):
These kind of layoffs are pretty standard in the industry
during a consolidation phase, and right now we're in a
consolidation phase.
Speaker 9 (20:29):
Energy industry veteran Bob Kavnar says in mergers like the
one between Chevron and Hess, there are also duplicate jobs
that are often eliminated.
Speaker 11 (20:37):
HESS has a large office here that has a number
of employees and are laying off over thirty percent of
the Houston employees.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
That's a pretty good cut.
Speaker 9 (20:47):
In a statement, Chevron says, in part, we are working
quickly to integrate the Hess workforce and are focused on
maintaining safe and reliable operations throughout the transition period. These
are difficult decisions which we do not make lightly. But
experts added this could also impact companies across the industry,
like those drilling the oil and gas.
Speaker 10 (21:07):
It definitely has a trickle down effect that has you know,
kind of a you know, a ripple effect through the through.
Speaker 11 (21:12):
The supply of the value Chaine the service companies. The
biggest challenge the service companies have is that they have
to ride the curve also and they're generally the last
ones to be hired and the first ones to be
fired when you go into an upswing or downswing and
say it could impact costs.
Speaker 10 (21:29):
But you know, when you have the supply pull dick
and you know and then pulledack, you know from from companies,
generally that kind of starts a new cycle of higher prices.
So that's something that I do expect.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I didn't know Bob Kaevanor was quoted in that story.
My wife worked with Bob Kaevanar at El Paso Energy.
It was a high time to be at El Paso
Energy in the late nineties early two thousand. She kind
of rose through the ranks of that company heading their
y two K efforts and ended up as associate General
(22:05):
council at a time that ol Passo was going and blowing.
It's a great story, actually, little BdL Paso David that
bought the Goliath. It was a little El Passo Energy
from El Paso, Texas that managed to buy Tenaco, which
was a legendary, legendary Houston company, and a lot of
(22:27):
folks from El Paso came to Houston. A lot of
folks from Teneco moved out and they needed to rebuild
and restructure and reload. And she was doing a lot
of legal work for the entity that was Tenneco then
El Paso, and they asked her to come in and
join that company. And it was heady times for us.
We were just kind of hitting our stride professionally. I
(22:49):
had just gotten elected to city council. She was rising
through the ranks of a major corporation as a lawyer.
It was good times. It's unfortunate. It's unfortunate that you
lose your job when you've done nothing wrong. And that's
the five hundred Chevron employees. They've done nothing wrong. But
(23:10):
that doesn't make it any easier. Ramon, You ever been
fired or laid off suspended? Yes, good lord, you've been
suspended a lot of time. It's kind of to the
point now it's laughable. We either need to fire you
or stop suspending you. Because you've been suspended too many times.
You like Terrell Owens, you know you're toxic to the work,
(23:32):
to the locker room. You're out there. What was he
doing the push up? Remember he's doing the push ups
for the media. You got to imagine if you're the
coach and you're trying to keep the team focused and
there's Terrell out doing push ups with his gold chains
hanging around his neck, and it's a team sport last
time I checked. So our hearts go out to the
(23:53):
five hundred Chevron employees who lost jobs. But our economy
is looking up. Things are going to be good. You're
going to be good. Houston's going to be good. Mit
the Michael Berry taken from us far too soon. The
(24:14):
little band from Texas, zz Top played Red Rocks Park
in Amphitheater in Jefferson County, Colorado, or just Red Rocks.
As it's now a week from today. I've never seen
zz Top in person. I will fix that. A week
from today, after our evening show, we will be attending
(24:38):
a zz Top concert for the first time, and I
must admit I am very very excited. Is exciting I
get to meet Frank Beard, drummer who I've come to
understand is a fan of the show along with his
son Rory and their entire family, and have apparently listened
for years and years, So it should be a good
(25:01):
time and then I will immediately be back in Houston
after the Tuesday show. Traveling for me is very difficult
because I can only travel in between the shows or
after a show, and since our day is kind of
seven to seven, with just that little pocket in between,
it's hard to travel in between at least commercial Han
(25:21):
ramon against what I'm saying is, you know, if Eddie
Martinez would maybe splurge, it would be nice for us
to just roll up to the FBO, roll up on
the tarmac, hop on the plane, and then we could
get done what we need to get done and still
do the show and not be so stressed out. Do
you know what I'm saying? Do you agree with Moon?
You with me on this one? So one of many
(25:43):
newsletters I follow is out of the Wall Street Journal.
They actually send out quite a few, and it's about
the stock market, and it begins a big week, started
out with upbeat news a US EU trade deal ahead
of Friday's deadline. Still to comer quarterly reports from about
one third of the companies in the s and P.
(26:04):
Five hundred, including four of the Magnificent Seven. Those four
of the Magnificent seven that are due will be Apple, Amazon, Meta,
which of course is Facebook, and Microsoft Microsoft, and they
are set to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday and Thursday.
