BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS: The Rise of Trading Cards - Trump's address to Congress - Skype's Discontinuation

Summary

Right About Now with Ryan Alford Episode Summary: BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS: The Rise of Trading Cards - Trump's Address to Congress - Skype's Discontinuation Release Date: March 7, 2025

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Overview

In this episode of Right About Now with Ryan Alford, hosts Ryan Alford and Chris Hansen delve into the latest business news and trends impacting the economy. The discussion spans a wide range of topics, including former President Donald Trump's recent address to Congress, the discontinuation of Skype, the evolving landscape of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, tariffs affecting U.S. trade, the fluctuating cryptocurrency market, and the resurgence of trading cards. The conversation is both informative and engaging, blending serious analysis with light-hearted banter.

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Trump's Address to Congress

Timestamp: [00:00 – 08:44]

Ryan and Chris unpack the key takeaways from Trump's recent speech to Congress. They critique the political theater surrounding the event, highlighting the polarized reactions from different political factions.

• Political Polarization: Ryan comments on the divisive nature of the clapping in the room, stating, "It's so high school... It's like grow up" ([06:07]).

• Tax Cuts and Economic Impact: The discussion shifts to Trump's proposals on tax cuts, with Ryan emphasizing the need for fiscal responsibility: "If we're starting with the cuts, you know, with finding waste... we can actually do some tax cuts if we can cut 2 trillion in waste" ([08:07]).

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DEI Programs in Business

Timestamp: [08:44 – 15:12]

The hosts debate the effectiveness and financial implications of DEI initiatives within businesses.

• Financial Concerns: Ryan expresses skepticism about the cost of DEI programs, questioning their financial viability: "I just, I didn't realize how much money you spent on it" ([09:35]).

• Merit-Based Hiring: Both Ryan and Chris advocate for hiring based on merit rather than diversity quotas. Chris shares his experience, "No part of me has ever cared what color, what country, what your first language is of anybody in any employment situation" ([11:18]).

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Tariffs and Trade

Timestamp: [15:12 – 17:33]

The conversation shifts to international trade tensions, specifically tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China.

• US Allies vs. Adversaries: Ryan differentiates between tariffs on allies like Canada and Mexico versus adversaries like China, noting the complexity of economic relationships.

• Economic Consequences: Chris touches on the potential long-term impacts of these tariffs, emphasizing the need for strategic economic policies: "It's a better alternative" compared to war ([17:27]).

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Political Theater and Zelensky Incident

Timestamp: [17:33 – 20:34]

The hosts discuss a recent public dispute involving Ukrainian President Zelensky and Trump's administration.

• Public Perception: Both agree that the public airing of disputes is detrimental. Ryan remarks, "It probably also made public opinion about that war not in a positive light" ([18:46]).

• Private Diplomacy: Chris suggests that such conversations should remain private to maintain professionalism and diplomacy: "I think that should have just been a private conversation" ([19:37]).

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Inflation and Energy Policy

Timestamp: [20:34 – 21:15]

The discussion moves to inflation rates and energy policies, particularly focusing on egg prices and oil drilling.

• Inflation Challenges: Ryan highlights the persistent issue of high egg prices, linking it to broader inflation concerns: "Trump blamed Biden for high egg prices and pledged to tackle inflation through oil and gas drilling" ([20:34]).

• Consumer Impact: Chris shares a personal anecdote about egg shortages, emphasizing real-world impacts: "There's no eggs at the Trader Joe's near my house for months now" ([20:45]).

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Skype's Discontinuation

Timestamp: [21:15 – 23:31]

Ryan and Chris address the news about Skype being discontinued, discussing its relevance in today's communication landscape.

• Shift to Modern Platforms: They note the decline in Skype usage, with Chris stating, "FaceTime and Google Meets Zoom" have taken over ([22:22]).

• User Preferences: Ryan encourages listeners to migrate to more current platforms: "If you’re using Skype, it’s time to move baby, move" ([22:27]).

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Cryptocurrency Market Updates

Timestamp: [23:31 – 28:31]

The hosts analyze recent trends in the cryptocurrency market, focusing on Bitcoin and XRP.

• Market Volatility: Ryan highlights the unstable nature of cryptocurrency prices: "It's sitting around 93,900... it's a roller coaster" ([26:21]).

• Investment Strategies: Chris advises a long-term investment perspective despite short-term fluctuations: "But long term I would still get in line and get on the ride" ([27:09]).

