August 28, 2025 • 10 mins
Jonathan Hoenig of CapitalistPig.com has a national look at business including the fallout at Cracker Barrel and luxury car sales could drop in the near future
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Every now and then you need a stupid story to
make you feel a little bit better about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
So a guy in Aurora, Colorado.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Was pulled over for allegedly stealing a Chevy Express van.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
The police, there was a little bit of a pursuit.
They were able to pull him over.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
They walk up to the window, he rolls it down,
you know this much, and they say get out of
the car. And he said, well, I'm not going to
get out of the car until I finish my cigarette. Okay,
all right, Hey, he rolls his window back. He's like,
I'm on a smoke break. You can arrest me in
a minute. I got to finish my smoke. I just
lit it.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
That is someone who's seriously addicted the cigarettes. So he
rolls his window back up.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
The police in Aurora, Colorado didn't take too kindly to that,
so they broke the passenger side window and they lobbed
in some pepper balls. So he's going with the some
nicotine and some pepper balls. At this point, he finishes
his cigarette. The pepper balls forced him out and he
was promptly arrested on multiple charges.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So you can arrest me in a minute. I got
to finish my sires. I just lit it, and don't
mess with a guy on a smoke break. Well, he
got a smoke break with the pepper bombs, so he's good.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Now He's got plenty of time for smoke breaks now,
Oh sure he does. Yeah, all right, over the Legacy
Retirement Group dot com phone line, let's say good morning
to our capitalist pig heard here every Thursday at about
ten after eight.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It's my guy Jonathan and Honig Jonathan. Good morning.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
The SNP closed another record high yesterday as investors keeping
their eye on in video.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
What's going on in good morning?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, Mike, it's great to be with you. Good morning
as well. And as you said, record high, and all
eyes were on in Vidia, that is the biggest company
in the country because chip company, and they were releasing
their earnings after the bell yesterday. How do they do well?
They beat on both their top and bottom line estimates.
Basically they say that sales growth in Nvidia this quarter
(01:57):
is going to remain above fifty percent. Now the stock
is actually down a few dollars, just down a couple
of percent on a bit of what they call by
the rumor sell the fact action. But look the Invidia
is eight percent of the S and P five hundred
mic So even if you only own that diversified mutual phone,
you own a big chunk of Nvidia. And the fact
(02:17):
that it's beating earnings expectations is a good time for
the economy.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, fascinating there. We'll continue to attract that story. As
you know, this is the chip maker, and as AI
grows and technology grows and the demand for chips and
microprocessors grows, and you know, the story kind of in
our own backyard is Intel. We know that the US
government's taking a ten percent stake in that company. It's
(02:41):
semi controversial there, but Secretary of the Treasury Scott Messent
said Trump is actually looking at doing this with some
other businesses.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yeah, I mean this is this is not going to
be a one off. Exactly as you said, Trump is
foreign taking investment equity stakes in other industries. And the
way Beston basically sold it is that while other presidents
created debt for the American people, president Trump is creating assets.
And there's lots of debate about this. I mean who,
you know, who decides what the voting power is of
(03:12):
the companies, who funds it, who chooses which companies to
invest in, who enjoys the profits of any So lots
of question marks about that, but certainly President Trump is exploring,
you know, a way of governing. Honestly, Mike has often
been more associated with the Democrat Republicans. You know, Mandamie
is talking about opening up a grocery store, a government
(03:35):
run grocery store, and Republicans have gone haywire. So here's
Trump talking about owning ten percent plus that's the big
shareholder of some of the nation's biggest companies. You live
in strange, strange times.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
No doubt. Jonathanoone Capitalist pig dot Com. I think for
folks in Licking County, in the New Albany area at
this point, I probably like, just get this thing built,
Just get this intel plant built, please, at whatever cost
before twenty thirty five or whatever.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
The deadline's been delayed.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Is one of the huge stories Jonathan has been Cracker
Barrel this week. They wanted to rebrand all their restaurants
and their logo, and they got a ton of pushback.
They came out and said, you know what, you were right,
We are wrong. We're not going to change a darn thing.
And it's got Wall Street looking at them, and not just.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Wall Street, Mike, actually every day Main Street. You know,
Cracker Barrew is a relatively small chain and all this hubbub,
according to one of the analyst over at City Groups,
says that it can actually benefit the business. You know,
a lot of people are curious about Cracker Barrel now
you know what is the deal with all these old knickknacks.
In fact, searches for Cracker Barrel hit a record high
(04:44):
on Google over this past week, so you know, it's
become really a kind of a cultural touchstone issue here.
