MM #248: Time to Sell? | Trump Market Crash, Apple’s Flop, African Business & Congo’s Tech War w/ Chakabars

Summary

Podcast Summary: Market Mondays #248

Title: Time to Sell? | Trump Market Crash, Apple’s Flop, African Business & Congo’s Tech War w/ Chakabars
Host/Author: EYL Network
Release Date: February 25, 2025

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Introduction

In episode #248 of Market Mondays, hosts Rashad Bilal and Ian Dunlap delve into a myriad of pressing topics ranging from geopolitical conflicts in Africa to the tumultuous dynamics of the global stock market. Joined by special guest Shaka, the conversation offers deep insights into the intersection of technology, investment strategies, and international business developments. The episode also features announcements about upcoming events and personal milestones, providing listeners with both informative content and a glimpse into the hosts' personal lives.

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Announcements and Birthday Celebrations

[01:00 - 05:00]

As the episode kicks off, Rashad and Ian excitedly announce their return to America to celebrate Ian's birthday. Ian shares plans for a historic event at Carnegie Hall on February 27th, featuring prominent guests such as Robert Smith, CEO of Louis Vuitton, and a live orchestral performance by Rakim.

• Ian Dunlap [02:02]: "We're coming back on my birthday for my birthday and we are going to be doing something historic. We are going to be at Carnegie Hall."

The hosts extend invitations to their audience, encouraging listeners to RSVP via Ian’s Instagram.

• Rashad Bilal [05:00]: "Shout out to everybody that attended the last one. We had over a thousand people in there."

They also tease upcoming segments and surprise announcements, setting an engaging tone for the episode.

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Geopolitical Insights: The Congo's Tech War

[08:30 - 23:58]

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing the ongoing conflict in the Congo, primarily driven by the nation's vast mineral resources essential for modern technology. Shaka provides a comprehensive analysis of how data has become more valuable than oil, positioning Africa as a critical player in the global tech landscape.

• Shaka [09:51]: "Data is more valuable than oil. Oil used to be the metric. Now it's data."

He highlights the exploitation of Congo's coltan and cobalt reserves, critical for smartphones and electric vehicle batteries, respectively. Shaka underscores the violence and human cost associated with mineral extraction, attributing the instability to a "minerals game" driven by global demand from Europe and China.

• Shaka [10:57]: "When the smartphone was invented, the minerals that were needed for the smartphone came from Congo. Between 1998 and 2003, 6 million people died as a result of that grab for minerals."

Shaka also touches on the role of Rwanda in escalating mineral exports and the resultant increase in gold exports, emphasizing the broader geopolitical implications.

• Shaka [12:30]: "Rwanda signed an MoU agreement to provide those minerals for the rest of Europe to be able to do this."

The discussion extends to the concept of neocolonialism, tribalism, and the portrayal of internal African conflicts as "black on black crime," masking the underlying economic motivations.

• Shaka [15:44]: "This is a war for the tech industry and it's the ground zero for the war in the tech industry."

Shaka concludes by advocating for Pan-Africanism and sustainable business practices to counteract exploitation, urging listeners to educate themselves and support initiatives that promote unity and economic development in Africa.

• Shaka [22:03]: "We need to see ourselves as our own form of validation and love ourselves enough to care about what's going on with other Africans around the world."

---

Investment Strategies Amid Market Volatility

[25:14 - 72:52]

The hosts transition to discussing recent stock market fluctuations, focusing on the Dow's significant drop of 700 points and the broader market uncertainty exacerbated by political instability under President Trump.

• Troy Millings [25:16]: "There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market. It’s been choppy ever since Trump got in office."

They analyze the implications of high-profile investors like Warren Buffett selling off positions in companies like Palantir, interpreting these moves as potential indicators of upcoming market shifts.

• Rashad Bilal [42:13]: "Evercore is a company that is slept on. The ticker is E VR. So you guys can add that to the watch list and maybe next week I'll give a price for it."

The discussion covers the impact of AI investments on the tech sector, highlighting the competitive race between the US and China in AI advancements. The hosts emphasize the importance of compute power in developing superior AI models, citing Alibaba’s significant investment in GPUs as a strategic move to gain an edge.

• Troy Millings [29:36]: "This is an international war for sure. Like this race in this GPU market, China versus US is heating up."

They also delve into government policies affecting market stability, such as President Trump's unpredictable economic strategies, which contribute to market volatility and investor uncertainty.

• Ian Dunlap [34:10]: "If you know the rules of the game, you can play it. But if the rules of the game change every single day, that becomes difficult."

Regarding options trading, the hosts advise caution, especially given the current market volatility and potential for further declines.

• Ian Dunlap [71:34]: "We encourage dollar cost averaging. So you post to invest when the market is up and when the market is down, you're always supposed to invest and hold long positions."

Consequently, they recommend maintaining a disciplined investment strategy, focusing on long-term positions and avoiding emotional reactions to short-term market movements.

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Government Efficiency and Economic Policies

[45:02 - 48:08]

A noteworthy segment addresses President Trump's directive for federal employees to document their work or face job termination. The hosts debate the efficacy and potential repercussions of such policies on government efficiency and employee morale.

• Troy Millings [45:32]: "There's a lot of waste in government, and he’s trying to find pockets to put more money in his companies and get him more government contracts."

Ian Dunlap [47:05]: "There's ways to go about it. I don't know if it's the best way to go about it as far as how they're going about it."

They discuss the broader implications of aggressive government cuts, likening them to previous instances like the mismanagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation highlights the balance between reducing inefficiency and maintaining essential services, emphasizing the human cost of such policies.

• Rashad Bilal [48:08]: "Somebody's relying on that to feed their family and take care of their family."

The hosts agree that while accountability is essential, the execution of such policies must be handled thoughtfully to avoid unintended negative consequences.

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Real Estate Development in Ghana

[80:12 - 95:24]

In light of their current location, Rashad and Ian devote time to discussing their real estate development projects in Ghana. Partnering with local experts like Alvin and engineer Joseph, they are spearheading projects that create over a thousand jobs and foster community development.

• Alvin [86:39]: "We created more than a thousand jobs, and everyone has bought into the vision of it."

The hosts praise the efficiency and collaborative spirit of their Ghanaian team, contrasting it with bureaucratic delays typical in the United States.

• Ian Dunlap [91:34]: "It would have taken red tape. No way you can get."

They underscore the importance of building sustainable communities and fostering local talent, highlighting the positive impact of their initiatives on both the local economy and broader African unity.

• Rashad Bilal [93:48]: "This is phase one and we're 30 done in 66 days. It's going to be exciting."

The segment serves as an inspiring testament to the potential of international collaboration and the tangible benefits of investing in African development.

---

Mid Cap Stocks and Market Predictions

[95:24 - 102:50]

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts shift focus to mid-cap stocks, recommending companies like Columbia Sportswear, Evercore, and Yeti as attractive investment opportunities outside the dominant mega-caps.

• Troy Millings [95:55]: "Columbia Sportswear, Yeti don't currently love the stock, but Evercore is a company that is slept on."

They forecast a challenging period ahead in the market, anticipating further volatility in the coming months. The discussion includes upcoming earnings reports from major companies such as Home Depot, Lowe's, Nvidia, and Dell, emphasizing their potential impact on market movements.

• Rashad Bilal [97:11]: "We got a big week for earnings, especially in retail. We got Home Depot reporting tomorrow before opening."

The hosts offer nuanced perspectives on whether to sell or hold positions amid ongoing market uncertainty, advising listeners to maintain a long-term investment outlook and avoid reacting impulsively to short-term fluctuations.

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Experiences in Ghana and Community Building

[102:12 - 105:24]

In a heartfelt conclusion, Ian shares his personal experiences in Ghana, expressing admiration for the country's peacefulness and the warmth of its people. The conversation with guest Alvin reiterates the value of cross-cultural collaboration and the success of their real estate projects in fostering community spirit and economic growth.

• Ian Dunlap [102:56]: "Ghana has been a great haven for us because everybody that we meet is so welcoming."

Alvin emphasizes the importance of unity among Black communities globally, dispelling myths of cultural imposition and highlighting the seamless integration and mutual respect fostered through their projects.

• Alvin [87:43]: "It's easier to hate first and it's like, hey, first, ask questions later."

The episode wraps up with enthusiastic endorsements of ongoing and future projects in Ghana, encouraging listeners to appreciate and support international development endeavors.

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Conclusion

Episode #248 of Market Mondays offers a comprehensive exploration of complex issues at the nexus of technology, investment, and international development. From the critical examination of Africa's mineral conflicts to strategic investment advice amidst market turbulence, Rashad, Ian, and their guests provide valuable insights for listeners navigating the ever-evolving financial landscape. The episode culminates with an inspiring narrative of community building and economic empowerment in Ghana, underscoring the podcast's commitment to informative and impactful discussions.

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Notable Quotes:

• Shaka [09:51]: "Data is more valuable than oil. Oil used to be the metric. Now it's data."

• Troy Millings [25:16]: "There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market. It’s been choppy ever since Trump got in office."

• Ian Dunlap [34:10]: "If you know the rules of the game, you can play it. But if the rules of the game change every single day, that becomes difficult."

• Alvin [86:39]: "We created more than a thousand jobs, and everyone has bought into the vision of it."

• Rashad Bilal [42:13]: "Evercore is a company that is slept on. The ticker is E VR. So you guys can add that to the watch list and maybe next week I'll give a price for it."

---

Listeners are encouraged to tune into future episodes for continued analyses and insights, and to participate in upcoming events such as Ian’s birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall.

Transcript

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[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, yeah, we back. I know you thought we wouldn't but we back. We back.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yes sir. Market Monday. We are back. We live from Ghana. It's a lot going on right now in the world.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, tell me about it.

[Ian Dunlap]

For sure. For sure.

[Troy Millings]

To colonize Africa. Today's exclusive. We reveal how.

[Rashad Bilal]

Troy, Rashad, the room is true.

[Troy Millings]

Love. Yo.

[Rashad Bilal]

Appreciate y'all.

[Ian Dunlap]

That's a fact man. But we got a lot to talk about. We got some surprises too.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

That we gonna. Yeah. Since we in Ghana.

[Rashad Bilal]

Cheers to this. Cheers to this.

[Ian Dunlap]

It's the only way.

[Rashad Bilal]

You gotta cheers me, bro. There we go.

[Troy Millings]

Kelly Hanger.

[Rashad Bilal]

It's only right.

[Ian Dunlap]

But before we start we do have some very important announcements.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yes.

[Ian Dunlap]

Okay. So we are coming back to America for my birthday. On my birthday.

[Rashad Bilal]

Let me. Can you don't do that. Let me give you your official birthday shout out, man. Wait for that. Tell them why we coming back for it.

[Ian Dunlap]

We're coming back on my birthday for my birthday and we are going to be doing something historic. We are going to be at Carnegie Hall.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yes.

[Ian Dunlap]

Let's see how you get to Carnegie. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, that's the slogan. That really is the slogan.

[Ian Dunlap]

That's how you get to Carnegie Hall. So we will be. We will be joined by Robert Smith. Not sure if you've ever heard of him before. He's extremely wealthy gentleman. $10 billion. 10 billion accounting. The CEO of Louis Vuitton will be joining us. Some people don't like how I say Louis that he's like how you say Louis Faton.

[Troy Millings]

Welp, that's what the brand logo says.

[Rashad Bilal]

Lewis.

[Shaka]

Lewis.

[Rashad Bilal]

I don't know any Louis.

[Ian Dunlap]

CEO of Louis Batar will be joining us. Louie Anderson Musical performance by Rakim. Shout out to Rakim, the original God McGod Mc.

[Rashad Bilal]

The original God.

[Ian Dunlap]

Original God Mc with a live orchestra. That's gonna be interesting. So this is Thursday. Thursday, February 27th. Carnegie Hall. Now, after this situation, I will be having a birthday party.

[Troy Millings]

Flyer going crazy. I ain't gonna lie.

[Ian Dunlap]

Some sexy karaoke for you.

