Lions team president Rod Wood spoke to media members Wednesday following the conclusion of the two-day virtual owners meetings.
Here are 10 takeaways from that media session:
1. As expected, NFL owners approved a 17-game regular season beginning this fall. Owners built the right to expand the regular season into the collective bargaining agreement last spring.
This season, the Lions will play in Denver for their 17th game.
Detroit will play home-and-away games against Green Bay, Chicago and Minnesota, home games against San Francisco, Arizona, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Baltimore, and road games against the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Denver.
HIGH POINT – New orders for furniture rose 27% in January compared with the same month in 2020, the eighth month in a row for high double-digit year-over-year increases as strong demand continues at retail.
According to the latest Furniture Insights survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors from accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard, that’s the same percentage increase as reported for December 2020, although January’s new orders were off 2% from the prior month. While brick-and-mortar and online furniture sales stay high, getting the goods to stores and consumers remains a challenge.
New orders in January rose for 77% of survey participants, slightly lower than reporting last month. The January 2021 increase compared with a 2% increase when comparing January 2020 and January 2019.
January shipments increased 7% and were up for 65% of companies surveyed compared with January 2020, but fell 5% from December.
As January orders continued to exceed shipments, backlogs kept growing, up 2% from December and up 177% from January 2020 levels.
“Backlogs continue to grow due to lack of ability to get raw material (mostly foam) for upholstery suppliers and issues with imported goods not flowing like they normally would be due to all sorts of issues,” said Smith Leonard Partner Ken Smith in the survey report.
Receivable levels appeared to be in line with a 3% increase in January vs. January 2020. “In our talks, we think the PPP government loans have helped dealers and customers to keep their bills fairly current,” Smith said.
Inventories for January rose 7% from December levels and were 4% higher than a year ago. “Inventories continue to be too low, but lack of ability to get goods is keeping inventories down,” he noted.
While factory and warehouse employment was up 1% from December, the number of employees was down 3% in January from the same month in 2020.
“It continues to be a problem to find workers, especially trained ones,” Smith said. “And even when you can find workers, training them is very costly and time consuming.”
January payrolls were flat compared with last year but fell 1% from December, which Smith said reflects the inability to get employees in many cases.
Smith Leonard’s ongoing conversations with industry contacts keep yielding the same issues and challenges: the need for people, raw materials and imported finished goods.
“Shortages of integral materials to make foam, some lumber issues due to the increase in housing and upfits to homes, and other materials continue to have a negative impact,” Smith said. “Glue for case goods is even in short supply. If those hurdles can be cleared and goods can actually be made either domestically or overseas, getting the goods delivered has been a big issue.”
The backlog issue is having considerable impact when it comes to price increases.
“In most cases, orders are placed based on current price lists, but by the time the goods can be made and shipped, the prices have gone up,” Smith pointed out. “It is hard for the manufacturers to absorb those increases, yet it is hard for the retailer to do the same, and they certainly have issues with going back to customers trying to raise prices after the goods were ordered.
“Most people we talk with say they can never remember business being this good, yet most admit they would have never imagined the challenges that have emerged in the midst of such positive growth,” he continued.
Looking ahead, Smith expects business to “slow a bit” in coming months as resumption of travel and vacations dry up some consumer purchasing power.
“We think it will still be positive but just not as robust,” he said. “Hopefully, this will allow folks to take a breath and catch up somewhat. In the meantime, enjoy the good business as best you can.”
Click here for the entire Furniture Insights report.
Early in the 2020-21 season, Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas referenced the possibility of playing centers Christian Wood and DeMarcus Cousins together. However, it only happened for six minutes.
The team never gave a detailed explanation for its eventual change in plans, but the most simple one is similar to why Cousins was eventually released. At 30 years old and coming off several serious leg injuries, Cousins didn’t move well, defensively — and playing Wood at power forward and Cousins at center would have severely compromised Houston’s agility and versatility on the perimeter.
That doesn’t mean the Rockets are giving up on the idea of pairing Wood with a second big man, though. They’d just like for that big alongside Wood in those lineups to have more mobility. That’s where recent trade acquisition Kelly Olynyk comes in.
After being traded to Houston from Miami in the deal that sent out Victor Oladipo, Olynyk started in place of Wood, who was out with a sore ankle and then due to illness. With Wood back in the lineup on Wednesday in Brooklyn, Olynyk returned to his expected role as a reserve.
But in pregame comments, Silas told reporters that there would be stretches where the two centers would play together.
I want to see them together, for not a long stretch, but a good amount of time.
When Christian goes out, Kelly can play the five. And then when Kelly goes out, Christian plays the five. Then Jae’Sean goes out, Kelly plays the four, and Christian plays the five, together. That’s kind of how I have it, in my mind.
The first sub might be where Jae’Sean goes out, and we have Kelly go out there with Christian. And let’s see what it looks like with both guys on the floor. And then, when Christian goes out, let Kelly play the five by himself.
Silas explained that the designations of who is the “four” and “five,” or power forward and center, were often interchangeable.
It’s very dependent on how they guard. If X five is guarding either guy, that’s a way we can draw a second defender. If it’s the four man, we may see some switching. So, who’s the four and who’s the five, on offense, kind of depends on how they’re guarding. But our offense is very much interchangeable, so that guys can be anywhere on the floor. As long as we’re five-out, I’m good. …
Kelly’s so versatile, and Christian’s so versatile. To have those guys out there together, makes sense to me. … I just see it, right now, as two versatile guys who are big and can put pressure on the defense, and also help our rebounding on the defensive end.
While Silas said his primary focus is on winning games in the short-term, whether the Wood-Olynyk lineups are successful could also have significant longer-term implications. For example, as general manager Rafael Stone indicated earlier this week, Houston has Bird rights to potentially help retain Olynyk once he becomes a free agent this offseason — and whether he’s able to play alongside Wood, who is the organization’s best player, could raise or limit Olynyk’s value to Houston.
