
In today’s episode of Weekly News, hosts Ryan Alford and Chris Hansen discuss current business and marketing news. They cover TikTok's rapid resurgence, the impact of China's new AI technology Deep Seek on the stock market, and its geopolitical implications. The duo also examines the state of the cryptocurrency market, focusing on Bitcoin and XRP, and the challenges of resume honesty in job applications. The episode blends humor with serious analysis, offering listeners a thought-provoking exploration of the fast-paced world of business and technology.
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A
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 necks and cashing checks? Well, it starts right about now.
B
What's up, guys? Welcome to right about now. It's Friday, January 31st. Our weekly marking and business news of 2025 almost through the first month, end of the month. But it's not the end of always having my good buddy, my partner in crime, Chris Hansen. What's up, Chris?
C
What's up, Ryan? How you doing today?
B
I'm good, man. You know, just all in the news. All up in the news.
C
All up in it, baby. That's where we like to be.
B
All up in the news. That could have been the name of the show. All up in It. The news.
C
Deep in it.
B
Deep in the news. I had a buddy who suggested the name Funny Business. I thought that was kind of clever, you know, but hey, nothing's funny. Not everything's funny. We have, we, we have a good time, but we try to bring you all the latest breaking inside. I'd say the insights on the news and, and our take on kind of what's going down. Like we mentioned last week, before we could announce the decline of, of TikTok, it had already gotten back up. So, you know, we have a highlight clip out there actually kind of painting that, that reality of how fast the news cycle and Trump continues to move fast. So lots of going down and it's just a little bit of a blur because I'm busy, like in a busy season with, with work and other things, still hiring a few people and doing things. So I'm not like as in tune, you know, maybe to my ex updates or breaking news things. I think sometimes something that's like somebody will tell me about or text me about, like in the morning, by the time I've learned about it in the afternoon, like it's on to something else. The news cycle flies.
C
They're moving quick. We're not used to, we're not used to an administration moving this quickly, making things.
B
Is there anything that surprised you the most, Chris, about the last couple weeks?
C
Politically or in general?
B
Just in general with either the business news or the political landscape.
C
I mean, I, I, to be honest, I was surprised Tik Tok was back up in 24 hours. Yeah, I didn't think that would be that quick. But besides that, Trump's doing his thing I mean, I, I expect him to come in guns ablazing and they're, they're working, so. But like you, I've not been glued to the television by any means. I think a lot of people, at least what you said, I feel a lot of people are kind of ramping back up right now. People have been sick and weather's been kind of nasty from everyone all over the country and it's been a lot to keep up with. California still burning.
B
Yeah, exactly. They could talk a whole episode about California. I, I, again, I, I don't, I don't pretend to understand the logistics of that whole situation. And it's a travesty. I'll tell you what's the travesty. Stock market's been taking a beating this week right to it. Deep Seek, the Chinese spin off of AI and Chachi pt, supposedly was created with using, you know, its own technology that uses way less energy, way less resources, and, you know, is way better. I'm some, I'm really simplifying, but that's the gist of it. Am I summarizing correctly, Chris?
C
Yeah, that's my understanding. It is really good at what it does, much better than any other AI platform. And it's more efficient and less energy, therefore, I guess, requiring less Nvidia chips, which is supposedly why you saw this correction in the market.
B
Yeah, Low cost model outperforming, so it spiked. Every market went related to computers, chips, Nvidia, all this stuff, everything's down, right, Costa, the software, hardware, landscape.
C
I mean, what my question is is how did this just kind of show up on the scene and explode like this? Like, nobody kind of knew how it worked or what they're working on. They just like, I feel like I woke up and all of a sudden everyone was talking about how awesome Deep Seek is for the, you know, utilizing it. And the next thing I saw was they were turning off access to anyone outside of China.
B
Yeah. So it's kind of like Covet showed up a little bit. Right.
C
Hey, someone said that, they said last time a big event came out of China, it actually was good for the markets eventually.
B
I mean, right? Yeah. Like Covid comes, you know, I don't know that it snuck up on us. I mean, it was kind of, you know, three to four months.
C
Was Nvidia kind of knowing this and hoping it wouldn't come out, you know?
B
Yeah. It's because everything they did was built on less advanced Nvidia chips. So it's, you know, I bet you.
C
Shoulder stock before this.