[Rashad Bilal]

Ian, will you be.

[Ian Dunlap]

Will you be participating in karaoke?

[Troy Millings]

I want to Espresso martini. I may.

[Rashad Bilal]

Whoa. You have to think about that. I got. There's a surprise. I. I'm up there. I'm up there. I might need you. It might be a song that has two verses. I might need you there.

[Ian Dunlap]

So we will be. We will be doing some sexy karaoke. Ladies are welcome, please. For sure. Guys gotta buy a table.

[Troy Millings]

Right now.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

Everybody on there though.

[Troy Millings]

I'm coming to Carnegie Hall.

[Rashad Bilal]

I'm coming to party out. I don't know about that. You can come into Carnegie Hall. Meet us there. Everything else, that's on you.

[Ian Dunlap]

Well, we gonna figure it out. Oh yeah. So catch us at Legos Lagos in Times Square. It's fitting that we're going to Lagos.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

And we're in. We're in Africa right now.

[Troy Millings]

Right now.

[Ian Dunlap]

Right. Right next door to Lagos, actually. So shout out to all my Nigerians out there. They're gonna have the Joe Love rice for me.

[Rashad Bilal]

Let's go ahead.

[Ian Dunlap]

For sure. So we will be in lagos, Times Square, 10 o'clock. If you want to go, you can RSVP link in my personal Instagram page.

[Troy Millings]

Okay.

[Rashad Bilal]

Does this mean when I do the birthday shout out to you now, we'll still give you a shout out.

[Troy Millings]

Come on.

[Rashad Bilal]

Still gotta give it to it. It's his birthday week. It is Pisces season. So yeah, we're gonna. We're still gonna do that for sure.

[Ian Dunlap]

And. And the last thing I'll say is that. Blackout.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yes.

[Ian Dunlap]

Wednesday, 10:00, check out blackout. Very important situation. So there's a lot you're gonna be doing. Options.

[Rashad Bilal]

We. We are going to be doing it next week. Next Friday.

[Ian Dunlap]

Next Friday. Options Class we back get EYO University. Make sure you tapped in. Get your membership go to eyuniversity.com but choice options class returns. We back and it's a lot going on the market.

[Rashad Bilal]

Shout out to everybody that attended the last one. We had over a thousand people in there. I've been cooking up while I'm here, I've been cooking up. I'm getting an international view. These past few weeks have been very interested in the market. So we got a lot to talk about, man. So make sure y'all did March 8th.

[Ian Dunlap]

At 7:00pm Ian, anything that you would like to discuss before we start?

[Troy Millings]

Yes, public service announcement. First and foremost, I'm gonna bring the gentleman on. But if anybody is messaging you on Twitter, Telegram, Black Pan Only fans trying to get you to send over crypto in exchange for anything, it's not me. Even one of these guys got so clever to use the AI. That don't sound like me. I'm not reaching out to you for anything. I just want to be clear about that. But be careful. It's a lot of scamming going on out there. Number two, if you want to get rich from the market, go to Ian.Invest.com Stock Club call will be tonight at 9pm Central Microsoft, that price hit, I told you 6,000 or lower was upon us. So if you want to know where to get in, where to get out, how to get rich in the market, go to ianinvest.com Me and Troy been twinning on clothes, so. And New York City beat out Wednesday. I'll be there early. Mike B.

[Ian Dunlap]

Please, respectfully.

[Troy Millings]

All right, let's get into it.

[Rashad Bilal]

Of course, the disclaimer. Do your own research. You know how this works, man. Our content is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. It is very important that you do your own analysis before making any investment based on your own personal circumstances. You should take independent financial advice from a professional, connects with or independently research and verify any information that you find on our show and wish to rely upon what for the purpose of making an investment decision or otherwise. As always, this is a message brought to you by the good brothers at Earn your leisure and the good brother, the master investor himself, Ian Dunlap. Please do the research. Please share the research. When it's good research, always share it, right? That's how we build community. Love is love. And before we get into anything else, February 27, yes, 1984.

[Ian Dunlap]

Good day. In world history, a star was born.

[Rashad Bilal]

Our birthday shout out this week goes to none other than my brother to my left, your right. If you're watching this, Rashad Bilal.

[Ian Dunlap]

Appreciate it.

[Rashad Bilal]

I've been here for probably about 30 of these, maybe a little bit more. We can't take them for granted. A visionary in his own right. I'm sure I'll Write some caption under his picture on Thursday. But I want to let everybody know out here that this is my brother. I love him, and I'm proud of everything that he's done. And even when I don't agree with him, I agree with him because we are bonded like that, man. So stop playing those games over there. So happy birthday to you, my Pisces brother.

[Ian Dunlap]

Appreciate it. My brother.

[Troy Millings]

My brother. See you this week.

[Ian Dunlap]

Thank you. Appreciate that.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, you're right. I got you.

[Rashad Bilal]

Come on.

[Troy Millings]

Hey, we gotta talk. Yo.

[Rashad Bilal]

Hey. Everything. All the celebratory things in the chat right now. All the celebratory things in the chat right now. Stop playing.

[Ian Dunlap]

So we got a lot to talk about, but we. We are on the continent of Africa, so I do. We're going to talk about our real estate development if you guys are interested later on. But before we start the show, we have somebody that is very knowledgeable here, and I thought it'd be a good idea for him to just have a few minutes to kind of educate us what's going on. Can we bring. Can we bring the gentleman up?

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, slot. Come on over, man. We gonna. We're gonna shift.

[Ian Dunlap]

You never know. You never know who you're gonna see.

[Rashad Bilal]

Get over here, man.

[Ian Dunlap]

I think we gotta move the other way.

[Rashad Bilal]

No, we good. Right?

[Ian Dunlap]

There you go. There you go. Shaka. Pause, ladies and gentlemen.

[Shaka]

Yeah, man. Everything there. You need to be in Ghana. You know. You know how the weather is. You know how everything is. So I know you're cold over there. I see what you're wearing.

[Troy Millings]

Next time I'll be. I promise you.

[Ian Dunlap]

So. All right. So, Shaka, like I said, I just wanted to get a couple minutes to kind of talk about some economic issues that's been going on the continent. And you. You kind of an expert on this because you've been on the. On the ground level. So this is market Mondays, and we do talk about finances, So I think it's appropriate to talk about what's going on in Congo. So can you. Can you kind of just educate our audience for people that might not be fully educated on what's going on in Congo right now and why. Why it's important?

[Shaka]

Well, I think that, you know, we. We realized in the last 10, 15 years that now oil has been surpassed in value by data. Data is more. For the most part, data is more valuable than oil. Oil used to be the metric. Used to be gold. Then it was oil. Now it's data. And people want as many data points as they can on people to sell them products, right? And data servers, crypto, and all of these things are being created by African minerals. And we've been sold this very poetic story about Wakanda and how, you know, there's this place in Central Africa which is full of vibranium and it's Congo. And right now, what we have is we have an Africa that should really be a United States of Africa, a usa, but it's very disparate and very separate in the way that it does business and it does trade. So, like, for instance, if you want to go and speak to the USA, you got to speak to the whole of the USA. That's nearly 400 million people, or however many people is there. If you want to go and speak to Africa, you can speak to a country as small as Lesotho or a country as small as Ghana, which is 30 million people, right? And you'll be having a China speak to them. That's 1.4 billion people speaking to a country of 30 million people. So obviously, they have a. A lot easier way of being able to bargain. And what happened is, with Congo in particular, is that when the smartphone was invented, the minerals that were needed for the smartphone came from Congo. And so that was what happened in 1998 when Congo was invaded. And between 1998 and 2003, 6 million people died as a result of that, that grab for minerals. And you have a country like Rwanda, which has been historically the agents for their clients in Europe, who, under the guise of. And, you know, you see people like John Legend, who clearly don't care about genocide, going and performing a few days ago, global citizen in Rwanda. But then you have people like. You have sisters like Thames who were canceling their concerts because they understand that the geopolitical geostrategic battle that's going on in Africa right now is based on African resources. And I give you an example. When I was in Congo in 2022, so I've been going to Congo for nearly 10 years now. When I was in Congo in 2022, Rwanda was exporting $540 million worth of gold, bearing in mind they don't have no gold, right? But now Rwanda's exporting $1.6 trillion of gold. And, and it's. They're projected to export annually, sorry, $1.6 billion of gold, and they're projected to export annually $3 billion worth of gold. Congo produces 160,000 tons of coltan and of cobalt each year, Right? The rest of the world combined is. Is doing about 40,000 tons. So Kotan is what is used for mobile phones and, and CPU processing units. Cobalt is what is used for batteries for evs. So now you have all of these countries in Europe who are basically saying, hey, we want to catch up with China and we want to produce a bunch of electric vehicles. So they're building these gigafactories. They need all these minerals from Congo. So rwanda signed an MoU agreement to provide those minerals for the rest of Europe to be able to do this. And then at the same time they don't have these mines. So what do they do? They invade and they occupy a mine called Rubaiya, which is the biggest coltan cobalt producing mine in the world. And all of a sudden they've got record exports of this mineral. So where is being touted as, this is being touted as an African civil war because you know when it's like, oh, black on black crime. They created this racist term, we never say white on white crime, right? They created this black on black crime in America to try and dehumanize black Americans. They created tribalism and, and tribes in Africa to dehumanize Africa. So if it's a tribal war, it's like, well, you know, they're killing each other. So it doesn't really matter where. I'm looking on my phone this morning and I'm seeing 20 young guys being executed in Congo by these M23 soldiers who are being portrayed almost as liberators of ethnic Banyan, Banya, Malenge tootsies in Congo. But the reality is they're there for minerals. It's all follow the money game. And, and Congo has been destabilized for all of this time just for the specific reason of minerals. There's no, there's no other reason to kill that many people indiscriminately. And where we saw a few weeks ago 3000 people killed in like 3 days or 4 days like my village in Congo that they, they came into the village in Congo. Everybody had to get out of the village in Congo. Thank God all the kids are back and everybody's safe. But they also had emptied a prison of five, no, 4,000 people and 160 women were raped and burned to death. So this, these things that are happening are happening in, in almost silence and secrecy. But really the whole thing is just a minerals game. And Europe and China and everybody else is tacit complicit because they know if the, if the situation stays the way the situation is, then they'll be able to kill, keep getting a free stream of of African minerals.

[Rashad Bilal]

So this is when you talk about follow the money and we talk about investments in the magnificent seven and all these, these tech companies, whether it's from a GPU standpoint or CPU standpoint, data centers, that's on the surface. But in order for them to have those products, it's kind of like goes down the line to the place on the planet that has. Probably every mineral on the planet Earth exists in Congo. Correct.

[Shaka]

There's only two that doesn't have californium and moscovium. So every mineral on the periodic table, apart from those two, Congo has in abundance.

[Rashad Bilal]

So this is one of these humanitarian situations and I want to get into because we've been around each other a lot, but I've never heard the root of it. Obviously, the work that you're doing in Congo. We're here in Ghana. You have a school here. You're working in Ethiopia. When did the humanitarian efforts start for you?

[Shaka]

You know, I never. And I, I had this idea before Black Panther movie of Africa was Wakanda. That was my, I was like, I was raised raster and I was raised with this back to Africa, Marcus Garvey mentality. So I always believed that Africa was the, our motherland, like I thought that was. When I get there, you know, it's going to be the promised land and people are rich and everything is cool. And I, I only started doing this work in Congo in particular because I heard a story of a woman called Mama Masika, who, she was raped by 22 guys before she passed out. And her husband was chopped up and killed in front of her. And then she was raped on top of her husband. I'd never heard anything that crazy in my life. I was like, hang on, this happens on Earth? Like, how can this happen? Like, how can you even be aroused by like that type of destruction of a woman? And when I heard that story and I, I googled which is the richest country in the world, and Congo came up. And then I googled which was the poorest country in the world. Congo came up as well. So like GDP, Congo's annual GDP per capita is $550. But there's 24. Oh, well, I say forget 24. That 24 trillion is the old number. It's like $40 trillion worth of mineral resources in the ground because of the way that, you know that the resources, especially resources that are sought after, appreciate over time now these resources are becoming more and more valuable. And so how can the richest country in the world be the poorest country in the world at the same time. And this continues in and along the lines of the rhetoric of Africa is a breadbasket for the rest of the world, but can't feed itself. So I just was like, all right, cool. How can I go and help this woman and her family? Because I've saw what happened to her. And I did a boxing match. I used to box when I was in military. I did a. Did a boxing match and I took the money to go and give to her family to just. That was. That was the beginning of my journey in Africa. I'd always done things in the hood in Leeds, where I grew up in. I did various things in London as well. So I did stuff in my own community first. Fitness, health, wellness, those type of things. But then I was like, I need to go over to Africa and see how I can be of use. But when I got here to Africa, I realized how many people are exploiting Africa. Whether it's the politicians, whether it's the NGOs, neocolonialism. I've never seen anything like the amount of exploitation here as anywhere else in the world. So it started for me with, with that. But where I'm at now, it's like sustainable business, I think, is the only way to do things.

