The Declaration of Independence

Hope everyone enjoyed the fireworks, time with family, and even watching Joey Chestnut eat 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes... if that's your thing. In honor of America's 274th birthday, we're rolling up The Declaration of Independence. Here we go:

1. As Fate Would Have It - A group commonly referred to as "The Committee of Five" were the men who were charged by Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence. This group included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went on to become the 2nd and 3rd Presidents of the United States, and more interestingly would later die on the exact same day - July 4, 1826 - 50 years to the day after the United States' formal adoption of the document they were instrumental in creating. You really can't make this stuff up...
2. Born In the USA - Out the 56 signatories of the document, only 8 were born in Britain - the other 48 were born in the thirteen colonies. Remember that next time you go through your mock-US citizen examinations.
3. Summertime Riots in New York - Public news of the Declaration of Independence ignited a wave of riots in New York City that lasted days. British loyalist mobs flocked to the streets, assaulting locals and vandalizing property. The rioting raged on for several days before being brought under control. New York continues to see its share of summertime riots, with a memorable moment in 2020 when then-Mayor de Blasio's daughter was arrested for rioting against the very institutions her father was responsible for overseeing. The severity of her punishment was a quick time-out by being sent to her room in Gracie Mansion.
4. From a $4 Purchase to a $2.42 Million Sale - A man named John Dunlap was asked by Congress to print 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence following its approval by Congress in 1776 - these copies came to be known as The Dunlap Broadside Copies. There are only 26 known copies that still exist today - one of them was found by a man from Adamstown, PA in 1989 who purchased a $4 painting at a flea market, only to discover a Broadside copy was concealed behind the painting in the picture frame. Two years later he went on to sell it for $2.42 million... an MOIC I think we'd all be OK with. Another copy is owned by Sean "P Diddy" Combs. True story.

Tamica Williams Joins Caymus Equity as Vice President - Finance

We are pleased to announce the addition of Tamica Williams to the Caymus Equity team! Tamica joined the Firm last month as Vice President of Finance and will be responsible for overseeing fund administration, operations, financial and investor reporting, budgeting, SEC and FINRA reporting and compliance, risk management and human resources.

Tamica was previously with Kabbage, d.b.a KServcing, where she acted as Corporate Controller, leading teams in the areas of finance operations, treasury, accounting, and reporting for the company. Previously, Tamica held a variety of senior financial management reporting and compliance positions with SunTrust, Inc., now Truist Financial Corporation.

We're excited to have Tamica a part of the Caymus Equity team!

Tamica Williams, Vice President - Finance

Email: twilliams@caymusequity.com

Office: 404-995-8333

Atlanta, GA

PortCo Spotlight - Colorado Barricade Co.

Last month our portfolio company, Colorado Barricade, had the honor of running the parade operations for the Denver Nuggets championship parade following the team's NBA Finals victory over the Miami Heat. This marked the second championship parade the Company has overseen in the past year, the first one being for the Colorado Avalanche following their Stanley Cup Finals victory in 2022. Denver Broncos - you're up next!

Colorado Barricade is a provider of roadway safety, pavement marking, traffic control and sign installation solutions for commercial customers, utility contractors, and roadway infrastructure maintenance providers in the Rocky Mountain region.

Bigger Than Sports

Here’s an interesting fact for you – three out of the “Big Four” American sports leagues – The NFL, NBA, and NHL – each were a part of significant mergers with competitive start-up leagues in the 1970s. Each league, faced with losing their athletes, fans, revenue and profits to a new market entrant decided to combine as one rather than battle it out with each other. Sound familiar?

Our current times have been frequently compared to the 1970s due to the unrest, uncertainty, and frequent chaos, among other reasons. Last month the PGA Tour and LIV Golf drew another comparison to the 1970s, with the announcement the two would be coming together to form a new professional golf league. One angle to this story worth examining, which has nothing to do with which side you're on, is looking at the underlying factors of the present-day that allowed for a new market entrant in professional golf to challenge the existing power structure, and how it is similar to the 1970s which saw similar events take place on three separate occasions.

By all accounts, there seem to be some stark similarities - overseas wars, high inflation, global energy crisis and supply chain issues, even US Presidential scandals. With last month's PGA/LIV announcement, go ahead and add Professional Sports League mergers to that list.

Although the future is far from certain with regards to the current saga, there is one thing for sure: History doesn't occur in a vacuum, and many times the circumstances that allow events to take place end up being more important than the events themselves. Should the PGA/LIV drama really have been a surprise given there is historical precedent for these things happening in similar global environments? "The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history" - Georg Hegel

-Garrison Hogan

What do you think?