2️⃣ “Upvote” — Our Reddit Stock Pick. Shirley Temple’s surge. Trump’s Landlord Lockout.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Best One Yet

Episode 2️⃣ “Upvote” — Our Reddit Stock Pick. Shirley Temple’s surge. Trump’s Landlord Lockout.

Date: January 8, 2026
Hosts: Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell

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Episode Overview

Jack and Nick bring their signature energy to break down the three most buzzworthy business stories you need to know today. The episode covers the surprising renaissance of the Shirley Temple as the official drink of Dry January, President Trump's dramatic policy announcement to ban corporate home buying, and their second 2026 stock pick—Reddit—amid the rising importance of realness in an AI-flooded world. Each story is interspersed with quick wit, cultural context, memorable banter, and actionable takeaways.

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Key Segments & Timestamps

• [04:48] Story 1: Shirley Temple’s Surge as 2026’s Top Non-Alc Drink
• [09:17] Story 2: President Trump’s “Landlord Lockout”—Banning Corporate Home Buying
• [14:12] Story 3: Reddit—Jack & Nick’s 2026 Stock Pick & “Island of Realness”
• [19:20] “What Else You Need to Know” Business Briefs
• [21:06] The Best Fact Yet: Oregon Ducks' Unique College Football Distinctions

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1️⃣ Shirley Temple’s Surge: Dry January’s Official Drink

[04:48–09:17]

Context:

• Dry January is bigger than ever: 1 in 4 Americans participated last year ([05:21]).
• Shirley Temple, the OG mocktail, is crowned the trendiest non-alcoholic drink for 2026.

Details & Insights:

• “Poppy and Olipop both launched a Shirley Temple in the same week...7UP and Gatorade too.” ([04:52])
• Shirley Temple drink: base is ginger ale, Sprite or 7Up, grenadine, and those “gorgeous cherries that are skinless and, like, shockingly red.” ([05:35])
• 95 years old; invented at Chasen’s in LA so child actors could join the adults post-filming ([06:03]).
• Ironic twist: The real Shirley Temple “hated Shirley Temples...too sweet” and fought commercial use of her name ([06:15]).

Notable Trend:

• Brands rolling out Shirley Temple products all at once: Olipop (7 Instagram posts), Poppy (9), Ben Stiller’s soda startup, Gatorade’s electrolyte version, 16 Handles’ froyo, influencer “Shirley Temple King” ([07:01–07:28]).
• Highlights “kidulting” (adults embracing nostalgic products) in beverages, plus “newstalgia”—remixing old hits in modern, Instagram-friendly ways ([07:32]).

Notable Quote:

• Jack: “Companies used to do research and development. Now they do scrolling and development.” ([08:11])

Takeaway:

• Brands are shifting from traditional R&D to “S&D” (“Scrolling and Development”)—spotting social media trends and capitalizing, which is faster, easier, and less risky since consumer demand is proven online ([08:11–09:10]).
• “The good companies, they do R&D. But the smart ones do S and D.” ([09:10])

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2️⃣ Trump’s Landlord Lockout: Corporate Homebuying Ban

[09:17–13:07]

Context:

• President Trump announced plans to ban Wall Street/corporate buying of homes in the U.S. ([09:17]).
• Big issue: 19% of homes sold in Q1 2024 were to investment firms (Redfin data, [09:48]).

Details & Insights:

• Problem: Investment firms turn homes into rental properties or flip for profit, driving up prices via algorithm-determined rents—especially acute in Atlanta, where corporate landlords own 30% of rental homes ([10:26]).
• “If you live in Atlanta, you know that this competition always leads to all cash offers, which raises rents.” ([10:34])
• Announcement hit public companies hard: Opendoor dropped 11%, Blackstone dropped 5% ([11:09–11:32]).
• Context warning: Presidential declarations do not guarantee policy change; lobbyists likely to resist ([11:42–12:08]).

