Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice - Business News & Trends: Trump's Gold Card Visa Program - DOGE $65B SAVINGS - The Great Sports Card Boom

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

SUMMARYIn this episode of Right About Now, hosts Ryan Alford and Chris Hansen break down the latest headlines shaping the business world. They dive into President Donald Trump's newly launched Gold Card Visa Program, a bold initiative designed to attract high-net-worth foreign investors by offering U.S. residency for a $5 million investment.The conversation shifts to Apple's groundbreaking $500 billion investment in U.S. facilities — a move set to create 20,000 jobs and boost the domestic economy. Ryan and Chris analyze how this massive commitment signals confidence in the U.S. market and what it could mean for the future of tech infrastructure.With AI reshaping industries at a rapid pace, the hosts explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the job market. They discuss both the displacement of traditional jobs and the emergence of new opportunities, offering insights into how businesses and workers can stay ahead of the curve.The episode wraps with a deep dive into the volatile cryptocurrency market, examining recent setbacks, future potential, and tips for navigating crypto investments in uncertain times.Throughout the discussion, Ryan and Chris emphasize the importance of adaptability, strategic thinking, and seizing new opportunities in an ever-changing business environment.Tune in to stay informed and gain actionable insights into the forces reshaping today's economy.TAKEAWAYS Discussion of President Trump's gold card visa program for attracting wealthy foreign investors. Analysis of Apple's $500 billion investment in U.S. facilities and its implications for domestic manufacturing. Examination of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market, including job displacement and creation. Overview of the current state of the cryptocurrency market, including Bitcoin's volatility and recent hacks. Insights on the cyclical nature of sports card collecting and trading, particularly around major events like the Super Bowl. Strategies for buying and selling sports cards, emphasizing timing and market fluctuations. Introduction of new sports card products, such as the Prism football cards, and their appeal to collectors. Explanation of card breaks and the mechanics of bidding on individual teams for card collections. Discussion on the grading process for sports cards and its effect on market value. Encouragement for audience engagement through live pack openings and e-commerce platforms for card sales. If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a radcast network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over one million downloads a month. Taking the BS out of business for over six years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping next and cash and checks? Well, it starts right about now. What's up guys? Welcome to Right About Now. It's our weekly business news here on February,

The last day of February, I had to process that. I feel like it's like a blink here. So I was on you only have 28 days in the month. How did February get off only get 28 days? I was going to say, how is it already done in February? Yeah. Like we're moving into March. 2025 is like snap of the fingers.

Join by as always Chris Hansen down in Miami. What's up, Chris? What's up, man? How are you? Hey, I'm good, man. Just working through the business news here on a Friday. for everyone that's listening. So we appreciate you whenever, wherever, however you're listening.

Catching us, we know you have choices. Thank you for making us. Number one, we appreciate you. Chris, what's cooking in Miami? We got the weather. Hey, I'm on, I got spring fever already. It's the 70s here in South Carolina this week. And I know we'll be like back to 50 probably next week.

This is what happens like late February around here. But I'm enjoying it, man. I'm ready for spring fling. I was going to say it was snowing when I left there last. We'll change of weather. We get four seasons in two weeks. Yeah, literally, man. Now everything's great.

Miami. It's beautiful. It's sunny day. And, you know, not a cloud in the sky. So we're thriving. I know. And, you know, we're going to get right to the headlines here. I was going through my normal feed of socials doing my research for the day.

Okay. What are the headlines? what's coming across. And I don't know there's like the top of the news heap. But I thought it was great. President Donald Trump has announced a new gold card visa program aimed at attracting wealthy foreign investors. Part of me chuckled and thought this was hilarious, Chris. But then I was like, hell yeah.

I mean, like, this is how it should be, right? You want to get in? You pay to get in. You know, bring your bunny. Bring your ideas. Bring your innovations. We'll let you into the greatest company. the greatest company.