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AI and Economic Impact

Timestamp: [28:31 – 30:11]

AI's role in the future job market and business operations is explored, with an emphasis on continuous learning and adaptation.

• Business Integration: Ryan underscores the importance of AI for entrepreneurs: "If you're a business owner, entrepreneur, you want to learn some more of the platforms, apps, ways you can use this in your business" ([28:36]).

• Skill Development: Chris compares learning AI to mastering a new video game, highlighting its accessibility and potential: "It's pretty user friendly... down the rabbit hole of exploration" ([29:55]).

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Rise of Trading Cards

Timestamp: [30:11 – 34:40]

The episode concludes with a segment on the resurgence of trading cards, including sports and Pokémon cards. The hosts promote the RAD Collective and their offerings at breakingrad.com.

• Market Resurgence: Ryan expresses enthusiasm for the trading card market: "The Rise of Trading Cards... It's like legal gambling for children and adults" ([30:11]).

• Promotion of RAD Collective: Both hosts encourage listeners to visit their website for exclusive card sales and live breaks: "Go check out that sign up for our email list... See, I mean, don’t you want to hear that pack opening, Chris?" ([31:02]).

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Conclusion

Ryan and Chris wrap up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage with their content on various platforms and to take advantage of the business opportunities presented by the evolving market trends discussed. They emphasize the importance of staying informed and adaptable in a rapidly changing economic landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

• Ryan Alford: "If we're starting with the cuts... we can actually do some tax cuts if we can cut 2 trillion in waste." ([08:07])

• Chris Hansen: "No part of me has ever cared what color, what country, what your first language is of anybody in any employment situation." ([11:18])

• Ryan Alford: "If you’re using Skype, it’s time to move baby, move." ([22:27])

• Chris Hansen: "It's pretty user friendly... down the rabbit hole of exploration." ([29:55])

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For more insights and full episode content, visit www.RyanIsRight.com or follow @rightaboutnowshow and @ryanalford on Instagram.

Transcript

[Ryan Alford]

Hey, guys. On today's episode of right about now, we've got your weekly business news highlights. We got six big takeaways from Trump's speech to Congress. We'll call it a speech, address whatever you want. We've also talked about, hey, you guys heard of Skype? What's going away in May? Don't Skype no more again. We're going to talk about tariffs, the impact to the U.S. the stock market, and all the latest hits here on right about now.

[Chris Hansen]

This is right about now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over 1 million downloads a month, taking the BS out of business for over 6 years in over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping next and cashing checks? Well, it starts right about now.

[Ryan Alford]

What's up, guys? Welcome to right about now. It's our weekly business news here on March 7, 2025, joined as always by my good friend Chris Hansen. What's up, Chris?

[Chris Hansen]

What's up, brother? How are you today?

[Ryan Alford]

I am fantastico here on a Friday. It is. We're grinding through March already. February was a flash. March is here. Spring is sprung. And hey, the news must be told.

[Chris Hansen]

Spring has sprung.

[Ryan Alford]

The, the spring fling. Yes. All the spring get togethers, the outings, the 60 to 70 degree weather. That's wonderful. All, you know, the, everything turning green. We get rid of some of this gray around here. I need some trees to have some green back on them.

[Chris Hansen]

You know, I don't know how you do it. I was there.

[Ryan Alford]

Everything's lush. 24 7. Like Miami.

[Chris Hansen]

No, actually we, we had, we did have some overcast yesterday. We had one of those days. Yesterday was I couldn't decide if it wanted to rain or not. And I'll tell you, it's a dull vibe in the city when it's gray in Miami. People don't know what to do with themselves.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, I'm sure it's supposed to always be sunny and hot and awesome in Miami.

[Chris Hansen]

It's like sunshine state.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, well, you got all the people that moved there for that. And then the, you know, the tourists and it's constant coming through there. Like at any given time. I know you're kind of in a quasi neighborhoody, you know, not tourist area. Not tourist area. But you're around it enough. Like is it always feel like 50, 50, 50 or is it worth, like feel more tourists?

[Chris Hansen]

Oh no, I think where I'm at It feels like 90, 10 people that live there. There's a few airbnbs and like some hotels. But yeah, I feel like 90 is like more local.

[Ryan Alford]

You're in midtown, right?

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah. If you go across the beach. I mean, if you're by the hotels. Yeah. It's going to be all like. It's going to be probably more like 60, 40 tourists if you're on the beach side.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. Sunny Miami.

