Updates on four stocks I've previously discussed; My '12 Questions to Ask Before You Marry Someone'

I find that during the week I'm busy keeping up with breaking news, earnings reports, and big stock moves, so I often use the weekends to do a deeper dive on companies that catch my eye.

So today, here are some quick updates and links on a few that I'll be looking at closer this weekend...

1) First up, shares of shoemaker Crocs (CROX) soared 24% yesterday after the company reported strong earnings. I discussed Crocs in my January 9, 2024 e-mail, in which I concluded:

The stock looks like it has more room to run... as the market has been myopically focused on headwinds associated with the Hey Dude brand and is missing the big story that Crocs has been on an absolute tear.

Crocs has also been in the Stansberry's Investment Advisory model portfolio for the past year and a half – subscribers who followed the advice to buy the stock in the September 2023 monthly issue are up 13%. (If you're a subscriber, you can read the full write-up by my colleague Alan Gula right here.)

In the wake of the strong earnings report, I'll also confer with my team on Crocs... And if anything changes with our analysis and advice, we'll be sharing our conclusions with Investment Advisory subscribers first.

If you aren't already a subscriber, find out how to become one – and gain access to the entire portfolio of open recommendations – by clicking here.

2) The day after I wrote about Crocs, on January 10, 2024, I wrote about another company I saw present at the ICR conference in Orlando: restaurant chain Denny's (DENN), which I owned very profitably two decades ago.

After analyzing it, I concluded:

So is Denny's a buy?

No. I love franchise businesses... But if I'm going to pay 20 times earnings, I need to believe there's going to be growth – both in units and same-store sales.

It was a good call, as Denny's has been cut in half since that e-mail – crashing 24% on Wednesday after reporting earnings that included this news: Denny's is closing dozens more restaurants.

Could Denny's finally be cheap enough to buy?

I'll take a closer look this weekend... but I have to say that I was surprised, in light of the stock's performance, to see that revenue has been stable and operating income has been rising:

3) In that same e-mail, I warned investors to stay away from Container Store...

At the time, it had crashed to $1.90 per share. And I concluded that "it's hard to see how management can turn this around. At the end of the day, I just don't think there's a reason for this business to exist..."

Sure enough, Container Store filed for bankruptcy in December.

4) I wrote negatively about pharma giant Pfizer (PFE) on October 8, October 10, and October 11... and then, in my October 28 e-mail, shared the bull case for the stock by my friend, Yale School of Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, and his colleague Steven Tian.

Since that last e-mail, Pfizer is down 11% while the S&P 500 Index is up 5%.

Sonnenfeld and Tian continue to be bullish on Pfizer – as well as another pharma giant, Merck (MRK) – for reasons they outlined in this Fortune article last week: The faulty forecasts of pharma firm investors: Misguided cynics miss the promising prognosis for drugmakers Pfizer and Merck. Excerpt:

... both Pfizer and Merck stand out for the extent to which the investment community may be uniquely underappreciating their prescription for future success. For both drugmakers, investors seem to be addicted to bad news, but some good news could be exactly the antidote the doctor ordered.

I want to hear from you... If you'd like me to take another deeper look at one or these stocks – or any others you think look interesting – here in my daily e-mails, let me know via e-mail by clicking here.

5) It has become an annual tradition to share on Valentine's Day my "12 Questions to Ask Before You Marry Someone" (from my book, The Art of Playing Defense)... Enjoy!

1. Are they a warm, kind, and good-hearted person, both toward you and others? Do they have a mean bone in their body? How do they treat people like employees, waiters, and taxi drivers? Do children and dogs like them?

This is so important – and it's so easy to be fooled because, of course, the person you're dating is going to be on their best behavior around you. That's why it's critical to watch how they treat others, especially those they don't perceive to be peers. Children and dogs are often much better judges of character than you are!

2. If you weren't romantically interested in each other, would you be close friends? Do you make each other better?

Over time, when the passion and romance aren't so intense, there had better be a solid foundation of friendship, or you're in trouble. You want to be with someone who gives you frank feedback and smoothes your rough edges – as my wife Susan regularly does with me!

3. Do they have high integrity? Are they a stable, solid, predictable person that you can count on 100%? Do you trust them completely? Are there any issues with anger management, violence, narcissism, alcohol, or drugs?

There can be no compromise in this area. If you don't trust someone with your life – if you're not 100,000% certain that they would never cheat on you or knowingly hurt you, directly or indirectly, in any way – then run! If you find yourself rationalizing, "Well, he's great most of the time, but sometimes when he's had too much to drink..." – run!

One of my friends who has dated a lot of people told me that many of them can't "relax and be themselves" until they've had a number of drinks. If you observe this, run!

4. Do you share core values, e.g., self-improvement, giving back/philanthropy, meritocracy, humility, life balance, spirituality, thinking before acting, looking for win-win solutions?

Every person's list here will be different. I thought about adding "political views," but you'll have to decide that for yourself.

5. Are they intelligent and intellectually curious? Do you find them interesting?

This isn't code for, "Did they attend an elite college?" My dad is from a prominent family in Connecticut and went to a private high school before attending Yale, while my mom is the daughter of a Seattle fireman and went to public schools all the way through the University of Washington. So what? They're both smart, intellectually curious, and interesting – and have been happily married for more than 60 years!