[Troy Millings]

How can we stop some of the colonialism and taking from tech? Because the question that I always get when this subject comes up is if we're investing in the market, we're kind of aiding in some of the corruption. Like, what's the solution to stop this from happening? Or is there one? I know it's heavy.

[Shaka]

I mean, it's nowhere heavy as the videos that I got in my phone. I think that the, the gravity of the situation will only change because nobody's going to stop consuming tech. That's a given, right? But I think the gravity of the situation is only going to change when enough of our people care enough about it to change the way that the minerals are extracted. And it needs to be like, you know, apartheid South Africa, where the whole world's like, no, no, this is enough. There was a point at which everybody said, you know what? We can't just keep on using single use, single use plastics. And then everybody started to get the whole recycling thing. I think that this is, this is, if you've seen the movie Avatar, this is Avatar. Literally, the land is being blown up, people are being. Villages are being burned so that Americans can take minerals. And because of the way that, that taxes are, are used for these heinous crimes. Whether I went to War in Iraq when I was 19, 20, I didn't know any better. I didn't know what I was doing. But that was a war for oil. We got told that we were going there to protect, you know, people and win over hearts and minds and all of this stuff. The reality is we were there for oil. Same with Afghanistan, for opium and the, the methadone, codeine, all of those things that are in the medical, the big pharma. This is a war for the tech industry and it's, it's the ground zero for the war in the tech industry. And I think until there's a critical mass of people who know about this, are informed about this, and then say, no, this is enough, nothing's going to change. Because the way it's being presented to people, the rhetoric and the discourse around it is just Africans killing of Africans.

[Ian Dunlap]

There you have it. Shaka. Thank you for coming. How can, before you leave, what's some resources that people can actually help if they want to try to help the situation?

[Shaka]

They can go to ihearafrica.com that's I H E A R T Africa. No, not dot com. Sorry, ihearafrica.org I H E A R t the word Africa. And then dot org. We have an Instagram as well.

[Troy Millings]

I.

[Shaka]

Think, I think there's so much stuff that is out there and it's researchable. But right now, Rwanda's doing an amazing PR campaign to pretend like they ain't involved in this. And you got Kagami talking about, oh, he doesn't know where his troops are.

[Ian Dunlap]

Meanwhile, that was crazy.

[Shaka]

Meanwhile, right? I don't know where my troops are. Meanwhile, the, the, the, the graves are being filled in Rwanda of Rwandan soldiers that are dying. So there is a war going on. You can also. So check out the Instagram of iheart Africa. Check out the website of ihear Africa. You can also go on my, my Instagram and check out various resources that I've shared over the years. I've been sharing about this for 10 years. But the main thing is, is that people, we need to, we're speaking about white Jesus the other day, right? We need to see ourselves as our own form of validation and love ourselves enough to care about what's going on with other Africans around the world. And until we see the kings and the queens and the, the gods in ourselves and we see value in ourselves, this, this, this isn't going to change anytime soon. And, and while we still got the y ends so the, the colloquial term is now running around in the streets of New York or in London with zombie swords, stabbing each other because, because they're black. But when they see a white person roll through, they're like, whoa, I ain't gonna do nothing to that person. We, to actually see each other as brothers and sisters more. That's why I believe in Pan Africanism. And yeah, thank you for having me. And I'm sure I'm going to see everybody again at Invest Fest. On a more positive note though, we're building the seating.

[Ian Dunlap]

We're gonna talk about that later.

[Rashad Bilal]

Positive note. Thank you, my brother.

[Ian Dunlap]

Appreciate you.

[Troy Millings]

One of my first time.

[Rashad Bilal]

And our friends are always with Shaka, man. We, we are always worried about him in his travels, man. We text each other in the group chat and we like, Shaka, just be careful, please. I know you're doing God's word, please be careful. Sure.

[Ian Dunlap]

But I think it was important to kind of get that message out because like I said, we are on the continent and we are going to be talking about lighter stuff later on. Positive stuff.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

And for perspective, like where we're at is like probably six hour flight from Congo. Six hours?

[Rashad Bilal]

Six.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah. So it's like being LA in New York. Right. Like, but you. One, one part of the body affects all parts of the body. So you have to have some level of compassion, empathy, but most importantly just to be informed. And it is a financial conversation because we talk about tech all the time. Q. Q. Q. All these technology companies, whether it's Tesla, whether it's Microsoft, whether it's Apple.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. Nobody's slowing down either.

[Ian Dunlap]

Nokia, all of these companies are getting their tech from Congo. So.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Troy Millings]

All right.

[Ian Dunlap]

All right. Well, moving to another, I would say more lighter note, but this is pretty drowsy too. The stock market, The Dow dropped 700 points on Friday.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yep, yep, yep.

[Ian Dunlap]

You know, picked up today. But it's still a lot of uncertainty in the market. Right. Like, it's been choppy ever since.

[Rashad Bilal]

Deep seat.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah. Ever since Trump got in office, it's been choppy. So. Okay. And that Friday was the worst day of the year as far as stock market white ball. So are we in a cycle of buying opportunity? Are we in a cycle of uncertainty? There's a lot of people that's, that's kind of nervous people that might have just started investing in the stock market. What are we saying to these people?

[Troy Millings]

Number one, I understand your concern and uncertainty, but lesson number one, whenever there's volatility to the upside of the market, the market is always going to do the reverse. So the first 30 days he was in office, everything to the moon. The only person who may not be facing this volatility right now is probably Elon. Every other market as a result is slowly coming back and reverting to the mean. So this was bound to happen. We will start to recover probably either between this evening and Thursday. Point number two, expiration happened in the futures market. So there was a lot of selling of contracts. And then we'll talk about Buffett selling off VO as he's doing his session planning. But there's a combination of factors of now there's a lot of people that are starting to get worried about the impacts that the aggressive cutting through Doge is, is going to have. Interest rates are a concern again. And once again we're at the top of the market. We're almost at a high. If it wasn't for this drop, we were close to getting to back to all time highs. So this was kind of overdue. But the main concern is the plan based on executive leadership in Washington as Doge being too aggressive. And then if we're going to be very honest, max 7 is not performing out of that max 7, the only one that's produced some amazing news. We'll talk about Apple and that flop of a phone announcement. Microsoft's quantum chip is the only thing in the Max 7 that has been positive news for like the past two or three weeks. So we were overdue for this pullback.

[Rashad Bilal]

Well, well, in terms of positive movement, the only one that's been moving is Meta. And obviously they went on a historic run for 21 days straight where they saw appreciation in the stock price, which is unprecedented. So for them to pull back makes sense. But if you really circle the data, it's really, you know, the deep seat information that came out and we haven't recovered from that, which is okay, I'm, I'm okay with that for a number of reasons. It gives you better entry points. It's the same story, right when, when things start to sell off, people are taking profit. I think we need to understand that part. Right. So even when we, and we'll talk about Palantir, when we start hitting all time highs, people are going to take profit. And so when people sell shares, you're going to see movement on to the downside on some of these, these stocks. But I'm always looking at it as an opportunity to buy. Anytime I see numbers pulling back to, you know, where I had them as entry points, I'm looking at the opportunity. But it is A big week. And it's funny that you said we should see some movement between Tuesday and Thursday because Wednesday is probably the biggest day of the first quarter. And that's Nvidia reporting its earnings. We talk about AI spending, if you look, and we went over this two weeks ago when we talked about Amazon saying that they're going to spend 100 billion into the AI revolution, we talked about Google saying they're going to spend 85 billion and Microsoft's going to spend 85 billion. Well, there's this company by the name of Apple that just said that they're going to allocate 500 billion over the next four years, which is about 125 billion. Right. And then so if there is a pullback, somebody hasn't told these people. But what was interesting, we talk about the United States from a standpoint of the data set and revolution, but this company named Alibaba said something on Friday and reallocated today about their spending to the AI revolution. So they're allocating over 70 billion. This is a Chinese. Right. So when we talk about deep seek and doing things at an efficient level. Well, how is that possible? Because Alibaba just said that they're going to buy 230000 gpus to facilitate this revolution. 230000 this year.

[Troy Millings]

So yeah, it's an international war for sure. Like this race in this GPU market, China versus US is heating up.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yes.

[Troy Millings]

And at some point. Go ahead.

[Rashad Bilal]

No, I was gonna say this, this is the war. Right. So like if they were, if, if it was going to be more efficient and it was going to be less spin, Alibaba has learned something different. Right. And so what we have seen is that the more compute power that you generally have is going to translate to a better model. Right. That's what, that's what it has shown. Right. Whether it's from Elon, what he's doing with Gronk, or whether there's Claude with Anthropic or it's chat, GBT with Open Air, the more money that they're spending into the general compute, they're having better results. And when they don't, the competition is. And if the competition does now, you know, you have to up your spend again. So.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah. And at some point Microsoft, Google, Grok, open it. Despite all the issues that Sam and Elon have had, they're going to have to at some point figure out how to figure their own tech all star game and work with each other before China does get an edge. I Do think the deep sequels are Trojan horse of misinformation. But to the bigger picture, though, Alibaba, there are a couple companies that are working on having enough compute to actually be a real threat that will topple our market. So is it a bond opportunity? Yes, but this is a race to see who closes the gap on who has the most market share in GPU and who wins the AI war the next five to seven years.

[Rashad Bilal]

When we talk about Catalyst events, it's just not a domestic thing. You have to watch international news. And so when the president of China calls all of the. The largest cap companies to have a meeting, and then, yes, five days later, this is an announcement after that meeting that tells you something. And so Alibaba. Yes, I would watch what Badu does. Right. Because when we're talking about Alibaba, we say, oh, that, that's the Chinese version of Amazon. Well, Baidu is the Chinese version of Google. So you got to start watching what these companies start doing inside AI. Yep.

[Troy Millings]

And BYD versus Tesla, another one as well. Like, this is the real tax civil war, and we cannot afford to lose this because if we lose this race, we lose the bioengineering of organs race, we're going to lose some of the blockchain race. Like, we can't afford to lose.

[Rashad Bilal]

No, we can't. When I don't think we're going. We're not going to. And we can't both.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah, for sure. All right. But going back to this market thing before we go to the next topic, it's one of these things that.

[Rashad Bilal]

I.