[Chris Hansen]

A lot of pale British Brits in German.

[Ryan Alford]

Right. I.

[Chris Hansen]

To get my pale or extremely sunburned.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, exactly. One or the other.

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah.

[Ryan Alford]

That's how you can tell.

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah.

[Ryan Alford]

That's somebody. Just some poor schlep. That is a tourist falls asleep. He's got the red, you know, the skin. Ton. I always see that guy at the pool or whatever.

[Chris Hansen]

My ties at Fountain Blue.

[Ryan Alford]

Too many. Kicking them back.

[Chris Hansen]

You know how it is.

[Ryan Alford]

Oh, I know. I know how it is. We appreciate everyone for listening or watching. Go check us out on YouTube or you can always watch us on Spotify. We got the full video versions. You can see Chris and his cool glasses. He's always got. You never know. You know, Chris is rocking that vibe. And yeah, give us a little subscribe. We'd appreciate it. And if you enjoy the show, tell your friends, leave us a review, shoot us some DMS on social media. That's what we do this. We appreciate you for listening. We know you got an option, so thanks for choosing us with your time and attention. We've got our weekly news here, Chris. We had Trump's address to Congress, which a lot of business impact from that. Yeah, I think it's. It two things are, you know, always interest to me, interesting to me about that, about those. No matter what it is. Like, okay, when it was Biden, the. The political theater that remains even after, you know, the public has sort of told people that we're kind of over this and, you know, the politics of it all. But the whole theater, and I call it theater and I call it entertainment to a degree because it's all very serious topics. We. We'll start there, but then the whole polarization of the room. Clapping or not clapping based on party divide is so high school. It's so high school. It's so juvenile. It's like, grow up. And look, it goes both sides. This is not a it. When Biden was in office, the Republicans did it.

[Chris Hansen]

Now that Trump's in office, generational almost. At this point, all of us are just like, come on, everyone in the.

[Ryan Alford]

Room is over 60 years old.

[Chris Hansen]

Right. We can't clap for a disabled child.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

Like, you know what I mean? Like, everyone can't clap for that. We can't all support that. You're right, everyone. The boomers, man, there's a lot of data coming out on they're not very happy people.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, I wonder why. Say why.

[Chris Hansen]

There, there actually was reasons. It was part of like, the way they grew up, but also the economy they grew up in. But there was a study on basically how willing you to leave money for your family. And asked boomers, millennials and gen zers and millennials and Gen z were like 50% plus, like, yes, I want to leave money, I want to help my kids. Boomers were more like, I want to spend it before I die, like heavily and like 70%. So the point was like, their parents.

[Ryan Alford]

Are boomers, you know, I guess they're not going to leave me anything.

[Chris Hansen]

Hey, I don't want to be mean. I see it in my folks. I see it in my folks.

[Ryan Alford]

I'm trying to. I, I'm not really counting on it, you know, like, you know, whatever.

[Chris Hansen]

Like, it's.

[Ryan Alford]

Make your own way.

[Chris Hansen]

It was a different time and, you know, things.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, things have changed and. But the, the theater of the whole thing is, is sad and is that, are we gonna repeat history? Like, are the 30 and 40 year olds gonna do the same 20 years from now? Can we just get to a better system and a less. I get that you, the two parties balance each other out. You've got the yin and the yang and I, I get why we develop the system. But that shit's broken when you can't clap for, for the kid with cancer, like you mentioned. And just some very obvious things that should not be politicized, you know, and it's just ugly. It's just, it's not even, I don't know, humane. I don't even.

[Chris Hansen]

It's barbaric.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

It's not diplomatic. It's not, it's not couth. It's. You know, I don't even know if that's the right word. You know what I mean? It's just so we need to clean it up and get it more professional again. With respect and dignity. Really.

[Ryan Alford]

Imagine if our kids did that. Like, if they. The whole classroom.

[Chris Hansen]

Oh, my God.

[Ryan Alford]

Was divided in two and presentation. Yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

And half the class is like, yeah, exactly.

[Ryan Alford]

And would we support that? Would that, would that be acceptable behavior?

[Chris Hansen]

No, it wouldn't be acceptable for children.

[Ryan Alford]

And these are elected politicians. So term limits.

[Chris Hansen]

Term limits. We need them.

