The Best One Yet - 🤠 “1-click to buy Tim McGraw’s boots” — Amazon’s country music. Apple’s Junior Membership. Nickel’s nightmare.

Episode Date: March 9, 2022

Apple’s 1st big product event of the year revealed their country club strategy: Launch a Junior Membership to Club Apple. Amazon turned the Country Music Awards into an unprecedented interactive shopping experience. And America doesn’t run on Dunkin’ — it runs on 50 critical metals, like Nickel (whose price jumped so much yesterday it had to be halted).$AAPL $AMZN Got a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @JackKramer @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Got a SnackFact for the pod? We got a form for that too:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe64VKtvMNDPGSncHDRF07W34cPMDO3N8Y4DpmNP_kweC58tw/viewformLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You done your whirdle today or? You know what I forgot to? You want to do a race right now? Quick whirdle. Yeah, quick whirdle race. Let me know when you're ready to roll. Oh, what are you doing on your computer? Oh, I always do it on my computer.

I'm doing on my phone, the real way. Okay, do you ready? Ready? Ready? Set. Starting with a dew. Go. This is Nick. This is Jack.

And this is Snacks Daily. It is Wednesday, almost Thursday, March 9. I'm telling you, I've run out of Riecol. Over there. How's that sore throat? Major sore throat. Is it seriously? still going on. I don't have a fever.

Yeah. But I feel like there's sandpaper in my mouth. That's not a good feeling. That's tough for a podcast. A podcast goes getting a sore throat. That's like a dancer breaking a leg, Jack. Yeah, I'm going to orally limp through this pod if you don't mind. You can't put ice on it because then you can't talk. Doesn't matter. This pod, it's the best one yet. It's a TBOI, Jack. What's our first story today?

Apple just had their first product unveiled the year. Yeah. Here's what they unveiled. Club Apple Junior membership for juniors. For our second story, the price of nickel did more in the past 24 hours than it had done in 124 years. Snaggers, America doesn't run on Duncan, runs on 50 specific medals. Our third and final story is Amazon. They didn't just toss on some Bud Night Blue jeans for the Country Music Awards Monday night.

This is wild. Amazon turned the country music show into an international, interactive shopping extravagance. That's a good story, and this is a wonderful mix. Wild story. How you doing? How's the mouth? Okay. Okay, all right. You're doing great. I think you're doing great. Maybe some icy hot. We'll put some icy hot on.

I don't think that's the right remedy. Shaq's not a fan. Snackers, before we hit those wonderful stories, COVID relief funds were super helpful in 2020 and even 2021. This COVID relief funds, they save some businesses, they save some people. Some business people use those COVID funds to keep their restaurant afloat. Other business people use those funds to pay the rent on their yoga studio when no one can do yoga. One thing you can't do, though, with government-issued COVID relief cash. Jack, you can't buy Pokemon.

I mean, I know you've got to catch them all, but to a limit. You just, you know, honestly, you just can't buy Pokemon with the COVID relief funds. Here's the news out of the Peach State of Georgia. A man is going to prison for three years. Brutal. For using COVID relief funds to buy Pokemon. Get this, Snackers. This man spent $57,789 on a rare Pokemon card using COVID relief funds.

I almost just busted my bulb's eye listening. into that. Honestly, Jack, jigglypuff, judging this guy. What was the card? We know you're asking. It was the Charzard card. It was. The one that looks like a young Game of Thrones dragon with a fiery tail. Yeah, this is Charzard. We're talking that slow, mellowy voice. He is the McConaughey of the Pokemon universe. I was never into Pokemon. I was a magic the gathering guy for a short period. That's totally fair. Everyone goes through a face. We've been through phases. Still, though, in this guy's defense, it's a pretty cool looking car. We're not justifying what he did, but this is a first edition shadowless holographic card check. But the problem here was that card was paid for with taxpayer money.

Yeah. So if so facto, unless you can share that card with all the taxpayers, you really shouldn't have used the taxpayer money to buy it. The real flaw from this Georgia man was buying a physical Charzar card instead of just an NFT of the card. Should this have been a Di Pi? A DPI? It should have been a DiPi. Decentralized Pikachu. Yeah. In the meantime, this guy's going to be grabbed by the Pokemon. Only winner here? Nintendo, the owner of Pokemon. Jack, let's catch our stories. You're tuned in the snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something legal out the way. The snacks about to hear ain't food. It's air candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so. We're not recommending any securities.