Second, the success or failure of Wood alongside a more traditional big man could offer clues as to how viable dual-big lineups with Wood could be, in general. Hypothetically, if the Rockets ended up in a spot to potentially select University of Southern California (USC) center Evan Mobley in the NBA’s 2021 draft, it could be a useful case study.
The Rockets wanted to begin that type of case study with Wood and Cousins, but determined it wasn’t worth the effort. With Wood and Olynyk, it sounds as if the organization is ready to find out.
Silas said having Wood and Olynyk play together is about winning games right now, but I can't help but think the Rockets want to have an idea of how Wood would fare next to someone who may force him away from the basket a little more https://t.co/DTl5KTDFgy
The Los Angeles County sheriff says detectives have determined what caused Tiger Woods to crash his SUV last month in Southern California but would not release details, citing unspecified privacy concerns for the golf star
BySTEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press
March 31, 2021, 9:40 PM
• 4 min read
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles County sheriff says detectives have determined what caused Tiger Woods to crash his SUV last month in Southern California but would not release details Wednesday, citing unspecified privacy concerns for the golf star.
Woods suffered serious injuries in the Feb. 23 crash when he struck a raised median around 7 a.m. in Rolling Hills Estates, just outside Los Angeles. The Genesis SUV he was driving crossed through two oncoming lanes and uprooted a tree on a downhill stretch that police said is known for wrecks. Woods is in Florida recovering from multiple surgeries.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva has been criticized for his comments about the crash, calling it “purely an accident” and saying there was no evidence of impairment. Woods told deputies he did not know how the crash occurred and didn’t remember driving. He was unconscious when a witness first approached the mangled SUV. But a sheriff's deputy said the athlete later appeared to be in shock but was conscious and able to answer basic questions.
Investigators did not seek a search warrant for Woods' blood samples, which could be screened for drugs and alcohol. In 2017, Woods checked himself into a clinic for help in dealing with prescription drug medication after a DUI charge in his home state of Florida.
Detectives, however, did obtain a search warrant for the data recorder of the 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV, known as a black box. Villanueva would not say Wednesday what data had been found in the black box.
“A cause has been determined, the investigation has concluded,” Villanueva said during a live social media event Wednesday in response to a question posed by The Associated Press.
But Villanueva claimed investigators need permission from Woods — who previously named his yacht “Privacy” — to release information about the crash.
“We have reached out to Tiger Woods and his personnel," Villanueva said. "There's some privacy issues on releasing information on the investigation so we're going to ask them if they waive the privacy and then we will be able to do a full release on all the information regarding the accident.”
Woods’ agent at Excel Sports, Mark Steinberg, did not immediately respond to an email.
“We have all the contents of the black box, we’ve got everything,” Villanueva said. “It’s completed, signed, sealed and delivered. However, we can’t release it without the permission of the people involved in the collision.”
Greg Risling, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney, said in an email Wednesday that no felony or misdemeanor complaints against Woods had been filed through their office regarding the crash.
Villanueva's statement about privacy issues did not make sense to Joseph Giacalone, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired New York City Police Department sergeant, who has criticized the sheriff's response to the Woods incident from the start.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a department ever ask for permission like that,” he said. “What happens if his lawyers say ‘no, you can’t send it out now.’ And then where does that leave us?”
Giacalone said it's unlikely that deputies would have sought the permission of non-celebrity victims in similar crashes to release information. If the sheriff's hesitancy stemmed from a potential medical episode behind the wheel, Giacalone said authorities could simply say it was a medical emergency without giving additional details.
“I don’t think they would have asked any family member of us if they can come out with it,” he said.
Woods is from the Los Angeles area and was back home to host his PGA tournament, the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, which ended two days before the crash. He was driving an SUV loaned to him by the tournament.
Woods has never gone an entire year without playing, dating back to his first PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old in high school.
——
Associated Press Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed from Jacksonville, Florida.
This $799 L-desk is part of the new home office line at Martin Svensson Home. It is made with solid New Zealand Radiata pine and features built-in bookcase storage. It also is shown with a companion $299 file cabinet.
LOS ANGELES – Case goods resource Martin Svensson Home is adding home office to its lineup, bringing one of the most sought-after wood categories into its product mix.
The company said it will debut the line at the April 25-27 Premarket, with three distinct looks within multiple price points that provide customers with a good, better, best assortment.
These complement existing bestselling case goods collections, a strategy that helps eliminate risk for retailers seeking designs that are proven in the marketplace.
The line also brings functional elements and recent innovations the company has launched in bedroom, including a biometric access locking feature that opens drawers with a user’s fingerprint.
In the good assortment are 24-by-48-inch computer desks in Del Mar, in a white and gray finish, and La Jolla, in coffee walnut finish on mango veneers and pine solids. The $450 desk features a security drawer that is accessible with the biometric finger pad reader as well as a flush-mounted pop-up power bank on the desk top with dual USB charging ports and three A/C power outlets.
A companion $299 retail file cabinet also is available featuring English dovetail drawer construction and steel roller bearing guides and a dual function file drawer that accommodates standard and legal files. This drawer also is equipped with the same locking biometric access feature as well as optional casters.
In the best segment is the rustic farmhouse-inspired Monterey computer desk, which is made with solid New Zealand pine. Available in a white and gray finish or a natural barnwood finish, the sit-stand desk has a lift-top section on the work surface that allows users to work in a standing or sitting position. Retailing at $599, the desk also features the same technology features as the starting desk, including the locking biometric access and a power bank on the work surface. The companion $299 file cabinet also features the biometric locking feature on the file drawers.
The rustic L-computer desk falls in the best segment, offering more than 14 square feet of work surface. It is made with solid New Zealand Radiata pine in a natural reclaimed barnwood finish featuring saw marks and light distressing. Retailing at $799, the desk also features a built-in bookshelf in the corner that can house printers and other office materials.
In addition, the desk has the pop-up power bank on the work surface and the biometric security drawer, a feature also on the companion $299 file cabinet.
At Premarket and the June 5-9 High Point Market, the company will show these and other case goods at its showroom in H-721 of the International Home Furnishings Center.
Company officials said they are eager to show the new office category to existing and new customers alike.