[Ryan Alford]

Term limits and new ideas. And so a lot of that was shared. I mean, the biggest part I Think to me is like the taxes trump talking about tax cuts. And you know, I'll say this. We, we've talked about a lot with the Doge thing and, and Musk. If you're going to give tax cuts, it's got to come from somewhere. At least we're starting with the cuts, you know, with finding waste and then, you know, like, then do it. Like we can actually do some tax cuts if we can cut 2 trillion in in waste. Right.

[Chris Hansen]

Well, it's like I think about it on a, a micro level.

[Ryan Alford]

Right.

[Chris Hansen]

In my own life, I had a conversation with a buddy about just credit card subscriptions. Right. All these things we sign up for every month and we forget about. And there was one of these apps, I forget the name, but it'll tell you which ones you're paying for every month and you can cancel it, they'll do it for you. That's essentially what we're doing. But it's like if you want to budget, you're going to go for that first. Let's go for the waste. Where is the spending that I might not be completely aware of that's happening. That isn't part of my daily life. It makes sense. Right? We do it in our own life. Why is it so freaking crazy that we're doing it on the government level?

[Ryan Alford]

Yep. So we're cutting lots of dei. I mean that's a hot topic. Like, I just, I didn't realize how.

[Chris Hansen]

Much money you spent on it.

[Ryan Alford]

Did you?

[Chris Hansen]

Like, I would have never guessed. Yeah, like, ah, they sneak it in.

[Ryan Alford]

Those we are we not further along than this that we, that we need to pay homage to certain groups versus hiring who's best at the job. Like, and I know that it can be polarizing for, you know, white male to say something like that in potentially. But I'm just like, I don't look through that lens. Like, I just look at like my friends, my workers, whatever. You're either, you know, worthy of my friendship or you're worthy of a job because of your merits. Like, I don't care what diversity or ethnicity. And I think most America there's still pockets, but I think most people know how to judge like characteristics of people that are not their heritage or their skin color and to set policies and continue to like, go down these roads. I, I know it could be perceived as like, oh, it's easy for you to say that, but no, it's just, I just feel like that's the sentiment that I get being like, attached to like small business, whatever.

[Chris Hansen]

Like I was gonna say that's your lived experience and that's mine as well. That's what I was gonna say is no part of me has ever cared what color, what country, what your first language is of anybody in any employment situation. I've worked with people in all types of jobs from all over the world. I don't give a. I've met awesome people from everywhere. I like the people that do the work and do a good job.

[Ryan Alford]

You know if you are worthy of my friendship or. Or I am worthy of yours. Like it's two way street and same thing with work. If you can provide value to me and vice versa.

[Chris Hansen]

Prime example matters. I have a great example of sipping. We're in social media. Right. You have a digital marketing agency. Tons of people we know in this game. How many people have part of their team in the Philippines, Vietnam. Right. They've adapted, they learned a skill and they can do it at a competitive rate. It's as simple as that.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

It's like you get good at something, people will come to you, you know.

[Ryan Alford]

Exactly.

[Chris Hansen]

No part of me cares, oh, I want to go work with someone in the Philippines. I don't think you or I give a what country it is. Right. It's like they do a good job and they do it for a good price.

[Ryan Alford]

Yep.

[Chris Hansen]

I don't care what color they are, what language they speak. Like where's the DEI in that situation? No one twisted our hand to start working with companies in the Philippines at times, you know.

[Ryan Alford]

No, exactly. Like I, I love. We. We work with lots of people in the Philippines. Joel and his team help our team for years. Most trustworthy, greatest. But honestly I don't care about like the first. The first the Philippine. Like all I care about trustworthy, reliable.

[Chris Hansen]

And does a good job.

[Ryan Alford]

And does a good job. And I will say the only thing that I will say is a small business owner in. In the industries that we're in. I don't get a lot of diverse candidate pools. Like I don't have a lot of people apply like as many now maybe it's it so that. That I would if we could do things to encourage that maybe getting more diversity within certain industries. Like I can support that but not but I'm not going to hire them for the sake of diversity.

[Chris Hansen]

Well and you need to keep in mind percent of population. Right.

[Ryan Alford]

Like yeah, you're not being a small business that has 10 or fewer employees. It sort of falls with the reality of I don't hire that many people that often.

[Chris Hansen]

It's just statistics.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, it's a statistics model, unfortunately. So I'd get behind getting more candidates sometimes. I'd love that. But I just want the best candidates, you know, for what I have, period.