[Ian Dunlap]

Didn'T think that Trump was going to be the best person for the economy. And when I said that the day before the election and pretty much got crucified, it's not. I have no allegiance to a political party, but it's one thing that kind of made me leery about Trump is that he's uncertain. So there's a reason why most, most before, you wouldn't know that now, but most of the Fortune 500 companies and hedge funds and all that, they really wanted Kamala to win. Once they saw that she had no chance of winning, then they. Then they switched pivot. But the reason why is that these guys like to know what's going on. And when we was in San Francisco, I met a top executive at one of the Fortune 500 companies, and he told me that, you know, life has been difficult for him because uncertainty, he's like, he's never seen so much uncertainty as far as, like, one day there's Terrorists. One day there's not terrorists, one day there's regulation. And he was like, you know, if you know the rules of the game, you can play it. But if the rules of the game changes every single day, that becomes difficult. Markets don't like radical behavior. Yeah. They like, they like the regular standard vanilla. We know we're gonna get. We know what your foreign policy is. We know that you're gonna be hard on this industry. You're gonna. Okay, cool. We could. We could navigate that. Trump is. Is the exact opposite of that. You don't know what. You don't know what he's going to do. He's extremely unpredictable, and often he changes course a lot. So, yeah, I mean, over the long haul, the market will be fine, but we do have to have some level of honest conversation that he is a catalyst for some of this because his behavior is extremely erratic and that's causing certain uncertainty. And global markets, American markets, companies, governments, and that's choppy. It's choppy waters.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, you're right. Like I said, like, one day it's a tariff on this country, and then I'm gonna give you 30 days to figure that out. But these things affect multiple places, right? So if you're. If you're talking about China having taxes on top. Well, they're going to retaliate. If enough countries start retaliating, that's. That affects business everywhere. With. And that's. I'm glad you brought that conversation up. Is like, when I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, it's tough to prepare for it. And so you try to prepare for it and then it changes. Right. Like one day it's like, hey, if you don't show me your work by the end of the week, don't come to work on Monday. Huh. Like with. Then you get a email saying, hey.

[Troy Millings]

Aggressive of a cut. Yes, I get it. And if we go back to covet them, cut in certain departments led to the mismanagement of the COVID virus.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. Some may say the same thing about the faa.

[Troy Millings]

For sure. For sure.

[Rashad Bilal]

Some made.

[Ian Dunlap]

Some may say, okay, well, moving along. Is grog3ai is grok3ai the threat that we thought Deep Seek actually was.

[Troy Millings]

I got this question over the weekend and I thought it was a good one. I wouldn't say it's a threat yet, but when we go to the conversation of neocolonialism, I think this goes into his grand scheme of what he wants to do in the next 20 years. But I played with Grock this weekend. Pause. I don't know if this is.

[Rashad Bilal]

Pause. Yes. What's that from? They're pausing. You here from Africa, Ian? Yes. Yeah. Yep.

[Troy Millings]

I got.

[Rashad Bilal]

I told him.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah. Okay.

[Rashad Bilal]

Flavor too.

[Troy Millings]

Gotcha. I. I was on the platform this weekend and I'm surprised at how good it is between this Starlink, of course, Tesla, neural link, super villain. He's getting into super villain territory. I don't know if it's the. But it did deliver data, information, thinking deep research better than Deep Seek did. So for right now, I don't think it's a threat. It's an asset that we need open AI Grok more Microsoft is doing on the business landscape. We need these assets to be able to compete with what China's trying to do. Because even though they've had that lull for the last four years, if they get this area right, they will probably surpass our market. And we have to start having a conversation. Is the big four or Big five in China worth more than a max seven? If they get this AI play right, it could be so. But I have to give Elon credit. I've been critical of him about a lot of things, but given that Open AI was partially stolen from him to release this in this time frame, he's done a hell of a job.

[Rashad Bilal]

So it's interesting because I. I'm looking at the question. It says, is Gronk3AI the threat we thought Deep Seek actually was supposed to be? And I'm gonna say, yes, it is, because they're being honest, right? They're telling you. And I was. They're being. They're telling you, look, we're going to spend and we're comfortable with spending. Here's why it is the threat. It's because of the amount of time that they're doing this in. Gronk 3 was not created until November of 2023. Think about that. OpenAI has been worked on for 13 years. Gemini has been worked on for over 8 years. This has been accomplished in a little over a year and a half. It already has the deep search reasoning capability that's performing at levels. But if they can grow this fast in this amount of time and they're willing to spend, which obviously Elon is willing to spend on top of the fact that, that he looks at OpenAI as a competitor that he needs to destroy, I think it's a threat. I think it's a threat. I don't know if it'll ever be pat. It doesn't have the brand branding around it that Open AI and chat. Because sometimes when you're first at a party, people just fall in love with that. But from a standpoint of functionality, performance and capital. Yeah, I think it's, it's a threat that we thought deep sea could have been.

[Troy Millings]

Absolutely. To build this out like you said, in a year and a half it would be the equivalent of like a startup company being a car company and building something with the fleet of cars like the Cyber truck and three NOI in 18 months like this is. That's incredible in itself. And I'm hearing Microsoft and open AI are having some issues amongst each other.

[Rashad Bilal]

You don't say. You don't say.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah, we'll mind to the situation.

[Troy Millings]

Yes, this is real.

[Ian Dunlap]

This is real coconut, by the way. It's not brought from the. Where'd you get this from? Off the street, on the road. Ghana. Electrolytes.

[Rashad Bilal]

Shout out to my brother Alvin in the spot. Shout out to Alex. What up?

[Ian Dunlap]

Got it. You gotta have electrolytes. Keeps you keep your body alive.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

Okay. Palantir.

[Rashad Bilal]

Oh boy. We've been talking about Palantir a lot over the past.

[Ian Dunlap]

Almost. Almost a 30. $30 drop since last weekend and. And so far it dropped again today.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yep.

[Ian Dunlap]

So what is causing the drop of Palantir?

[Troy Millings]

Elon? Some of these doge cuts as he's whispering into Trump's ear if some of defense spending which ultimately I think we can't afford to have that cut given Rashad, you've talked about this endlessly. How many just bases we have around the world. I don't know if defense minute can be cut and there's this war between bricks and us heats up. Now is not the time to let the defenses down. I just told another colleague of my time to invest in security a lot more given enemy combatants being around. Right. So but I think also too when the stock has run up so much and now they have become a stock darling, I think they're looking for any reasons to try and knock that stock down for more reasons. I haven't been the biggest fan of it, but you have to applaud what Alex has been able to do there. And those board meetings or conference calls have been very interesting to say the least. So I think they'll recover. But when defense gets cut or there's talks about it, it's definitely going to have an impact on their market as them being a newer contender in that space.

[Rashad Bilal]

All right, I'm gonna throw a. A slightly different opinion on this because I think the defense cut actually helps Palantir. And it's interesting because if you watch Alex Corp. Over the past six months and if you watch them like maybe last week on cnbc, you'll understand this point of view. Yes, the department of spending or efficiency, yes, they're, they're announcing cuts. But he's also announcing what is inefficient. He's telling them like yo, that's inefficient. That's inefficient. Hey, what they're doing over there, we don't need it. I have a, a company that you actually need. Obviously we talked about the government contract when it comes to Palantir. They've made themselves a premier company to invest with and a premier partner to the government. So if I keep telling you about everybody that's been inefficient, well doesn't that bring more contracts to my business? The other reason why it dropped 30 is again is when it hits all time highs, people take profit. But you know who else takes profit? The CEO sold over 4 million shares last week for a round number of 1.3 billion.

[Troy Millings]

Not a bad week.

[Rashad Bilal]

Not a bad week man. I mean so when you take 4 million, 4 million shares, you billion, I mean you made 1.3 billion in a week with couple that with the announcement of government cutting, I think short term overreaction, I think you'll eventually see this, this company start running again and running up pretty high just because if we're going to cut then there's going to be some money there that's going to be piled into them. I don't see them getting cut from the government spending.

[Troy Millings]

Rashad, I see what you're thinking though.

[Rashad Bilal]

What you got?

[Troy Millings]

If Jamie diamond sold off a bunch of shares, Alex sold off a bunch of shares in Palantir and Buffett did, something is coming, right? You don't have three intellectuals at that level. Sell a lion's share of shares and the market is only going to just dip 5%. There's not that much coincidence in the world. This happened a couple in 2022 when everyone started to lever off that December.

[Rashad Bilal]

We kept saying CEO sell, CEO, CEO sell.

[Ian Dunlap]

And then I mean you look at historically we talked about this when Josh Brown was on. Historically it's a bad year when the first year for the, for the incoming president we never had, we only had three 20 plus years in a row for S P500 ever in history. It's already did too. Warren Buffett's been in cash since last year.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, 3,330 billion. 3,330 billion a lot of reserves, bro.

[Troy Millings]

And also if you look at that Buffet indicator, we had 210 where factors in the US value versus GDP. And if you look at the balance sheet, you guys make this quote famous asset over liabilities. The country has more liabilities than assets.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yo, just the reserves. I'm looking at the market cap for the, you know, the top market caps in the world. They would be number 32.

[Troy Millings]

Two. Something like.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, 32. Just off reserves there. They would be ahead of Alibaba T Mobile, Coca Cola Salesforce and everything else that's below that. Off reserves waiting to be deployed, I'm assuming.

[Troy Millings]

Good homework question I had everyone in stock club do how much money does he have deployed versus how much he has on the sideline? It is a ratio you need to know so you can follow it in your own investment plan. You don't always want to have all your money tied up. But that's a lot of cash in case things go awry. So you can buy something on the cheap while he's succession planning.

[Rashad Bilal]

Is that more than Apple? It's more than Apple, right? Apple was at 192. 2 4.

[Troy Millings]

Something like that. Yeah. Yep. Cash cow. No pun intended.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Troy Millings]

I'll play with rock Grock is a tech thing. Pause.

[Rashad Bilal]

Well, you added the end. That sounded like. So, yeah.

[Troy Millings]

Oh, okay. Gotcha.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, yeah. Bloopers. And he. And he's a tight end. Pulls. That's why. I mean, that's why.

[Ian Dunlap]

Oh, okay. So Elon Musk says federal employees must either document their work or lose their jobs. Do you think this approach is valid or is this strategy too much for government?

[Troy Millings]

I like the thesis of it and I know he famously did this at Twitter, but there has to be a better way if you can measure efficiency or not. Because drastic cuts usually lead to disaster in other areas and then it's a spiral effect. Is there a lot of waste? Yes. But let's be honest, like a lot of this wasteful cutting that he wants to do, he's trying to find pockets to put more money in his companies and get him more government. Government contracts. So I've been on okay, let's fix GDP since we did market Mondays at the Apollo. This isn't the way to go about it though, because if you lay off all. And you alluded to this, Troy, the issue with the faa, what if this happens in every department like our country? This could cause a run on banks and then we'll get to the gold. If the gold isn't there and he makes 10% cuts in every department as AI can't fix all of those issues. And I know we, we want augmented reality and, and agents to run the world, but we're not there in terms of capability yet. So I like the premise and the thesis of it on service, but in actually implementing it, it's not going to work. It's actually going to cause a disaster. But what do you guys think?

[Ian Dunlap]

I think that, you know, it's one of these things, right? There is a lot of waste in government and there is a lot of inefficiency in any type of business. So it's never a bad thing to hold people accountable for.

[Troy Millings]

Sure.

[Ian Dunlap]

But there's ways to go about it. So I don't know if it's the best way to go about it as far as how they, how they're going about it, but there's definitely inefficiencies for sure that we know that for a fact. Right. And I always say, like most, most politicians, most people, they didn't have to come up through, through business ranks, they came up through being politicians or other stuff. And so they don't understand how an entrepreneur thinks. So I do think, I mean, having somebody write up, you know, book report on what they did last week, I don't know if that's the best way to go about it, but I mean.

[Troy Millings]

Five bullet points isn't bad. And I think it's a good lesson to know what value you're bringing.

[Rashad Bilal]

You're gonna, but you're gonna send that to an email on Saturday.

[Troy Millings]

You better turn the BlackBerry on.

[Ian Dunlap]

God. Do what you gotta do.

[Troy Millings]

He's not wrong in premise. The execution is terrible. But okay, what value have you brought in the last week or month? You should know, that's a fact.

[Ian Dunlap]

You tell me. If you can't tell me, then that means that you, you haven't done anything.

[Troy Millings]

Quit bringing cookies over to your work wife and all that. Hey, my boy, every.

[Rashad Bilal]

It'll talk for a work wife if you work in.

[Troy Millings]

Shouldn't be.

