In response to our holiday issue, Bicoastal Betrayals (Cuomo + Newsom), a reader urges us not to forget the “third coast” in the Prairie State.

“You have flown over the other biggest disaster of a governor,” he says. “In my opinion, he outweighs Cuomo and Newsom in every way: J.B. Pritzker of Illinois.

“Elected regardless of tax fraud (I guess billionaires get a lot of breaks in Illinois), the press has had to work hard to cover for this liar, hypocrite and thief. He can rightly be described as being as big as his ego.”

Our reader has a point – we did fly over one of the most glaring examples of malfeasance involving a U.S. governor. One might even call it crappy… 

In 2020, federal prosecutors were still looking into a 2015 incident involving a “$331,000 tax break the governor got after removing the toilets during remodeling of a mansion he owns next to his own home,” says Illinois Policy.

The toilets were removed to make the home “uninhabitable,” lowering Pritzker’s tax liability. And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

But no news is good news? At least for the governor? Because other than Gov. Pritzker’s exposure to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, there’s nothing new to report on this ongoing – we assume – federal investigation.

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Your Rundown for Friday, January 7, 2021...

Electrifying: America’s Best-selling Vehicle

Shares of century-old automaker Ford (ticker: F) have surged over 167% in one year, most likely in response to the company's plan to amp up its line of EVs.

To that end, the company announced its goal to generate 40% of its annual revenue from electric vehicles by 2025. Integral to Ford’s plan is an electric version of America’s best-selling vehicle for 40 years, Ford’s F-150 pickup.

Courtesy: Ford

Ford initially intended to produce 40,000 F-150 “Lightnings” per year… then doubled that number. Now the automaker has almost doubled-down again, with an annual production target set at 150,000 for the EV pickups.

According to the Financial Times: “Of the nearly 200,000 consumers who have reserved the F-150 Lightning, almost 75% of them are new to the Ford brand.” And the EV pickup’s starting price? A very competitive $40,000. 

As for the company’s earnings, CNBC says: “The Detroit automaker had a banner fourth quarter, selling 508,451 vehicles, a 27% increase over the previous quarter. Ford also beat out GM to become the country’s second best-selling automaker of all-electric vehicles behind Tesla.” (Have you seen Ford’s Mustang Mach-E EVs? They’re pretty sweet.)

Subsequently, Ford shares have ripped 16% higher in the last five days. Which reminds us of something our income specialist Zach Scheidt said in June: “Investors have been favoring value stocks like Ford over high-priced growth stocks like TSLA.

“Buyers are simply getting more value for every dollar invested with tremendous potential for growth,” Zach said. “As long as this trend continues, it will pay to take larger positions in solid companies that earn reliable profits (like Ford) and to be careful placing too much faith in growth names with sky-high multiples.”

The trend continues: Tech stocks have been getting shellacked. 

Market Rundown for Friday, Jan. 7, 2021

S&P 500 futures are barely in the red at 4,685.

Oil is resting just under $80 per barrel of West Texas crude.

Gold is up $4.20 to $1,793.40 per ounce.

Bitcoin is down 3% to $41,860.

Send your comments and questions to, TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com

You all have an excellent weekend, and we’ll catch up on Monday!

For The Rundown,

Matt Insley
Publisher, The Rundown
TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com