B
Yeah, I like watch the stock go look at the the trade market like Chinese stocks.
C
See what your congressmen are trading and you'll know what's going to happen.
B
Yeah, Exactly. It derailed NASDAQ, Nvidia and all AI darlings. The Deep Seek launch. Nvidia's stock has plummeted 20 plus percent, wiping out 600 billions in market value. That's a lot of money, man.
C
A lot of dough.
B
A lot of dough. Google, Microsoft and Palantir experienced significant losses. Meta booked the trend rising 2% haven't been as much on the AE bound bandwagon. A AI bandwagon. The. Even though it's in it, it kind of drives me crazy on Instagram, the whole AI search thing. Like yeah, it's not a basic search.
C
Annoying.
B
I don't need AI and everything in my life. It's. It makes you. We're skeptical here anyway. I am. And so it makes you wonder about the. Yeah. Did China just figure out how to copy all the code, make it a little better and cheaper? I mean is that essentially what's going on here?
C
Like that's kind of their forte, isn't it?
B
Yeah, it is everything.
C
Copy it and make it cheaper.
B
Nice. Watches, generators, bags, shoes, handbags.
C
You can get anything you want on Teemu nowadays, brother.
B
Yeah, Teemu. Go down, go into New York. What's the. The spot. I freaking lived in New York. Canal Street. Go to Canal street in New York, get you some AI chips or some Louisville Louis Vuitton handbags. It's fascinating. I. It just wiped out billions of dollars and it makes you. I get skeptical. But don't get wrong. Hey, we're Americans. We're pulling for the Team America here. But it makes me skeptical on both sides. Like if, if it's truly. Did they really innovate that fast? Over and above US Intelligence was US companies just using more resources and more cost to drive more market. You know, like my head goes in a lot of different directions of where are the nefarious players at. We know China's nefarious on some. I mean, you know, I know that but it has me also considering the other angles. Right. Who benefited, you know, from needing as much power and energy and chips and everything from the these softwares versus what China seemingly figured out using a lot less. I don't know. We'll see revealed. I think we will see. I. I think I'm going to go ask Deep Seek how this is going to play out here. Here's the prompt. AI bot. That's what I'm going to call it AI Bot. Leveraging Internet knowledge and past historical points of view. How would you predict the current predicament between China and the United States playing out? Given the fact that Deep Seq was developed mimicking much of the features, but better at lower cost than its US Counterparts, what would be three ways with which this might play out on the geopolitical landscape? Should. That should have been a good episode right there, Chris. We could have asked the Deep SE what it is. The question is, have they locked it down on the phone yet? Because I downloaded it. Yeah. Gave my data to see it seems to still be up on my phone and working. I'm going to ask it this question, Chris, while you tell us what's happening with crypto today. Well, crypto, Chris Dud.
C
Due to open seek, Bitcoin did fall below 100,000 briefly.
B
Ah.
C
And as a whole, crypto has been a little slow the last week or two. It's down and down is, you know, I mean, let's be real. Six months ago, people were going nuts over Bitcoin crossing 100,000, and now everyone's like, oh, it went under a hundred thousand. It's still strong. I mean, everything's kind of quiet right now, but there has still been a lot of good news coming out of, you know, Washington. You've got the administration pushing through more ETFs for these cryptocurrencies. You've got a Salana ETF, I think an Ethereum ETF so that your retail investors can now, you know, invest in crypto much, much easier. So this administration is definitely laying the foundation for a future of cryptocurrency in this country. So not financial advice, but I always say it. Get yourself a wallet opened up on one of these apps, crypto.com, coinbase, and start doing some dollar cost average investing. Connect your bank account, put on like $20 a week from bitcoin out of your bank account. It'll sort in your wallet and just do that, Set it and forget it, like I always say, you know, but it's no different than investing in the stock market now. So you should definitely be considering investing part of your income into cryptocurrencies now.
B
There we have. We did. Okay. It's still building. Boy, it's deep. Oh, boy, here we go. I'm gonna have to summarize. Deep sea, because I'm gonna tell you.
C
What I asked it, tell it to summarize.