[Chris Hansen]

I know you, you don't give a care. You're just, you want the job done.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, man. I'm very practical in this. You know, it's black and like, and.

[Chris Hansen]

Not business should be right.

[Ryan Alford]

It's just yes, no good, bad. Like, are you adding value or not?

[Chris Hansen]

Money comes.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, I don't know, man. And I, I, I choose to believe that we reflect the majority in that opinion. And so gutting some of these DI programs that just feel like they've. The premise was wrong maybe to begin with, it's like maybe intentions were right. But like anything, once you start to sort of divide the line, you have to, you have to protect the line. And so once you make the stand of the DEI thing, you go to the ends of the earth to protect it. To do these programs, to do all that. And then it's just all about protecting what's there. Not necessarily if the premise was right to begin with.

[Chris Hansen]

I also think it was set up. It's corporate stuff. Like you go to any small, medium sized business owner and have these conversations. It would be like you and I, it would just be like, I don't even think about this. Just I look at applications and whoever's a candidate I'll talk to and if they're good, they get the job. Right. This is like government people making laws related to like their government jobs that then impact everyone else. That really this isn't even a topic for in my experience.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. And I mean the big thing with tariffs, you know, I think this is still negotiation. We're still pushing like to the brink here. I know of with Canada and Mexico. I have a feeling that that will probably work itself out.

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah.

[Ryan Alford]

Let's like two months from now, if these are in place and we're truly feeling it on every level. Okay. We'll have that conversation and what it means or doesn't mean. I still will feel like we're playing a game of chicken here and negotiation. China's a whole different thing with a whole lot of different impacts because they are an adversary versus, you know, Canada and Mexico are allies for the most part.

[Chris Hansen]

You know, how much of a military.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

Are their military?

[Ryan Alford]

Essentially we are their military and we would protect them. And so. But there's still the realities of the economics of all this stuff and it needs to be in line with the re the, the baseline reality of how much importing, export, like it's just like there equity here, like we've been paying some of these fees and different things in Europe and all these other countries for so long. I, I, I think it's hard to, it's interesting. I saw Warren Buffett, you know, had a comment and this is where I think, you know, it's a calculated comment. It's like he was asked about, you know, the terrorists and the things Trump's doing. He's like, my only question is, is what I ask myself when I make decisions to what end? Like, what's the end game? So, so he said, I don't, I don't pretend to, he was implying that he didn't know necessarily every move that Donald was making and to what end was it leading? Which I think is a fair thing to say. I think.

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah, I mean, he's not a member of the government. He doesn't know what the military is doing. Right.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. And I think we can all agree a stronger America is a better America. So if we can do that with as little pain as possible, but even if there's a little bit of pain, I think we can all support that that's necessary.

[Chris Hansen]

I mean, instead of tariffs, in the old days, they had war. Right. So this is a better alternative.

[Ryan Alford]

The whole, I mean, it's not business related. I thought about not even bringing it up. It happened in between last week and this week. But the whole Stinsky a debacle on television, I mean, yeah, I didn't look, I did, I didn't really didn't like that being, I don't think it was good for really anyone personally. I, I thought that we, Trump is playing a bigger role here and again, I think maybe the ends are the right way. I just, I just didn't like that being aired. That was just my personal at all. Even if it sort of reflected the position, the strength, position, strength that we should have and that we shouldn't just keep sending suitcases of cash over to Ukraine with no, you know, end in sight. I, I can agree with the policy and the, the, the end goal without necessarily liking the way it's all been, I don't know, spewed over television.

[Chris Hansen]

I think he looks like an idiot. Zielinski.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

It just, you got a lot of pissed off American taxpayers already, especially as more of this, the Doge stuff is coming undone and more of those inefficiencies are coming out and then, you know, it kind of just, it's like, give A mouse, a cookie. He's want a glass of milk? Like, he just came out very like, well, we need more and you don't care. And kind of threatening in a way, too. So I. I agree. I don't think it was probably conducive for everyone, but it probably also made public opinion about that war not in a positive light. I don't think that helped.

[Ryan Alford]

Ukraine. Yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

Pr.

[Ryan Alford]

No.

[Chris Hansen]

Right.

[Ryan Alford]

No, but I mean, did you. Like, even if Zelensky looked like an idiot and looked like overplaying his hand, but did you love that all being aired, that discussion?

[Chris Hansen]

No, I think that should have just been a private conversation.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, that's.