It's not a research report or investment advice. Not an offer or sale of a security. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robahood Financial, LLC, member FINRA slash SIPC. For our first story, Apple, they just had their first big product event of the year. Club Apple has tiered itself. You got VIP members, full members, and junior members. Junior members. First of all, Snackers, usually when you see an Apple event, you got a sweater on.

Big events, they happen in the fall. This wasn't a big event. No, no, no, no. This wasn't a big event. But first one of the year, it was more Apple product tweaks, not Apple new products. Eye updates. Not I launches. Well, footjack.

Now, the only launch that actually happened from Apple, it was straight into the right field stands. Apple TV Plus will now carry two live major league baseball games per week. There we go. Both on Friday night. This is exciting. This is exciting. I mean, as long as there's a baseball season, but yeah, it'll be exciting.

There's a baseball season. Good point. Well, that's to wait until May. But Snackers, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about Apple right now. We've noticed that Apple is increasingly thinking of Apple as a social club. And the fanciest of social clubs have different tiers. Yeah, they do, Jack. And Apple just launched a product for a very particular tier for its VIP members.

Yesterday, Apple announced Mac Studio. Mac Studio, which is basically an insanely powerful desktop computer for the VIPs of Club Apple. I think you meant to say insanely expensive. This thing starts at $2,000 or $4,000 and that doesn't include a screen. No, and wait, there's more because you're going to have to shell out a little more cash to complete the lick. The monitor is $1,600. It is. fully souped up Mac Studio, like exhibit style.

Oh, yeah, Jack. It's almost $6,000. Jack, this is the price of a Kia. This computer has a chassis. The power you get from this thing is ridiculous. It's 3.4 times faster processing power than Apple's next best computer. Which sounds like something that you're never going to actually notice. Do you want one of these?

No. No, no. No interest in this. It looks like the computer is smarter than me. I don't want a computer that's smarter than me at this level in my life. I don't need that. This is for the VIP member of Club Apple for whom price is not an option. Snackers, we're talking the VIP members of Club Apple.

The kind of members who have an iPhone and AirPods and an Apple TV and HomePod. HomePod in each room. Exactly. Oh, now they can own the best MacBook that is out there. They're members of Club Apple. This is actually not a MacBook. This is a desktop. They have two other MacBooks.

That's a good point. This is a statement computer. This is the Christian Dior of desktop, Jack. But the other announcement Apple had yesterday, it was in the other section of Club Apple. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in Club Apple? The iPhone SE is the junior membership card to get into Club Apple. Snackers, Apple prices its products like a country club prices its membership tiers. We just discussed the VIP members. There's also the full Apple Club membership. Right, for the established Apple customers. And now there's a junior membership to Club Apple.

For the budget-focused customers who aren't quite in Club Apple, yeah. The big announcement yesterday was the new iPhone SE. The smaller phone I used to have, this thing's going now for $429. Boom, this is the first lower-priced iPhone SE that includes a 5G connection. That's key. And at $429, that is less than half the average sales price of a new iPhone these days. Now, the way we're thinking about iPhone SC is that iPhone SE is really iPhone JR. That's right. It's iPhone Junior, because this is Apple's junior membership.

Exactly. It gets a new generation into Club Apple. And guess what? It's working. Last year, 26% of iPhone SE buyers were previously Android owners. Yeah, just joining Club Apple for the first time. Eventually, maybe these junior members will age up and grow income and upgrade to become full VIP members of Club Apple. That's what happened to me. And look at me now.

I own an iPhone 12 mini, baby. You never looked better except for your throat. But we're working on that throat. Apple's three-tiered membership club, it's working. For our second story, nickel prices, just searched more than nickel prices have ever searched. America doesn't run on Dunkin now, despite what Dahlene tells you. She's going to tell you that. It runs on minerals.

Two pumps. This guy wants two pumps. Snackers, 20-20. Two years ago, Elon Musk is speaking. on a Tesla earnings call, and here's what Elon said two years ago. Any mineral companies out there listening, please mine more nickel. Wherever you are in the world, please mine nickel. And don't wait for nickel prices to go up.