B
I probably could. I don't know if it talked to you like it. So I said. Given your understanding of the geopolitical landscape, how would you envision the situation with China and the United States playing out given Deep Seq being developed at such a lower cost and lower resource than other United States counterparts? I got a 10 items. One being technological and competitive innovation advantage China Lower development costs could allow China to scale and deploy technologies like Deep Seq more rapidly, potentially gaining a competitive edge in areas such as artificial intelligence, data analytics and other tech driven sectors. The response from the U.S. from this advantage, the U.S. may respond by increasing investments in domestic innovation, tightening intellectual property protections, or imposing restrictions on Chinese technologies to maintain its competitive advantage. Economic implications Market penetration if Deep Seek offers comparable or superior capabilities at a lower cost, it could gain significant market share globally, including in the US Potentially disrupting existing US tech companies. The US Might impose tariffs or other trade barriers to protect domestic interest industries, escalating economic tensions between the two nations. Geopolitical tensions Pretty. Pretty spot on so far, Chris. And it's, you know, I'm enjoying geopolitical analysis. Right? Yeah.
C
Hey, it's a nice breakdown. Keep going.
B
Yeah. Global influence soft power. China's ability to produce advanced technologies at lower cost could enhance its soft power, particularly in developing countries seeking affordable and effective solutions. The US might strengthen alliances with like minded nations to counterbalance Chinese growing influence, leading to a more polarized global tech landscape. Not bad, not bad. There's data privacy and surveillance. Concerns over data privacy and the potential for surveillance could lead to stricter regulations on Chinese technologies in the U.S. the U.S. might emphasize ethical AI development as a differentiator, contrasting its approach with China's more state driven model. Not overall. Reading the rest there. I'm. I'm digging it like yeah, that sounds about right. And it fails to mention that the hundred billion one trillion dollar wipe off of the stock market. Lots of billions. Very rich people, not very happy.
C
Yeah, that in itself is a weapon.
B
Yeah, exactly. Weaponization of technology. Hey, there you go. That could be the. The name of today's podcast. Weaponization of tech. When tech has weapons. Yes. I mean serious stuff. But it's like there you go. Deep Seek. Quick, responsive and free. I just wish all the stuff I got from China was that way.
C
That's most of it. We're getting Amazon nowadays.
B
I know. It's actually good stuff. I don't mean to knock all Chinese manufacturers. There's probably some hard working people there making a lot of good that we use. But nonetheless it's. They shouldn't be allowed to copy our software if that's what's happened here. That's the bottom line.
C
Yep.
B
You know, innovate on your own dime. And I'm not smart enough to know, you know, someone else will figure that out. But somehow we still don't know where Covid started, you know, fully. Like, there's a lot of conspiracy theories, but nothing's like 100% in a. In the what history bible. So whether we find out exactly the origins of Deep Seek, all these names are so compelling. Deep Seek naming conventions. It's like, I like Deep Seek better than I like open AI Chat GPT.
C
Yep.
B
Give one more sense, you know, strike one for the. The brand box for him. But the name, but I don't know, it wiped off a lot of value on the US market. So it's having play. And it'll be interesting how Donald Trump sort of navigates this. He's got enough fires to put out, you know, and just. You gotta choose your battles. This one could be worth it. It just depends on what they find out. I just don't know how. We didn't know this was coming.
C
Right.
B
Or did they know and they just kind of let it happen. And if. If anyone on Nvidia's board sold like lots of stock last week, I'd be.
C
Watching Netflix documentary in about three years about it.
B
Yeah, exactly.
C
The day Nvidia crashed.
B
Yeah. Battleship Deep Seek Sinks Mothership.
C
I'm ready for it.
B
Anyway, you never know. Geopolitical warfare. That's not funny necessarily. But we do need to just kind of laugh and take a break every now and then. That's what we try to do on this show. Like just little breather, little perspective, but still makes you scratch your head just a bit. What else we got in the news? Oh, I saw this. It was really interesting article. It says basically 40% of people lie on their resumes. I was like, only 40%. You know, being a business owner, I look at them sometimes, like. But yeah, report out that says 40% of people are lying, either misstating things they did or didn't do, companies they may or may not have worked for, etc. That's surprising to you, Chris?
C
Not at all. A lot of creative writing when it comes to resumes nowadays.
B
Yeah.
C
A lot of fiction that seems like.
B
Something that's kind of like traffic lights that you sit at for too long. You know, we got AI, all this technology. Like, why are we like resumes like with ChatGPT and AI or something? Like, there should just be a way to summarize all this stuff down and make it factual. It Seems dated.