Freudian slipped it might actually be becoming true. I was going to say in a way, yeah. Greatest company. You want good employees. Come to our team. Come to country slash company. Greatest company and country. And maybe, hey, if we're going to be,

let's start acting like a great company. It would be a start. Yeah. If we want to be, what I say, buy of and for the people, we need to be a little, we need to be better all the way around. So, yeah, if you want to get in here, pony up that gold card. baby. I want to see card carrying members, you know, flotting that thing around.

I agree. And I sadly earlier, I read that 60% of Americans have under a sixth grade reading level. That tells me maybe we need to bring in some outside talent that has some resources and can help help the other 60%. It's a pathway to U.S. residency and citizenship for individuals is willing to invest $5 million. The gold card provides green card privileges and a route to citizenship for that $5 million investment. It is designed to attract a fluid individual who can contribute significantly to the U.S. economy.

The new initiative is set to replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor program, which requires a lower investment and had been criticized for inefficiencies and susceptibility to fraud. Go figure. The administration anticipates the program could generate substantial revenue, potentially aiding and reducing the national debt. President Trump suggested that selling one million gold cards could yield $5 trillion. Yeah, that would be, he suggested.

I think that's just math. Right. I don't know, he suggested. It's just, he didn't create math. That's just math. That's doing the old arithmetic on the old calculator on your phone, or however you do it. chat CBT to do that shit. I think my eight-year-old can do that math.

So I applaud this personally, and I have no idea of the impact that it will have. But, you know, let's pay to play, baby. You want to get in? I mean, you can't help where you were born. But, you know, if you're doing well, you want to come take advantage to the greatest country on earth, that's what you got to do. And come bring your ideas and investments and let's go at it. Let's create some more jobs for U.S. people.

And, you know, if nothing else, I applaud. We have to try some shit. Throw some shit against the wall. Let's make some calculated trials here that can benefit. The old ways of just doing shit don't work. It's why we're $30 trillion in debt. The leads are weak. The leads are weak.

Fucking leads are weak. You are weak. I've been in this business 15 years. What's your name? Fuck you. That's my name. You know why, mister? Because you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight.

I drove an $80,000 BMW. That's my name. So we, you read their criticism, right? They doubt its attractiveness, concerns over high costs and potential implications for participants. Well,

I'm pretty sure the guy that can afford a $5 million investment probably is better at making financial decisions in the government, you're right? Yeah, exactly. And that's where I want to encourage people really read this shit and realize it's a bunch of nothing. This is just negativity for no reason. You know, similar programs in other countries have shown minimal impact.

Well, yeah, because it's not the United States of America. Yeah, exactly. I can go get a golden visa in Portugal if I go invest $200,000 over there. I don't really want to live in Portugal. I like America, you know. And there's a lot more people that want to come here than leave. So. Exactly.

Bingo. So writing those checks, baby. Come on over. Write those checks. Pay to get in. Hey, the U.S. has been flipping a lot of bills for a long time.

You know, as leaders of the free world, and this isn't arrogance. It's just reality. Like, it's time to start collecting. And let me give an example. You buy. They've been very open to outside investment money.

They've encouraged outside investors to come build. And look. look at what they done in 50 years, right? It's one of the most innovative modern cities in the planet. So it's like, okay, if we can place some incentives like that, people will come and people will do awesome things. Entrepreneurs like to build and create. 100%.

So bring it, baby. And speaking of other impacts, so these tariffs on China, Apple facing terrorists on Chinese import says it will invest 500 billion in U.S. facilities. That sounds like good news to me. Sounds like almost like we should have had them doing this to begin with. Yeah. American company manufacturing in America, you know? Apple will invest 500 billion.

Yeah, exactly. 500 billion in expanding U.S. facilities over the next four years. The move comes on. The company faces new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports. Apple says the investment will create 20,000 new jobs. He created his tariffs. Trump created his tariffs for Apple's decision saying he's investing hundreds of billions of dollars and others too. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated, we are bullish on the future of American innovation.

