The Best One Yet
💚 “Grinchonomics” — The Grinch’s anti-brand. Zegna’s $1K sneaker. Carvana’s crazy stock. +Dreidel Rally
15 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Yetis, Nick and Jack here. Before we start the show, we just want to take a moment with you. Because after we recorded this episode, over the weekend, there was just violence worldwide. There were attacks on American troops in Syria and attacks on the Jewish community in Australia during a Hanukkah celebration. Each act of gun violence was horrific, and we're thinking of the families affected.
closest to home, though, for us was the attack at Brown University. We have many fans there, many business partners who went there, and Nick, my co-host, graduated from college there. And as Jack knows from visiting me there, and we both know, Brown is just a truly special place. Its students are this unique combo of creativity, ambition, entrepreneurial spirit.
Providence is just this perfect college town, and the campus is is magical. You turn a corner, especially this time of year when there's snow on the ground, and you could be back in the 1700s. It is timeless. It's like George Washington could walk out of nowhere. It's special.
We can't imagine what it's like for that magical bubble to be broken, but we want to let all the Brown Bears and American service members and Jewish people out there know that we're thinking of you today. We're here for you. If you want to connect, just send Nick and me a DM. So Jack and I made this show the best one yet, ever true. Let's get to it. This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back.
It is Monday, December 15th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Yetis, Jack and I got your daily dose of dopamine and dividends, Jack. I honestly think this is the best. three stories we've ever done. Me too. What a pod today, Jack. Three stories for today's show. What do we got in the TV?
For our first story, the Grinch didn't just steal Christmas. He's stealing licensing money from every creative company right now. The Grinch became the most valuable IP of the holidays because capitalism loves an antihero. For our second story, Carvana's used car stock rose 1,000%, then dropped to 99%, and then surged 10,000%. And now Carvana is joining the S&P 500.
We'll tell you how Carvana became the craziest stock of the last five years. And our third and final story, Every man on Wall Street wants the same gift this year. $1,100 Zegna sneakers. Zegna's business is booming these days because ironically, they slowed it down. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, like we said, what a mix of stories.
No one else is doing that mix, Jack. We're all familiar with the Santa rally. Ah, the Santa rally, the Wall Street phenomenon of stocks going up from Christmas to New Year's. But how about Hanukkah? Yeah. How do stocks perform during those eight crazy nights? Well, Jack and I called up our bubby, whipped up some hutzpah, and dove into the numbers for you.
Over the last 100 years, the S&P 500 jumps during Hanukkah by an average of 0.1%. Jack, best Hanukkah ever for the stock market? What was it? 1933. Yep. 10% rebound from the Great Depression. But Jack, worst Hanukkah for the stock market? What was it? 1931. The Great Depression.
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Chapter 2: What makes the Grinch the top-selling holiday IP?
Walmart is dedicating a half of an aisle to Grinch merchandise this year, and Grinch memes are filling half of your Instagram feed this year. So besties, pause the pod. Jack and I are looking at the business of the Grinch, or as we call it, the Grinch economy. And this ain't just for who's down in Whoville. No. It started 68 years ago. Yeah, the Grinch is old.
Invented in 1957 by Theodore Seuss Geisel, originally it was a book, and eight years later it became a movie with songs. Jim Carrey made the live-action version in 2000. Benedict Cumberbatch made the animated version in 2018. The Grinch took his first step in his IP journey in Hollywood.
And now two of those movies are in the top 10 on Peacock right now, while the other is in the top 10 on Amazon Prime. And combined, those three films grossed $1 billion in the box office. Yeti's The Grinch, it's become its own franchise bigger than Rudolph, Home Alone, or Mariah Carey. You're a bad banana, Mr. Grinch, as my son likes to say. But besties, this is what we found fascinating.
You already knew about the Grinch book and the Grinch movies, right, Jack? But did you know about the Grinch cruise line? Get this. Australia, the country, loves the Grinch so much, Carnival hosted 12 Grinchmas in July cruises just this summer. Which are cruises to celebrate the Grinch. Oh, and Grinchmas has been happening down in Orlando at Universal's theme park since November.
There's a Grinch podcast for kids. There's a Grinch traveling live show called the Dr. Seuss Experience. Oh, and plot twist, the Grinch has made the full IP journey. It's jumped from media to experiences to now fashion. Nike has a Grinch basketball sneaker that was worn in an NBA game earlier this year.
Jack, I don't want to one-up you here, but Kylie Jenner Cosmetics has a Grinch makeup line right now. Yeah, green. The Grinch is a rare IP with multi-generational appeal. And now it's one of the most licensed characters of all time. And besties, here's the best part. The Dr. Seuss estate, which collects all these licensing fees, gives 100% of the Grinch's profits to charity.
We're talking education, health, science, animal conservation, and the arts, all funded by the Grinch. We gotta support the arts. Surprise, surprise. Hooray, hooray. Capitalism's heart grew three sizes that day. But the Grinch also provides a lesson that brands and creators can learn from. Yeah, here's what we're thinking, Yetis. Maybe brand equity doesn't come from a store.
Maybe brand equity means a little bit more. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Grinch? For your brand to be a hero, it needs a villain. And for it to be a villain... There needs to be a hero. Yet he's the key reason why The Grinch is more viral and lucrative than characters like Buddy the Elf or Mariah Carey. What is it, Jack? It's not because he's a hero.
