Excitable boy Donnie, Jr. lends his name to an outfit that sports a terrible name (GrabAGun Digital Holdings) and a fittingly unserious ticker symbol (PEW). Then he hypes it as an “anti-woke” enterprise. When the company went public last week, what do you think ensued?
a) Hijinx and hilarity.
b) Don Jr. finally basked in the warm glow of his father’s approval as values soared.
c) The stock’s price dropped, then dropped again. Then dropped yet again.
When I was a teenager, a most esteemed guidance counselor game me this advice about multiple choice tests: “When in doubt, pick C.”
Good advice.
Here’s the one-line tale of how the free market sorted this out after three days.
To be fair, the stock held its value on Saturday.
As of midday Monday, PEW’s share price has dropped another 20%, falling to $7.92 from its initial $21.44.
I guess this photo was supposed to be a PR opportunity, but in retrospect, it foreshadowed what these guys were about to do to their investors.
Don’t put off those recommended prostrate screenings, gents of a certain age. Better your doctor than one of these bros.
DUMMIES TO DATA
Shifting from PEW schadenfreude to the more reputable Pew Research Center, let’s see where that group’s 2023 data finds the state-by-state gun-related body count.
The three states with highest 2023 gun murder rates per capita: Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.
The three states with the highest gun suicide rates: Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska.
I know I don’t have to draw you an electoral map.
Turns out the perception of personal safety and actual personal safety are not always the same thing — especially if you let your perception of personal safety look right past real data to get all caught up in your feelings instead.
Same thing applies to investments, as plenty of PEW-invested MAGA nurse their self-inflicted portfolio wounds this week. With a “return” like that, those folks can’t even afford to rent the libs.
Sad!