Takeaway:

• Biggest issue isn’t just Wall Street buying homes, but not building enough new homes.
• “We need Operation Warp Speed—but for homes.” ([13:02])
• “Why doesn’t housing get the same attention from Washington as Covid did or as AI is getting right now?” ([12:39])

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3️⃣ Reddit: The “Island of Realness” & 2026 Stock Pick

[14:12–19:20]

Context:

• Jack and Nick’s second annual portfolio resolution stock pick: Reddit (RDDT) ([14:12]).
• Motivated by Reddit’s position as a hub of “realness” in an era of AI content.

Details & Insights:

• Reddit went public in 2024, now worth $49B—minuscule compared to Meta but up 6x since IPO ([15:47]).
• Unique vibe: “Reddit was the rogue social media site...basically the comment section fight club." ([15:38])
• Push to “button up” for IPO but maintain core culture; new homepage and upgraded search launching to capitalize on desire for authentic content ([16:04–17:10]).
• CEO Steve Huffman: “Reddit is for real people to talk about stuff.” ([16:31])
• AI platforms (OpenAI, Google) increasingly license Reddit data, making Reddit valuable both for ad revenue & as a data licensing play ([18:09]).

Notable Moments:

• Jim Cramer physically reacts to Jack’s Reddit pick: “He started hitting me, I didn’t know if it was excitement or anger” ([14:41]).
• Banter about anonymous Reddit handles: “You don’t tell anyone your Reddit handle—maybe your best friend from the street, not even your therapist.” ([15:25])
• Lively discussion about the upcoming homepage/search bar, making Reddit the starting point for real Internet browsing ([17:10]).

Takeaway:

• Reddit should change its ticker symbol to REAL.
• AI “wants human results”—Reddit is the prime data source for major AI training; Wall Street expects Reddit’s licensing contracts to quadruple with Google ([18:09–18:24]).
• Dual growth flywheel: growth in platform traffic and AI licensing demand ([18:24–18:35]).
• “Reddit is our stock pick of 2026...You heard it here on The Best One Yet.” ([19:20])

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Business Briefs: Lightning Round News

[19:20–21:06]

• McRib Lawsuit: McDonald's sued for deceptive McRib ingredients—allegedly heart, tripe, stomach, not ribs ([19:29]).
  • “McRib is a McFib” ([19:55])
• DoorDash Trolling Scam: DoorDash hit with AI deepfake scam, revealing fake internal leaks ([20:04]).
• Best Performing Stock Market 2025: South Korea’s KOSPI up 75%, led by chipmakers and “K-cool” brands ([20:37]).
  • “Korea is very in...season five White Lotus!” ([20:58])

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“Best Fact Yet”—Oregon Ducks Football

[21:06–21:58]

• University of Oregon:
  • Most football uniform combinations.
  • Loudest stadium per capita (despite only 54k seats).
  • Nike founder Phil Knight is biggest donor ([21:31–21:46]).
  • Fun fact: “Loudest stadium per capita. That’s a statistic I didn’t know existed.” ([21:52])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “No sport is more dependent on Hollywood for TV ratings than hockey.” ([02:33])
• “The good companies, they do R&D. But the smart ones do S and D.” ([09:10])
• “Open doors, door got shut.” ([11:11])
• “Operation Warp Speed, but for homes.” ([13:04])
• “Reddit is for real people to talk about stuff.” —Steve Huffman, Reddit CEO ([16:31])
• Banter: “You don’t tell anyone your Reddit handle — maybe your best friend from the street, not even your therapist.” ([15:25])

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Episode Tone

• Energetic, playful, witty—with timely pop culture and business world asides.
• Knowledgeable but never dry; hosts riff on each other and engage in memorable banter.
• Accessible: breaks down complex business news into bite-size and actionable analysis.