(26:27):
That should be interesting. But the article was about the
seventies and economic news in the seventies, and those of
you who were investors at the time will remember these days.
He writes, gas lines, Watergate, and ugg Disco. The indignities
of the seventies even extended to the stock market. Returns
(26:47):
were sapped by the longest and worst stretch of inflation
in all of American history. Let me read that again.
Returns were sapped by the longest and worst stretch of
inflation in America in history. It was the Carter administration
that gave us the Reagan administration. The decades saw one
of the classic contrarian magazine covers of all time, Business Weeks,
(27:11):
the Death of Equities in nineteen seventy nine. And you,
of course know equities is the stock market. The good news,
sort of is that the seventies weren't as bad as
our memories would have us believe the bad news high
stock valuations and the possible erosion of federal reserve independence
could be setting markets up for similarly lousy times. This
(27:32):
fellow is famously a contrarian, so he's wrong more often
than he's right. I'm giving you the historical information, not
his perspective, as I don't think he's right. Middle aged
or older US investors have endured worse real returns than
the seventies without anyone saying the stock market was dead.
Although the ten years beginning in bubbly two thousand didn't
(27:54):
see rapid rises in consumer prices, they still ended with
a whimper thousand dollars investment in the S and P
five hundred at the start of the decade, so at
two thousand would have been worth only seven thousand and
eighty one doctors by the dollars by the end of
two thousand and nine, after including dividends and inflation, so
you would only be left with seventy percent of the
(28:16):
money you'd put in the stock market to begin with
in the two thousands. Compare that with nineteen seventy three,
when inflation was about to kick into high gear and
the air came out of the nifty to fifty stock bubble.
The real or inflation adjusted ending value of ten thousand
by the end of eighty two a not as bad
eighty three hundred and twenty seven. It's kind of funny
(28:37):
because if you are younger than me but old enough
that you've been spending the last five or ten years
or more up to say fifteen, and every paycheck you
put money into your retirement account, you've seen that money grow,
and just as with real estate, I find it fascinating
(28:59):
that people think that if you just put money in
the stock market, it'll continue to grow. It's like a
savings account. There'll be more in there tomorrow than there
is today, and the more you put in, the more
you make. And it doesn't work that way. It's a
legalized gamble. I have said this forever. It is legalized gambling,
(29:20):
and I mean that, and it's important that people understand that.
That's why you should diversify and not put everything into
the stock market. The idea that because the stock market
has been up on a sustained level for fifteen years
or more, everything posts two thousand and eight has come
up mostly roses. Depending on what you were invested in.
(29:40):
If you were in mutual funds are diversified, then that's
certainly the case and the idea of being well, we'll
just continue to do that and it'll continue to grow.
That's like flipping a coin forty nine times and it
coming up heads and thinking on the fiftieth that it's
got to come up heads because it's been heads forty
nine times before that. Consumer prices rose quickly during the seventies,
and there were three receipts between seventy three and eighty two,
(30:02):
but stock valuations were less frothy. The S and P
five hundreds cyclically adjusted price to earnings ratio was eighteen
times in nineteen seventy three. That more reliable price to
earnings ratio measure encompasses ten years, so it reflects at
least one complete business cycle. By the peak of the
(30:22):
tech bubble, the adjusted price to earnings ratio was at
an all time high at forty four times, and the
S and P five hundreds dividend yield was near an
all time low around one point two percent, because the
dot com companies didn't need to throw off dividends. For
those of you who remember those days, it was interesting
(30:45):
time because everybody was getting into dot com because you
couldn't lose, and there were twenty seven year old college
dropouts hanging out in coffee shops who had the name
rent dot com or bubble dot com or car dot
com or shoe dot com, and all of us sudden
their companies were worth billions of dollars, and nobody could
understand how this was happening, But there there was a snapback.
(31:08):
More surprising, stocks also did better during the Great Depression
than during the oughts. They were very expensive at the
twenty nine peak, but not as much as during the
tech bubble. Their real return also was boosted by deflation
during the thirties and dividend yields that were much higher
than any scene this century. A ten thousand dollars investment
at the start of nineteen twenty nine actually grew a
(31:29):
little to three hundred and twenty three and inflation adjusted
dollars ten years later. While inflation may stay tamed today
in the face of tariffs and fed uncertainty, valuation is
a cost for concern. The cyclically adjusted price to earnings
ratio just topped thirty eight times, and stock's dividend yield
is a mere one point two percent. Does that necessarily
(31:52):
foretel seventies like returns, NOE investors might still be willing
to pay today's historically lofty multiple for US stocks in
twenty thirty five, or at least something a lot higher
than after the supposed death of equities, and some economic
force who know like AI could help earnings grow much
faster than expected. The good news is AI is going
(32:14):
to make companies far more profitable. So, as an investor
or your stock portfolio, I think you're going to get
better returns than in the past. I also think a
lot of people are going to lose their jobs. Those
two are not mutually exclusive.
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