“What sets our new line apart is the blending of styles that fit well into the aesthetics of today’s homes, technology that accommodates an array of devices and configurations that WFH (Work From Home) consumers are looking for that give them the most functionality without sacrificing style when working remotely,” said Stephen Sandberg, vice president of marketing. “In short, the line was thoughtfully designed by people who work from home, too.”
John Sandberg, president, said that the company sought input from retailers in developing the line and the designs and features reflect that input.
“All of the retailers that were so generous with their time and opinions in helping us develop this line to the launch point have given us two thumbs up,” he said. “We are so excited and confident in the prospects for the line that we have already locked in production for the summer so that we will have stock for the fall and all-important holiday selling season.
“The next generation of designs with enhanced functionality and new configurations, along with the addition of matching bookcases and new finish options is already moving along faster than anticipated,” Sandberg continued. “The feedback has been terrific at all points, and we couldn’t have done it without the help of so many talented merchandisers that were willing to give us their thoughts. We are especially excited for this next wave as well.”
This press release is submitted and shown here in its original form, unedited by Furniture Today.
Urbandale, IA – WHO 13 Des Moines will announce the local winner of the 2021 Remarkable Women
contest on Hello IOWA at Homemakers Furniture in Urbandale on Thursday, April 1, at 11:00 a.m. Four
women were nominated by the public and then chosen by WHO to be considered for this honor. Each
woman will be interviewed before the finalist is announced.
The contest seeks to recognize the contributions women have made to our nation and local
communities through the day-to-day inspiration and leadership they provide. It is part of a nationwide
Nexstar Media initiative taking place in over 100 local markets.
As of 3/30, Natalie Montross of Winterset, Pam Danielson of Redfield, and Teresa Choi of Des Moines
have been announced as nominees. The final nominee will be announced by WHO during tonight’s 10
p.m. news.
The winner will move on to the semi-finalist round, which divides the local market winners into six
regions. The subsequent winner of each region will then move on to the final national round to
determine the Nexstar 2021 Remarkable Woman of the Year.
“Homemakers is proud to be a sponsor of the Remarkable Women initiative,” Dave Merschman,
Homemakers Furniture President said. “We strive to celebrate and lift up the accomplishments of
women in our community, which made supporting this event a natural fit.”
About
Homemakers Furniture
Homemakers Furniture is an Urbandale, Iowa-based company with a mission to turn houses into homes.
Founded in 1974 by Carl and Ina Merschman, Homemakers prides itself on providing high-quality
furniture, mattresses and home accessories, as well as exceptional savings, to customers across the
country. Acquired by Nebraska Furniture Mart, a Berkshire Hathaway company, in 2000, Homemakers
continues to be operated and managed by members of the Merschman family.
To learn more about Homemakers Furniture, please visit www.homemakers.com. For more information,
please contact Carly Flaws at carly.flaws@homemakers.com or (515) 612-3602.
Investors like to keep a close eye on the activity of fund managers and billionaires, looking for hints as to where to invest. While Warren Buffett is popular with value investors, Cathie Wood is perhaps more appealing to investors willing to take on a bit more risk. Her ARK Innovation ETF focuses on a theme of "disruptive innovation" and has generated returns of more than 500% over the past five years -- outperforming the S&P 500 and its 92% gains during that period.
One of her latest moves was to load up on Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC), as shares of the telehealth business have been falling in 2021. But with looming competition from Amazon(NASDAQ:AMZN), should investors also buy shares of the company, or is this a move that is only suitable for a fund manager with a broad portfolio to make?
Image source: Getty Images.
How cheap is Teladoc today?
Let's start by taking a look at just how much Teladoc has dipped in value and its current valuation. Since the start of February, its shares have cratered a massive 35% while the S&P 500 has increased about 5% in value. That's a sizable sell-off, but lately, investors have been dumping expensive growth stocks, perhaps out of fear that they could be due for a correction.
Today, the stock is trading at around $170. The last time it closed below that mark was in June 2020. The problem is that Teladoc's business remains unprofitable, accumulating losses of $485.1 million in 2020, nearly five times the $98.9 million that it incurred in the previous year. The widening loss accelerated at a higher rate than revenue, which nearly doubled to $1.1 billion.
With a market cap of $26 billion, the stock trades at a multiple of 24 times its trailing 12-month revenue. That is well above the 2.8 times sales that the S&P 500 trades at. Even within the ARK Innovation ETF, the average stock trades at 9.5 times its revenue.
Although Teladoc is certainly cheaper than it was just a few months ago, that doesn't mean it is a bargain buy. And although it has generated some impressive growth numbers in 2020, there could be many obstacles in its future.
Growth may be a lot harder to come by
Last year, 10.6 million telehealth visits took place on Teladoc's platform, which is an increase of 156% from the previous year. For 2021, the company expects more modest growth, forecasting total visits to come to between 12 million and 13 million. That would imply a growth of no more than 22.6%. But it is still expecting a phenomenal sales year with its top line potentially reaching $2 billion.
One reason for the discrepancy there is that it now owns Livongo Health, a company that focuses on chronic care and can help its telehealth business reach more patients.
But with Amazon recently announcing that it will be offering a telehealth service to employees across the country and also making it available to companies, it could soon chip away at Teladoc's existing market share. The $1.5 trillion business has the capability to undercut providers if it wants to for the sake of getting people to try its service.
And Amazon isn't the only threat. Earlier this year, Cigna announced it would acquire MDLive, another telehealth company. The insurer has taken note of the growing trend in the segment, as has pharmacy retailer CVS Health, which also offers virtual visits with a physician on its website.
More competitors will likely pop up in the industry, given its size and potential. A report from ResearchAndMarkets last year projected that the telehealth market could be worth more than $70 billion by 2026, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7% until then.
Is Teladoc worth the risk?
Teladoc is facing a lot of competition, but the advantage it has today is that it is much further ahead of Amazon and other new entrants. Investors also haven't seen how well the business could do for a full year with Livongo Health, not to mention the opportunities the two companies could uncover together.