[Rashad Bilal]

I hear it, man, I'm, I'm a bit torn. I get it, man, I get it. The, the level of waste is at an all time high. In fact, the Journal, it was a good article yesterday. It looked at where he's been cutting from, right? Everybody was like, they had like this bar chart of other things have been cut. Eight to foreign countries was one of them. But I don't know, just, just something about getting the email Saturday, you know, on your day off, presumably, and telling you to have something done by Monday. And if you don't have it done by money. Don't show up. And if you don't send me the letter, that's your letter of resignation. It feels a bit harsh. I'll just be honest with you. It feels a bit hard. So it. And then it gets confusing, right? Because then federal agencies tell you to not respond to that email. And so now it goes back to, I don't know what's going to happen. Like, if, do I go to work Monday? Do I not? Do I answer to these demand, do I not? What are the consequences if I don't? That level uncertainty and yes, at the corporate level makes that. But just on a human level, right? Like, there's somebody who's relying on that to feed their family and take care of their family, provide for their family.

[Ian Dunlap]

Answer that email.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, you better answer that. Take a little time while you watch.

[Ian Dunlap]

It's not difficult to answer an email, but they said.

[Rashad Bilal]

They said don't answer it.

[Ian Dunlap]

Well, just in case.

[Troy Millings]

Listen, whoever paid the bills, that's. That's hefe right now. Nobody want to say it, but if I bought the president to be in and he sent that out.

[Ian Dunlap]

Answer the email just in case. Okay, the Kanye Rug Poll. Let's talk about. You want to talk about this now? On blackout. I feel like that's a blackout. Yeah. Apple's flop announcement of 16e.

[Rashad Bilal]

Congrats.

[Ian Dunlap]

Are you disappointed in the release and their big announcement? What should they do next? What's the deal?

[Rashad Bilal]

Okay. I just give you your congratulations. Last week, you said it was going to be a phone. I was like, nah, they're not gonna do something silly like that.

[Troy Millings]

Okay. I've learned the sandwich method, so I want to try this week. Okay. So congrats on the investment into the country. After you went and had a conversation with executive leadership in the country, some of those jobs will be coming to Houston, Texas, which I'm in. So it will create jobs. I love that you're trying to aid in the GDP growth and thwarting China from becoming a superpower when it comes to AI. Okay, he's in the middle of the sandwich. We don't need another phone. Respectfully, I know y'all locked my account. Hq, I know y'all mad at me for y'all to be in the comment. Yo, you don't got to relate. HQ's mad at me. I love them, but they don't love me no more. It's okay. We need something. You should have made that Damn Oculus knockoff599, so.

[Rashad Bilal]

Oh, the Vision Pro.

[Troy Millings]

Yes. What happened to the glucose monitor? Watch. Well, I can know my breath rate. Listen, I love Apple. I love Tim Cook. This is true. And I tell you this for every entrepreneur, this is why, okay when investors come up who's like drum line up there, right? Because if you have too many flops in a row, what happens get put on waivers. Apple is being outperformed. Okay, let me ask you this. Where is their AI Elon built something 18 months when Apple could have went and bought Deep Seek. You could have bought a deep fake and put that in the iPhone. Where is it now? Back to the positive. One of the greatest CEOs of all time. He's operated his way into a multi trillion dollar market cap. I get all that. Stock is performing well. But they do need another hit product. And I'm going to keep saying you need to go find Johnny. I've take him out of his consultancy, pay him whatever 50 million dollar he wants a year. They need another hit product. I know they get 30 out of the ecosystem. I've been investing in Apple for a long time. But if this does not become better, which is the onboarding tool to get people in tech on it is going to have an issue. And there's a lot of videos from Apple fanboys and in corporate who used to work there. Who asked, who are asking now is Apple becoming our generation's IBM? We're not there yet but we're getting mighty. Let me ask you how many, how many does do I get on investor stage before you say hey bro, not this year. Two max, right? Oh no thank you. Thank you. You get what this is a lesson of the year. You get one time to up in real life you don't get what's old boy who dropped it on the Ravens and he was like falling and my boy, the apology letter don't work. Put it in chat. You have to deliver a hit every time Nvidia. Even though Jensen starts signing breast, he's delivered hit product. And if you look over the last four years Nvidia has outperformed Apple in terms of product release. You can argue X has outperformed Apple on pure product release. We don't need another kitty phone. A16.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, 16. I think the price point was what they were trying to sell us. It's going to be 5.99. Whatever. Yeah, I mean it's whatever. It's not a new product. I thought they should move into the healthcare space and have a product that would be. I thought maybe they would finally hopefully, you know, figure out this Vision Pro situation where it only has. Check this out. Last year, it's been one year since it released. It had 2000 and I think 2100 apps when it opened right that first month. It now has 1800 apps. They've actually gone down in apps. They lost apps. And so there's been no innovation there. It was supposed to be the product. It, it's a, I mean I thought that I have the product. It's a good product. They just don't have anything for it and they haven't built anything around it. So it, it, it sucks.

[Troy Millings]

But then you hype. Oh, we got a new special release announcement.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah but the, the stock, I mean it hit its all time high. New Year's Eve, Christmas eve. I'm sorry, 260. It's not far off from that. Right. Today was at $248. So we're not talking about something that has declined dramatically and they haven't really had the product. I know they keep saying oh the cycle, the phone cycle, the phone cycle. The numbers are coming in for the phone cycle every quarter. We keep hearing that the phone cycle is going to and it hasn't happened yet. And then today we hear the 500. So now we're talking about a huge capex spend. Right. 125 billion a year. I know you just questioned where's the AI? It's for the infrastructure of it and the building of the data centers. But what is app is that mean like Apple AI is not going to be on our phones. Like we're still waiting for that to happen. Not going on at Apple. Still. Still in the portfolio. But yeah, a lot of questions man.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

And it keeps performing. It just keeps performing.

[Troy Millings]

And you have to ask, okay, if we go through the product line, let's go through the main superstar products. Is there a reason to buy an Apple iPad once every three years? Like it's almost a useless product that the Apple pen. It's too what most def said about my boy. Too many skus.

[Rashad Bilal]

Too many.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

I mean what you gotta Apple watch. Do you, do you need another Apple watch? Do you need another iPad?

[Troy Millings]

No, they probably.

[Rashad Bilal]

I mean the product is good which is a great thing but it. We don't have to update every year like we used to when it was the phone. Like you got a 12, I got a. I think I don't even know what number I have. I know we're almost up to 17 and I didn't get the last two at least.

[Troy Millings]

No, it works as long as it Works. Tim Cook, Chairman. We've gotta find another CEO. Just like when Doc Rivers won that one title at Boston. He looked good after that on paper. You gotta. Hey, thank you for the one. They're gonna deliver him at the time when we need it. I don't know if he's a C. Okay, is Tim Cook, with the racism included, is Tim Cook better than Eli.

[Rashad Bilal]

As far as what CEO? They're in the same tier for sure. From what he's. He's. From the time he took over Apple to present day, I mean, it's actually better than what Elon's done in Tesla in the same time. They're a 3 trillion dollar company.

[Troy Millings]

They are behind a lot of that off Steve Jobs back. And they don't give him credit.

[Rashad Bilal]

I'm just. Yo, this happened.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

You feel me?

[Troy Millings]

So. And if all y'all like, yo, your Apple take is crazy, I'm part of the reason why you gotta invest into Apple. No, it's not HQ saying this too, but he run that like A. Like FA2. So you can't say too much up there. But when Steve Jobs's impact get reduced to theater, it tells you a lot about the new culture there that a lot of people don't like. And a lot of people that are in executives on the executive side of Apple are leaving too.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, that was. That was what I was gonna. They've lost a lot of talents. Like the guys you messaged. Like, they've lost talent that was able to create innovation. And so what's happened? Well, even the phones, it's like we're gonna watch another company, whether it's Huawei or we're gonna watch what they're doing Google. We'll watch what they're doing inside the phone and we'll try to make it our own version of that. And that'll be part of the new additions to the iPhone where it's like, nah, man. If you look in China, yup, they're not even in the top five anymore.

[Troy Millings]

At all. When a bunch of these companies came and pitched to be in your ecosystem and you told them the product wasn't good enough.

[Rashad Bilal]

What.

[Troy Millings]

And don't package a 17F either. Rashad, you can take your meeting. So you smart. You know, that was Ian talking crazy. I love you.

[Rashad Bilal]

Remember he said that, right?

[Ian Dunlap]

All right, all right. Hit the like button and share. We almost at the. No, don't sell Apple stock.

[Troy Millings]

This is called an assessment SWOT analysis. So I know we're gonna get that.

[Rashad Bilal]

You.

[Troy Millings]

Should I sell? No, not Yet I'm just, just need to do better. Like some of y'all men who got girlfriends who disappointed like. See, that's how the Steve Smith come in.

[Ian Dunlap]

Oh, we don't talk about Steve Smith on black.

[Rashad Bilal]

That is beyond die, bro.

[Ian Dunlap]

United Healthcare and Hymns fell apart on Friday. You think it's a good buying opportunity?

[Troy Millings]

Hims is a cheaper stock. United I'm not the biggest fan of. I mean it's a legacy blue chip company, but if I'm comparing them to Lily, there aren't great. But. But hims given a price, I think we'll fall a lot more. I think we'll start to recover around maybe April. But if it gets below 39, I would love to pick it up at that price. Not saying that we will get that low, but if we do get that low, I like it at that area. The thing that's really affecting some of the pharma companies is the impact of GLP1s. And I think there's going to be like a blockbuster report that comes out that talks about the dangers. I'm just gonna put some pressure on to it. They have a good products mix referring to Hymns, but I don't know if it's. They have a moat yet that makes them indestructible. So it has to be an investment based on price solely. UnitedHeal Care, they've had a whole bunch of issues. I mean, we won't talk about the murder that happened, but yeah, good company is just not one I would want to invest in right now.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, I've never been a fan of UnitedHealthcare as a stock. Yeah, it definitely fell, but there was a bunch of ones that we talked about. The Phil Applovin had had a pullback because again, people are going to take profit. They're not just going to let these things run and say, okay, every day we're going to be green. No. When people see their numbers hit or they get past a resistance level, it's like, okay, well we're taking profit at this, at this mark. So you got to be aware of that. Yeah. United Healthcare, outside of obviously the tragic murder of the CEO, the reasoning up to that was the anger about how people were being treated. Right. That kind of got masked and we almost forgot about what was happening when it came to the drugs and subscriptions and people's policies being canceled and not being covered. They haven't addressed that. And so if you, if you, I mean, prior to the murder, you, you watch that stock starting to trend down since then, it's Just been tree falling. I'm, I'm not a fan of the stock. It's not in the portfolio. There's better healthcare opportunities for me.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, for sure, for sure. And I think going into this second half of the decade there's going to be a heavy emphasis on great leadership. Clients and customers being treated incredibly well and companies that have a strong moat. Like you can't argue to invest in UNH over Meta Nvidia Starlink when it becomes publicly available traded. Like honestly, T mobile is outperforming UnitedHealthcare. It's just way better stocks that are available to invest in and percentage of portfolio. Like if a person's been in UnitedHealthcare for five years and you saw it get to all time high, it's time to take profit and then reallocate.

[Ian Dunlap]

Now that's a fact. Okay, so hedge funds de risk aggressively in tech during last week's sell off. The de risking over the past two weeks has been the largest since July and ranks in top four risk off events in the past five years.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, and what this really means is there was just a lot of selling. I, I see a lot of graphics like this all the time. But this one is very telling for a couple of reasons. The people who are selling so the hedge funds are liquidating their highs. They're looking to get back in at different prices. But then when Buffett is selling, part of it is legacy and succession planning. But that does have a factor. Jamie Dimon has sold a bunch of stocks. Alex sold a bunch. So like when people have a certain ilk are selling is not for tax planning or tax loss harvesting and all. There's something coming. And I always look for two things. Asymmetric risk. So if I buy here, do I have a chance of going up 5 or 7x at this current price? We don't. Number two, are the headwinds or the economy so strong that we're almost guaranteed gains? No. So I think there's something there. And also I think we're seeing the end of the max 7. Remember like when it was like Gary Payton and Carl Malone and the Lakers that year with Kobe? That's what we are in the Max 7. It's like it looks great on paper. Oh, phenomenal. But when it's time to actually play, I don't know if the max seven over the next three or four years are going to give the return that it used to. And it may be time to restructure what the primary positions are going forward. Yeah, open AI becomes public if you.

