You are a free subscriber to Me and the Money Printer. To upgrade to paid and receive the daily Capital Wave Report - which features our Red-Green market signals, subscribe here. These are Public Companies?What, you don't want to invest your hard earned dollars into fish farming?
Dear Fellow Expat: Last week, Figma went parabolic in an IPO that just rocked the markets… Shares of the workflow technology firm cranked as high as $142.92 before pulling back hard to $93 today. I'm always amazed when companies go public in this post-Sarbanes-Oxley hellscape we call modern finance. It's not cheap to run a public company anymore. There are real financial incentives these days to stay private… When you're private, you avoid the audit circus, legal theater, and SEC compliance nightmare that is Sarbanes-Oxley. No quarterly earnings pressure means you can focus on long-term strategy instead of dancing like a monkey for Wall Street every 90 days. Your ownership stays concentrated… no dilution from activist vultures circling overhead. You don't have to appease the public equity mob or deal with short sellers betting against your funeral. Daily market swings? Not your problem. Business restructuring? Easy. No public backlash from armchair CEOs on Twitter. And you keep your trade secrets locked up tighter than Fort Knox. So why am I bringing this up? Because there are still companies out there that boggle my mind… companies that somehow thought going public was brilliant… Where they're now subject to the very financial colonoscopy I just outlined… This is Public, No. 1: WD-40 Company (WDFC)One product. One. For seventy years. A lubricant… over and over again… since the Eisenhower administration… They've built an entire publicly traded empire on penetrating oil in a blue can. But if you want a 55-gallon drum… It's available…
I've never listened to a WD-40 earnings call. I imagine it involves the CEO triumphantly announcing that they crushed Q3 earnings thanks to a global uptick in squeaky hinges and rusted door frames in the industrial Midwest and Coastal Brazil. What’s incredible… this thing just cranks higher over time... This is Public, No. 2: Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW)Every time I dragged past a Build-A-Bear, I think… wait… this is still around? Then, I remember something wilder… This is a Public Company. It went public… in October 2004…
Which means that this business model has endured… They convinced parents that $30 for stuffing polyester into fabric equals a magical and meaningful experience. Have you watched an adult make a bear in one of those shops? It’s a bizarre ritual… bordering on amateur taxidermy. They’re charging premium prices for DIY manufacturing while weaponizing nostalgia. Brilliant… One day, you're going to find one of these things moldering in your basement, and you'll remember that you missed out on a damn good bottle of wine for that moment… that you and your child have both forgotten. This is Public, No. 3: Planet Fitness (PLNT)A low-cost, purple business model that's somehow conquered America. I don't know anyone who goes there, yet they have 15 million members. It's like Fight Club, but for people who don't want to fight. I've been in one before, and this place has a "Judgment Free Zone." But this zone actually judges you so hard that it literally sounds alarms if you try too hard. They call it the "Lunk Alarm." You pay $10 a month to work out in a place that actively discourages working out. It's like joining a book club that fines you for reading too fast. This place used to give away pizza on Mondays to new members… It's the only place on earth where you can burn 200 calories on the treadmill, then eat 400 calories of carbs in the lobby. This purple paradox is worth $9.25 billion. This is peak American capitalism wrapped in purple spandex… Honestly, I respect the hustle. This is Public, No. 4: Dave & Buster's (PLAY)I can get on board with this one. But it’s just Chuck E. Cheese for people who want to drink flat Bud Light out of a tower… This fever dream marries overpriced wings with rigged carnival games, targeting adults who peaked in seventh grade. You're investing in a company that profits from grown humans playing Skee-Ball while eating $18 appetizers. Again, I’m amazed this thing thrives the way it does… It’s $1 billion company… and it’s attracted activist investors in the past… Wild times… I will say that Dave & Busters gave me one of my favorite scenes of all time from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  And these quotes that are Chef’s Kiss Perfect…
This is Public, No. 5: AquaBounty Technologies (AQB)This is your winner. This is a public company that specializes in salmon farming. That’s not a joke. These mad scientists decided regular salmon wasn't fast enough for our instant-everything economy, so they built Pokémon fish that grow twice as fast. They haven’t issued an Investor Presentation since 2023. I feel like one is long overdue. It's like investing in a sci-fi movie that forgot to hire writers. Let’s Call It a DayI love the markets because they tell the story of the world. But sometimes, the world is absurd… and it involves salmon and ski-ball. Stay positive, Garrett Baldwin About Me and the Money Printer Me and the Money Printer is a daily publication covering the financial markets through three critical equations. We track liquidity (money in the financial system), momentum (where money is moving in the system), and insider buying (where Smart Money at companies is moving their money). Combining these elements with a deep understanding of central banking and how the global system works has allowed us to navigate financial cycles and boost our probability of success as investors and traders. This insight is based on roughly 17 years of intensive academic work at four universities, extensive collaboration with market experts, and the joy of trial and error in research. You can take a free look at our worldview and thesis right here. Disclaimer Nothing in this email should be considered personalized financial advice. While we may answer your general customer questions, we are not licensed under securities laws to guide your investment situation. Do not consider any communication between you and Florida Republic employees as financial advice. The communication in this letter is for information and educational purposes unless otherwise strictly worded as a recommendation. Model portfolios are tracked to showcase a variety of academic, fundamental, and technical tools, and insight is provided to help readers gain knowledge and experience. Readers should not trade if they cannot handle a loss and should not trade more than they can afford to lose. There are large amounts of risk in the equity markets. Consider consulting with a professional before making decisions with your money.
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