The 94 Entertainment Companies below are in one or more of the following Industries: Travel, Leisure, Recreation, Internet, Cable TV and Radio.
The historical stock prices of these companies were obtained from the following two excellent internet resources.... Google Finance and MarketWatch Big Charts.
These 94 US Entertainment Companies had their average stock prices increase by an off-the-charts 461% from January 16, 2009 to January 9, 2014. This 461% increase was an incredible 4 times the 116% increase in the S&P 500 Index over the same time span.
This exceptional stock price increase was very widespread, spanning all of the above Industries. And there were only 3 of these 94 US Entertainment Companies with Stock Price declines so far during the Obama Administration.
Like the rest of the US economy, all of these Industries comprising these 94 Entertainment Companies were hit hard by petrified potential customers reacting to the aftershocks of the late 2008 financial meltdown. These 94 Entertainment Companies were particularly hard hit in 2008 and early 2009 since customer spending in these Industries is discretionary in nature and being so afraid, many of these customers elected to shut down their spending on discretionary items.
Actions taken from the get go by the Obama Administration and by the US Fed to strengthen the devastated US economy substantially turned around all of the US economy, including all of these Entertainment Industries. The key to the turnaround in these Entertainment Industries was the significant and continuing improvement, starting in late 2009, in the severely depleted US consumer confidence.
US executives working in these Entertainment Industries all throughout the country, and even the world, have to be very happy with the stock market performance of these many Entertainment Companies during the Obama Administration.
This exceptional stock increase in these US Entertainment Industries is driving a very nice increase in total compensation of their executives. Stock-based Compensation of these Entertainment Industry Executives is extremely robust, especially when the stock appreciation is so huge.
Common stockholders of these US Entertainment Companies should also be very pleased with the Obama Administration.....after all an average stock price increase of 461% in less than 5 years is just incredible.
Some of these Entertainment Companies like Google, Apple in the US, Netflix, Tesla Motors, Harley-Davidson, Polaris Industries and several others do pay their employees at the bottom very fairly. But for the clear majority of these 94 Entertainment Companies, the pay of the workers at the bottom is clearly substandard.
There is something really wrong with how capitalism is working in the US when so many executives in these US Entertainment Companies are making such incredibly lucrative Total Compensation year after year, buoyed by off-the-charts stock appreciation from very generous stock-based compensation, while so many of their employees at the bottom are not being paid a living wage.....and more than a few of them aren't even paid much above the minimum wage.
So the selfish greedy executives of many of these US Entertainment Companies, along with their Boards of Directors, are driving the massive gap between the Total Compensation of these Executives and the meager amounts being paid to the many employees at the bottom of the majority of these Entertainment Companies.
By choosing to pay these many employees at the bottom such paltry amounts, this substantially increases the bottom line earnings of these US Entertainment Companies, which also drives the stock prices higher and thus also drives the Total Compensation of US Entertainment Executives higher.
But there's much more causing this massive pay gap between Entertainment Executives and many of their employees at the bottom.
The US Fed is substantially increasing this already huge pay gap. How? Well, nearly all of these US Entertainment Industry Companies have been clearly off-the-charts in the way they are so aggressively buying back their own common stock year after year. By setting such incredibly low interest rates, the US Fed is making it extremely lucrative for US Entertainment Companies to buy back their own common stock.....there's very little financing costs to do so. And by buying back their common stock very aggressively, Earnings Per Share increases significantly by the fewer number of common shares outstanding and thus the market price per share of the common stock also increases significantly, and thus the Total Compensation of US Entertainment Executives also grows very robustly.
The US Congress is also substantially increasing this already huge pay gap. How? Well, it has been a very long time since the US Federal Minimum Wage has been increased.
But also, the US Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, has granted US Entertainment Companies very lucrative corporate tax welfare. Let me just mention several of these.
First, US Entertainment Companies got either 100% or 50% first-year tax expensing for all equipment purchases in pretty much the entire past decade.
Second, US Retailers included in these Entertainment Companies were granted an extremely short tax life for depreciating their huge amount of leasehold improvement investments for many years.
Third, like other US publicly-held Corporations, US Entertainment Companies are able to to get a US Federal Income Tax Deduction for the excess of the market price of the common stock over its exercise price when executives exercise stock options. When you have the Entertainment Industry generating an average stock price appreciation of 461% over the past five years, you have a very substantial amount of these windfall tax benefits being received by US Entertainment Industry Corporations.