It's that he's an anti-hero. And great brands have even greater anti-heroes. And that benefits both of them. Uber is the anti-hero of Lyft. Pepsi is the anti-hero of Coke. These dual rivalries with a good versus evil subtext are mutually beneficial in business. You see, consumers respect a heroic brand, but they embrace its villain too.
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Chapter 3: What is the 'Dreidel Rally' and how does it impact stocks?
is that they hate the price haggling that happens at dealerships. Exactly. So we think Carvana's most important innovation is actually their no-price negotiation policy. It turns out that policy is the real profit puppy. At Carvana, the price is the price. They will not change it.
At your local Honda dealership, the price is whatever Jimmy decides to tell you as he walks up to you in the building. What's going on with that chassis? You see, people, it turns out, will pay hundreds, maybe thousands more to avoid the anxiety of asking a dealer for a price reduction. or the stress of thinking you're getting ripped off on that RAV4.
That's why America's 43,000 car dealerships sold 0% more cars this year than last year, but Carvana sold 44% more cars than last year. Jack, I got 43,000 problems, but Carvana ain't one of them.
Now, a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, what do Wall Street men want for Christmas this year?
Well, it's the $1,100 Zania sneaker, the new status shoe. Finance and Silicon Valley love this 110-year-old Italian brand because the ultimate luxury is time. The hardest gift, it's for someone who already has everything. But they may not have this yet.
It's an aspirational gift worn by Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, Andrew Ross Sorkin of Dealbook and CNBC fame, and Hugh Jackman of Hollywood and Broadway. But besties, we're talking about the $1,100 Zegna Triple Stitch Shoe Jack. What is it exactly? It's a slip-on leather sneaker that looks pretty ordinary, actually. It's got crisscrossing elastics, though, instead of laces.
Now, to sprinkle on some context here, 20 years ago, men wore a suit and leather lace-up dress shoes when they were going to the office or they were going to the wedding. The dress code was very clear. Now, I still wear suits sometimes, but I'm never wearing those leather Allen Edmonds lace-up shoes that I got from my banking days. And neither are the anchors on ESPN, Jack.
You see, the pandemic changed office dress code, and it was a boom for this luxury brand's sneakers. Xenia's triple-stitch sneaker can be worn in the boardroom? and the ballroom without a wardrobe change necessary. Yeah, it's now become the unofficial shoe of flying private. It basically wearing them feels like a yacht. That's why Xenia's sneaker sales 6X'd from 2019 to 2022.
And the success of Xenia's $1,100 sneakers have created an entirely new sector of the industry. Now, Hermes, Berluti, and The Row all have sneakers. that are selling for the same price as a MacBook. So besties, Jack and I want to know, how is one expensive sneaker doing $160 million of sales for one brand? To answer that, you have to study the history of Xenia.
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Chapter 4: How does the Grinch's branding reflect consumer preferences?
At the federal level, cannabis is still the same illegal category as heroin today. But Tilray's stock jumped 30% on Friday, although there have been years of false starts on federal decriminalization of marijuana. False highs, if you will. Although the report said that Trump would sign an executive order today. And finally, Starbucks just revealed its most viral drink of 2025.
Here it is, Dubai chocolate. The Middle Eastern pistachio flavored drink got 50 million views across social media, which is the most of any of Starbucks' flavors. Now remember, Shake Shack also launched a Dubai chocolate shape that was also so popular, they brought it back for a second limited time run. When two publicly traded companies go viral, you know that that trend is a profit puppy.
TikTok trends, they can be a profit puppy. Now time for the best fact yet, which, because it's Monday, means T-boy trivia. What do we got, Jack? What Christmas movie did the best at the box office? What is the highest grossing Christmas movie of all time? And Jack, what's the one caveat here? We want both nominal and adjusted for inflation.
Jack used to be an econ TA, so he insisted on a nominal and an inflation-adjusted answer for today's show. So here's your only hint. The nominal one is more recently, partially because of inflation, and the real one is from the early 1990s. The answer is on tomorrow's show. Yetis, you look fantastic out there. And Jack, you are looking fantastic too for the second night of the dreidel rally.
It's a thing. Oh, the statistic show, it's a thing. After this podcast, I'm listening to Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song. Okay, and then after you do and you make some money in the market, Jack, for those Xenia sneakers, I'm a size 11 and my left foot's just a little bit longer than my right. No, it just feels that way because you're only wearing one shoe. Besties, you look fantastic out there.
Remember to follow us and give us five stars to help grow the show. Nick and I will see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, a congratulations to Bethany and Nhi, who just got married down in lovely Orlando. Guys, let's see the pics. Congratulations. Happy birthday to Odin Ryder in Conifer, Colorado, who's got a new pet gecko that we'd love to know the name of.
Yeah, I'd love to know the name of that guy. And Cam Kelly, a.k.a. Yamies, down in Cave Creek, Arizona, is the best mom ever to an eight-week-old baby and has got the best birthday yet. And a big shout out to Alvaro Alvarez and Amaya, who's six and listening in Jacksonville, Florida on the way to school right now. You got this, Amaya.
And Phil Snell down in Wichita, Kansas has got an 18-year anniversary. Congratulations, guys. And a big shout out to Andrew Pinto, who did 4,600 minutes of T-Boy this year. Top 2% of listeners. And he did it down in Coquimamba, Bolivia. That officially makes Andrew our biggest Yeti in Coquimamba, baby. I would love for us to be corrected on that, Jack. This is Jack. I own stock of Ford and Lyft.
Nick owns stock of Nike and Shake Shack.
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