The stock still isn't cheap and comes with a bit of risk. However, if you are looking for a top telehealth stock to invest in, it's hard to go wrong with Teladoc. It's an industry leader, and given that it has gotten bigger and more diversified, that's not likely to change anytime soon. And so, whether you're a big fund manager or just a retail investor, Teladoc could still be a great investment to add to your portfolio given the long-term growth opportunities in the industry.
This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.
That’s the amount of varsity experience the Bordentown High baseball team has returning this season and it’s all in the form of Connor Wood. The senior is the lone Scottie returning with varsity “experience” after COVID-19 wiped out last season.
Thus, Wood is the team’s grizzled veteran after collecting a single, walk, RBI and run scored in 2019.
“Even though sports can be unpredictable at times,” Wood said, “I still would not have any idea how this could have happened.”
If we’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that anything bizarre is possible.
“It’s crazy,” coach Chris Glenn said. “Two years ago we were so senior heavy and then 2020 happened and now I’m sitting here with one at-bat. This is gonna be the first year I’ve been here where we don’t have a pitcher that has some varsity experience. We’re starting with a bunch of new guys. We’re gonna be competitive, but as far as having experience, we don’t have much.”
When it comes to pitching they don’t have any, at least on the varsity level.
But other teams will obviously have similar situations so hopes are still there to maintain the Scotties recent winning legacy, which includes a 46-23 record from 2017-19.
“We plan to be a threat in the division and state tournament just like the teams before us,” Wood said. “Missing out on last year has given us more motivation and a reason to prove ourselves this year.
“To make a strong playoff run and bring another division title back to Bordentown would be great. There is no doubt that this team has the talent to do so. Not having varsity experience has just given us more reason to make a name for ourselves and continue the winning tradition set forth by teams before us.”
Glenn knows that anything is possible, as long as Bordentown can adhere to the old adage of getting solid pitching and defense.
“The whole thing is if you can find guys that can throw strikes consistently and we can play defense, then we’ll be competitive,” he said. “I think we have some bats in the lineup where we’re able to score some runs, it’s just a matter of can we do those other things, can we find guys to throw strikes?
Bordentown baseball player Connor Wood is the only returning Scottie with varsity experience—one at-bat and two plate appearances. (Photo by Bob Wood.)
“Two years ago when we had (Kyle) Marchetti and (Kyle) Kato they would go five or six innings every game. We’re gonna be three innings here, three innings there with our pitchers. It’s an opportunity for some of the younger kids to get an opportunity and hopefully they take advantage of it.”
Speaking before preseason practice, Glenn said he had some thoughts on who might play where, but wouldn’t be sure of anything until he saw them on the field. His only definite is Wood, who is returning to catcher after working out at second and third base on the JV as a freshman and varsity as a sophomore.
Wood is a catcher by trade but was behind Jack Parker and Ryan Tomasulo, who both played the position. In order to make his way on to varsity he worked out in the infield. But with Parker and Tomasulo both gone, he is back behind the plate.
“Honestly, the first time I got to see him catch was during that (Last Dance) summer tournament,” Glenn said. “For school he hasn’t really worked out there. It’s gonna be interesting to see. I talked to his summer coach and that’s where he played all the time, and he told me he’s solid. He’s one of those kids that just works constantly. I’m pretty sure he’ll be solid back there.”
Wood is part of a nucleus that has had success together through the years. They won District 12 and New Jersey State Little League titles as kids and enjoyed success with the Hamilton-Northern Burlington Babe Ruth program and Bordentown Post 26.
“We’ve finally reached varsity baseball this year,” Wood said. “It has always been the same core group playing and growing up with each other, which has made baseball so great.”
Although he did not play much on varsity as a sophomore, Wood was in the dugout and exposed to how things got done at the highest level.
“I was fortunate to be a part of the 2019 team and they were filled with great leaders,” he said. “I learned that sometimes a team is best led when the players lead each other in what they are great at.
“Chris Wade’s charisma, Jack Parker’s willingness to sacrifice his body every game to help the team, and Kyle Kato’s ability to lock in every start were a huge part of what made our team great. I look forward to our squad taking a page out of the 2019 team’s book in that respect.”
He feels this year’s Scotties will be fueled by their inactivity in 2020.
“I was disappointed and last year was hard for all of us,” Wood said. “Just like all of the guys around me I trained even harder knowing our shot would eventually come.”
Glenn noted that one other player —senior Matt Greenemeier—is pretty certain to find a starting spot this spring.
“He couldn’t play his sophomore year,” the coach said. “He came back out last year and we got the six days of practice before that got shut down. He’s an outfielder, so we’ll see what we have. I kind of envision him playing centerfield.”
The one true certainty is Wood, whose only crime as a sophomore was playing behind too much talent.
“He fell into that group where we were so senior-heavy and they were all very good players,” Glenn said. “He was with us but he never really got an opportunity to get on the field. It’s funny, because we missed last year I still think of him as a sophomore, and all of a sudden he’s a senior leader.”
Sometimes it’s just amazing what one at-bat can do for a person.
Fish Stripes projects prep outfielder James Wood as apossible first-round draft selectionof the Marlins in the upcoming amateur draft. Let’s take a closer look at this highly regarded prospect...
Overview
Position: OF
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 230 pounds
School: IMG Academy
Commitment: Mississippi State
James Wood is a 2021 OF from Olney, Maryland and plays his high school ball at the IMG Academy in Florida. Wood is one of the top and most exciting prospect to monitor entering the MLB Draft. He played summer ball with the Dirtbags Skrap Pak and also played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic last summer. James Wood made his verbal commitment to Mississippi State University in the fall of his junior season.
At 6’6”, 230 pounds, Wood is a very tall, athletic prospect with lots of room to grow into his frame. The first thing that jumps out at you with Wood is his raw power—his exit velocity ranks in the 95th percentile amongst other prospects in his class.
Wood is also a very good athlete and mostly plays center field in high school. However, whichever teams drafts Wood, will want him to fill in his extra-large frame. He would potentially add 20-25 pounds of solid muscle and not lose any of his athletic ability.