Fourth, some of these Entertainment Companies have substantial global operations and they are taking full advantage of shifting income from the higher income-taxed US to the lower income-taxed foreign jurisdictions.
And there are much more of this corporate tax largesse granted to US Entertainment Companies. When I get a chance, I'll review these Entertainment Companies' financial statements and footnotes and point out some other US tax largesse they are granted.
Let me make a prediction. If with the November 2014 election, the US Senate remains in Democratic Control and also the US House switches to Democratic Control, this 461% average stock price increase for these 94 US Entertainment Industry Companies will approach 600% over President Obama's entire eight-year Presidential run. I am pretty certain of it.
From a fairness standpoint, I would let all large Entertainment Industry businesses as well as other businesses get 50% first-year tax expensing for their US equipment and computer software investments made in 2014, and let both small and medium-sized Entertainment Industry businesses get 100% first-year tax expensing in 2014, but only if this is combined with an increase in the US Federal Minimum Wage to at least $10.00 per hour over a three-year period as well as at least a three-month extension, and preferably much longer, of Unemployment Benefits to those who have already been unemployed for six months.
Also, I would abolish the windfall US Federal Income tax benefit that US Corporations receive when their corporate executives exercise stock options.
Further, I would assess an annual Income Inequality Fee for US Corporations like the many US Entertainment Industry ones which have been clearly much too greedy in excessively buying back their own common stock in a given year.
Below here are the common stock market closing prices of each of these 94 Largest US Entertainment Industry Companies at both the most recent date January 9, 2014, and also at the date just before President Obama took office, as well as the percentage stock market price changes for this period of time.
| State | Market | Market | Percentage | |
| HQs | Price | Price | Increase | |
| 1-9-14 | 1-16-09 | (Decrease) | ||
| Entertainment: Travel, Leisure, Recreation, Internet, Cable TV and Radio | ||||
| Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group | OK | 87.49 | 1.27 | 6789% |
| Sirius XM Radio | NY | 3.79 | 0.11 | 3269% |
| Priceline.com | CT | 1,153.69 | 71.13 | 1522% |
| Brunswick | IL | 45.86 | 3.13 | 1365% |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group | MD | 35.69 | 2.73 | 1207% |
| Las Vegas Sands | NV | 80.61 | 6.27 | 1186% |
| Polaris Industries | MN | 144.97 | 11.90 | 1118% |
| HSN | FL | 60.52 | 5.16 | 1073% |
| Cabela's | NE | 67.51 | 5.78 | 1068% |
| Netflix | CA | 337.05 | 31.26 | 978% |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | CO | 541.03 | 53.05 | 920% |
| Wyndham Worldwide | NJ | 72.26 | 7.10 | 918% |
| DineEquity | CA | 83.04 | 8.76 | 848% |
| Liberty Interactive | CO | 28.55 | 3.15 | 806% |
| CBS | NY | 62.49 | 7.20 | 768% |
| Starbucks | WA | 77.60 | 9.46 | 720% |
| Expedia | WA | 69.55 | 8.60 | 709% |
| Amazon com | WA | 401.01 | 51.59 | 677% |
| Liberty Global | CO | 88.95 | 13.32 | 568% |
| Apple | CA | 536.52 | 82.33 | 552% |
| Tesla Motors | CA | 147.53 | 23.89 | 518% |
| Cracker Barrel | TN | 110.38 | 17.95 | 515% |