[Chris Hansen]

That's where I even think there's theatrics and all that, you know?

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. I think it's purposeful, obviously. No, look, they don't let anything out. They don't want to get out. So cameras are rolling, things are shared.

[Chris Hansen]

I get why they aired it. Right.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah.

[Chris Hansen]

But I don't know. It didn't make me feel good inside, you know?

[Ryan Alford]

No, I don't think so.

[Chris Hansen]

You know, it's like when you're at the grocery store and all of a sudden you hear people arguing and you're like, not here, not now. Come on, guys. You know, you're just like, I don't. Yeah, it's just a vibe kill. It's not good. It's. It's not conducive. Right. It just was very argumentative and tit for tat, and it's like ego clashing. Great. Let's find.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, that's kind of what it felt like more than anything.

[Chris Hansen]

I mean, it was all bravado. A lot of bravado on both sides.

[Ryan Alford]

Inflation and energy policy. Trump blamed Biden for high egg prices and pledged to tackle inflation through oil and gas drilling. Drill, baby, drill.

[Chris Hansen]

There's still no eggs at the Trader Joe's near my house for months now.

[Ryan Alford]

Really?

[Chris Hansen]

No, They've only.

[Ryan Alford]

Can I get eggs? There's no other grocery stores.

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah, if you go to other grocery stores for whatever reason, like Publix, but even Publix, they have a limited supply, not much organic at all. And then Trader Joe's, literally, there's zero cartons of eggs for, I want to say, at least the last two months. And there's only like those microwave Buick egg egg bites.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. Well, so than all those Trader Joe's. I can't get that organic or whatever make. I. Trader Joe's all organic.

[Chris Hansen]

No.

[Ryan Alford]

Okay.

[Chris Hansen]

Not all.

[Ryan Alford]

Skype. No more Skype. I mean, this I Saw this and I was like, I was not. I used to, but I haven't used it a whole time. When's the last time you used Skype?

[Chris Hansen]

We use it every Friday, you know, when we catch up on the phone. Right.

[Ryan Alford]

Other than those Skype video calls we do.

[Chris Hansen]

I probably since I was like, you know, 2005.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. Like I had to sort of like go look when I saw this article and go, when's the last time I even, you know, now, you know, your phone off boards apps you don't use. And Skype was definitely in the the land of misfit apps. Cut list undownloaded. Yeah, me too. The big question mark on where the app spot is on your phone. You're like, oh, that's not to use that in a while.

[Chris Hansen]

You know, FaceTime and Google Meets Zoom.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. So if you're listening and you're using Skype, it's time to move baby, move.

[Chris Hansen]

And if you are listening and you're still using Skype, I have some other concerns for you as well.

[Ryan Alford]

Yes.

[Chris Hansen]

You should definitely listen to our show more often.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, we use Zoom and, and Google Meets Slack. Google Meets. We use teams occasionally on calls depending on the client. I would, I would actually argue that the DMS of all the social media apps had probably killed Skype as much as anything. Right.

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah.

[Ryan Alford]

Skype was, was more consumer based and I think Most of the DMing stuff like the business stuff like yeah, Zoom and other ones, it was international communication.

[Chris Hansen]

It's how he's talking to my family in Europe.

[Ryan Alford]

Yep. And now WhatsApp. I mean the WhatsApps pretty much killed it.

[Chris Hansen]

Oh, they own the international market.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah. If you have, I mean anyone ever sees their own WhatsApp for the most.

[Chris Hansen]

Part all my friends outside the US are disgusted that we use iMessage. WhatsApp is like number one, always start.

[Ryan Alford]

Market is actually up at least here on recording day after the news. Some of the jobs market stuff, small business, super small businesses down medium solid business kind of up. Services, service businesses up. We talked about the impact of AI and jobs last week. I think the jobs jobs is a metric of overall economic, you know, standing of the whole country is going to be an interesting one to monitor because of the impact that we know and have said that AI will have. I the net is probably going to be fewer. It just depends on where these kind of jobs migrate to. Like we talked to. It's not gonna, it's not the AI is not taking your job. It's people that use AI is gonna. Are Gonna take your jobs. So it will be interesting this, the segments, the switches of I, you know, someone that used to do this, that gets in, that gets on the bus, the AI bus, Understanding, leveraging it, learning it, where that job exists, you know, in the future may not be in the exact same category. So. And we'll. I. It's also never been seemingly more, I don't know, easy to be an entrepreneur and to be your own boss. There's just so many damn ways that you can like leverage the economy of, I don't know, the gig economy, just. And so many different ways. Like with the Internet and social media and all this stuff. Like, I don't, I don't know that it has to be your day job, but to not be dabbling in it just in case. I just can't imagine with all the tools there are.