Yeah. You got to start, we got to start building at home, baby. Just like we talked about all these microcomputers doing AI and shit. Like this needs to be on our turf, on our terms. Even if it costs more on the front end a little bit, this is part of the game. And yeah, it's global economy. I'm not saying it's not.

We want it to be global economy. But it can't be at the expense of American people and opportunity and jobs. So there you have it. I mean, it's funny how all this stuff works. It doesn't sound coincidental to me. No, and if you dig a little deeper on this, I would almost say this is a good signal for the mining industry too, because I would assume, and I've heard we're getting deregulating some mining efforts, right? A lot of this was done in China from my understanding because of the raw materials, right? Yep.

The batteries, the lithium. We have those same things in our ground, too. We just haven't been able to drill. Yeah. So I'm wondering if this is an indicator that that is kind of. of coming around the corner. Right. Yeah.

We've also got to deal with Ukraine, I think, Bill, and we're bringing them to the table by not just throwing money at them, putting a little pressure on them and some of their minerals. Yeah. The same thing. Yeah. Like, it's time for us to get return on investment we've made in the free world. Exactly.

A simple, simply said. Yeah. What's our ROI? Well, it's our ROI on creating peace and liberty, you know, and not perfectly, by, By the way, it's messy as hell. Always. But it's time for that shit to come back around the other direction. And so that's what's happening here.

It's not, it's going to be messy. It's not going to be perfect. There's no perfect path to this. But I like seeing the sentiment and the overall direction and how quickly some of this is moving. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what's moving fast. It's the impact of AI on business. Wow. Worldwide.

So a major Asia bank is cutting 4,000 roles as AI is replacing human activities. DBS Bank cuts due to AI implementation. Singapore's largest bank will cut approximately 4,000 temporary-slagract rolls over the next three years. It says permanent staff will not be affected right now. the bank plans to also create a thousand AI related jobs. Look, I'll see this. Here it is. AI is not going to replace your job.

What's going to replace your job is someone that knows how to use AI. So you need to be informed and know how to use it and how to leverage it because knowledge has gotten real damn cheap. The applying knowledge of the last like 30 years that you've gathered is real cheap now. That knowledge is out there. The application of knowledge is cheap. Fresh ideas using AI to work faster, smarter, more efficient, research, to create net new knowledge, to create fresh ideas, to create fresh processes. That's where the future lies in business and anything that you're doing. So don't worry about AI taking your job. just don't think it's going to be status quo.

If you ain't learning, you ain't growing. You ain't going to be getting a paycheck long either. I'm talking to you, insurance guy, lawyers, some of you guys applying knowledge that's getting easier and freer, a lot more free or available. Look out. I'd be looking for new ways. with which to apply your skills.

Or integrate the AI into your practices to make you more efficient. Exactly. I think being the economy that we are, the consumerism, I think of this on the plus side. AI and all this stuff is not coming to net cut everyone's job. It's just going to make certain things more efficient, which creates more wealth, which creates a redistribution into different industries. Like things become more accessible, so we spend more money on these things. Giving us more energy back.

Yeah. Or energy to the human potential in my mind, right? Yes. You're all floating these meaningless, thoughtless things. To focus on creativity, ideas, innovation. Yeah. That spring new and interesting industries and ideas and things. and not the same, same old, same old.

And so they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. There's a lot of old dogs. They're going to have to, like, I mean, and this is where like I love, I say this because I practice what I preach. Like, you know, I've been in business for 20 plus years. And I love change. I love innovation. Not all my friends do.

And I feel bad for him because it's coming. I very frequently get the question, what's going to change in the next 10 years? And that is an interesting question. It's a very common one. I almost never get the question, what's not going to change in the next 10 years? We know the energy we put into it today will still be paying dividends for our customers 10 years from now. When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it. I don't have a crystal ball for exactly how it's going to impact everything, but it's moving quick.