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Useful Links

• Nick & Jack Studios: The Best One Yet Podcast
• [Episode Tickets / Tour Info](included in episode description)

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This summary captures all major news, insights, and the unique flavor of Nick & Jack's business podcast—perfect for anyone who wants to stay sharp, sound smart, and keep up on the “pop-biz” pulse.

Transcript

[A]

This is Nick, this is Jack. It is Thursday, the new Friday, January 8th, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T, boy. The top three pop business news stories.

[B]

You need to know today.

[A]

I'm sorry. Update on our live tour. The first show, February 25th, Austin, Texas. Jack, how many tickets are left?

[B]

Zero.

[C]

Sold out.

[A]

So if you're in DC, New York.

[B]

Or LA, buy tickets now while you still can.

[A]

Yeah, we put the links in the episode description.

[C]

If the tickets are still there.

[A]

I don't know, they may have sold.

[C]

Out too by now.

[A]

Jack. Okay, really? Grab your tickets now. We can't wait to see you live. But three fantastic stories for today's show.

[C]

What do we got on the T boy?

[B]

For our first story, the drink of dry January has already been crowned. It's the Shirley Temple, Jack.

[A]

And I will tell you why. Gatorade, 7up, Olipoppy, and like every other beverage brand, are going gaga for Grenadine.

[B]

For our second story, President Trump said yesterday he's banning corporate home buying in America so that families can buy homes instead.

[A]

We call it the landlord lockout, because.

[C]

When Wall street stops buying, there is more for the rest of us.

[B]

And our third and final story, for our second day in a row, we're doing our portfolio resolutions. Our three stock picks for the new.

[C]

Year and our second stock pick for 2026. It just got upvoted on Reddit.

[B]

But Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

[A]

Oh, I mean, no one else is doing that mix. Love the mix of stories, Jack.

[B]

The hottest show on TV right now is actually on ice.

[A]

Heated rivalry. HBO's gay hockey romance. You heard that right. Heated Rivalry.

[B]

The rom com series about two hockey players who hook up when they play each other.

[A]

We're not talking Gretzky and Mess, but we could be talking Gretzky and Messier. Queer Romance and cross checks.

[B]

That's what you get. Heated Romance is the number one streaming show in Canada. And has my wife suddenly claiming she's a hockey fan.

[A]

Yeah, she called five for fighting on that one. Perfect timing, by the way, Jack.

[C]

Cause the Winter Olympics start in one month and NHL players are involved in the game scan.

[B]

It's gonna be an exciting game. But it has Nick and me realizing hockey's biggest mainstream moments in American history. They tend to be linked to movies.

[C]

We dove into the numbers. Get this. 1992. You got the Mighty Ducks trilogy, which drove a sur in ice skating programs.

[B]

And that fictional team led to a real NHL team, the Anaheim Ducks.

[A]

Worth a real multi million dollars.

[C]

In 2004, Disney hit the ice again with Miracle about Team USA.

[B]

Disney also did Inside Out 1 and Inside Out 2, where the protagonist is a hockey player.

[A]

I'm sorry, Jack, pause the pod.

[C]

Walt Disney didn't drive a car. He drove a Zamboni.

[B]

You also got Happy Gilmore, Mystery Alaska, and now heated rivalry.

[C]

Basti is based on our research. No sport is more dependent on Hollywood for TV ratings than Hock.

[B]

The only times in my life I've ever paid attention to hockey is movies.

[A]

I'll pretend I didn't hear that.

[C]

And according to ChatGPT, hockey movies actually made more at the box office than basketball movies have.

[B]

So hockey is the winter sport of the day, not basketball.

[A]

Add it all up and what the league needs isn't another Alex Ovechkin, is it?

[B]

Jack? Hockey needs another Gordon Bombay.

[A]

And knuckle puck is a profit. Puppy D4.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The Mighty Ducks 6.

[A]

That's a goal sound Jack. That's a goal sound. Let's hit our three stories.