[Chris Hansen]

Right, Yeah, I mean I tell people this all the time. I mean we say this all the time. Like if you're a business owner, you should be building a brand on social media, whatever that is, whatever business, pick a platform. I always say, even if you're cleaning pools, shoot tick tocks of you cleaning pools and educate people on pool cleaning. Yeah, like there's guys I follow for content like that, you know what I mean? Like, it's like I would never think I want to follow someone like that until it comes across the feed and you're like, oh, that's interesting, you know. Yep, world's a big place. Just put yourself out there.

[Ryan Alford]

Anything else big hitting your radar this week, Chris?

[Chris Hansen]

I mean, crypto is obviously still not moving much. Like we can do a little quick analysis on that.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, like it was like, okay, it's been down, down, down. We had a little shoot up. I was like, okay, we're back, baby. And then boom, you know, fall off.

[Chris Hansen]

So it's sitting around 93,900. You know, it's better than it was. But yeah, the big thing was a bitcoin Federal Reserve, right. That we would essentially now have a new reserve of cryptocurrencies. And he named a list, it was xrp, Solana, I think Ethereum, Bitcoin. So the market did pump, went up a little bit kind of on that news and stabilized and it's kind of still teetering a little bit down right now. So not much price action. But I mean short term it's a roller coaster. But long term I would still, I'd still get in line and get on the ride.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, my XRP like playing with my emotion. It's like like literally it was a tease. It looks like this and then the net net is like 3% difference week over week.

[Chris Hansen]

From Friday to Sunday it basically went up like 20% and then now it's probably back down like 10, 15%.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, it's up like 3 or 4% overall.

[Chris Hansen]

Anyone that follows my Instagram, I posted a chart Yesterday, shows from 2020 and compared to 2025 and history repeats itself, it's looking good. So buy, buy now, Buy low.

[Ryan Alford]

Buy buy the by the wave and I, I just need that XRP to jump, baby. Got a lot of eggs in that basket. You know, I can't, I can't keep it. Like there's no like clear unicorn right now. Like it's not Doge or whatever. Like it's all these things seem to be riding the same curves. There's no like I'll go look at like the biggest gainers of the day trying to find like the winner and then watch it for a couple days and then it's the Biggest Loser two days later. You know, it's like the NBC special Biggest Winner. Biggest Loser. Biggest Winner. Biggest Loser. Come on, win baby, win. I gotta get something on this horse.

[Chris Hansen]

Spread the love. Be diversified.

[Ryan Alford]

I know what's the play? What's the Miami vibe these days? Mighty business vibe.

[Chris Hansen]

There's a lot going on, you know, springtime is here, as Ryan mentioned. AI's freaking blowing up. I mean even I've been going pretty deep down the rabbit hole the last couple weeks with Grok and Chat GPT. It's pretty wild how much time you can spend. But down here in Miami at District 5, they're having a free accelerator course on AI. If you're a business owner entrepreneur, you want to learn some more of the platforms, apps, ways you can use this in your business. I think it's up until May 25th. So Google that District 5 AI accelerator. If you're a business owner, like we said, learn this or you're going to be hiring someone that, that does know it. Right? So it's an ever been easier time even I can tell the last three days, four days. Once you kind of learn how to use like say Chat GPT or Grok the prompts, you can use it for anything, any question you have, anything. I don't even use Google anymore. I go straight to this. It's way more informative.

[Ryan Alford]

But I, I totally agree on the AI, Chris. Like it's sort of like muscle memory. You gotta keep doing it, remembering and like the applications are greater than you might think. You can generate content.

[Chris Hansen]

You gotta sit down like you're learning a new video game, you know?

[Ryan Alford]

Exactly.