Please mine nickel. Nickel, not just a metal and not just half of the band Nickelback. It is a metal, though. It is. And it's on the periodic table of the element. I remember it from chemistry. It was right there in the middle of the table. It's got like prime real estate front and center.

It's right in between like cobalt and copper. It's great seats. Nickel is one of the most touched metals in our economy. Oh, totally. From stainless steel refrigerators to phones to the five cent coin with Thomas Jefferson on. Also, a key part of the electric car battery, which is the most expensive part of the electric car. But here's the news. This week, there was a rare, rare, rare black swan event in the nickel market.

We're talking about a once in a lifetime change for nickel. Nickel prices tripled in just the past two days to $100,000 a ton. And that was after already doubled in the previous month. So nickel prices are up like six times in a month and two days. And all this is going down over on the London Metal Exchange, which happens to know their nickel really well. The price moved so fast that the London Metal Exchange had to stop trading and just like catch their breath.

Now, Snackers, we got to sprinkle on a little context here. The London Metal Exchange actually goes back to Shakespeare's days. And they've been the epicenter of nickel trading globally for 145 years. Yeah, this was the first time they have ever had to stop trading of nickel ever. And the reason for the craziness in the nickel market, Russia. Russia controls 10% of the world's nickel resources. Snackers, when you're touching nickel, there's like a one in ten chance. It was nickel from Russia.

Now, funny thing with the price is rising, the United States and its allies haven't sanctioned Russian nickel. Yeah, this is what Jack and I find so strange about this story. There is no shortage of nickel today. But fear of a shortage from a sanction tomorrow caused demand of nickel today to search. Yeah. So there is a fear of a shortage that has caused a shortage, which has caused the prices of the pop. A real shortage exists caused by a potential shortage and it's driven real prices of nickel high. What we're trying to say is people are freaking out about the nickel situation before it becomes a nickel situation. Basically, somebody yelled fire in a movie theater of nickel market.

Oh, by the way, Snackers, we had a similar surge in oil prices, even though Russian oil hadn't been banned yet over the last week. But here's an update yesterday. Oil, gas, and coal from Russia finally did get banned. Joe Biden announced it yesterday. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all of our buddies who are touching nickel?

America doesn't run on Duncan. It runs on 50 critical minerals. We're not talking about your Eagle Scout rock collection. We're talking about 50 minerals that are listed publicly on a federal government register. It's out there. It's called the critical minerals list.

You can Google it. It's got a dot-gov website. It sounds like the title of the next day. Indiana Jones movie. We're not talking about amethyst or tiger's eye. These are the ugly gold rocks of the 21st century economy. Which our economy and technology happen to depend on. Because we consumers crave products that depend on these critical minerals, from iPhones to X-boxes to Ford F-150. But Jack, can you share the problem with this critical minerals list? At least 13 of those 50 minerals don't exist naturally in American soil. Yeah, so Snackers, we are completely dependent on importing those

minerals from foreign countries. For example, palladium. Oh, yeah, palladium. That's actually in cars. It's in all the cars, but half of palladium in the world is in Russia. So part of the American car industry kind of depends on Russia. The historic surge we're seeing in nickel highlights a historic challenge for the American economy.

America runs on minerals that we need to get from other countries. For our third and final story, wait, how's your throat going over there, by the way? Well, I did a COVID test. I actually used the free, you know, United States Postal Service delivered tests. Okay. Came back negative, which is good. I mean, are you going to do Earl, Mint,

Rosewater? What kind of tea you going with? I have had so much honey and so many Rico laws today. I think if I have any more, I could explain. Yeah, you're like, your tongue is drifting. I'm hobling through the finish line here, Nick. Let's get the move on. For our third and final story, Amazon just launched a re-envisioned radio app and

shopable video in the same week. Amazon, it's neither new media nor old media. Amazon is something else. It's something else. Snackers, radio. Radio gets results. Radio is resilient. Radio, really old.

Yeah. But still crushing it. Pulling an Aaron Rogers. According to an NPR poll, conducting in April, get this, 156 million American adults, listen to radio. Not just listen to radio. Yeah. Every day. Half of this country.