6. Do they like to do fun things and have a zest for life? Are they a happy and optimistic person? Do they have a good sense of humor and make you laugh?

There are so many people who look great on paper – they're nice, went to a good school, have a solid job, etc. – but are just, well... boring. You don't want to be married to someone like that – unless that's what you're looking for, of course!

7. Do they have a strong work ethic and a purpose?

Initially, this question was, "Do they have a good job or career?"... But I changed it because some people choose to do things like raise kids or do volunteer work – and they're very happy and are wonderful spouses. The point of this question is that if you're a driven person and your potential spouse is a lump, your marriage isn't likely to last.

8. Do they come from a stable family? Do you want to spend time with them (because you will!)?

The first part of the question here is tricky because it seems unfair to hold it against someone if they happen to come from a messed-up family. But I'll be honest: I'd rather see my daughters marry guys whose families are similar to ours – filled with deep, long-term, loving relationships.

9. Do your friends and family like them?

Similar to the dogs and children question, someone may be able to fool you... but they're unlikely to be able to fool all of your friends and family. Ask people close to you what they think – and listen carefully!

10. Do they have similar views on big issues such as where to live, children (how many, what religion, how child-rearing duties will be split), whether one of you will stop or cut back on working to raise the kids, and finances (spending habits, lifestyle, debt, the importance of having a lot of money)? Will they be a good parent?

As your relationship deepens, you'll want to think about these things – and have some conversations about them, however difficult that might be.

Regarding religion, I remember on my first date with my wife, I told her we could raise our kids Jewish. It was certainly premature – I said it with a smile – but it's a critical conversation to have if you and your potential spouse are from different religious backgrounds. (I wasn't raised religious, so it wasn't a sacrifice for me – and I'm delighted that my daughters are Jewish, as I fully embrace the values of the religion.)

Another huge issue is balancing both of your careers with the demands of raising a family. A lot of guys have the sexist assumption that their wives will sacrifice their careers once kids come along, which can lead to anger, resentment, and, eventually, divorce.

11. Have they had long-term relationships in the past? How have they ended? What would previous boyfriends or girlfriends say about them?

When deciding whether to raise children and spend the rest of your life with someone, you should be less concerned with how someone is 99% of the time than with how their worst 1% looks like. Observing or talking to ex-partners is a good place to start.

12. Do you think they're attractive, and do you have a wild, passionate sex life?

A good sex life is an important element of a healthy marriage, but I have deliberately listed this as the last and least-important question in part because so many young people seem to put it first. I know a number of guys who are trapped in miserable marriages with women who are mean, shallow, or otherwise unpleasant – but, boy, were they hot and sexy when they were younger! To quote the old adage, these guys let their little heads think for their big ones... and have been paying a big price ever since.

I am not saying that you need a perfect answer to every one of these questions...

Every person might have a slightly different set of questions, prioritize them differently, and think differently about what flaws can be overlooked.

For example, can you live with someone who occasionally smokes marijuana? Or has very different political beliefs? Or spends money more freely than you? What if you want to raise the kids in your faith, but your potential spouse wants to let them decide for themselves? There are no easy answers to questions like these.

A guy I met once asked me an interesting question:

Once you've gone on a few dates with someone you like, is there a way to accelerate finding the answers to the 12 questions? The cost of waiting when the answer ends up being "no" is that you've lost time you could have spent looking for the right partner.

One strategy I've heard of is going on camping trips together early in a relationship, where something inevitably goes wrong, and you can see how the other person reacts.

Here was my reply: I would worry less about how much time it takes to really get to know someone and more about staying with someone you know isn't right, out of inertia or because "He/she is really nice" or "Wow, the sex is great." Worse yet, if you let it drag on long enough, you might just marry this wrong person – I've seen it happen. So keep in mind what Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates once said of employees: "Hire slowly, fire quickly."

Another friend asked if I thought the decision to marry someone should be based on my 12 questions or on gut instinct...

I think both. Any relationship has to start with genuine, emotional attraction. Don't even think about my 12 questions until the relationship becomes more serious and you're asking yourself, "Is this the person I want to spend the rest of my life with?"

But then, be sure to ask these questions because it might help you avoid a terrible mistake. Someone close to me is twice divorced – and both times, I'm convinced that had she had this list, she wouldn't have married either dud. Sometimes the smartest people make the dumbest decisions when it comes to matters of the heart.

That said, once you've asked – and, more important, honestly answered – the questions, then what do you do?

Let's say you assign each question a score of one, one-half, or zero. If you give the person you're dating an overall score of eight, that's clearly not good enough – keep looking. On the other hand, you're likely to never get married if you hold out for a perfect 12.

But what if your score is 10 – is that good enough? I can't answer that for you. Ultimately, the final decision is yours – and one of the heart, not the head.

But don't make a quick decision or rush into anything. This is a decision you must get right, so be careful, take your time, and don't compromise.

Nobody is perfect, but if you're not 99% certain that you want to spend the rest of your life with this person, then wait, collect more information, and do more thinking.

Best regards,

Whitney

P.S. Our offices are closed on Monday in observance of Presidents Day. Look for my next daily e-mail in your inbox on Tuesday, February 18. Enjoy the holiday!