Strengths
Incredible size
Very projectable
Lots of power potential
Great athlete
Hits with power to all fields
Middle of the order type hitter
6.70 60 yard dash
30-30 potential
Tracks ball well in outfield
Weaknesses
Still learning the game of baseball
Will most likely move to LF or RF long term
Struggles to repeat mechanics at the plate
Doesn’t use lower half when throwing from outfield
Lots of swing-and-miss against tough competition
Pro Comparison: Aaron Judge
Projection: Top 20 draft pick
Bottom Line
The Miami Marlins went all pitchers in the 2020 MLB Draft and as of this writing, they’ve had good fortune keeping nearly every arm in the organization healthy. So if it’s a close call between several prospects at overall pick No. 16, they’ll probably prefer to take the top available hitter. IMG Academy outfielder James Wood could realistically still be on the board for them.
Wood has the tools and size to make a major impact at the MLB level. He’s also a great athlete that used to play basketball before committing to baseball full time. There aren’t many prospects in this draft class with the ceiling that Wood possesses. The Marlins would be getting a very projectable player with tremendous upside and a great value in the middle of the first round.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – MARCH 04: Alex Wood #57 of the SF Giants delivers during the first inning of a spring training game against the Chicago White Sox at Scottsdale Stadium March 04, 2021. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
There are 27 players left on the SF Giants roster, but their 26-man Opening Day roster is set. According to a tweet by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi revealed that left-handed pitcher Alex Wood will begin the regular season on the 10-day injured list as he recovers from a back injury. Wood underwent an ablation procedure on his back earlier this month.
Before his injury, Wood appeared in just two spring training games, allowing one earned run, three hits, and two walks in three innings of work. He has returned to the mound since his surgery, but not in an official game. On March 27th, the Giants opted to have Wood throw in a simulated game, which suggests he should not be on the injured list for an extended period of time.
The SF Giants will place Alex Wood on the injured list.
The Giants signed Wood this offseason to a one-year, $3 million contract with an additional $3 million in incentives. Last season, injuries limited him to 12.2 innings across 9 appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wood struck out 15 batters but posted a 6.39 ERA (5.01 FIP). Of course, it’s difficult to make too much out of such a small sample of play. Needless to say, Wood was a big reason the Giants rotation looked like a precarious experiment.
Without Wood on the Opening Day roster, Logan Webb will rejoin the rotation and join Kevin Gausman, Johnny Cueto, Anthony DeSclafani, and Aaron Sanchez. Webb has stood out in spring training and might force the front office to make a difficult decision when Wood is ready to rejoin the roster. Given Sanchez’s own long injury history, it’s not inconceivable that the Giants would use Wood and Sanchez together to throw 2-4 innings in the fifth starter slot.
The SF Giants will begin the regular season without Alex Wood in their starting rotation while he rehabilitates a back injury. While the team has young Logan Webb to slot in for Wood at the start of the year, his absence will already test the depth of the thinnest part of the Giants’ roster. If the rotation does hold up, it could create some interesting decisions for the front office.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cathie Wood failed to repeat her stellar 2020 performance with ARK Invest funds in the first quarter, but the celebrity fund manager still managed to attract a steady pile of cash into her red-hot funds.
Wood outperformed every other actively managed equity mutual or exchange-traded fund manager last year, according to Morningstar, helping propel the firm's assets under management of its flagship ARK Innovation fund from $1.86 billion at the end of 2019 to nearly $22 billion as of March, according to Lipper data.
But for the first quarter her flagship fund is down 10.7% through March 29, ranking in the worst 1 percentile of the 601 U.S. mid-cap growth funds, according to Morningstar data https://ift.tt/39wNRx0. Over a five-year period, its annualized gain is 44.6%.
ARK's Space Exploration & Innovation ETF also slipped on Tuesday in their Wall Street debut.
ARK Invest did not respond to a request to comment.
Despite this year's performance, ARK still attracts retail investors at a time when many have given up on stock pickers in favor of passive index investing. Wood's ARK Innovation ETF has brought in nearly $5.5 billion in new funds so far this year, the most of any actively managed equity fund, while three other ARK funds attracted inflows that ranked among the top 10, according to Morningstar.
The inflows could signal that retail investors are focusing on frothy stocks rather than fundamentals, said Phil Toews, chief executive of financial advisory firm Toews Corp, which has about $2 billion in assets under management.
"I used to feel that at some point we could reach the highs of the late '90s during this rally. Witnessing the rise in ARK and the stocks that support it helped me realize we are already there," said Toews.
A fixture on financial media and Twitter, Wood is among the few mutual or exchange-traded fund managers whose remarks can move markets. When Wood said earlier in March that she expected Tesla Inc shares to top $3,000 by 2025, shares of the electric automaker popped nearly 5% in morning trading.
Still, rising concerns about inflation have stalled a rally in Wood's portfolio companies like Roku Inc and Square Inc that outperformed during the pandemic. Wood, for her part, has said that she still considers companies like Zoom Communications Inc "undervalued" and has been buying on dips.
Wood is not alone in her tepid performance since the start of the year. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell into a correction - a 10% decline from its most recent highs - on March 8. For the quarter as a whole, the Nasdaq is up 1%.
Technology and high-growth stocks that Wood favors have suffered as investors price in the likelihood of above-average inflation that would raise borrowing costs for consumers and companies. The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries hovered near a 14-month high of 1.72% this week, as investors priced in the effects of the Biden administration's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan and the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep monetary policy loose, boosting economic growth and inflation.
Wood's adherence to her investment approach despite the movements of the broader markets could be a double-edged sword, said Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer of wealth management at Morgan Stanley, who has known Wood for over 30 years.
"She's a gifted, brilliant portfolio manager because she is so committed and disciplined to her style and rides the rollercoaster of the markets because sometimes that style goes out of favor and sometimes that style has spectacular bear markets," she said.
Some investors and analysts said that Wood remains correct in her bullish outlook despite the short-term hiccups.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said higher bond yields and inflation would have less of an effect on the technology and growth stocks in Wood's portfolio than the market expects.
Wood has "been dead right over the last three to four years," said Ives.