C
They can probably give you a personality profile based on someone's social media footprint nowadays, I'm sure.
B
Yes. Yeah.
C
Like the intelligence general. Could be.
B
Give me the characteristics of this person based on the combination of their four social media platforms.
C
Yeah, you'll know.
B
Give me a likelihood to stay in the job, to get promoted, to seek equity or to steal company secrets if I exist.
C
Yeah. Oh, it definitely, I'm sure does.
B
Yes, I'd say so.
C
They've got to find all of us.
B
Yeah. Trump says Microsoft is in talks to acquire Tick Tock.
C
That was fast.
B
Yeah, we were down. Back up. Now Trump and I've got Microsoft in the deal said Former president Donald Trump confirmed Microsoft's negotiations to acquire TikTok. He expressed interest in a competitive bidding process for the platform. The app, with approximately 170 million US users, briefly went offline on January 19 due to a law requiring ByteDance to sell or face a ban. Trump signed an executive order delaying the enforcement by 75 days. Yep, we'll see Microsoft. I wouldn't surprise me. I mean why wouldn't they be interested with the data, the popularity, you know.
C
Right.
B
Bill Gates is no dummy.
C
You know, he's not, he's a lot of things, but he's not a.
B
Not that. Not, not dumb. I don't know, man. I don't even get on Tik Tok right now. I'm the last person that should be even thinking about. I just, I, I, I just don't have enough time in my days like to get down that vortex anymore.
C
I never got into it and I just know it wasn't a can I wanted to open up. I don't want to get hooked on another one.
B
Yeah. Yes. That gateway drug, man. You don't want to start with that. You know, get into that.
C
You know, like social media.
B
Yeah. All the cool kids. World's richest people lost 108 billion after that dick seek sell off. That's a lot of money.
C
Those poor folks.
B
Well. And how is the gain though? Like all this is balancing out like right.
C
It's a gain or loss. Well, if you never took profit.
B
Yeah.
C
You know, where'd you get in at? You might still be in in the.
B
Green, so probably are.
C
Yeah.
B
The Yes. I gotta know you gave the stock update while or the crypto update while I was talking with Deep Seeking. Is XRP gonna keep going up higher? Are you hearing anything about the xrp?
C
I mean, dude, it depends who you talk to. I've heard both sides of the. I've heard there's it's gonna die and then I've heard it's gonna be the next best thing. But I forget something came out this week that I think was not good for it. I forget what it was. But I know XRP has a lot of very like you loyal members of that community.
B
Yeah.
C
But I mean it's still up, I believe from what it was.
B
But I know that I bought it for 77 cents. It said $3 and 6 cents at the time of this recording.
C
I think a lot of people believed XRP would be the US dollar digital currency or at least their software essentially right there.
B
Yeah.
C
Platform. And I don't know what's really happened with that. I, but I do think there's, it's an interesting time in the market. I think a lot of people just thought Trump would get in and things would just start going up and it hasn't really been happening like that. There's been a lot of policy placements and good things, but the charts aren't really moving. And on the flip side, you have a lot of money getting drained out of projects like XRP or Solana or Bitcoin because there's now so many of these meme and alternate coins like Trump Coin for example, you have every famous person, celebrity and every like 16 year old kid in their mom's basement trying to launch a coin. So you have a lot of more scamming and just money is not being congregated in as few places as it was maybe a previous cycle. So. But xrp, I mean it's strong, you got a lot of holders, but I don't know if it's going to rip. Yep, a lot of value as long as people hold it, you know.
B
Yeah, I need people to hold a little longer. I need that thing to get like $10 or something and I hope it does. I'd like to hold it for a while. That was when I was just thinking, okay, this was gonna ride the long haul, you know, like being one of those next 10, 20 coins.
C
But yeah, you're always in the green if you wait long enough. Usually.
B
Usually. But I don't. But, but like you said, man, the crypto market is just volatile enough that I'm kind of like I don't know where to really put the dollars right now.
C
I mean like we always say, man, go to safe big boys. Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum.
B
Yeah, even XRP I think is, yeah, safest. Those are just boring. I need my, I need my, my Covid crypto days back. I need my 400% a day drops, you know. Yeah, I, I, they're out there more than ever. Yeah, they are. But like, I don't know, I was.
C
Gonna lose a lot more money than make right now.
B
Yeah.