In fact, one online sleuth Mike found out that Cracker
Burrew not only brought back their old logo, but they
took down their pride page. They had apparently had some
pages on their website talking about gay and lesbian pride
(05:06):
and supporting pride LGBTQ. Those pages have now been removed
from the website. So interesting. It's a business issue, but
quickly became a cultural issue and Cracker Barrel came It's interesting.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
You know, people forget you can't be all things to
all people. You have an audience, super serve that audience
and be happy with your slice of the pie. Very
rarely do you have the industries being able to serve everybody.
And I think Cracker Barrel was thinking they could probably
do that when they had a very loyal audience that
they kind of started to move away.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
From absolutely and a lot of those fast casual dining piers,
you know, like Chili's for example. They've also been struggling
over the last couple of years. So the rest of
our business is difficult. And you're exactly right, Mike, It's
what Buffett talks about, you know, stick to your core competency.
Cracker Barrel stepped out of line. Bud Light did the
same thing. That's rights they were punish by their consumers.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Because of that. Yeah, go with what you know, Jonathan.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And I don't know how Starbucks stock is doing right now,
but I would imagine they love this time of year
because it's pumpkin spice latte.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, it is here, and I tell you they could
use it. I mean, you know, their net income is
down fifty percent in the most recent quarter and they're
YERI toinate profits are down about forty percent. So whether
or not it feels like fall to you, pumpkin slice
latte is here, in fact, and on the day that
it came out last year, mic it caused a twenty
(06:32):
four percent surge in sales, above the normal normal. And
you know, pumpkin spice is a is a flavor that
Starbucks came up with a number of years ago. This
is not a flavor they necessarily existed in nature, but
it's become ubiquitous. Around this time of year. You'll be
seeing Pumplin Sky's lattes, pumpkins spice candies, pumpkin spice martinis,
(06:52):
and Starbucks will have to see if it's doing anything
to help their bottom line.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I have never had one, have you? What are they
like six or seven bucks?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, you know, to me kind of feel it's like
coffee with cinnamon. But you know, to each his and
her own.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And the good news the good news is is actually
they're holding the line on price. You know, a Grande
pumpkin spice Locke will range somewhere between five dollars and
seventy five cents to seven dollars and twenty five cents.
Now that's a lot of money, certainly for a cup
of coffee. But they are doing their best and holding
the line for consumers.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
And Lamborghini CEO saying that tariffs are causing even the
wealthiest folks to reconsider buying a Lamborghini. I don't know,
what's a Lamborghini about five hundred thousand.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Well they start at four hundred thousand, but I don't
know if you get a radio or even a radiator
for that that right, Yeah, indeed that I mean the
price of Lamborghini. This is this is something truly for
the most affluent. But they're saying that Lamborghini CEO is
saying that the tariffs are causing those people, even people
with billions and billions of dollars, to maybe take some pause.
(07:55):
And you know, keep in mind, they don't they can't
produce Slamborghinis in the US. They don't mass produce these cars.
They careate oftentimes, you know, twenty five or fifty eight years.
So sales at Lamborghini and a lot of his luxury makers,
imported luxury good makers, could be down. We'll have to
see the data in the weeks to come.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, we've got that Powerball lottery on Saturday night, nine
hundred and fifty million, So maybe you could squeak a
Lamborghini out.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Of that if you want to. So I see.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Folks are kind of getting over the whole guilt tipping thing,
the whole tipping culture, which we've seen here just really
since the pandemic, where they flipped the iPad around and
they're looking at you as you're picking up your food
and saying, hey, how about a fifty percent tip.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But people are just starting to say no to that.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, yeah, you really are rebelling. And an organization study
Fines had their work. Basically, Americans spent two hundred and
eighty three dollars on what they call pressure driven tips
last year and that's down. That is down from the
four hundred and fifty dollars they tipped in twenty twenty four.
So exactly as you said, Mike, the average American is
(09:00):
just not kidding into tipping as much as they used to.
Last year it was about four point two times. The
previous year it was six point three times. And you know,
we're moving further and further away from from the pandemic.
You know, many people, most people have gone back to
work in some form or another, but there's less of
the fact that my Americans are hurting An extra two
dollars here, five dollars here really does add up so
(09:22):
some Americans do feel guilty when not tipping, but they're
looking at their own bottom lines, which are still hurting
given the inflation and uncertainly the economy.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
If you have a moment today, check them out. Capitalist
pig dot com. Jonavan Hoenig, our guest final story. I
see the parent company of Bravo Italian Kitchen and Brio
Italian Grill, which we have here in Columbus, as filed
for bankruptcy.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, and it's not just first, Mike, this is the
second time in five years. They are citing the acute
financial distress in the industry. Four thousand employees to be impacted.
There's got forty eight locations all over the country. So
we never like to see that company is going bankrupt.
(10:05):
But you know, this is a competitive business. That's a
good thing, and they will be reorganized and it growth
will come again. But economy is certainly not helping anyone
in the service business. And as you said, those Bravo
Brio restaurants out of business for good.