(Reporting by David Randall; editing by Megan Davies and Richard Chang)
The highly anticipated launch today from the ARK ETF family is a space exploration fund that’s designed to focus on some of the most disruptive technologies and investment opportunities in this segment. TheARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX) is not the first ETF to offer access to space exploration, but as expected, it is delivering on ARK’s well-known high-conviction DNA under the hands-on active management of Cathie Wood. We catch up with her to go behind the vision for ARKX, and its unique mix of holdings.
ETF.com: What's the opportunity in space exploration as an investment theme?
Cathie Wood: Space exploration sounds like a very big idea, and it is. It involves the convergence of more of our platforms and technologies than any of our other themes. We're talking about rockets and robots; mobile connectivity; 3D printing; robotics; sensors; deep learning; artificial intelligence—we rarely see the convergence of this many technologies.
The two biggest growth opportunities in this space are in, first, mobile connectivity—we’ll be able to serve the half of the global population that doesn’t yet have mobile connectivity. Second, hypersonic flight—think of being able to fly from New York to Japan or Australia in two hours.
The Concorde didn't make it for the reason most technologies don't make it: costs were too high and the technology wasn't ready. But now the costs associated with all kinds of technologies—including rocket and satellite launches, antennas and the rockets themselves—have reached a level where all of this is going to become possible.
A lot of people think about the opportunity as us flying to the moon. Within my lifetime, I hope that happens. And many people think about space tourism. But we think the first and most remunerative opportunities are going to be mobile connectivity and hypersonic flight in the next five years.
ETF.com: If one of the biggest opportunities here is in connectivity, can’t you already access these kinds of names in other funds, including some of your funds already?
Wood: Yes, and some of our funds do, because space exploration has been evolving as a theme. When SpaceX was able to reuse rockets, that was a real breakthrough in space exploration, and the technology's just now moving into motion for this.
Tesla, Amazon and several other companies are launching satellites because they really want to change the world. They want the 3.5 billion or so people who don’t have any mobile connectivity to enjoy it for the first time.
Satellite technology was too expensive, and there was too much latency before low-earth orbital costs came down to a low-enough point so that Iridium, SpaceX and Amazon could launch these satellites and have them cover the globe.
I think the number of active satellites last year was approaching 3,000. We think that, because costs have come down enough and we've got motivated companies, satellites planned now are 25,000+.
ETF.com: What's the universe of companies like for ARKX? Is it mostly small cap companies full of risk that have yet to turn a profit? Or are there a lot of names, as you mentioned, like Amazon?
Wood: Sometimes it takes big companies to launch big ideas. So we have Amazon and some of the bigger companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing that are doing a lot of work in that space.
They're also doing a lot of work in the drone space. Many people don't think of drones as being part of the space theme, but they are, literally. The combination of the rocket business and the drone business puts some of these larger cap names really at the leading edge. We also have smaller companies dedicated to unmanned aerial vehicles, like AeroVironment, in this portfolio, which is a $3 billion in market-cap stock.
Another interesting stock is Trimble, a company we’ve owned in our autonomous technology and robotics fund because it is, thanks to GPS, controlling construction sites and mines. As we go autonomous, this is the technology that space will enable. The latency associated with low-earth orbital satellites is enabling many older-world businesses or industries to increase their productivity tremendously.
You might be surprised to see JD.com among the top 10 holdings. JD in China has a logistics company that is one of the most sophisticated logistics companies using drones especially to help with supply chain management. It must have one of the best supply chain network organizations in the world. The inventory days they need on hand with their network is roughly 25% less than other companies in the e-commerce space.
Finally, Iridium is in the low-earth orbital satellite business. In the dot-com days, Iridium started with the big-brick phones, which were our first wireless phones. They're not in that business anymore, but they never lost their low-earth orbital stripes, and now they're going to be a big contributor to mobile connectivity.
So, we run the gamut. As with most of our funds, ARKX is multicap.
ETF.com: Some may be surprised that Virgin Galactic is not really represented in ARKX. Why is that?
Wood: Because right now it’s more focused on space tourism as opposed to the two big opportunities we think will deliver really good economic results: mobile connectivity and hypersonic flight. It’ll probably get into hypersonic flight, but we need to see it add that to its long-term business plan before we’d push this further up in our portfolio.
The compound annual rate of return we expect from this portfolio during the next five years is 20% on average per year, as of today. You'll have some companies growing in the 10-15% range; you'll have other companies growing in the 30-40% range.
(Use our stock finder tool to find an ETF’s allocation to a certain stock.)
ETF.com: ARKX will go head-to-head with a couple of ETFs, including the Procure Space ETF (UFO), which was the first in this segment, and is an index-based ETF that enlisted a former director at the Space Foundation to help build its index. UFO set out to be a pure-play ETF in space exploration. How does ARKX compare?
Wood: UFO is a lot smaller in cap. It's concentrated—it has 32 positions—and in the top 10, it has the smaller cap names and has saved the larger cap names for the bottom of the portfolio. Most of its top 10 are in satellite radio/TV, and we have little to no involvement there. We think it’s a very mature industry.
I also don't see in UFO as much of a focus on hypersonic flight. I think you'll need some of these big companies that have expertise in drone technology from a defense point of view. That's where a lot of the technology has developed. The Defense Department is a tremendous source of new technologies.
ARKX and UFO actually overlap on only three names: Trimble, Iridium and Garmin. The portfolios aren’t very much alike. We are also active, so we can take advantage of opportunities around volatility, while they are passive.
ETF.com: ARK has been running a space exploration fund in Japan for a couple of years. It's not the first time you've done that. What about the Japanese market makes it an interesting place to test out, if you will, new ETF ideas?
Wood: It actually works both ways. We started our Genomic Revolution portfolio here and migrated it to Japan. They got pretty excited about it. In terms of space exploration, we started it in Japan. That market is driven by the distributor base—the demands from distributors listening to their clients.
These ideas bubble up and they go through a due diligence process at our partners, Nikko Asset Management. If they feel a portfolio is ready for prime time, they often come to us. The fund—maybe because it was a little ahead of its time—is only now starting to scale. So in terms of having a sizable space portfolio, that'll probably happen in Asia and U.S. at roughly the same time.