[Rashad Bilal]

Look at how those, those companies have performed it. I mean, you can understand why, Right. Like how many years is Nvidia going to perform or have 110% growth? How many times is, you know, Microsoft going to have it 80% growth over two years? And so it makes sense when you see the potential of what they've done over the past two to three years, I would say probably since the pandemic, as to what they are now saying that they're going to spend and they don't know the return on the investment yet.

[Troy Millings]

Yep.

[Rashad Bilal]

And so you want to be protective, right. You want to be cautious and you want to make sure that you have risk mitigation if you're a hedge fund. So, yeah, I get it. Does it mean that tech is not going to lead the way? No, I think tech obviously still leads the way, but these companies have, have had a historic run. Nvidia for sure. Even Apple. Right. Like Tesla, which we've seen that grow from 80 to now over 3, 340 or when it was in its peak during, after the inauguration, over 400. So yeah, there'll be some that they pull out of. But I would be interested to see now that they've shortened those positions, what are the positions that they are now allocating money to? That's always the next thing. Right. Because they're going to want to see the maximum growth over a term, whether it's two years, five years, 10 years. And so it's just a reallocation.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah. Quick question for you. If Elon go grab a GoPro and him and Donald Trump going to Fort Knox and they discover all that gold isn't there, like I told everybody three years ago, what sectors are going to be most affected and fall apart.

[Rashad Bilal]

If the gold is not there? What does that do to the dollar?

[Troy Millings]

No good. Not good. I mean, we think gold is hidden. Eyes now shout out to 19 keys. Gold may go to 15, 000.

[Ian Dunlap]

So why would, why would that be negative to the dollar?

[Troy Millings]

Troy?

[Rashad Bilal]

No, I'm asking, I wanted, I want to know. Right. So if, Yeah, I make sense. If this goal's not there, then that means there's less gold in supply, which means that the gold will go up. What's, what's the relationship to the dollar and gold?

[Ian Dunlap]

There is no relationship.

[Troy Millings]

There's no correlation anymore. But now you have two currencies, one being Bitcoin and then second being gold that have a higher value than the dollar, it may drive the dollar down. And I think, because there are some loans that are done based off a goal. I think that that middle mid sized banking industry is done forever in the United States.

[Ian Dunlap]

Would you. But you said. But bitcoin and gold, those aren't currencies though.

[Troy Millings]

You let the interwebs tell. A bitcoin is store value. It's the end all be all a cryptocurrency. So.

[Ian Dunlap]

I mean I think it'll be interesting to see. Hey, they're not gonna. They're not. Elon Musk is not gonna bring a camera crew in and there's not going to be no gold and that's not going to happen. So there's going to be gold there.

[Troy Millings]

Right now.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah, they're gonna. Even if there's not gold there, they're gonna make sure there is gold there when they have detour.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

Props.

[Ian Dunlap]

It's a zero percent chance that they take a tour of Fort Knox and it has no goal in it. Yeah, this is 0% chance of that happening.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Rashad Bilal]

They're not gonna have a camera crew. I don't. I just don't think they do it.

[Ian Dunlap]

I mean they might. Trump said he wanted to do it with a camera crew. So I mean it's not out of the realm of possibility. But I think if they do it it'll be more of a PR stunt.

[Rashad Bilal]

To just show that is there, boost.

[Ian Dunlap]

The confidence in America. But I don't see that happening if.

[Troy Millings]

You let Eli's son wipe a bugger on this. See, not in London.

[Rashad Bilal]

They took them down there.

[Ian Dunlap]

No, they have. America has gold.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

Why would America not have gold?

[Troy Millings]

All of my chain.

[Rashad Bilal]

I'm just saying that I don't think he's going to bring a camera crew to be the, the grand reveal of it. It's going to be like broadcast TV and it's going to be like, oh, look at how much we have. And who knows if it's real or whatever. It is what it is. It's all. It's all the marketing.

[Troy Millings]

Tune. The blackout. We were not going to talk about this either but pull in the blackout.

[Rashad Bilal]

Trinidad James.

[Ian Dunlap]

And we gotta talk about Trump's attack on the FCC on blackout also.

[Troy Millings]

Yes.

[Ian Dunlap]

So okay, Warren Buffett's cash pal. We talked about this. 334 billion. But even outside of that, you talked about this a few times today. As far as. Are we headed into a negative territory for the stock market? Should traders start to sell off their positions? Are we headed towards a downward spiral?

[Troy Millings]

I think we're gonna have a lot more pressure this year. I think April and May could be Tough, definitely. Going into invest fest like how it was last year. The market will be down. I think the summer will be rough. I think by the end of year that cohort of leadership will figure out power structure and what to do and have a clear roadmap. Because there isn't a clear roadmap. Like you said, it changes week by week, kind of or based on who he's talking to. And the market doesn't like uncertainty. I don't think you should sell off your positions if you got in at a bad price, maybe liquidate and get back in at a better price. But the part that isn't being talked about in Warren's decision making, clearly Charlie pass that's having an impact on the how things are run because Charlie was a big part of Berkshire he may not get the credit for, but he was a vital part to that organization and friend. And Warren is getting older. I don't know how many more years he'll be able to run that ship. So I think he's trying to equip the new leader with all the cash and tools that he needs to be a great leader. Now, having that amount of cash on hand allows you to buy some companies whether they're publicly or privately traded. So I think that's good, but I think it's just a changing of the guard. And also if he's been holding that VO position for five or six years, you've gotten a great return. It's time to liquidate and cash out. So with this leadership not being the strongest, not having a clear roadmap, the market being at all time highs, it's a good time to take profit if you're unsure and wait till the market is calm and you have a clear roadmap for what's going to happen over the next four or five years. So no, should you sell your positions? Not now.

[Ian Dunlap]

Should traders sell it? Should traders sell their positions? Or maybe I ask you that question if you're in an options call. Because if you invest in long term, it doesn't matter, right? We encourage dollar cost averaging. So you post to invest when the market is up and when the market is down, you're always supposed to invest and hold long positions. But you can get burnt very badly on a stock that's a stock option because that's limited. That's a limited time. Even if it's a leap, it's still a limited time. And then there's time decay. So should people start to start trimming their option positions?

[Rashad Bilal]

It depends on what the company is I think you got to use days like Friday and days like a month ago when we saw the entry point. Right, right. As your entry point, that becomes the most important thing.

[Ian Dunlap]

But then you bought a dip and then it dips again.

[Rashad Bilal]

Well, that's what I said. It depends on the company you're in. Right. Because if it, if it hits a support level that you already are anticipated and it goes again in his first and second support level, then you're like, okay, this is my entry point now could it dip lower? Yeah, it could. This is why I always used again, I use time as that variant. So even now, like I have these calls out to 20, 27, January, some of the March 20th century calls are out. I'm, I'm looking like, all right, I'm taking into account the volatility that may happen. So if I'm looking at Warren Buffett's portfolio and I'm in those companies and he's selling, yeah, that might be a catalyst event that I'm, I might have to wait for this to pull back even lower to enter. But you know, I have, you got to have your strategy before you enter the game. And so look at the company, right? Look at where you're going to enter it and be disciplined. Right. You're not going to catch it on the way up. I know a lot of people like, oh my gosh, if we don't get pounds to here, it's going to run to 200. Well, this is why you got to be patient and know your spot where you enter the position is going to be the most important thing in investing long term or investing.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, yeah. And if you enter trading, especially on the futures market, when you have volatility and the market is tilting down, you can make more money on the drops. Like it's almost a 10 year anniversary of my August 24, 2015 trade. Some of my best days have been when the market has been falling apart like they did Friday. Trading has considerable risk, of course, but if you know your targets, like it's easy now to get a hundred something ticks out the nasdaq. So. But the thing is to not over trade, not jump your position if you miss your moving your entry. Not to chase another one, but stick to the game plan.

[Rashad Bilal]

All these moves, I mean it just puts more pressure on Nvidia to perform. I feel like, right, it's like Nvidia, please come save the day again. It used to be Apple that would save us and now, well, quote unquote, save us. But it feels like it's a video now. Right. So like the market will move if Nvidia has a great. Well, I guess it's relative what great is anymore. But as long as it doesn't underperform, you'll start to see some upside. So what is that 28th on Wednesday? 26th, yeah. 26. Yeah. So we got a few. I'll go over the earnings a little bit later. But yeah, you always. The 26 is always circled on the. It was circled on the calendar once they said that. That's the report.

[Ian Dunlap]

Okay. Live Nation.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

Saw a record of 23 billion in revenue last year.

[Troy Millings]

True. I got to give you credit. I want you to take it away. I know this is one of your darling picks back in the day. They are rebounding. Well, what do you think about them now?

[Rashad Bilal]

I've said it for years. Yeah, I have said it for years. It actually left my options portfolio just be. And this is interesting. And I talked about an EYLU at the time it was kind of trading sideways and I was like there's better opportunities. And one of those opportunities that I actually took the allocation from was I invested in CrowdStrike. So this is like in July. I actually talked about in July class. And so I, I like Live Nation. It was one of those pandemic plays where we saw a hit and obviously if nobody's going to concerts and nobody can go anywhere, that stock is going to crumble. And I always said, right. And it just makes too much sense. At some point people will be going back to shows, people having live events, there'll be major artists going. And so when you see Beyonce do over 600 million dollar tour, when you see Taylor Swift do a billion dollars on a tour, now you got Kendrick and Scissor going on tour. Drake's all artists are going on tour. Why? Because that's where their money is made. And it's a great revenue model for them. The festivals, they have a monopoly, right. Between, quote on allegedly they have a monopoly. I have to say that between Ticketmaster and Live Nation in, in terms of the events, but also in terms of the arenas that these events takes place in. And so I don't see that slowing down. Right. People are going to shows at an all time rate. The ticket prices for those shows have increased year over year. And soon, soon, very soon, they're going to figure out how to make money off the second Dare Market a la Stubhub and Vivid seats. They're going to figure out a way to get into that market. Because that, I mean StubHub is extremely profitable because they're selling tickets at the. The second rate. But yeah, I mean, Live Nation is one of those things that until they are broken up, they have the moat inside of that industry that I can't. I don't see anybody competing with or trying to break unless it's the. The government. I know they have a few litigations out there, but eventually those will be settled. Live Nation and Ticketmaster will operate as. As usual, and the company's gonna keep growing.

[Troy Millings]

Another company Apple could have partnered with in a better fashion on that Vision Pro.

[Rashad Bilal]

This one. This one.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah.

[Troy Millings]

But down to. They put enough hoods. But behind it.

[Alvin]

Pause.

[Rashad Bilal]

They. You know, there was companies, I think we said this about a couple years ago, about what spaces would that be great in? Imagine going to a live show and sitting in your living room. So the Vision Pro is interesting because there have been creators and developers that have made secondary apps that they've made money from. And so now there's a. There's a creator who, who's actually come up with the technology for you now to watch NBA games. Like, you're sitting in the stands, right? Like Imagine. And they did this with Taylor Swift a few years ago. But if you could view her concert from a Vision Pro, right? And you can be anywhere. You could be the front of the stage and you're watching the same thing. You have to go to the movie theater. And if it's live, because it's happening at the same time, but they. I don't know, man. Their focus is somewhere else right now. I'd be interested to see where it is, but that would make too much sense to have that as part of the ticket pricing instead of selling out 80, 000 seats or some arenas. 19,000 seats.

[Troy Millings]

900,000.

[Rashad Bilal]

What if you had 900, 000 people for one day? We saw this model work inside of Roblox when. When Travis Scott had a concert and 10 million.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, it's there.

[Rashad Bilal]

We have to reinvent this thing.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

Okay, so the largest US pension sold Nvidia Super Micro AT T stock and brought Rivian. Is that a sign of the times that we're in.