C
And app, literally right before we got on, I was reading some guys I'm friends with saying, like it's, this isn't easy. Like it's hard work and it's very volatile and, and essentially, unless you're day trading all day, just put some money and forget about it.
B
Yeah. We got a bit of breaking news here. Breaking news. Breaking news at least for us and this show. It won't be breaking news by the time you hear it. Do as we do. Pre record our Friday episode so that you can get it at 5am when you're on that treadmill or doing whatever you're doing. The Fed has held interest rates steady. So we have the interest rate 4 and a half percent, benchmark interest rate between 4 and a quarter and 4 and a half percent. So it's held steady. Donald Trump had, you know, wanted to pressure it. What he wanted them to come down. But think the threat of inflation, they have kept it where it's at. No rush to cut rates. Further questions? According to the central bank. So those interest rates are staying right where they're at, buddy. All the, those banks are going to keep banking.
C
Sorry, my boys and mortgages.
B
Yeah, tough. Well, I think that's got to come down. I get the inflation thing, but I just think the market start really banging. If we can get those interest rates down another point, point and a half, everything starts flowing. All the money all around the real estate, man, you get those houses selling, you get, you know, money in the market, cash equity. It, it impacts everything.
C
The people I know down here in real estate have been telling me it's been picking up.
B
Oh, what else we got? Today's news. Cost. No. Costco's got strikes going on. Trump suggests axing federal income tax. Returning to the richest period in history. We talked a little bit about this pre episode.
C
All for it, baby.
B
Instead of taxing U.S. citizenship, wants to tariff and tax foreign nation. Sounds good to me. I just don't know what this it is.
C
When can we expect our refund checks? For my last 36 years of being a taxpayer.
B
Yeah. First federal income tax was passed on February 25th of 1913.
C
Unconstitutional.
B
Part of the 16th amendment. The treasury data indicates that $4.92 trillion was collected in federal income taxes for the 2023 filing year. 4.92 trillion out of everybody's pocket and the roads still suck. I know that. State taxes.
C
I know. And they still got no fires in the water hydrants in California.
B
Yeah, exactly. And all we're doing is funding that we don't really want. I think sometimes I think there's stuff that we do on. I know Ukraine, but like it's like I think, yeah, keep it that, that I can get behind understanding that we've got to have that defense fund. I don't know about war specifically, but defense spending. But can Elon Musk and Donald Trump and all the team, can they not figure this out? Can they not get it? You know, it's just to me, tough choices. Too many, too many layers and too many connection points and I don't know how we'd ever get to that point of no income tax. I mean you really see that as a possibility?
C
Yeah.
B
No income tax.
C
No federal income tax. Yeah, I think you'll have state income tax.
B
Where are the, where are they going to get 4 trillion or what are they going to cut?
C
They print it all anyways. Yeah, it's all make believe. The Fed is really the problem.
B
I feel like you, you want to expound there, Chris, but you're kind of holding back there opinions on it.
C
But I think if you dive into the history and kind of even Trump throughout the years has kind of discussed this and then you had this Treasury Secretary even mention it this week as well. And I don't even know why you would even open that door.
B
Door.
C
If it wasn't a distinct possibility. So whether it be adjusting the tax rate. Right. I know we've talked years about like a flat rate tax.
B
Yep.
C
But I think we know that the way the system is set up and Trump said this right. When in his debate with Hillary years ago was like, yeah, the system is broken because I benefit off those same loopholes that you guys use that are essentially for the billionaire class. So I think there'll be some changes. I would love no federal income tax, but I'd be happy to meet somewhere in the middle.
B
Yeah, just cut it in half and double it.
C
Like what am I paying Social Security for if it's gonna be run out by the time I need it?
B
Yeah, exactly. That's all another. That's an episode in itself. Yeah. Super bowl ads. $8 million a piece.
C
That's it.
