Century Bonds Issued

With the threat of an increase in interest rates, it appears to be a good time for borrowers to lock on interest rates for a long time. TTUN is the latest to do so, issuing $1.2 billion worth of century bonds, that is bonds with a 100-year maturity, at a coupon rate of 4.45 percent. At the same time, TTUN issued $800 million of 30-year maturity bonds at 3.5 percent. Other Big Ten universities, including the University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Rutgers University, and THE Ohio State University have issued century bonds in recent years.

Onshoring

Which automobile company exports the most cars from the U.S.? Most people would probably guess Ford or GM, but for the 8th straight year, BMW is the U.S. auto export leader. During 2021, BMW exported 257,876 cars valued at $10.1 billion from the company's plant in the U.S. Although many are concerned with the negative effects of offshoring manufacturing, there are also benefits to onshoring.  

BTCS Announces Bividend

Blockchain technology company BTCS became the first Nasdaq-listed company to announce a "bividend." The company will pay each shareholder the equivalent of 5 cents in bitcoin or cash, at the discretion of the shareholder. If you are not familiar with BTCS, the company has two full-time employees, a market capitalization of about $46 million, and hasn't shown a profit for the last four years. We should note that the market capitalization was based on yesterday's closing price as the company's stock has jumped about 50 percent so far today on the announcement!    

Apple Shines

Moody's recently upgraded its rating on Apple's long-term debt. Apple joins Microsoft and and Johnson & Johnson as the only three U.S non-financial corporations with AAA rated debt. Moody's credits the better credit rating with substantial operating scale, large installed base of products and services, strong customer loyalty, and brand positioning.  

Peloton And The City

In HBO's limited series reboot of Sex and the City, a Peloton bike has a major role. And even though Peloton was aware that the bike would be used, it was unaware (spoiler alert) that a major character would suffer a fatal heart attack after using the bike. And while using a product in a television show is generally more of a Marketing topic, it is also related to Finance as Peloton stock crashed 11.35 percent the day after the show first aired. Shares of the company are down 73 percent for the year, so this is not the first time the stock's foot slipped off the pedal.

A Cold Secondary Stock Offering

You can own a sports team. The Green Bay Packers are offering 300,000 shares of stock at a price of $300 per share.There are currently a little over 5 million shares of the Packers outstanding. Of course, you will never receive a dividend and have no say in the operations of the Packers. Since you are now a part of of an NFL franchise, there are rules: You cannot own another NFL franchise, you can't act as an agent for any NFL player, you can't publicly criticize the NFL, its management, coaches, or officials, and you can't bet on any NFL games. It doesn't sound like there is much green investing in Green Bay stock!

Zillow Abandons Flips

On September 13, Zillow Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Wacksman stated that ''We, over time, believe this can be a service that is offered to the majority, to over 50 percent of the housing stock." Wacksman was referring to Zillow's foray into house flipping. Given Zillow's unique data, it should have inside data for the housing market. Instead, Zillow has decided to abandon house flipping, laying off 25 percent of the workforce. Zillow wrote off $304 million in losses due to house flipping in the third quarter, with another $240 million to $265 million in losses to follow.