[Troy Millings]

The Rivian move? I can't. It befuddled me. But the price is so cheap. I was like, okay, maybe it can bounce from 1197 to 12. 12 bucks up to 30. I get selling off some Nvidia to take profit, but to replace it with Rivian I think is a mistake. But I do think people are exhausted from the Nvidia trade. So I'm not surprised at it. I haven't been the biggest fan of AT T. But we have to be fair, AT T is a better company than Rivian. I'm just wondering, why do you think they bought that company? The truck isn't bad, but the company isn't or the stock isn't that strong. Not saying they're gonna go out of business how like Nicola did that. They file for bankruptcy. Told you.

[Rashad Bilal]

Oh my gosh. Yeah, saw that.

[Troy Millings]

But I was shocked as why you would put this much money, especially a pension, into a stock that isn't top two or 300 in the states or top 1,000 worldwide.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. I'm not sure why Rivian and I know Amazon was a 20 partner. Volkswagen invested some money into the company. Yeah, Maybe it's the growth potential there. Right. Like if that, if it goes from, from 12 to 30, I mean, that's a hell of a game, right?

[Troy Millings]

For the growth.

[Rashad Bilal]

Maybe that's 100 growth. This type of move could, you know, be the catalyst, like you said. Whereas again, is Nvidia gonna have 100 year this year? It's tough to continuously do that. AT T has always been stagnant. Now Super Micro has a chance. I mean, it's already at 100 for the year.

[Troy Millings]

They've rebounded. We got to give them credit. They bounce off that concrete rose from the dead.

[Rashad Bilal]

But that one is kind of contingent on what Nvidia does. And so for sure. It's tricky, man. It's tricky. But yeah, I think this is a growth potential move.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

All right. Okay. Before we get into mid cap stocks, let's talk about Ghana. Since we actually are here.

[Rashad Bilal]

Let's do that.

[Ian Dunlap]

Shout out to the good folks of Ghana. You know, I put a post up the other day. It was crazy when I was like, it's just more peaceful. Something along those lines, let me say. Exactly, let me see exactly what I said. I said. Not gonna lie. Ghana feels so much more peaceful than America. You don't realize how toxic something is until you leave. And it was crazy because my son actually asked me about that. He's like, what you mean by that? You know, it doesn't necessarily have to be Ghana. It could be Mexico, it could be uae, it could be, you know, Turks and Caicos, wherever you at. For the most part, there is a certain level of disconnect that you have from the nonsense that happens in America. And it's just like, it's kind of hard to explain because you still are connected. Like I'm on social media, so I Am aware of what's going on, but I don't feel the presence. Yeah. I'm gonna say, like, it's like, I'll see it. I'll scroll past it. I. You know, so I'm in tune of what's going on. But I just feel like once you get into America, it's like a magnetic force feel and it just like. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's like a sand trap. And, man, there's so much. There's so much negativity and toxicity.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

That you gotta get away sometimes to actually deprogram and to realize, like, there's more to life. And then somebody was like, well, that's a privileged statement from you because obviously, like, you know, you going out there with some level of resources, so your experience is going to be different than the locals. But I'll tell you this. Like, of course, everybody's not fortunate. Some people are misfortunate, Some people are wealthy, some people are, you know, but even people that are not as fortunate, the level of toxicity still doesn't change. Right. Because it's like you still look at life from a different standpoint. And it's crazy because, you know, we've met so many black Americans from America that moved to Ghana, A lot of them. You know what's crazy? The guy that started the year, the year of return, that's what put Ghana on the map as far as for America.

[Rashad Bilal]

Right.

[Ian Dunlap]

That was a great idea. The guy who started that is from dc. We met him the other day. Black American from dc. We met somebody today from. In a government official agency that worked. She was from Colorado.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yep.

[Ian Dunlap]

Moved out here. Somebody. We met somebody from LA that's out here. So it's so many black Americans. So it's like, you know, sometimes people leave their country to go to America for opportunity, but that opportunity comes with a lot of toxicity. Even in the food. Even in the food. Right. Like, I had pineapple juice and I noticed that it was white. And, you know, I thought about it. I'm like, yeah, pineapples, they tend to be more white, but in America, pineapple juices. Damn. It looks like orange juice. It's like bright yellow.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

So I'm like. And it tastes a little different too. So I'm like, okay, well, that would make sense. They put dyes in it to actually, you know, make it more appealing. Right. If you. You rather drink something that's yellow or you drink something that's white. White already looks like water. So how does white look like water, boss?

[Rashad Bilal]

No, you say, you know, drink something. Let's pause. It's your birthday. I ain't one, so.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah, you know, it's one. It's one of these things, right? Like, it's one of these things that. So much stuff that you don't realize until you actually travel outside the country. But Ghana. Ghana has been. Ghana has just been a great haven for us because everybody that we meet is so welcoming. I'm actually. I want to ask Alvin a question on camera because there is a myth of, like, that. I want. I want, like, African. Thank you.

[Troy Millings]

Please address that. Yes.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah.

[Troy Millings]

Because do you ever feel that when you're there? Because online is one thing, but in person.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah. No, it's never. I never had negative issues. I never felt anything. Of course anything can happen. That's like saying, like, okay, you go to New York City and you get robbed, but that doesn't make every single person in New York City a robber. Right? Yeah, we got. We got one of our part. I want. I want to just ask you a question real quick. Alvin.

[Rashad Bilal]

This is live.

[Ian Dunlap]

Ken, this is live. So let's, let's. Let's bring. So Alvin. Yeah, he did an episode with us. So, Alvin, he's the brainchild for this whole situation. Him and. Him and his partner, Kwame, they're huge, super humble guys, but they're huge real estate developers. They're like titans of industry. And he's also was in the music industry for a long time. But long story short, he's from Ghana. He's. He's Ghanaian. So you said something to me. You said something to me that was really insightful. Because, you know, sometimes when we post stuff, the feedback that we get as Americans from people in America is like, why would you go over there? Like, you colonizing and like, they don't need you over there. And like, it's like a bad thing. Like, we taking advantage of the situation. And you said something that was exciteful. You was like, I'll let you say it. But you like, yo, people come from other countries all the time. And like, y'all come, like, y'all. Y'all actually assimilate. Y'all don't exclude yourself. So I don't. Why would they say these things? I don't understand why they would say that.

[Alvin]

Yeah, I think it's just lack of information and lack of education between, you know, as usual, black people. It's not only African Americans that come to Ghana. Like, you've been to the airport, you've seen. Seen an influx of Chinese Seen an influx of, you know, Caucasians and people from all over Europe. So I think it's just the way we're programmed naturally to just not get along. It's just so any. It's easier to hate first and it's like, hey, first, ask questions later, you know. So I just think that that's why this project is more important to me than real estate. Because when people see us actually doing things together and in the spirit of brotherhood, it just makes. It makes them understand, like, a lot more could be done. Like, real estate is just the first step and just the fact that we were able to come together and do something of this magnitude in the first move. I mean, only I can't even imagine what we're going to be doing 10 years from now.

[Ian Dunlap]

Can you speak to, like, specifically black Americans that. Because, like I was telling him, there's. We met like at least five people from America that moved to Ghana, right? And they all like it's vibes. Like they, They've assimilated inside the culture. They're not like trying to plant the American flag here, right?

[Alvin]

Like, I mean, at the end of the day, if you go to a country, you. You learn the way of the people and if, if it resonates with you, you can stay. Like, there's no, there's no one here trying to impose any cultural differences. Everyone is just learning. Everyone is trying to understand each other. I mean, we're also not that much different. Like, you know, to be fair, like, it's not like you come to Ghana, you got to eat some weird stuff.

[Ian Dunlap]

You'Ve never seen before.

[Alvin]

Oh, it's not like you got. It's not like it's a blood oath that makes you. Makes you African. It's just, you know, people just want to always find a problem. I mean, like, there's things, like if the things I see in New York that I'm like, oh, okay. I could see how that could be, you know, related to stuff. Stuff from Ghana, you know. So, like, I just think there's this lack of education and sometimes people just want to hate on everything.

[Ian Dunlap]

That's the thing too. Before you, like, because now people say, like, don't impose your culture when you come out there. Like, the coach is already here. Like, it's all interwoven.

[Alvin]

We all rap and we all dance. We all eat rice and peas.

[Troy Millings]

So it's the same thing. Can we just go to Method? Africans don't want African Americans there, because I feel like that's done to stop us from unifying I mean, I really.

[Alvin]

Hate Rashad and Troy. That's why we're in Ghana.

[Ian Dunlap]

These guys so much.

[Alvin]

Like, I hate them, them so much that we, we. We building something together. Like, I spice them. It doesn't make any sense. Like, I just think that the larger notion is to try and always just, you know, you know, disqualify the connection between all black people. That's just. That's what it is. And so obviously, you have the few people that don't really contribute to anything that talk so much, and then it becomes like, it's not even trendy, to be honest. Like, those who are really at the top collaborating are collaborating, you know, so let's just keep it, Keep it a buck.

[Ian Dunlap]

That's a fact. And then before, can you talk about wealth in Africa? Because we. We started the program with some unfortunate situations, but there is wealth, right? You talking about before, like, you came to America and you was like, no, that's not wealth. Like, you know, I mean, like, talk about, like, people like, that's owning beaches.

[Alvin]

And owning, like, the way wealth is, is. Is in Africa is different. Like, you, you have people that are born into owning acres of land. Like, that's just from day one as a baby. Like, you know, they're just born into owning, you know, like, all kinds of things. And, you know, if you look at it, you know, I went to school people from the Ashanti region, and naturally they're, you know, they're entrepreneurs. Like, that's, that's the thing from the Ashanti kingdom. Like, they pass down well from generation to generation. We have, in Ghana, we have a lot of really wealthy women as well. Like, so even come to America, like, learning how, you know, female entrepreneurs were perceived over there was a little confusing for me because where I came from, a lot of really wealthy women, you know, so I just think that there has to be a more dialogue, really. Like, at the end of the day, it's like, if you don't know, you don't know, right? It's one of those things. And it's not a secret. You just gotta ask the questions.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, I got one thing, because when we walked on the land the other day, we were standing next to each other, kind of had a moment where it was like, this is pretty surreal. But what was really impressive was about who was building it, right? You said, yo, Troy, this is a thousand jobs for our community. Talk about that. Talk about Joseph the master engineer. Because people need to hear these stories because they. They'll look at and say, oh, we bought Somebody else in to do this, but. Nah, man. Somebody you went to high school with?

[Alvin]

Yeah, Joseph went to my high school. He was a couple years behind me. And he literally is the. The master engineer on the project. And he's actually. Before this project, he actually was the master engineer on other projects of repute in Ghana. Like, he was part of a major stadium development in Ghana. So when we met Joseph and we were like, oh, you went to a high school?

[Rashad Bilal]

It just.

[Alvin]

It just. It was even, like, more. It just felt better, right? And then on top of that, like, the way he just mobilizes the men is amazing. We created more than a thousand jobs, and. And everyone has bought into the vision of it. So someone that don't even want to go home, you know, like a Christmas, we were like, you guys know, it's cool. Can go home to your families. They were like, nah, man.

[Rashad Bilal]

We.

[Alvin]

We have. We have a deadline and they want to stay. Over a thousand jobs have been created from this. We'll probably create more jobs when. When we go into the next phase, which is more houses. But more importantly, we also want to build a different community for all these guys because they still want to be around when it's all said and done, so they could also be part of the community for sure.

[Ian Dunlap]

Alvin. Appreciate it, my brother.

[Alvin]

Thank you. Got to go to dinner, though, so.

[Ian Dunlap]

That's a fact. That's a fact.

[Alvin]

Thank you guys for having me.

[Ian Dunlap]

Appreciate Mondays.

[Rashad Bilal]

This is a legend, y'all. This is an absolute legend.