And you've got your eyes, you've got your head in the sand if you don't think it's coming for the status quo. That's all AI is just coming for the status quo. It's not coming for everything. It's coming for the status quo. It's a status quo killer. That's the soapbox for today, my friend. Starbucks is laying off over a thousand corporate workers. I we did AI is not in this headline but I'll let you kind of judge.

Eliminating a thousand corporate jobs and closing several hundred open positions. It says its goal is to simplify operations, remove layers and increase efficiency. That sounds like AI to me. Somewhere in there. But nonetheless, I do think everything comes in seasons. And it's like, you know, you've got Trump and you've got the doge government efficiency. You're going to see this sort of trickle down. Everybody's sort of getting with the program a little bit that there's a lot of fluff,

a lot of waste, a lot of inefficiency that's going on. And you look around and you figure, I've done it with my business the last six months. Been like, all right, why are we still doing this? Why are we doing this? Like, this doesn't make any sense. And even at the highest levels for hundreds of thousands of jobs, these major corporations are looking around going, wait a second. are we still doing that?

And I think some of that's fueled by it was coming anyway. And then a lot of it, I think there is the sort of flow that happens when, you know, you're seeing Trump and Elon in the news every day talking about these types of things and the opportunity to cut waste. It's interesting. But it does seem to have a trickle down effect, doesn't it? Yeah, I mean, I'm interested in this because obviously it's like, I'm just thinking my mind. change is inevitable no matter what no matter what business you're in you're always going to have to kind of bob and weave try new things right where i'm looking at this you know Starbucks cutting 30%

of its menu it's more complex drinks it's like you know as a business guy these are very simple things that i would i like if we ran this business we're like okay we want to reduce weight time let's reduce the amount of drinks let's do this and i can tell you down here there's a lot more competition with coffee houses than there used to be. So I think this is a good thing for Starbucks, but I agree as a whole. I think spring cleaning is in the air, right? Yeah. Like you said it, I mean, same with me. Like we, we all have to, there's times you have to pause, reflect, and make changes, right?

And like you said, I usually like those because, you know, you got a new mountain. to climb. Exactly. And continual improvement. Yeah. And some people, some people, if you change an improvement is contrary or different. And I'm not saying they're always the same thing as you can improve, but it's highly correlated as human beings were kind of built for that. And I think the reason there's depression and there's reason there are these things is like there's this we've had this natural bottling up of it you know and we figure out well why are we so depressed and unhappy because we're not changing and evolving and we're you know Boston trying to cling to comfort yeah clinging to comfort and the TikTok vortex you know like uh it's like that's okay a little bit but like that's just

it's not getting you and I'm actually going to have the team. You're going to hear a few of these throughout today's episode. I pulled some videos and things that I really like that are related to kind of this show, how we're pushing now, today, action, and how to get ahead. And plugging in a few of those with beginning to middle end, I'm going to see a few of those plugged in to today's episode. And it relates to all this stuff.

And, you know, on this show, we want to be, it's an opinion show. It's a news show. but we also want to be a beacon of change, innovation, and positivity. But I'm going to do it kicking you in the ass a little bit. And believe me, I got the biggest boot right on my rear end, too. So that's what we're here for. Other news, Doge, all about efficiency, baby. Doge claims $65 billion in total estimated savings.

As agency efficiency leaderboard is launched. This is a little bit run like a sales call room. The wolf of all street board up on. We just cut four billion. Yeah. Yeah. See them in there. Yeah.

Meanwhile, they're giving like bonuses for like how many million you cut this week. They're like, there's your spiff. $1,000 bonus on your check this week. A new leaderboard ranking government agencies by cost cutting efforts. The leaderboard tracks savings from fraud detection, contract cancellation, renegotiations, asset sales, workforce reductions, and regulatory changes.

Look, the government needs innovating. It needs juice. It needs, I know there's arguments on every side about how it's getting done, this, that, and the other, and we can nitpick that all we want. But I think we can also agree the same old, same old of doing it is what ain't working. So let's get a leaderboard. Let's get it. Let's get gold stars on our report card, wherever the hell it is.

