A believable lie spreads far faster than the truth. That is a reality of the world as old as time, and some lies are hard to shake. Yesterday made me realize two things. First Wendy’s might be in real trouble. This is the first time I have felt this way.
There was a point in time that I wanted to invest in Wendy’s. That I thought that this is the number two burger chain in America, or was, and that unlike McDonald’s they get your order right. I suggested it to the family advisor and when she ran it past the firm that actually invests the money we were told no. That there are signs it isn’t good. I didn’t really believe them, but didn’t push the issue.
Yesterday I believed them. Until yesterday I viewed Wendy’s as the better quality, more customer friendly fast food restaurant, but boy has the one in Hilltop gone downhill and fast. There are still things I like about it. The special sodas they have, the food is still better quality, and we all got the correct order, but there were two major problems. First they changed the fry recipe and second the cleanliness of the place has really fallen off. I don’t know if this is a national issue, but if a restaurant isn’t clean it isn’t a place I want to eat.
Now beyond investing there is this weird narrative making the rounds on Reddit that one of the reason food stocks are down is because of GLP-1s. This isn’t true. They are down because stocks like McDonald’s and Pepsi are considered defensive stocks and with bond yields rising there are better defensive options. That is all.
The one big realization I had about this is that people on GLP-1s likely were people trying to diet for years with no success and normal adults don’t really eat at McDonald’s anyway. It is like home buying. The motivation for moving has nothing to do with mortgage rates. Mortgage rates control how much home you can buy, not if you need a home at all. The same goes with companies like McDonald’s, Pepsi, and other defensive food stocks. Childless couples and single adults aren’t really buying those products. Those are family products. And with them all down so much now is likely the best time to buy them.