Every now and then you need a stupid story to
make you feel a little bit better about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
So a guy in Aurora, Colorado.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Was pulled over for allegedly stealing a Chevy Express van.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
The police, there was a little bit of a pursuit.
They were able to pull him over.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
They walk up to the window, he rolls it down,
you know this much, and they say get out of
the car. And he said, well, I'm not going to
get out of the car until I finish my cigarette. Okay,
all right, Hey, he rolls his window back. He's like,
I'm on a smoke break. You can arrest me in
a minute. I got to finish my smoke. I just
lit it.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
That is someone who's seriously addicted the cigarettes. So he
rolls his window back up.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
The police in Aurora, Colorado didn't take too kindly to that,
so they broke the passenger side window and they lobbed
in some pepper balls. So he's going with the some
nicotine and some pepper balls. At this point, he finishes
his cigarette. The pepper balls forced him out and he
was promptly arrested on multiple charges.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
So you can arrest me in a minute. I got
to finish my sires. I just lit it, and don't
mess with a guy on a smoke break. Well, he
got a smoke break with the pepper bombs, so he's good.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Now He's got plenty of time for smoke breaks now,
Oh sure he does. Yeah, all right, over the Legacy
Retirement Group dot com phone line, let's say good morning
to our capitalist pig heard here every Thursday at about
ten after eight.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It's my guy Jonathan and Honig Jonathan. Good morning.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
The SNP closed another record high yesterday as investors keeping
their eye on in video.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
What's going on in good morning?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, Mike, it's great to be with you. Good morning
as well. And as you said, record high, and all
eyes were on in Vidia, that is the biggest company
in the country because chip company, and they were releasing
their earnings after the bell yesterday. How do they do well?
They beat on both their top and bottom line estimates.
Basically they say that sales growth in Nvidia this quarter
(01:57):
is going to remain above fifty percent. Now the stock
is actually down a few dollars, just down a couple
of percent on a bit of what they call by
the rumor sell the fact action. But look the Invidia
is eight percent of the S and P five hundred
mic So even if you only own that diversified mutual phone,
you own a big chunk of Nvidia. And the fact
(02:17):
that it's beating earnings expectations is a good time for
the economy.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, fascinating there. We'll continue to attract that story. As
you know, this is the chip maker, and as AI
grows and technology grows and the demand for chips and
microprocessors grows, and you know, the story kind of in
our own backyard is Intel. We know that the US
government's taking a ten percent stake in that company. It's
(02:41):
semi controversial there, but Secretary of the Treasury Scott Messent
said Trump is actually looking at doing this with some
other businesses.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yeah, I mean this is this is not going to
be a one off. Exactly as you said, Trump is
foreign taking investment equity stakes in other industries. And the
way Beston basically sold it is that while other presidents
created debt for the American people, president Trump is creating assets.
And there's lots of debate about this. I mean who,
you know, who decides what the voting power is of
(03:12):
the companies, who funds it, who chooses which companies to
invest in, who enjoys the profits of any So lots
of question marks about that, but certainly President Trump is exploring,
you know, a way of governing. Honestly, Mike has often
been more associated with the Democrat Republicans. You know, Mandamie
is talking about opening up a grocery store, a government
(03:35):
run grocery store, and Republicans have gone haywire. So here's
Trump talking about owning ten percent plus that's the big
shareholder of some of the nation's biggest companies. You live
in strange, strange times.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
No doubt. Jonathanoone Capitalist pig dot Com. I think for
folks in Licking County, in the New Albany area at
this point, I probably like, just get this thing built,
Just get this intel plant built, please, at whatever cost
before twenty thirty five or whatever.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
The deadline's been delayed.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Is one of the huge stories Jonathan has been Cracker
Barrel this week. They wanted to rebrand all their restaurants
and their logo, and they got a ton of pushback.
They came out and said, you know what, you were right,
We are wrong. We're not going to change a darn thing.
And it's got Wall Street looking at them, and not just.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Wall Street, Mike, actually every day Main Street. You know,
Cracker Barrew is a relatively small chain and all this hubbub,
according to one of the analyst over at City Groups,
says that it can actually benefit the business. You know,
a lot of people are curious about Cracker Barrel now
you know what is the deal with all these old knickknacks.
In fact, searches for Cracker Barrel hit a record high
(04:44):
on Google over this past week, so you know, it's
become really a kind of a cultural touchstone issue here.
In fact, one online sleuth Mike found out that Cracker
Burrew not only brought back their old logo, but they
took down their pride page. They had apparently had some
pages on their website talking about gay and lesbian pride
(05:06):
and supporting pride LGBTQ. Those pages have now been removed
from the website. So interesting. It's a business issue, but
quickly became a cultural issue and Cracker Barrel came It's interesting.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
You know, people forget you can't be all things to
all people. You have an audience, super serve that audience
and be happy with your slice of the pie. Very
rarely do you have the industries being able to serve everybody.