[D]

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet but the best is the norm. Jack. Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fat tip. T Boy City on your at list if you low you know cause we read to go we can't wait no more so just start the show Start the show.

[A]

First, a quick word from our sponsor.

[E]

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[A]

For our first story, Poppy and Olipop.

[C]

Both launched a Shirley Temple in the same week. Oh, and 7up also has a Shirley Temple now. Oh, and even Gatorade. Yeah, they've got a Shirley Temple now.

[B]

Shirley Temple became the flavor of the year last year because of something we call S and D. Oh, yetis.

[C]

Happy dry January.

[A]

To all those who celebrate. Your local bar looks more like a high school dance. Yeah, bartenders aren't celebrating. No, no, no, they're not. No, they're not. A lot of chaperones at the bar, but no schnapps, Jack, just say no to the pinot.

[C]

Get this. One out of four Americans actually did dry January last year.

[B]

And the number one trending non alcohol drink for dry January, it's the Shirley Temple.

[C]

The Shirley Temple. The OG Mocktail. Jack, could you sprinkle on some ingredient context, please?

[B]

Well, the base is ging, Sprite or 7Up. They all work. And then you add grenadine with some of those gorgeous cherries that are skinless and, like, shockingly red.

[C]

I mean, you never forget your first Shirley. Remember your first Shirley, Jack?

[A]

Oh, it sounds like you forgot your first Shirley. I was at Beni Han and the chef, like, threw a shrimp into my mouth. And then I was like, hey, three more for the birthday party. You washed it down with the Shirley Temple, huh?

[C]

But besties Jack and I jumped in t boy style. And the Shirley was actually invented at Chasen's restaurant in lovely Los Angeles 95.

[B]

Years ago so that child actors could drink a beverage after the shooting with their adult co stars.

[C]

But here's the ironic twist. We discovered Shirley Temple hated Shirley Temples.

[B]

You mean the actress Shirley Temple? Yeah.

[A]

In fact, she did an interview in the 1980s where she said they were just too sweet.

[C]

She even sued to stop brands from using her name until her death, which came in 2014.

[B]

But it wasn't until 11 years later, 2025, that brands started using the Shirley Temple name.

[A]

Once again, besties, the Shirley Temple is.

[C]

In our opinion and our research, the unofficial flavor of the year, because we've.

[B]

Never seen more launched the same thing at the same time as the Shirley Temple.

[A]

Okay, let's whip out the whiteboard. Follow us on this one. Three days ago, Olipop, the soda biz.

[C]

Launched a Shirley Temple flavor.

[B]

Funny timing, because earlier that week, on January 1st, Poppy launched a Shirley Temple.

[C]

We noticed Olipop made seven separate Instagram.

[A]

Posts to hype and launch their Shirley.

[C]

Temple while Poppy did nine of them.

[B]

Oh, and a couple months prior, Ben Stiller launched a new soda brand with Shirley Temple as the first flavor.

[C]

Apparently, Ben Stiller, according to him, drinks three Shirley Temples at every dinner meal.

[B]

And set seven up. Also launched a Shirley Temple this fall.

[C]

Sorry, pause the pause, Jack. Before that, Gatorade introduced a Shirley Temple with electrolytes.

[B]

Last fall, 16 handles created a Shirley Temple frozen yogurt. And there's even a Shirley Temple influencer, the Shirley temple king. With 250,000 followers.

[A]

The new York Times did a whole profile on this dude.

[C]

He even signed with an agent.

[B]

Now, we've talked about kidalting in the toy industry.

[A]

Yeah, we have. Like, we covered Legos yesterday, Jack. And like, you know, adults playing with Legos. That's cadalting.

[B]

But the Shirley Temple surge is cadalting in drinks.

[C]

Yes, it is. It's also another concept we've noticed that we call new stalgia.

[B]

Remixing old concepts with new updates.