The first time that happened was fintech. We started with them on fintech in 2016. We thought it wasn't a big enough theme then, that it wasn't ready for prime time. But because they’re so much closer to what was happening in Asia, and the idea of digital wallets, they debuted well before we did it here in the U.S.
Japan thought it was ready for prime time, and Japan was right. We didn’t have it on our product roadmap until 2019, which is when we launched in the U.S. But the explosion in mobile payments in Asia mushroomed, more quickly than we ever thought. It has entered our economy here much more slowly. Venmo has been around, and Cash App is fairly new, and just now they’re both really starting to scale.
So, the U.S. was behind on that and influenced our perceptions to some extent. It’s nice to have a partner in Asia who has a finger on the pulse as far as how quickly things are evolving in Asia. In terms of space, it bubbled up from the distributor base, and Nikko asked us if we could do it. We thought it was ahead of its time, but we did it, and maybe the fund was a little ahead of its time because it's only now starting to scale. That'll probably happen in Asia and in the U.S. at roughly the same time.
ETF.com: With the success you've had with “ARKK” and your other ETFs, there’s a lot of pressure on you to deliver another blockbuster, especially as an active manager. How do you measure success in your ETFs?
Wood: We’re not doing anything differently this time. We've been gratified at how well our ETFs have been received and how well our research has been received, which I think is key.
We've been telling our clients and anyone who would listen that, for our kinds of strategies, you need a five-year time horizon. We go through a period, like the coronavirus, and had no idea how that was going to end. We took a point of view early on and leaned into it, became very aggressive with our strategy, concentrating our portfolio toward our highest-conviction names. That worked out really well.
In the last month or six weeks, we’re seeing an acceleration toward the value and more cyclical stocks at the expense of our kind of stock. And after nearly 150% appreciation last year, to be down 10% this year doesn’t shock us. But here’s why I'm taking comfort from what’s happening right now: our five-year time horizon.
At the peak in February, the compound annual rate of return we were expecting from the stocks in our flagship portfolio was 15%. Our stocks have done a lot of heavy lifting. They were still going to deliver 15%, according to our estimates, but we were getting close to dropping below that 15%.
We were taking profits from a lot of stocks that had dropped well below that 15%. Today, after the correction we've been through and the way we've reoriented the portfolio, we believe the compound annual rate of return from our portfolios for the next five years will be closer to 25%. We're as excited as ever.
Bernece Wood, wife of Glen Wood, passed away at age 90, Wood Brothers Racing announced Wednesday, March 30.
She was the family matriarch and mother of Eddie Wood, Len Wood and Kim Wood Hall, as well as grandmother to Jon Wood.
Her passing comes two years after husband Glen died in January 2019 after 68 years of marriage.
Glen, along with his brother Leonard, founded the organization in 1950. Glen was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.
WBR currently fields the No. 21 driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The indisputable fact is that everything our team stands for and has stood for are the values that originated from her and my grandpa Glenn. Plz keep Eddie, Len and Kim in your thoughts.
đđ»đđ» My heart aches for the family and for this huge loss. I feel so blessed to have known and spent quality time with Ms. Bernece. I have not known a more delightful person. Back with Glen ❤️ Rest well my sweet friend đđ» https://t.co/lmY2blUMX5
Former President Donald Trump endorsed incumbent South Carolina GOP chairman Drew McKissick’s reelection Tuesday over pro-Trump attorney L. Lin Wood, distancing himself from the far-right lawyer and fierce loyalist who spread baseless conspiracy theories about the election and tried to overturn the presidential election result to Trump’s benefit.
Key Facts
Wood, a well-known defamation attorney who gained notoriety for his outlandish behavior following the election, announced Sunday night he intended to run for chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party against McKissick.
Trump, who the Post and Courier reported Monday had already endorsed McKissick, doubled down on that endorsement in a new statement Tuesday, saying the incumbent has done an “outstanding job” and “has my complete and total endorsement for re-election!”
Trump previously praised Wood as doing a “good job” with his lawsuits trying to overturn the election results and met with him at the White House, and Wood told the New York Times he had spoken with the then-president about election “fraud and illegality” on multiple occasions.
Trump’s team has previouslydistanced themselves from Wood: Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis said she did not support conspiracy theories Wood spread on Twitter about former Vice President Mike Pence, and a Trump campaign Twitter account posted a negative article about Wood after he suggested Republicans should not vote in the Georgia runoff elections due to alleged fraud.
Wood continues to support the former president, writing on Telegram Sunday he “remain[s] steadfastly loyal to President Trump” and his “support has never wavered.”
Wood has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Key Background
Wood, 68, was known before the election for representing such high-profile clients as Richard Jewell and the parents of JonBenet Ramsey. Since his post-election campaign, however, he has faced growing consequences for spreading outlandish election fraud theories and leading failed election lawsuits seeking to overturn the results in battleground states. Wood is being investigated by state bar associations in Georgia and Arizona, and the Georgia investigation could potentially result in his law license being revoked on the grounds of “mental illness, cognitive impairment, alcohol abuse, or substance abuse.” He has also been dropped from a case in Delaware unrelated to the election and as Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann’s attorney. Mercer Law School is also facing pressure to remove Wood’s name from a courtroom at the school, and Wood was banned from Twitter after alleging the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building was “staged.”
Tangent
In addition to Wood, Trump has reportedly cut ties with attorney Rudy Giuliani, with advisor Jason Miller saying in February the former president’s longtime lawyer was “not currently” representing Trump “in any legal matters.” The Trump White House also distanced itself after the election from attorney Sidney Powell–who Wood partnered with on a number of post-election lawsuits and is now helping to represent in a defamation case from Dominion Voting Systems—though Trump himself reportedly wanted to appoint her as a special counsel to investigate voter fraud.
(Bloomberg) -- Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management launched its first new exchange-traded fund in two years on Tuesday, a key test of the money manager’s appeal after a choppy few months of both flows and performance.