Yeah. Yeah, you know, like let's incentivize what should be incentivized. Let's not get incentivized to keep things status quo. And there's a title to this episode. It's bucked status quo. Yeah, like a cowboy. Bucker Robo. Rob.

Right. That crypto market's kind of like riding that buck and bronco right now. What the hell all is going on with crypto, Chris? What? Crypto Chris, man. It's like, I barely, it's like, what is happening? Crazy, Chris. Yeah.

Great question. I'd love to know. I mean, obviously, we've got some of the big events we know happen. I mean, as right now, when I checked, Bitcoin was at like $86,000, which is definitely way lower than it's been in a few months. the biggest thing there was a hack, one of the large exchanges, kind of like Robin Hood for stock people, was hacked for,

let's see, what was it? $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency Ethereum. So that was hacked. That obviously creates a big level of fear in the market. However, and they had massive withdrawals after that, and they covered all of them.

They didn't, they weren't insolvent. I mean, they actually, that company that had the hack actually made 400, $120 million off of withdrawal exchange fees. So it goes to show you the amount of money that's in this, but it did shake the market. And it's definitely not doing so hot.

I mean, you've got about a 30% pulled back this month. So this is from the Binance CEO Richard Tang. He said, it's important to view this as a tactical retreat, not a reversal. Yes. Crypto has been here before and bounced back even stronger. He said they tend to bounce back stronger after volatility caused by events in the broader economy. History has shown that crypto markets react to macroeconomic shifts much like traditional assets, but they also bounce back with remarkable resilience.

Yes. So don't sell people. Don't let the fear get you. Ride the dip. The tide came out and it's about to come in like a tsunami, but I'm not a fine. financial analyst, so no promises, but what goes down must come up. I, uh, tanks had the strong demand for crypto ETS and ongoing applications for new launches. The U.S. is a positive sign.

You know, I'm kind of, I think I'm going to go about like 5K in XRB. Yes, you should. I'm going to go put my money where I'm out because I'm riding the dip, baby. I'm going to ride it. time to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. Exactly. That's what I guess is telling me here. Yeah. It might and I can ride it a little longer. I can I can buy the dip now and even if it kind of goes for another few months, push, I can ride the way back the other direction. Yeah, man, this is a sale. Buy it on sale right now. Everyone clearance time for Bitcoin and

Ethereum. Exactly. That's right. We've got a sale on crypto here on right about now available to anyone. on your local wallet. Bitcoin was 104,000. Now it's 86. Get it while it's hot. Yeah. Come on. Well, the same things happen in the sports car world.

You know, we started right in the middle of the NFL season, which it was hot. Oh, man. Does the J. The cards get less volatile throughout the season? No, but they kind of ride the wave of the Super Bowl, like by the sport. So like I'm talking mainly the NFL right now. So NFL climbing, climbing, the good players climbing, like Jayden Daniel. then that Super Bowl dip all season.

Price has just dropped like 50% on certain cards. Just to go back up again, usually at the start of the next season. So it's a little bit of a dip. So I'm holding them. And I'm selling a few, but holding most. And then I'm buying, I'm letting that dip get down low, baby. And I'm buying. Heavy.

Heavy. That's why I got these. Buy low, sell high. Yep. If you're seeing. Hammer 2. Officially have it. We got our Prism. What do we got to have? 20 card hanger box, prism.

Universally known is kind of the best football card right now made by Panini. They have the license for NFL. Hey, it's not cheap. It's about $25 retail box. There's 20 cards in here. And it's this is, you know what I've determined? I think I talked about this last, Chris, really, Chris. This is a legal gambling for. children.

And you've said that and I said it, right? I saw it in the airport. I saw like six 12 year old boys huddled around a vending card machine, you know, for plane cards. Yes. I thought you were blowing smoke, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes. So there you have it. That's why you got to watch the YouTube or our Spotify.

