Empire Financial Daily Newsletters

August. 2020

The Nation's Malls Just Threw Up a Hail Mary, But Even Amazon Can't Save Them

By Berna Barshay

Empire Financial Daily,
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
The nation’s largest mall owner could soon be converting space into e-commerce distribution centers… Over the weekend, news broke that mall real estate investment trust (“REIT”) Simon Property Group (SPG) was in talks with Amazon (AMZN) to convert vacant mall space into fulfillment centers. Such a deal would solve problems for both companies… For Simon […]

The Day-Trading Popularity Contest Is Over

By Berna Barshay

Empire Financial Daily,
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
► It was fun while it lasted… Much to the chagrin of both novice traders and Wall Street veterans, trading app Robinhood announced late last week that it would end its practice of disclosing the popularity of individual stocks on an hourly basis. The news effectively put the uber popular Robintrack website out of business. […]

'Sweatpants Nation' – Is This the End of Fashion as We Know It?

By Berna Barshay

Empire Financial Daily,
Monday, August 10, 2020
► High fashion in the COVID-19 era is the definition of ‘all dressed up and no place to go’… To state the obvious, when you’re working from home and not going to any parties or on any exotic vacations, there isn’t a big need to ever dress up… let alone freshen up your wardrobe. During […]

The Update Issue: Movies Pivoting, Ralph Lauren Disappointing

By Berna Barshay

Empire Financial Daily,
Friday, August 7, 2020
► Not coming soon to a theater near you… In late July, the great reopening took a hit when major Hollywood studios stopped pretending that the movies aren’t canceled for the rest of summer 2020 in the U.S. On July 20, WarnerMedia announced that Batman Begins writer and director Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Tenet, would […]

Streaming Killed Cable... But Not This Company

By Berna Barshay

Empire Financial Daily,
Thursday, August 6, 2020
► Why did MTV devote 113 hours of a 168-hour week to airing just one show? This is what the ViacomCBS’s (VIAC) cable network did in late June, when the channel put Ridiculousness – a half-hour compilation of viral videos hosted by skateboarder Rob Dyrdek – on the schedule 226 times. When media outlet Variety […]

This Market Looks a Lot Like 1999 – the Sequel

By Berna Barshay

Empire Financial Daily,
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
► A head-scratching deal prompts a speculative frenzy… Last Tuesday, imaging company Eastman Kodak (KODK) announced a $765 million loan from the Federal government intended to fund the ramp up of its pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing capacity. The news sent the company’s shares soaring. KODK shares spiked 200% from Monday’s close of $2.62 to close nearly […]

Moving From the 'Little Pond' to the 'Deep, Blue Ocean'

By Eric Wade

Empire Financial Daily,
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Editor’s note: Longtime readers know we’re skeptical of cryptocurrencies. In fact, Whitney Tilson has gone so far as to call them a “techno-libertarian pump-and-dump scheme.” But we know many of you are interested in cryptos, so today, we’re taking a brief pause from our regular fare to share this excellent essay from Eric Wade, an […]

The Breakout Star of the Pandemic Is Under Fire

By Berna Barshay

Empire Financial Daily,
Monday, August 3, 2020
► How did tweens doing dance videos become a national security threat? On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was planning to ban the wildly popular short-form video app TikTok from the U.S. as early as the next day. Yet the app is still running… and D.C.-focused news site […]
Whitney Tilson

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About Whitney Tilson

Prior to creating Empire Financial Research, Whitney Tilson founded and ran Kase Capital Management, which managed three value-oriented hedge funds and two mutual funds. Starting out of his bedroom with only $1 million, Tilson grew assets under management to nearly $200 million.

Tilson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in government in 1989. After college, he helped Wendy Kopp launch Teach for America and then spent two years as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994, where he graduated in the top 5% of his class and was named a Baker Scholar.

Click here for the full bio.