B
Run a Super bowl commercial on Fox seconds. I think that's for the 60 second, like a longer version, not just the 30. They sold 10 spots. $8 million a piece. I think that's the longer one minute versions, 30 second spots are literally half that 34 million said it can escalate by about a hundred thousand is remaining inventory lessons and game day approaches. This year the jump in price was closer to four for $500,000 per spot. But now it's sold out and you've got Philly playing Mahomes. You know I don't. I wouldn't say I have Chiefs fatigue. Look great team. One of the greatest players of all time. Gonna probably prove out to be one of the best quarterbacks of all time. I mean he probably already has done that, but maybe even the goat once it's said and done. Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid. I don't have fatigue, but I'm not a fan. So I'm like, all right. And Philly's won the last couple years, but I'm gonna pull for Philly and the old Philly special. Hope that comes out. I wish they'd win on the Philly special again. That's like the trick play Chris. They pulled that out. Let's be revolved a couple years three years ago. It's awesome. But the eight mil on the. I'm trying to think of. We talked about this last year, I think like Diddy or not Diddy freaking. Who was it that ran the spot? It wasn't Diddy. It was Kanye. Kanye ran the super bowl spot. Right. Got those newest shoes 7 I think last year. Yeah. And did. I don't know how much in sales. Not sure he got ROI on that or not. But nonetheless, no one's more. It's all about attention. You're buying attention the most. People are actually paying attention to the commercials during Super Bowl. So the, the purists in marketing actually say super bowl is the best buy if you can afford it because of how attentive people are on the commercials. So you're getting that toma top of mind awareness and it hanging longer because people are actually, you know, watching with intent because the commercials are usually entertaining. But nonetheless, this is like one of the only places too like they got to make all their money up because linear TV is dead except for sports. Like nobody's watching much linear tv. It's, it's, it's dying. You got streaming and everything else on the rise, but live sports being the one thing that pulls people in. And once those contracts are over, good luck for linear tv. So I will say this. It's been fun getting my. I have four boys and I grew up creating baseball cards and basketball cards and so been getting back into it. Chris, with the boys I brought. So this is why you gotta watch the YouTube channel, some of the pools we've had lately. And hey, if you're listening, you aren't itching sports cards, then whatever, it's my show. But let, but let me say this. If crip crypto is kind of doing this, I pulled some real winners, Chris. I mean, I got some dogs right here, man. These things are like Jaylen, Jay Daniels rookie cards. Look at that shine right there. That's $250 card my son pulled out of a pack. It was my, I bought it, I let him open it. I pulled this guy, Jalen Daniels silver rookie card prism. Somebody's listening, going, oh, yes, the business of sports card's crazy. I've been going to the sports card shops with my boys. Like, we went like a couple times last week, a couple different shots. And the number of people coming in and out of there for sports cards and Pokemon cards, let me tell you, that's a racket right there.
C
It's a real business.
B
Lots and lots of people are into it. Lots of money. Hey, they didn't make these cool cards like when I came up. You got like one, you might have a little tiny hologram in the corner maybe. Yeah, those FLIR or leaf cards, like leaf or whatever they were now, they got, they got shiny everything. But they got too many variations. Let me tell you, Chris. One Card has like 37 variations. It's the exact same picture like that, but then Florida, four color variations. And you know, prism this, parallel that, diamond this. It's like trying to look up the values. It's like, what did I get here? Did I get a, Did I get something good? You'll have a card. Oh, they'll get you too, Chris. You think you're like, dang, that is a cool looking card right there. That's got to be worth something. You go through the guidebook, it's 74 cents. It's like, what? That should be rare. Then they got numbered cards now stamped on there like this rookie card. Hey, maybe an offer on Instagram if you want. But it's out of 199. Pretty rare. I think it's going for a hundo. I'd sell it for 250 socks. It is good. The collector's card sports packs here, I brought in like all kinds of things. Anyway, it's a, it's a racket of a business. I like it. And look, if you're in G Vegas, my space here at Greenville Social House, I'm opening it up to the community. February 22nd, Brian sports cards here doing trade night. Five day kids, adults come to Social House 5 to 8pm Saturday. Doing it for the kids, man. And me, the kid at heart, Manny over at Brian Sports Cards is awesome. If you're in Greenville, go check him out. Brian Sports Cards. That's his dad. The name Brian, his name's Manny. Great guy, but we're gonna have it. So hey, come stop in G Vegas. You're thinking about a trip in. This is a good time. Come over, see me come and socialize. We have, who knows, probably 200 kids in here like trading cards. I'm gonna walk around looking for some deals, baby. I want those Jalen Daniel rookie cards now. The football season's over. Let me give you half price hustling little ones. No, I don't take advantage of them. They take advantage of me, man. Like, they know more than.
C
It's too smart, man.