And I think Cracker Barrel was thinking they could probably
do that when they had a very loyal audience that
they kind of started to move away.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
From absolutely and a lot of those fast casual dining piers,
you know, like Chili's for example. They've also been struggling
over the last couple of years. So the rest of
our business is difficult. And you're exactly right, Mike, It's
what Buffett talks about, you know, stick to your core competency.
Cracker Barrel stepped out of line. Bud Light did the
same thing. That's rights they were punish by their consumers.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Because of that. Yeah, go with what you know, Jonathan.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And I don't know how Starbucks stock is doing right now,
but I would imagine they love this time of year
because it's pumpkin spice latte.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, it is here, and I tell you they could
use it. I mean, you know, their net income is
down fifty percent in the most recent quarter and they're
YERI toinate profits are down about forty percent. So whether
or not it feels like fall to you, pumpkin slice
latte is here, in fact, and on the day that
it came out last year, mic it caused a twenty
(06:32):
four percent surge in sales, above the normal normal. And
you know, pumpkin spice is a is a flavor that
Starbucks came up with a number of years ago. This
is not a flavor they necessarily existed in nature, but
it's become ubiquitous. Around this time of year. You'll be
seeing Pumplin Sky's lattes, pumpkins spice candies, pumpkin spice martinis,
(06:52):
and Starbucks will have to see if it's doing anything
to help their bottom line.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I have never had one, have you? What are they
like six or seven bucks?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, you know, to me kind of feel it's like
coffee with cinnamon. But you know, to each his and
her own.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And the good news the good news is is actually
they're holding the line on price. You know, a Grande
pumpkin spice Locke will range somewhere between five dollars and
seventy five cents to seven dollars and twenty five cents.
Now that's a lot of money, certainly for a cup
of coffee. But they are doing their best and holding
the line for consumers.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
And Lamborghini CEO saying that tariffs are causing even the
wealthiest folks to reconsider buying a Lamborghini. I don't know,
what's a Lamborghini about five hundred thousand.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Well they start at four hundred thousand, but I don't
know if you get a radio or even a radiator
for that that right, Yeah, indeed that I mean the
price of Lamborghini. This is this is something truly for
the most affluent. But they're saying that Lamborghini CEO is
saying that the tariffs are causing those people, even people
with billions and billions of dollars, to maybe take some pause.
(07:55):
And you know, keep in mind, they don't they can't
produce Slamborghinis in the US. They don't mass produce these cars.
They careate oftentimes, you know, twenty five or fifty eight years.
So sales at Lamborghini and a lot of his luxury makers,
imported luxury good makers, could be down. We'll have to
see the data in the weeks to come.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, we've got that Powerball lottery on Saturday night, nine
hundred and fifty million, So maybe you could squeak a
Lamborghini out.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Of that if you want to. So I see.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Folks are kind of getting over the whole guilt tipping thing,
the whole tipping culture, which we've seen here just really
since the pandemic, where they flipped the iPad around and
they're looking at you as you're picking up your food
and saying, hey, how about a fifty percent tip.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
But people are just starting to say no to that.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, yeah, you really are rebelling. And an organization study
Fines had their work. Basically, Americans spent two hundred and
eighty three dollars on what they call pressure driven tips
last year and that's down. That is down from the
four hundred and fifty dollars they tipped in twenty twenty four.
So exactly as you said, Mike, the average American is
(09:00):
just not kidding into tipping as much as they used to.
Last year it was about four point two times. The
previous year it was six point three times. And you know,
we're moving further and further away from from the pandemic.
You know, many people, most people have gone back to
work in some form or another, but there's less of
the fact that my Americans are hurting An extra two
dollars here, five dollars here really does add up so
(09:22):
some Americans do feel guilty when not tipping, but they're
looking at their own bottom lines, which are still hurting
given the inflation and uncertainly the economy.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
If you have a moment today, check them out. Capitalist
pig dot com. Jonavan Hoenig, our guest final story. I
see the parent company of Bravo Italian Kitchen and Brio
Italian Grill, which we have here in Columbus, as filed
for bankruptcy.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, and it's not just first, Mike, this is the
second time in five years. They are citing the acute
financial distress in the industry. Four thousand employees to be impacted.
There's got forty eight locations all over the country. So
we never like to see that company is going bankrupt.
(10:05):
But you know, this is a competitive business. That's a
good thing, and they will be reorganized and it growth
will come again. But economy is certainly not helping anyone
in the service business. And as you said, those Bravo
Brio restaurants out of business for good.
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