The topic was the FAANG stocks, with a focus on Amazon. Berkshire Hathaway now has about $1 billion dollars of Amazon stock and the firm has a large stake in Apple too.  With Amazon moving into prefab housing, and given the parallels between what is occurring in retail and what has happened with manufactured home retail in the last 15+ years, the statements today by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin bear scrutiny for the tea leaves and insights it may shed for manufactured housing industry professionals and investors. Mnuchin’s comments will be our focus this evening, further below today’s ‘marketing moving’ headlines.

Every evening our headlines snapshots from two major media outlets on each side of the left-right news spectrum reflects topics that influence, reflect, or move investor sentiment.  In moments, you can get insights-at-a-glance.  This sets the broader context for manufactured housing markets, in keeping with our mantra, “News through the lens of manufactured homes, and factory-built housing.” ©.

We begin with left-of-center CNN followed by right-of-center Fox Business.  We share closing tickers and other related data courtesy of Yahoo Finance, and more. 5 to 10 minutes reading this MHProNews market report every business night could save you 30 minutes to an hour of similar reading or fact-gathering elsewhere.

 

 

Headlines from left-of-center CNN Business.

• The $1 trillion deficit is back
• The US is once again on track to hit the infamous number. Here are 3 things you should know
• Facebook business unscathed after record $5 billion FTC fine
• New York City might ban wireless companies from selling your location data
• Netflix is about to snap its worst losing streak in 5 years
• Watch electric pickup truck tow a 1 million pound train
• Jollibee buys Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
• Some green cards just got a lot more expensive
• Tinder will warn LGBTQ users when they’re in discriminatory countries
• OPINION Uber and Lyft drivers run their own businesses? Give me a break
• IN DEPTH How a little-known TV company is quietly expanding China’s ambitions in Africa
• BREAKING Bernie Madoff wants Trump to commute his prison sentence
• Beyond Meat is working on fake bacon and steak
• The Budweiser beer empire was built on debt. Now it’s racing to pay it off
• Boeing says it might have to shut down 737 Max production
• It’s taken a $5 billion hit for 737 Max troubles
• Southwest extends 737 Max flight cancellations
• Boeing hires 9/11 compensation fund lawyer to dole out $50 million to victims of 737 Max crashes
• Ryanair will stop flying to some airports because of the Boeing 737 Max crisis
• A MEATLESS FUTURE
• Dunkin’ will sell a Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich
• Impossible Foods says its shortage is over
• Beyond Meat will start making ‘ground beef’
• KFC is launching a vegan chicken burger in the UK
• Even Tyson is getting in on the plant-based meat craze

 

Headlines from right-of-center Fox Business.

• S&P 500, NASDAQ COMPOSITE SOAR TO RECORD HIGHS, UNFAZED BY MUELLER TESTIMONY
• Here’s how much the Mueller investigation cost taxpayers
• Facebook antitrust probes: What FTC’s Zuckerberg compliance rules mean for potential regulation
• These are the best housing markets for growth and stability, study says
• Bernie Madoff asks Trump to reduce his 150-year prison term
• Dallas Cowboys training camp: Why players face stiff taxes
• Here are the 10 hottest used cars for summer 2019
• NFL’s Adrian Peterson deep in debt despite $100M in career earnings
• Jennifer Lopez’s birthday: Fabulous & rich at 50
• Forever 21 online shoppers call out company for fat shaming with ‘freebie’ diet bars
• The budget-friendly brand geared toward women is under fire after people on social media revealed what kind of freebie they were getting with their online purchase.
• Disney settles in $40M ‘Home Improvement’ suit
• Here’s how the T-Mobile, Sprint merger could affect customers
• What happens if the government cancels all student loan debt?
• Boeing CEO warns 737 Max production shutdown possible
• Neil Armstrong’s family received $6M in wrongful death settlement: Report
• Berkeley natural gas ban will hit apartment dwellers in pocketbooks: Bay Area developer
• Are millennial moochers overly optimistic about financial goals?
• Rutger Hauer’s most iconic films, from ‘Blade Runner’ to ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
• How de Blasio’s ‘workers’ bill of rights’ could impact small businesses
• Boris Johnson’s first speech as prime minister
• Robert Mueller: It is unusual for a prosecutor to testify about a criminal investigation
• Former special counsel Robert Mueller reads his written statement before the House Judiciary Committee.
• Steven Mnuchin on China: Will be a few more meetings before we get a deal done