[C]

You see, the pink pretty bubbles of a Shirley Temple are basically made for the Instagram era. This is their moment.

[A]

So add it all up and Shirley.

[C]

Temple was a movie star. But the Shirley Temple drink is now a TikTok star.

[B]

Which leads to our takeaway.

[A]

Yes, it does. We'll actually make it four. We'll have four of them with extra cherries. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies.

[C]

With the Shirley Temples?

[B]

Companies used to do research and development. Now they do scrolling and development.

[C]

Yetis, we actually trace this Shirley Temple boom all the way back to 2021. During the pandemic, we were bored at.

[B]

Home, so we mixed together those three ingredients and rediscovered our childhood treat.

[A]

And as more Americans go dry and post about going dry, Shirley Temple demand has surged.

[B]

That is why a dozen companies have recently launched and packaged their own Shirley Temple products. They saw your posts on social.

[C]

You see besties, brands used to R and D research and development.

[B]

You do research in a lab, you test the new product with a focus group before finally bringing it to market.

[C]

But now we notice some of them are doing S and D scrolling and development.

[B]

You scroll social media, figure out what's popular, bottle your own version, bring it to market.

[C]

Now, S and D isn't patentable. Everyone can do it, and you're basically just bottling up something that already exists.

[B]

But S and D is also less risky since, you know, consumers already want this thing. You're just making it easy for them.

[A]

Couldn't have said it better, Jack.

[C]

The good companies, they do R&D. But the smart ones do S and D.

[A]

For our second story, President Trump.

[C]

Said he is banning Wall street from buying homes.

[B]

It's the landlord lockout. But there's a much bigger opportunity that Nick and I are dying to talk about.

[C]

Oh, but before we get to that opportunity, Jack, let's start with some trivia. Guess who bought nearly one out of five homes sold in America in the first quarter of 2024?

[B]

It's not the Jeffersons.

[C]

No.

[B]

It's not the lovely dink couple that moved in down.

[C]

They're great.

[B]

It's not even. Bravo to film season 16 of Summer House.

[A]

Oh, the answer.

[B]

One out of five homes sold in America in Q1, 2024 was bought by Wall Street.

[A]

Wall Street.

[C]

According to Redfin, 19% of homes were bought by investment firms. I mean, Jack, what kind of a.

[A]

Housewarming gift are we gonna give Goldman Sachs?

[B]

I don't know, like a dividend.

[A]

Jamie, you did a great job with the sconces in the kitchen.

[B]

These Wall street investment firms didn't buy the house to live in them. They bought the house to become a corporate landlord or to flip the house for a higher price down the road.

[C]

And those corporate landlords often rent out those houses at prices determined by an algorithm.

[B]

And those prices, yeah, they're higher than the rest of the market.

[A]

Want to talk about Atlanta, Jack? Oh, Atlanta.

[B]

It's particularly chronic. 30% of single family homes there available for rent are owned by Wall street investment firms.

[A]

If you live in Atlanta, you know.

[C]

That this competition always leads to all cash offers, which raises rents. And that makes it even harder for actual families to buy and move.

[B]

Which leads to the news from yesterday. Eager to show action on the affordability issue, President Trump posted that he was taking action to outlaw this kind of corporate buying of homes.

[C]

So big positive news for all the.

[A]

Dinks out there looking to potentially buy into a home.

[B]

But really bad news for private equity firms, REITs, companies like fundrise, or real estate companies that flip houses like Opendoor.

[A]

Opendoor, because Opendoor is a corporation that buys and sells houses.

[C]

And they fell a lesson 11% yesterday.

[B]

Open doors, door got shut.

[C]

Or Jack, how about Blackstone, which famously.

[A]

Bought Stuytown, the real estate development in.

[C]

New York city, back in 2015.

[B]

Blackstone, the PE firm, spent $5 billion to buy those 11,000 apartments. But never again will a Wall street home purchase like that happen, according to Trump's post yesterday, which is why Blackstone.