[Ian Dunlap]

And you know what's so crazy, too, is that I was running on the street the other day, 7:00 in the morning, and the guy stopped me and he's like, yo, I've been listening to you guys for five years. Then he starts having a whole conversation about how in Ghana, they don't have the same access to the brokerage, American brokerages. So he's like, yo, I can't invest in a lot of these stocks because, like Charles Schwab and Fidelity, I can't open an account because I'm a guy. I am citizen. So then he starts somebody crypto. Long story short, tapped in. Tapped in. Super tapped in. So all over the world. So I just. I'm glad that he was still here, because I just wanted to say that. So Somber city. I just wanted to display. Dismantle some myths. It's not for just black Americans. It's for anybody. But of course, we would love for black Americans to come, but it's for people in the diaspora, and the diaspora is all over the world, right? And local people as well, local Ghanaians, some people say like the price is not affordable. It's 15 lower than anything that's on the market. That's another thing too. They like, why you. So one of his partner, Kwame, he like, he's reading the comments, somebody was like, why are you charging this? She was, he was like, imagine charging real estate prices in Ghana. Like, like I'm saying, like the way y'all thinking about this, like, yo, this is. These people have means. Like I'm saying, like we charging percent lower than what any other construction comparable is. So it's not unaffordable and it's not colonialism working with them. It's not about imposing your culture. Like I said, everybody, the culture's already here. Listen to the music. Everything is, it's all vibes. Like so a lot of times better there. Exactly. So a lot of times I just come from ignorance, man. I just, you know, I think everybody should just get out and travel. But if you have not done anything, you should not be speaking because what you, what you might do is negatively affect somebody else. People are impressionable. So you know, you gotta speak from first hand experience. But we are in Ghana. If you seen what we did on put on Instagram, it's amazing to see the, the, the development 66 days, 30 complete in 66 days.

[Rashad Bilal]

So, you know, different, it's, it's a different level of engine to see it, right? To see like we walked in and I'm like, where's the mom? Like, yo, shot. You know, you standing on your street right now, bro. Like, he was like, wait, what? I'm like, yo, this is, this is your actual street. To see it, to see the engineering, obviously we're building homes and so to see the intricacies that are being put into this, it's masterful. Like, this isn't just residential. Like the way this is being built is from an industrial standpoint for a residential home. And so these guys in are just incredible. Like there was, there was a team that came here that was advising them and they were like, there's no, there's no need for us to be here. Like, you guys are masters at this and you're doing an incredible job. I just can't wait for people to. This is phase one and we're 30, 30 done. And about another 60 days. I want, I want y'all to see what, what has actually been brought to life, man. It's going to be exciting.

[Troy Millings]

Going back to efficiency. If we have did the same Thing in the States. How much longer would it have taken?

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah, that's another thing. Like, yo, how much? Yeah, how much longer? How much more money would it have cost? It would have been red tape. No way you can get. I've been building a house for two years. There's no way you could build a community. One house, 66 days. Broaden your horizons. Stay positive. That's important. Everybody stay positive, right?

[Troy Millings]

Don't critic without creator. It's a lot of y'all online to do that.

[Ian Dunlap]

Some people have a problem for every solution, so. But man, just wanted to thank everybody in Ghana. The, the, you know, every. It's just very welcoming, a very welcoming society, very peaceful society and, you know, hospitality through the roof.

[Troy Millings]

So y'all even look happy, right? Gonna lie.

[Rashad Bilal]

And the food's incredible. He left that part out. The food is absolutely incredible. Yeah, I know y'all put a list up. Yeah, y'all did domestic, but if I had international, this would probably be number one, bro. Yeah, it's my number one.

[Ian Dunlap]

Shout out to Ghana. All right, now, before we wrap, mid cap stocks on the move. Columbia Sportswear, Evercore Yeti, you want to talk about some of these? Who's your favorite?

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, I know we always do the. The mega cap. And a guy hit me was like, can you talk about some smaller ones? So I wanted to give you a list of smaller companies that I do like. Columbia Sportswear, I do like. If you look over the last year, they're up 10 bucks or they were at 81.52 last year. Not bad. I don't. I like the company. Yeti don't currently love the stock, but Evercore, I think Evercore is a company that is slept on. The ticker is E VR. So you guys can add that to the watch list and maybe next week I'll give a price for it. And then stifle Financial. So that company, Ticker sf, it's not many financial companies that I love right now, but if you look at their ticker, they've done pretty well. If you. Especially if you look over the last five years. They were at 28 bucks five years ago. They're now 106. So for a company that isn't like a mega cap, I think those are a really good company in that space. Evercore and then Columbia Sportswear, for those of you who are tired of Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, Meta portfolio, but you only need four real great company to change forever.

[Rashad Bilal]

You might just need two.

[Troy Millings]

Maybe that's it.

[Rashad Bilal]

Maybe it could change your Life more.

[Troy Millings]

I know real quick.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm looking at it. It's a big week for earnings, especially in retail. We got Home Depot report reporting earnings tomorrow before opening. Cava. Cava will be reporting. I'm interested in seeing those numbers. I'm, I'm in some 27 calls for Kava. We talked about them not having debt, but we're gonna have to see some numbers. They've added some stores since the last quarter to see if those valuations per store are actually gonna meet up to the standards. So Cabo will be reporting after close tomorrow. Lowe's is before opening on Wednesday and I told you already, man, Wednesday. Circle your calendars. 4:30pm Nvidia will be reporting. Snowflake will be reporting as well. Salesforce in. You know, Salesforce used to be in the portfolio. And we talked about the software, the self software part of the AI space. So they've had a nice run. They'll be reporting on Wednesday as well. And then we got one of my favorites, man. The. The number one leader in S P last year. Vistra will be reporting on Thursday before opening. And Dell, we talked about Dell in terms of the AI revolution, in terms of racking for the equipment inside of the data center. Dell will be reporting. They've had a nice tick up since I think the. Maybe a couple episodes ago we told people which stocks under 100 would be good to invest in. What? They ran up to about 117, 124. They had a pullback. They'll be reporting after market closes on Thursday. So, yeah, man, it's going to be a big week.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah. Lowe's, Home Depot, Vistra, Kava, those are the ones that stand out that I'm interested in seeing and I think that will do well long term. I'm not sure about the earnings, but. And of course Nvidia is gonna move the market either way.

[Rashad Bilal]

So yeah, we just circle that one. We'll figure, we'll figure everything else out after that.

[Ian Dunlap]

So before we leave, do you think Nvidia's stock price will go up after earnings are down?

[Troy Millings]

Let me see.

[Rashad Bilal]

Let me get to the handy dandy iPad. Let's see where we're at.

[Troy Millings]

We're at 132 now. I think it'll slide a little bit.

[Rashad Bilal]

Do you think a pullback is happening?

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, I think so.

[Rashad Bilal]

I think, I think we'll see a slight creep up the, the, the way it's been trading over the past six months. We've kind of see it back and forth in that 118, the 130 range, I know it ran up to 150. It feels like it's sort of a consolidation. I think they'll have a good report. Report based on what? Everybody's capex has said that they're going to spend pre Nvidia earnings. And I told y'all, just listen to what everybody says before they Nvidia reports. All we've heard is more spend more capex. More capex. I think they're gonna have a good quarter.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah, we'll see. Good quarter could still have disappointment.

[Rashad Bilal]

That's true. That's why.

[Troy Millings]

Because I think they're expecting perfection or perfection plus, like, yeah, they can have 75 growth and people can be disappointed, which is crazy to me.

[Rashad Bilal]

They had 87 growth last quarter and they dropped.

[Ian Dunlap]

Yeah, you're at the top. When you're at the top, the only place to go is down.

[Rashad Bilal]

And that's truth. Right. They said, hey, the quarter before you guys had 140 revenue on the data. The data center sector. Well, we went from 147 to 87. I mean, these numbers are ridiculous.

[Troy Millings]

So, yeah, I think they should make a bar per sector of like what's phenomenal and what isn't. Because to do it on a subjective basis, quarter by quarter, it's insane. If I told you four years ago a company will grow 80 over a quarter pile in now it's like, oh, it's not enough. What? This is how you get companies. And I'll give Super Micro some grace. When it was like inflating those numbers, that's like, you can't expect a player to score 59 points a night and 22 rebounds. Like, come on.

[Ian Dunlap]

So that's a fact.

[Troy Millings]

We will see.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Ian Dunlap]

All right, all right, all right.

[Troy Millings]

Tim Cook, count your days.

[Rashad Bilal]

No, no, don't do that.

[Troy Millings]

Mania dropped a CPU.

[Ian Dunlap]

What?

[Rashad Bilal]

Nah, Nvidia got a chill. They're doing the CPU. You get an F. Yeah, that M1 chip ain't really. I mean, I get it. It saves money. They don't have to to outsource their. Their chips. But if the laptops and the iPads don't sell, then you do. You need them.

[Troy Millings]

And once again, too many SKUs for the same product.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, the, the, the, the MacBook has done pretty well. It hasn't have negative growth.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah, MacBook has done well.

[Rashad Bilal]

IPad has done pretty well. But at a certain point, man, I don't need a new MacBook every year. Pretty good with this one.

[Troy Millings]

Yep.

[Ian Dunlap]

That's a fact. Well, ladies and Gentlemen, do remember Thursday we'll be at Carnegie Hall.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yes.

[Ian Dunlap]

Make sure you get your tickets to that. That is this Thursday after party for my birthday at Lake House.

[Rashad Bilal]

Cheers. Cheers. For his birthday. There we go.

[Ian Dunlap]

Lagos, Times Square, 10 o'clock. Get there early. RSVP link in my bio.

[Troy Millings]

They be a new table facts and.

[Ian Dunlap]

Tune in the blackout. Tune in the blackout, 10 o'clock Eastern Standard time on Wednesday. We got a lot to talk about.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah, that's a fact.

[Ian Dunlap]

And get. Get the book.

[Troy Millings]

Foreign. I'm sorry, but you gotta say for yourself.

[Ian Dunlap]

What?

[Rashad Bilal]

Well, you have to say for yourself. I'm sorry. That's it.

[Troy Millings]

And Steve got paused. Yo, you better chill out. Yo, that, bro.

[Rashad Bilal]

The. The text message is great. We talking about that earlier. I never heard that in a text message. The IUD play like. That's crazy. Crazy. That's crazy. Crazy.

[Troy Millings]

Stand up in it like a champ. Up in it.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Troy Millings]

I gotta learn how to pound better. You know what I mean?

[Rashad Bilal]

Got a skit about that. Shout out to Kevin's day. That dude was hilarious, man. He made us about.

[Troy Millings]

That's crazy. Hey, shout out to you, man.

[Rashad Bilal]

Shout out to the JBP on their 10 years. Shout out to. Shout out to them. Everybody over there. Ten years is. Is no small feat. Paved the way for a lot of people in the space up there, man. Shout out to you. I'm sure it's a hell of a.

[Troy Millings]

Time making my rounds, y'all. I have to go do something, you know, I gotta keep adding to the brand, you know? I mean, shout out to all you podcast critiquers smoking on you pause. Y'all cannot with me when it comes to this. I hear you, baby boy. I know a lot of y'all be having a lot to say. Then I'll punch back and it'd be, oh, you went too far.

[Rashad Bilal]

Too far.

[Troy Millings]

I don't know if you know, but we did the garden.

[Rashad Bilal]

Facts. Keep going.

[Troy Millings]

If we're gonna keep it a thou. Wow. Blackout numbers going crazy, too.

[Rashad Bilal]

Keep going.

[Troy Millings]

Y'all be talking to who the best potter. And then I'll never see y'all do no stadiums. And no 10,000, 20,000 nothing.

[Rashad Bilal]

Don't forget Ghana.

[Troy Millings]

The fake downloads review that. They about to build a coliseum in Ghana. You talking about thumbnails. And wait till next month.

[Rashad Bilal]

I'm in a meeting.

[Troy Millings]

Yo, what do I know?

[Ian Dunlap]

It's been real, ladies and gentlemen. A little shorter than we usually do, but, you know, we out the country. What you expect?

[Troy Millings]

You got.

[Rashad Bilal]

It'd be good, man. Take it to take care, America, till we get back. Love is love. We appreciate you all. Peace.

[Troy Millings]

Peace.

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