B
They're smart, man. They know all that stuff. I'm the one that gotta look up the values. I'm like, wait, wait, wait. You want to do what they're trying to. My kids try to do it to me. My. My kids are like, I'll get Dad, I'll give you this for like four of the. I'm like, what?
C
It's a great hobby for learning. It is a great station and business and margins and stuff.
B
That's what I want to get my kids. Like, they. That was like. They started getting into it. I'm like, all right, Daddy can get back into this. And plus, I will say this, like, opening packs is like Vegas. The excitement of pack ripping a pack.
C
It's pretty lottery ticket. It's like a scratch off. So what am I gonna get?
B
Yeah, exactly. It's like. And if you're listening, you're. Oh, so you got asmr, the pack opening. I'm gonna. I'm open this one just for a little.
C
I smell good too.
B
Oh, yeah, yeah. Like the computer printing.
C
Like, I have another paper to playing cards.
B
Yeah, exactly.
C
Years.
B
Yeah. If this has. I'm gonna open a pack on the show like every time. If there ends up being like something special in here. We got Phil Sims old school cards. So, Phil Sims, this is Prism 2024 Pack Ripping 1st Edition here on right about now. It's a business show. The business of sports cards is maybe more lucrative than you'd think. Can also be a Saquon Barkley talked about Super Bowl. He's had the best playoffs, probably the best season running back in history or real Close. Literally hot, hot card especially this one's just the base, but still anything with saquons like turned to gold right now. He's, he's the man. That's a good sign for things to come in here. Here's somebody that's not had such a great couple years is my boy desean Watson. I love him, he's a Clemson guy. But it's, it's been bad news Bears all around. Hopefully his Achilles is there. We got Mark Andrews, Josh Jacobs, Quentin Johnson, two Phil Sims in the same pack. Oh, one silver. Wait a second, here's. This would be a good thing, Chris. See the difference in the base card? Can you see the difference on the screen? You see the hollow?
C
See one hollow ones not a bit blurry.
B
You can't see it as much. But on, if you're watching on YouTube now, you'll be able to see it. One, this one has that hollow that's hitting the light. This one not so much. This one worth more. That makes a big difference. I had a card Chris, you know with those like non hollow like a dollar. The hollow version was 150.
C
Gotta start investing in sports cards.
B
Mark Andrews. Yep. Eric Dickerson. Green card. Old school Eric Dickerson. Don't get too excited though. Those greens ones, they look good. Oh, that's shiny green. It's got a hollow too. About two bucks. Better than nothing. Kenneth Walker Jr, Jalen Polk. Dak Prescott. Red, white and blue. Oh boy. I just saw something Chris. But Dak Prescott, red, white and blue card. Chris can't totally see it because it's a little fuzzy on his side the way we do the recording. But you'll see it. Red, white, blue, Dak Prescott. That's about ten bucks. Kiss. Oh boy. J.J. mcCarthy. Prismatic rookie card. J.J. mcCarthy didn't play much this year, but that's a hot card right there. Minnesota. He's, he's predicted to be a star. The quarterback class Chris of 2024 is all really hot. This might be a 20 card right here, Chris. Maybe higher right out of that one pack. A pack cost 15. So money, money made right here. I'd say 30, $40 worth of cards. Even at probably like ebay values for 15 so far. Chris. And to throw it on top, Brian Thomas Jr. The number one receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rookie card, prismatic. Chris. I'm telling you, that's another probably $10, $5, $10 card. But again $40 in value, Chris, for 15. You can't do that on crypto steal. This is not investment Advice. This is just me opening. There's a lot of nobody names that I don't know too. But there's somebody. They're in the NFL. Yeah.
C
But hey, I reckon it's fun about two and look two or three.
B
If you enjoyed this segment and you shoot me a DM on Instagram, I'll send you a free pack on me that I put my money where my mouth is, say send me a message. It's free pack P A C K on Instagram, I'll send you a free pack of sports cards on me. See who's paying attention, who's listening. Chris, there you have it. Yet another angle here. We're giving you all the angles. We give you crypto angles. We're giving you the behind the scenes of the AI situation. Sports cards and 2-22- Coming Social House. Come check out trade night. It's gonna be fun here. Chris, any final words today?
C
Kick off your February right. Get out.