[C]

Stock fell 5% yesterday.

[B]

Now, important context that we need to.

[A]

Sprinkle on this isn't political context. This is just context. We have all noticed over the last year.

[B]

Trump saying something is not the same as that something actually happening.

[A]

For example, President Trump said he would.

[C]

Tariff foreign films last year, but nothing has happened to make that actually happen.

[B]

There's lots of examples of tweets coming out about a policy and then that policy getting zero action.

[C]

But on this, President Trump said he's taking immediate steps and will be calling on Congress to codify it.

[B]

This landlord lockout, as we call it, it's populist red meat, but lobbyists are going to fight it tooth and nail.

[A]

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies?

[C]

Whether they rent or they own, we.

[B]

Need Operation Warp Speed. But for homes Yetis, there are a.

[C]

Whole bunch of reasons why housing is too expensive. Wall street landlords is one of them. But it's actually not the biggest.

[B]

The biggest driver of housing unaffordability is simply that there aren't enough homes in.

[C]

This country, ain't enough homes, in our opinion. Housing is the number one source of economic anxiety and unhappiness in our country. It's a core reason for the Vibe session.

[B]

So why doesn't housing, this fundamental issue that literally everyone in this country has.

[A]

To deal with, it's a roof over your head.

[B]

Why can't housing get the same attention from Washington as Covid did during the pandemic or as AI is getting right now?

[C]

Sure, a landlord lockout would be nice, but what we really need is a nationwide effort to build millions of more homes fast and affordably.

[B]

That's what will actually make a dent and actually bring down the insanely high cost of living that pretty much everyone in this country is suffering from.

[A]

What we also need is Operation Warp Speed.

[C]

But this time for homes.

[A]

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[A]

For our third and final story, it's the second of our stock picks for 2026.

[C]

It's Reddit. As the world gets flooded with AI, Reddit is an island of realness.

[B]

That means it's gonna make big money in two different ways. But our story is finishes with a bold idea for Reddit.

[C]

Spoiler.

[A]

We're renaming Reddit Besties. This stock pick, it was actually full disclosure Jack's idea. Jack, you want to share the context here?

[C]

Sprinkle it on.

[B]

Well, when I mentioned it to Jim Cramer in our interview with him, the Mad Money host on CNBC started hitting me.

[A]

Yeah, he started hitting Jack.

[B]

I didn't know if it was hitting me for, like, love, excitement, or anger.

[A]

Hey, Trey, why don't we play the clip, for example?

[B]

Jack, give me something.

[C]

All right.

[B]

So, Jack, Reddit.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Oh, Jesus.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Stop, stop.

[A]

No, this is bad. My dog does that.

[B]

Stop, stop.

[C]

No.

[B]

I don't know if you're unbelievably great.

[C]

This is bad.

[A]

It's unbelievably great. Now I know Jack, and I can tell you he has not showered. Oh, yeah. Since Jim Cramer hit that leg, that was a high point in our careers right there.

[B]

I laminated my thigh, actually, to make sure his germs remain on me.

[A]

Now let's get into why this is our stock pit.

[C]

Besties. Reddit was the rogue social media site, the only one back in the day without profile pics, anonymous, everything.

[B]

You don't tell anyone your Reddit handled. Maybe your best friend from the street.

[A]

You grew up on, but not even your therapist.

[B]

And for 20 years, that's what Reddit was. Basically the comment section fight club.

[C]

But in 2024, Reddit buttoned up a bit and prepared for an IPO. Got a little more corporate without alienating its power users.

[B]

And since its IPO, Reddit stock is.

[C]

Up nearly 6x and yet Reddit stock is still worth just 49 billion bucks. Jack, that's not much.

[B]

$49 billion sounds like a really valu. But compare that to meta. Meta is worth 300 times as much as Reddit.

[C]

Sit down, stand up, and upvote that one again.