The actively managed ARK Space Exploration ETF (ticker ARKX), which tracks U.S. and global companies engaged in space exploration and innovation, saw more than $294 million worth of shares change hands in Tuesday trading, the eighth-best debut in ETF history.
When Ark filed for the fund in January it triggered an industry-wide rally -- such was the hype surrounding Wood, whose ETFs were among the best-performing of 2020. Since then Ark’s bets have been rattled amid a broader tech selloff. The flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) has posted investor exits for five days running, according to the latest data, the longest stretch of consecutive outflows since the fund started in 2014.
Nevertheless, Ark ETFs overall have attracted almost $16 billion of new cash this year, signaling demand for a new offering could be robust. Despite recent turbulence, all five of Wood’s existing actively-managed products are up more than 130% in the past 12 months.
“That performance naturally attracts more investments, especially on the part of retail traders,” said Matthew Weller, global head of market research at Forex.com. “The optimism evoked by Cathie Wood and her team is almost infectious -- that’s something that has legs.”
The initial spike of trading in ARKX drew comparisons to the launch of the VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF (BUZZ) earlier this month. That fund saw about $260 million worth of shares change hands in the first hour of trading, compared with $114 million for ARKX, according to Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. In total, BUZZ traded about $440 million worth of shares in its first day.
But the space fund far surpassed the first-day action in Wood’s last fund launch in 2019, when the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) saw $1.2 million worth of shares traded.
At the outset, the space fund’s top two holdings are Trimble Inc. and another Ark fund called the 3D Printing ETF (PRNT) with weights of 8.6% and 6%, respectively. Other large stakes include Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc., L3Harris Technologies Inc. and JD.com Inc., an online retailer in China. The fund aims to invest at least 80% of its assets in the space industry.
Possible competitors include the Procure Space ETF (UFO), which was among those that rallied when Ark filed for the new fund. Assets in UFO have roughly tripled since then to $129 million.
(Updates with day’s trading in second paragraph, leaderboard table)
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‘Crack of dawn’ winter mornings, miserable weather and freezing water – nirvana to a duck hunter.
Duck hunters themselves, Tate Wood and childhood friend Bobby Windham, Jr. earn their living making that hardiest breed of outdoorsmen comfortable in the foulest of conditions. You might say the two former high school football teammates are joined at the hip waders.
Two self-professed “Mississippi Delta country boys”, Wood and Windham grew up in the heart of the Mississippi Flyway, the bird migration route which starts in central Canada and runs right through the middle of North America along the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
In 2001, the Greenwood native sons co-founded waterfowl hunting apparel and accessories company Drake Waterfowl on literally a wing and a prayer.
“We’d always talked about starting a business together some day, we just didn’t know what, or when we might get the chance,” said Wood. “Twenty years ago, Bobby and I both found ourselves unemployed and decided the time was ‘now’.”
Wood says the biggest impetus in starting an outdoors apparel company was control. He vowed not to quit until the business was successful or he was old and gray.
“We were determined to build a business that we owned while doing things our way,” he said. “Neither of us were interested in working for someone else ever again. We jumped in with both feet in the water and never looked back.
“People say ‘sink’ or ‘swim’ – we just said ‘swim’ and never really considered the ‘sink’ possibility.”
Two decades later, Olive Branch-based Drake Waterfowl has expanded into fishing (Drake Performance Fishing), turkey hunting (‘Ol Tom), deer hunting (Non-Typical), outdoors lifestyle (Casual) and college sports (Collegiate) apparel. The company carries hundreds of products, from hunting jackets and vests, to aluminum duck blinds and hip waders.
None other than venerable outdoors magazine Field & Stream listed Drake Waterfowl as one of the publication’s “Top Brands.”
“From Day 1, we wanted to enter the other markets but first we had to dominate in waterfowl,” said Wood. “Many of our waterfowl customers also deer and turkey hunt, and fish, just like we do. Those markets are much larger than waterfowl – diversifying Drake Waterfowl was simply a smart thing for us to do.”
Wood’s personal favorite Drake product? The company’s aluminum duck blinds.
“I love a lot of our products but right now, today, I’m more excited about our aluminum duck blinds,” he said. “We carry a boat blind, several field blinds, and shallow water chair blinds,” he said. “They’ve all been monster hits and we sold out of some of our more popular models last year in about 30 days. I’m even more excited about what’s coming for the rest of 2021.”
With outdoors lifestyle brands exploding on the national scene in the last 20-30 years, Wood says the secret to being competitive with larger and more established brands such as Columbia or Browning is in the details.
“Columbia was a dominant number one in waterfowl when we first started,” Wood said. “The difference is we are a waterfowl company, not a clothing company. Bobby and I were laser-focused on building waterfowl gear for how we hunt.”
The duo has developed many innovations in duck hunting apparel over the years, including hinged shot shell pockets, magnets to hold pockets closed and the half waterproof-upper and half fleece-below jacket.
Innovation isn’t bred from gimmicks – it comes from spending years on the water and in the woods hunting, according to Wood.
“We added features that we wanted to use ourselves in the field,” he said. “And, we worked extremely hard to differentiate our products with real value-added hunting features. It’s a process of thinking through the steps A-Z. We identify anything what is frustrating along the way, and then fix it or solve the problem by making it better.”
Duck hunters are a passionate lot even though deer and turkey hunting are more popular with the average Mississippi outdoorsman. Wood attributes that fervor to two factors.
“It’s a combination of spending time with the people you care about the most and how exhilarating it is to be out on the water, in the dark, when it’s freezing cold and finding your way around,” he said. “Having that optimistic faith that the (ducks) are gonna show up, then hearing the whistling wings and watching them react to your call.
“And, just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they humble you.”
Active in outdoors conservation efforts and a Ducks Unlimited contributor, Wood has lobbied Congress for action on conservation matters and acknowledges that the movement is vital to the Drake brand and beyond.
“Now, more than ever, we need all hunters and fishermen fighting to keep what we have,” he said.
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ON A WING AND A PRAYER — Wood and Windham take Drake Waterfowl sky high - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
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