B
Yeah, that's right. February 1st. Tomorrow, February 1st, January. Like a. Like a flash. We appreciate you. Go to Ryan is right dot com, find all the highlight clips, find all the good stuff from the shows, links to Chris's hair products and those glasses he's wearing. We'll put those in the show notes if he lets us. And ultimately all where you can find us. I appreciate Chris for being on the show. Appreciate all our sponsors, Exponent Independent center, branded bills, shiny cards. These things are hot, baby. Man, they look nice, too. Oh, that's a. Oh, green prismatic. It's actually worth more. Like a kid at a candy store. We appreciate you. We'll see you next time. Right about now, this has been Right.
A
About now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. Visit ryan wright.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities. Thanks for listening.
Podcast Summary: "DeepSeek Turns into DeepSink for US Stock Market"
Right About Now with Ryan Alford
Release Date: January 31, 2025
In this episode of Right About Now with Ryan Alford, hosts Ryan Alford and his business partner Chris Hansen delve into a tumultuous week in the business and technology sectors, highlighting the meteoric rise and subsequent market impact of China's AI spin-off, DeepSeek. The discussion spans the geopolitical tensions between the US and China, the volatile cryptocurrency market, the soaring costs of Super Bowl advertisements, and the booming sports card industry.
The episode opens with Ryan and Chris examining the unexpected ascent of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company touted to outperform its US counterparts by utilizing less energy and resources. This breakthrough led to a dramatic decline in US tech stocks, particularly Nvidia, which saw its stock plummet by over 20%, erasing approximately $600 billion in market value.
Notable Quotes:
The hosts express skepticism about the rapid development and emergence of DeepSeek, drawing parallels to the unpredictable onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. They ponder whether Nvidia anticipated this competition and reflect on the broader implications for the US tech industry.
Geopolitical Implications: Ryan and Chris delve into how China's ability to innovate rapidly and cost-effectively with technologies like DeepSeek could shift the global balance of power. They predict potential US responses, such as increased investment in domestic innovation and stricter intellectual property protections, to counteract China's advancements.
Notable Quotes:
Transitioning to the cryptocurrency sector, Ryan and Chris discuss the recent dip in Bitcoin prices below $100,000 and the overall slow performance of the crypto market. They highlight the introduction of cryptocurrency ETFs by the current administration, aiming to make crypto investments more accessible to retail investors.
Investment Insights: Ryan advises listeners to consider dollar-cost averaging into cryptocurrencies by setting up automated, regular investments, akin to traditional stock market strategies.
Notable Quotes:
Despite the potential for growth, both hosts caution against the high volatility and prevalence of meme coins and scams, emphasizing the importance of sticking to established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP.
Ryan and Chris shift their focus to the marketing landscape, specifically the soaring costs of Super Bowl commercials. They discuss the value and effectiveness of investing in high-profile advertising slots during the game, noting that while a 30-second spot now costs around $4 million and can escalate to $5 million, the return on investment remains significant due to the unparalleled audience engagement.
Notable Quotes:
In a lighter segment, Ryan shares his enthusiasm for the resurgence of the sports card hobby. He recounts recent visits to sports card shops with his children, highlighting the excitement of opening packs and discovering valuable cards. This segment underscores the enduring appeal of collectibles and their potential as lucrative investments.
Notable Activities:
Notable Quotes:
The conversation shifts to taxation, with Ryan discussing Donald Trump's recent suggestion to eliminate federal income tax in favor of taxing foreign nationals. They debate the feasibility and implications of such a policy change, considering the massive sum of $4.92 trillion collected in federal income taxes for the 2023 filing year.
Notable Quotes:
Both hosts express skepticism about the practicality of abolishing federal income tax without significant reforms to state taxes and defense spending.
In the latest update, Ryan and Chris discuss the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates steady at 4.25-4.5% amidst pressures from inflation and political figures like Donald Trump advocating for rate cuts. They analyze the potential impact on the real estate market and overall economic activity.
Notable Quotes:
Ryan and Chris wrap up the episode by reinforcing the multifaceted nature of the business world, blending serious analysis with light-hearted commentary. They invite listeners to engage with upcoming events, such as the trade night at Greenville Social House, and encourage participation in the dynamic sports card market. The hosts emphasize the importance of staying informed and adaptable in rapidly changing markets, leaving listeners with a blend of insights and entertainment.
Final Notable Quote:
For more insights and detailed discussions, visit RyanIsRight.com or follow @rightaboutnowshow and @ryanalford on Instagram.