[B]

That's one reason why we think Reddit is undervalued.

[C]

True.

[B]

The other reason we think Reddit stock is undervalued is that it's uniquely positioned to be an island of realness in the flood of artificial intelligence.

[C]

Basically, as AI floods the zone, Reddit is Noah's ark.

[B]

Now, we interviewed the CEO of Reddit, Steve Huffman, last year.

[A]

We did.

[B]

And one casual but profound thing that he said, we can't stop thinking about.

[C]

He said it almost in passing, but here's the quote. Reddit is for real people to talk about stuff.

[B]

For real people to talk about stuff.

[C]

I mean, sounds simple, Jack, right? But actually, it's increasingly rare.

[B]

You might have seen the CEO of Instagram's post last week. According to Adam Mosseri, your feed will soon be full of fake people.

[C]

And according to OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman, you'll stop reading human written articles and start reading AI ridden summaries instead.

[B]

As we become overwhelmed by a world that's just artificial AI slop, more and more people will seek out realness.

[C]

And that is why this year, Reddit is launching a brand new homepage with a new search bar.

[B]

It thinks it can become the starting point of your Internet journey because everywhere else is just artificial.

[C]

For those who don't want AI results, they want human results. That is a growth narrative that we just can't stop thinking about.

[B]

Now, there is business model risk here. Reddit is not a video platform, so they may never earn the advertising dollars that YouTube demands.

[A]

And Reddit is full of anonymous users.

[C]

So they can't target ads as well as Zuck can.

[B]

So our stock pick could be wrong.

[A]

It could be wrong, but we think.

[B]

Reddit's realness ironically makes it a hidden artificial intelligence winner.

[C]

And Steve Huffman, if you're listening, let us know what you think in the comments.

[A]

And Steve Huffman, if you're listening, thanks.

[B]

For giving me possibly the coolest thing about me.

[A]

This is so cool.

[B]

My Reddit handle is Jack.

[A]

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Reddit?

[B]

Reddit should change its ticker symbol to real R E A L. Guess who.

[A]

Else wants human results these days?

[C]

AI.

[A]

AI wants human results.

[B]

Reddit is the number one site that OpenAI and Google need access to to keep their large language models up to date with what's actually happening in the world.

[C]

In fact, Wall street expects Reddit's licensing.

[A]

Contract with Google to 4x in price this year.

[B]

So add it all up. On one side, you got more people coming to Reddit, and that means more advertising revenue.

[C]

And Jack, on the other side, you got more AI models training on Reddit, which means more licensing dollars.

[A]

You didn't read it on Reddit.

[B]

Yetis. You heard it right here on the best one yet.

[A]

Yes, you did. Reddit is our stock pick of 2026. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday, Poppy.

[B]

And Olipop, arch rival Soda Disruptors, launched Shirley Temples four days apart from each other.

[A]

That is not R and D. That is S and D. Scroll to see.

[C]

What'S trending and then develop it.

[B]

For our second story, President Trump said he's going to end corporate home buying so families can buy the homes instead.

[A]

It's the landlord lockout, but even more.

[C]

Helpful, Operation Warp Speed but for homes.

[B]

And our third and final story is our second of our three stock picks for 2026. Reddit. Reddit, it's an island of realness in the flood of AI.

[A]

We think Reddit should change their ticker.

[C]

Symbol to R, E, A L real.

[B]

But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

[A]

First, we got ourselves a MC lawsuit. McDonald's just got sued over the McRib sandwich.

[C]

Apparently ain't no rib in that thing.

[B]

Class action lawsuit. The pork in the McRib is heart tripe and scalded pig stomach. Wow, that's appetiz.

[A]

Technical terms, shocker. By the way, those are all lower grade meats, which are then shaped into a rib sized format.

[B]

Reminds us of the subway fake tuna fiasco. McRib is a McFib.

[A]

Yeah, the McFuna. McFib.