| Sothebys | NY | 51.96 | 8.93 | 482% |
| Discovery Communications | CO | 84.73 | 14.76 | 474% |
| Wynn Resorts | NV | 204.77 | 36.94 | 454% |
| Cheesecake Factory | CA | 47.45 | 8.78 | 440% |
| Strategic Hotels | IL | 9.39 | 1.78 | 428% |
| Hertz Global Holdings | NJ | 27.66 | 5.27 | 425% |
| Alaska Air Group | WA | 77.39 | 14.90 | 420% |
| Lions Gate Entertainment | CA | 30.02 | 5.80 | 418% |
| Harley-Davidson | WI | 69.19 | 13.70 | 405% |
| Brinkers Intl | TX | 45.46 | 9.30 | 389% |
| Viacom | NY | 86.13 | 17.68 | 387% |
| Royal Caribbean Cruises | FL | 47.64 | 9.85 | 384% |
| Dick's Sporting Goods | PA | 57.34 | 12.18 | 371% |
| IAC/Interactive | NY | 69.62 | 15.14 | 360% |
| DISH Network | CO | 56.48 | 12.34 | 358% |
| Starwood Hotels & Resorts | NY | 78.58 | 17.34 | 353% |
| Thor Industries | IN | 53.78 | 12.01 | 348% |
| Cinemark Holdings | TX | 32.47 | 7.64 | 325% |
| Live Nation Entertainment | CA | 20.65 | 5.22 | 296% |
| Ebay | CA | 52.07 | 13.26 | 293% |
| Charter Communications | MO | 136.01 | 35.50 | 283% |
| CA | 1,130.24 | 299.67 | 277% | |
| Petsmart | AZ | 68.63 | 18.35 | 274% |
| Panera Bread | MO | 177.33 | 48.03 | 269% |
| United Continental Holdings | IL | 43.80 | 11.95 | 267% |
| Scripps Networks Interactive | OH | 82.43 | 22.54 | 266% |
| Bally Technologies | NV | 78.75 | 21.70 | 263% |
| Yahoo | CA | 40.92 | 11.59 | 253% |
| Walt Disney | CA | 74.90 | 21.46 | 249% |
| Comcast | PA | 52.88 | 15.33 | 245% |
| EchoStar | CO | 50.81 | 14.84 | 242% |
| Ameristar Casinos | NV | 26.50 | 7.80 | 240% |
| CC Media Holdings | TX | 6.60 | 2.00 | 230% |
| DirecTV | CA | 70.51 | 21.98 | 221% |
| Life Time Fitness | MN | 44.85 | 14.50 | 209% |
| Penn National Gaming | PA | 13.05 | 4.46 | 193% |
| Marriott | MD | 48.99 | 16.81 | 191% |
| Mattel | CA | 45.49 | 15.63 | 191% |
| Host Hotels & Resorts | MD | 19.30 | 6.77 | 185% |
| Delta Air Lines | GA | 31.06 | 11.43 | 172% |
| Children's Place Retail Stores | NJ | 55.71 | 20.54 | 171% |
| US Airways | AZ | 22.55 | 8.53 | 164% |
| Avis Budget Group | NJ | 40.30 | 15.25 | 164% |
| Madison Square Guardian | NY | 56.67 | 21.74 | 161% |
| Allegiant Travel | NV | 101.72 | 39.28 | 159% |
| MGM Resorts | NV | 24.98 | 9.93 | 152% |
| Southwest Airlines | TX | 20.76 | 8.61 | 141% |
| Time Warner Cable | NY | 133.17 | 56.31 | 136% |
| Time Warner | NY | 66.29 | 28.83 | 130% |
| Ancestry.com | UT | 32.04 | 14.20 | 126% |
| United Online | CA | 13.35 | 6.19 | 116% |
| Cablevision Systems | NY | 17.04 | 8.50 | 101% |
| Darden Restaurants | FL | 51.34 | 25.97 | 98% |
| Hasbro | RI | 52.98 | 26.89 | 97% |
| Activision Blizzard | CA | 18.30 | 9.57 | 91% |
| Carnival | FL | 39.96 | 21.11 | 89% |
| Regal Entertainment | GA | 19.13 | 10.17 | 88% |
| AOL | NY | 45.73 | 25.07 | 82% |
| GameStop | TX | 44.97 | 24.68 | 82% |
| Hyatt Hotels | IL | 50.07 | 28.00 | 79% |
| TIVO | CA | 13.16 | 7.39 | 78% |
| Choice Hotels | MD | 48.99 | 28.44 | 72% |
| Intl Game Techology | NV | 17.55 | 11.95 | 47% |
| DreamWorks Animation | CA | 34.64 | 24.82 | 40% |
| Electronic Arts | CA | 22.75 | 17.53 | 30% |
| Dolby Labs | CA | 40.86 | 31.57 | 29% |
| Best Buy | MN | 37.53 | 29.34 | 28% |
| JetBlue Airways | NY | 8.83 | 6.96 | 27% |
| Intl Speedway | FL | 34.39 | 27.76 | 24% |
| SkyWest | UT | 13.92 | 18.22 | -24% |
| EarthLink | GA | 5.35 | 7.51 | -29% |
| RadioShack | TX | 2.27 | 12.18 | -81% |
| Average % Increase all 94 | 461% | |||