 

Yahoo Finance Closing Tickers on MHProNews…

 

Tonight’s Business/Market/Political Impact Spotlight –

According to CNBC, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was positive about the investigation announced by the Department of Justice on 7.23.2019 into the so-called big-tech or ‘FAANG’ companies.  The settlement between Facebook and the FTC for privacy concerns, leaked previously, was confirmed today to be some $5 billion dollars.

Here are some bullets from CNBC, an interview with Mnuchin, followed by a response from Amazon.

 

• “I think if you look at Amazon, although there are certain benefits to it, they’ve destroyed the retail industry across the United States so there’s no question they’ve limited competition,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tells CNBC.
• The Justice Department said Tuesday it is opening a broad antitrust review of big technology companies and their competitive practices.
• Mnuchin says it is “absolutely right that the attorney general is looking into these issues.”

 

 

“I don’t think you can talk about competition among all these companies in the same way,” said Mnuchin. “People talk about the FAANG stocks like they’re all the same. Each company is very different.”

Amazon responded to Munchin’s comments on CNBC.

• “Small and medium-sized businesses are thriving with Amazon. Today, independent sellers make up more than 58% of physical gross merchandise sales on Amazon, and their sales have grown twice as fast as our own, totaling $160 billion in 2018. Amazon’s retail business competes in the worldwide market for retail sales and represents less than 1% of global retail and less than 4% of U.S. retail. And the vast majority of retail sales – 90% – still occur in brick-and-mortar stores according to the U.S. Census Bureau.”

MHProNews has previously spotlighted the concerns raised by Scott Galloway, among others, about the growing and invasive power of big tech.

 

There has been a growing chorus across the left-right political divide demanding antitrust action, several of which have encouraged a breakup of big tech.

When the term ‘anticompetitive practices’ is used, there are those in manufactured housing who believe that phrase applies to Berkshire Hathaway, Clayton Homes, 21^st Mortgage and possibly to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) as an enabler too. Consolidation in the manufactured housing industry is certainly occurring, the question is, what are the causes? Are those causes violations of antitrust laws?  If so, should a breakup be the solution?

The second half of the report linked below lays out evidence that purports a ‘smoking gun’ claim of Clayton, 21^st and Berkshire to manipulate the manufactured home market by improperly cutting off access to financing.

 

Prior reports on this topic are linked in the related reports, further below.

Related Reports:

AG Barr Announces Broadest Antirust Probe Yet, plus Manufactured Home Stock Updates

Retailers Lining Up, Eager to Lodge Antitrust Complaints, Plus Manufactured Housing Market Updates

Views From Trenches of Manufactured Housing – Factories, Retailers, MHCs, Others Sound Off

Manufactured Housing Industry Connected Closing Equities Tickers

Some of these firms invest in manufactured housing, or are otherwise connected, but may do other forms of investing or business activities too.

• NOTE: The chart below includes the Canadian stock, ECN, which purchased Triad Financial Services.
• NOTE: Drew changed its name and trading symbol at the end of 2016 to Lippert (LCII).

Updated:

Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company to Clayton Homes, 21^st Mortgage, Vanderbilt Mortgage and other factory built housing industry suppliers.

• LCI Industries, Patrick, UFPI, and LP all supply manufactured housing.
• AMG, CG and TAVFX have investments in manufactured housing related businesses.

Your link to an example of industry praise for our coverage, is found here and here. For the examples of our kudos linked above…plus well over 1,000 positive, public comments, we say – “Thank You for your vote of confidence.”

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• Disclosure. MHProNews holds no positions in the stocks in this report.

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Submitted by Soheyla Kovach, co-managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC and co-founder for MHProNews.com, and MHLivingNews.com.