[B]

Allegedly.

[C]

And second, wild week over at DoorDash. Get this, they're dealing with an epic AI trolling scam right now.

[B]

With the help of AI someone pretended to be a DoorDash employee and reveal online deep, dark secrets about the company.

[C]

Apparently, this dude used AI to create a deepfake badge and then post it to make it look like he was a real employee. Saying DoorDash had desperation ratings on its.

[B]

Drivers, but all of the secrets that he purportedly leaked, they were all fake, as was the badge. It's a deep fake situation happening randomly at DoorDash.

[A]

And finally, we forgot to tell you.

[C]

The best stock market of 2025.

[A]

You know what it was?

[C]

We'll give you a pause.

[A]

South Korea.

[B]

South Korea's benchmark stock market index rose 75% last year, which is the best performance of any global stock market on earth.

[C]

Now, that was driven by chipmaker stocks, which are based in Korea, but also, interestingly, by a range of consumer brands.

[B]

Korean noodle Stocks. Korean beauty stocks. K Pop. Demon Hunter.

[C]

Yes, talk to me, Jack.

[B]

Korea is very in. It's probably season five with the White Lotus. Because season four is France. You know that, right?

[C]

Spoiler.

[A]

Now time for the best fact yet. This one ripped up by Frankie Bush.

[C]

Over in Southern California.

[B]

The College Football Playoff semifinals happen tonight, Thursday and tomorrow.

[A]

Friday.

[C]

Yeah, we got Indiana, Ole Miss, Oregon and Miami still in it.

[B]

But only one of those four teams has two specific records.

[C]

Get this. One of those four remaining teams has the most uniform combinations that the players get to wear.

[B]

And that same team has the loudest stadium per capita.

[C]

And that team is Oregon.

[B]

Oregon, which is the Nike school. Phil Knight's, their biggest donor, has 12 different helmets. They wear much less jerseys and pants.

[C]

And Oregon also has the 6th loudest stadium of all the teams with only 54,000 seats.

[B]

Loudest stadium per capita. That's a statistic I didn't know existed. But Oregon is best of the best.

[A]

As a Nike shareholder, I can tell you I hope that was a write off. Jack. Yetis, you look fantastic for the new Friday.

[C]

And if you haven't yet, remember to.

[A]

Drop down and give us five stars, rate and review the show. We love seeing them to kick off the year.

[B]

Guys, we have 9.9000 reviews on Spotify.

[A]

I think like a month ago I asked you to get us to 10,000. We didn't get there. Now it's our New Year's resolution for this year. Oh, and by the way, if you're listening, Steve Huffman, I would love to get the Reddit handle.

[C]

Nick, we should talk.

[B]

Sure, somebody else might have it, but we could talk to some people who know some people.

[A]

If you know, you know. And before we go, a happy birthday.

[C]

To YETI Clay Green down in Sneadville.

[A]

Tennessee, doing a life reset this year. Congrats and good luck, Clay.

[B]

And happy birthday to Kara Fuller in Hobie Sound, Florida.

[A]

Your bestie can't wait to reunite with you.

[E]

So.

[A]

And Tammy conquer it. In Alpine, Utah is an OG snacker turned Yeti. Happy birthday, the legendary Tammy.

[B]

And a big shout out to Luis Vasquez, who got a reservation at Sushi Zanmai to try that most expensive tuna fish, the Black Diamond.

[A]

Louis, send us a DM or drop a comment. We can't wait to hear that tuna taste. And a big thank you to Brian.

[B]

Quinn for featuring T boy on his YouTube channel and for listening to the show every day.

[A]

Brian, thanks for being a legendary yeti.

[C]

Fantastic to have you with us.

[A]

This is Jack.

[B]

I own stock of Reddit and Disney and Nick owns stock of Nike.

[F]

Not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T business Wireless, checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sailor too. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time sometimes.

[B]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.