[Chris Hansen]

Everything's pretty user friendly that I've experienced. And it becomes quite intriguing because you start to realize, wow, this is extremely efficient. I can do a lot with this. And you kind of go like down the rabbit hole of. Of exploration. Which is fun.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, exactly. So if you've been following along, we're about to start a series. Actually, I'm getting all the players in the sports card game. Trading cards. Sorry, Pokemon. When I say sports card, that doesn't include you, but I do mean to include you. Those Platy. Those Pokemon people, man, are crazy. You know, it's one thing sports cards, Chris, but Pokemon, those guys, It's a different run. You over? Yeah, I've been at the Walmart about got ran over by a kid. Like, hey, he wanted that Pokemon pack, dude. Like, hey, look out. I'll smack you right in the. I wouldn't smack a kid shake one, but I wouldn't smack him. Hit the Walmart. Like, dude, it's like running in here like hordes.

[Chris Hansen]

Gotta get those Pokemon, bro.

[Ryan Alford]

Yes, I know.

[Chris Hansen]

So make that money like you.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, no, we have. You got to go to breaking rad. Breakingrad.com you'll see. We've. The boys and I have set up the site. Go check out that sign up for our email list. We're gonna be putting all of our best cards up there for sale as part of the RAD Collective. Chris, you see these hologram stickers you already got here? You know this is legit. The RAD Collective not playing around. There's real. Hey, I can't wait around for this crypto market. I gotta go where the money is. The sports cards. I'm gonna be gambling. I'm gonna, you know, at least get to open something. But crypto, you know, they may say that digital stuff is as good as physical, but I don't know, I need some like real action in my life. This is like legal gambling for children and adults. But that's why we've got our good friends at Donruss. Good friends at Donruss. And panini. One of 1 million different types of packs. Let's see what we get today. Chris, are you feeling lucky?

[Chris Hansen]

Yeah, lucky.

[Ryan Alford]

You gotta watch this on YouTube. If you're listening, I'll give you a little ASMR.

[Chris Hansen]

I think today will be a good day for. For ripping packs.

[Ryan Alford]

It was good last time, man. I got like 200 in on there.

[Chris Hansen]

So maybe this is abundant today.

[Ryan Alford]

Yeah, Exactly. Let's get in here. Yeah, Burberry glasses in on the picture. So you always start with these base cards that aren't really worth much. They're kind of fun. You got a 2A. That's fun. But you're really trying to get to the good stuff. Like this sweater. That's Kate Stovers. Like these are called patches. Essentially, he's got material from either like game worn uniforms or other things related to the team. So, Kate Server, rookie for the Houston Texans. I almost called them the Houston holders. I'm showing my age a little bit. So these are fun cards. Might be five dollar card. So Xavier Leggett played at South Carolina. Jordan Morgan, Courtland Sutton. So your hit of that pack is the. The sweaters. Chris, would you want. Wouldn't you want your own trading card where you know a Houston Texans sweater that you had like, gets to be featured in? It's kind of thick, kind of cool. Yeah. Nice feature. My kids would be excited about that pick about that pack because you get the whole sweater in and all that. So we'll do one more bonus pack just for everyone here. You know, you gotta watch this on YouTube to get the full effect. Go to breakingrad.com see all of our cards for sale and links to our whatnot channel where we're going to be doing live breaks. Do that ASMR for you one more time. See, I mean, don't you want to hear that pack opening, Chris?

[Chris Hansen]

I do if there's money in it.

[Ryan Alford]

Oh, there's money, baby, there's money. Hey, old Barry Sanders. It's not old, though. Just base card. These are base cards and Julius Pepper's old school. Oh, look at there. That looks like Baker Mayfield old card. That would be one. You've got Javon Baker, Adrian Cooper. This would be called the so so pack, Chris. That's a so so pack to go for. In for two. Anyway, check it out. Breaking rad dot com. Chris, any final words today?

[Chris Hansen]

Everyone, enjoy the start of spring. Get out there, get some sunlight, get some sunshine. Get your feet in the grass.

[Ryan Alford]

Exactly. Get out there. Hey, must not make it left and right. Let's make it. You know about humans. Yeah. Humanity, not politics. Policies, not politics. We appreciate you. We appreciate our sponsors, Independent center and of course, exponent. Go to independence center.org, plug in your email. That's where you get the true policies and not the partisan politics. And of course, Exponent powers me and powers the show. We appreciate them and we most certainly appreciate you. For Chris Hansen in Miami, I'm Ryan Alford from here at our studios at Social House in Greenville, South Carolina. We'll see you next time on RIGHT about now.

[Chris Hansen]

This has been Right ABOUT NOW with Ryan Alford, a Radcast network production. Visit ryanisright.com for full audio and video video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities. Thanks for listening.