You can see live pack opening. We got breaks happening. here on right about now with the only benefactor being numero uno and my four boys. We'll get to fight over all this. But no, we got a collection going, man. Cataloging this stuff. Rad rips. We'll have the Instagram page, everything else up soon.

Get those, you know, how to find a way to get the YouTube stars out of the kids. I think it's going to be through. Oh, which cards. Playing cards. That's smart. Like unboxing. Yeah. It's fun.

Unboxing. And then you sell, you sell to doing breaks, you buy a box. So it's got like, okay, 20, 30 packs in it. You sell individual teams they get bid on so that you, when, while we're opening, you get every player for that team. So obviously you're kind of going for the teams that have the hottest player in that, in that addition. Yeah.

So it's a game. I'm watching here on the camera. The, going through. and look, this is how it is in these packs. Even if you got good players in the first top, these are like base cards. Everything's about the add-in cards now. So it's all about getting,

no matter who these say, you want those add-in cards. Okay, even Jim Carball, not bad. And then our silver. Oh, so ladies and gentlemen, I just want to make an announcement here. This is what's known, and you can see this on the screen.

You see that hollow? This is Caleb Williams Hollow. One month ago, this is a $300 card. Today it's about $180 still. $25 box, that's $180 card right there. That's what you call a hit. And if we're looking at grading, you're looking at corners. Pretty sharp.

We've got, you're looking to see if there's balance in the printing, no major things. That corner looks good. probably a PSA 9. That's a grading scale. 9 out 10, which would make this easily 2.250 right now if it got graded out as a 9.

So that's a hit, no matter what else we get. Then these green waves, Jemir Gibbs, Ricky Williams, Keith Byers, so-so up, Xavier Worthy. Another big hit. That is the wide receiver from Texas. He ran a 4-2-40 at the combine and had over 100 yards receiving in the Super Bowl

against the Philadelphia Eagles. We have two Caleb. Okay, so that's, that is probably, you know, a month ago, that's a $30 card. It's probably 15 today. But still, you're looking at $200 worth of cards. Another Caleb in the same pack, this is a $15 card, this fireworks card.

Okay. Bo Nix. Second most valuable card in the entire set is his card. after Jaden Daniels. This is a $30 card a month ago, probably $15 to 20. We have easily $300 worth of cards value today in that $25 pack. Let's just say, Chris, that was a massive hit of a pack. These results are not always typical, people.

If we're talking about crypto, that's the best pack I've probably opened in a end. We open a lot of packs, probably two weeks, which is saying something. I'm glad I could do that live for everyone. And find me on eBay at Radribs. They'll be for sale later today. We'll give you 10% off if you listen to the podcast. I'll autograph one for you, not one of these, but maybe Nate Wiggins who played at Clemson. That's a good guys in here.

But that's a good pack there. I'm glad I could, hey, Panini, shout out to you. You have to start sponsoring us so that we can open these on your dime and not ours and get you some sponsorship. We probably at least created because that. is not bullshit, folks. That is $250 to $300 on eBay tonight if I want it. Like that's... Yeah. So that's gambling, my friend. And we just hit the jackpot. So there you go. Sports cards. It's a business people. And it's fun. That's the headlines today, Chris.

Highlighted by my packet on the Prism NFL Football 24. winner, winner. Any final words? Hey, everyone just have a solid start of your March entering springtime. Time to blossom. Time to get after it, one step before the other. The status quo is in trouble. You want to get off that ship. You want to get on the action, learning, understanding what's happening in every industry with AI,

but not being, but not out of fear, but out of opportunity. That's what it's about. It's a great day to be American. Hey guys, you find us at Ryanisright.com. Highlight clips, full episode, links to Christianized social media, and you never know what other surprises. Shout out to Panetti and Bo Nix, baby. We'll see you next time.

I'm right about now. This has been right about now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. Visit Ryanisright.com for full audio and video versions of the show or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities. Thanks for listening.