156 million American adults is listening to. a radio right now. I think it's because of the car. People just turn on the radio on the car. But Amazon just said, you know what? We're going to get in on that. So they just launched an app to disrupt radio with zero Amazon branding in the app. It's called AMP. And again, you can't tell it's Amazon, but it lets anybody be a DJ. Yeah, it does. So you can use the app to create a playlist and then play that live and then you build up a whole bunch of followers. Here's the interesting part, though. You can take callers and those callers can request a song. Yeah, you got Tina from Cincinnati, Tina. You're live.

with W-T-B-O-Y. B-P-P-P-P-P-P-B! Yeah, long-time prime user, first-time caller. Tina! So, AMP is not just a radio disruptor. It's also live audio. Just like Clubhouse or Twitter spaces, but with way more music.

What we're trying to tell you is that Amazon sucked Clubhouse. It was kind of inevitable. But added music, too. They did. And this thing's free. No Prime membership needed. So Amazon's paying for the music. Anybody can listen free.

Now, that is Amazon product launch number one, a radio app, which was like a big product launch for this week. If they had just done that, we almost just did that. We almost did. And then we almost went home. And then your throat would be better. But then we noticed this second launch is actually related. It is. Amazon did something at the country music awards with Amazon Prime video that we never seen before. The country music awards were exclusive to Amazon Prime video. It's the only way you could watch. And I'll hold the hockey ton, Garth. The innovation was the red carpet show at the country music awards. The live red carpet show. Amazon made it a

shopable show. Snackers, let us explain. You know how when you pause Amazon Prime video, Jack, it shows you you're like what actors are on the screen at that moment. Yeah, you're like Jason Bourne. Classic. It's Matt Damon. You click Matt Damon. You see how many Oscars he's been nominated for, blah, blah, blah. It's because Amazon owns IMDB. They acquired IMDB many years ago. It's a cool feature. Yeah. And this shoppable red carpet feature that happened Monday, it's similar. Amazon let you pause the award show so that you could buy what you saw on the screen on Amazon. It's a smart TV innovation. So if Dolly Parton's on the screen, you can pause. Yeah, you can

click to add a new book to your Amazon shopping cart. If Keith Urban is doing his thing on the screen. Jack, I like that cowboy hat. I'm going to click on it and I'm going to get it. If Carrie Underwood is stealing the show. I'm sorry, can I get those in size 11 boots in two days with no shipping charge? Is this the future of video? Apparently. We know you're multitasking anyway, shopping while watching, so they make it that easy. And that was Amazon's second product launch of the week. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon? Netflix has tech DNA. Disney has media DNA.

Amazon is a different species. Yeah, Snackers, last week, we covered Netflix's new interactive trivia shows for you. Netflix could build an interactive trivia show first because they have tech DNA. And earlier this week, Jack and I covered Disney Plus adding commercials. Disney Plus ads. Disney made streaming TV feel more like cable because Disney has media DNA. But we're looking at Amazon and we're like, you know, what? Amazon just launched two media products with an insane amount of tech built into each and every one.

If Netflix has tech company DNA and Disney has media company DNA, Jack, then Amazon is something else entirely. The e-commerce icon has acquired MGM studios, Wondery Podcasts, Twitch, the live stream gaming platform. And when a $2 trillion tech company buys a movie studio, MGM, a podcast studio, Wondering, and a live streaming platform, Twitch, the result? It isn't human. Because Amazon, it's a different species. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over there? Apple just launched a VIP product and a junior membership card. Apple, it's become a three-tiered social club.

Our second story is nickel prices. Like oil prices, they're spiking because of Russia. Because they're critical minerals. And America, it runs on minerals. Our third and final story is Amazon. They just launched a radio app and shoppable video in the same week. It's not in media or a tech DNA. it's just a different species.

Now, time for our snack fact of the day. This one sent in by Martha Peasley from lovely Richmond, Virginia. There are 2.9 billion people in the world who have never once used the internet. Snackers, sit down, stand up, sit back down again. One out of three humans on earth have never gone to a website. That statistic comes from the United Nations. And wow. Also, Snackers, we should mention a quick correction.

That was also sent in by Martha Peasley from lovely Richmond, Virginia. It turns out you can use Whole Foods for Amazon returns. Yeah. Last week we said you really couldn't do anything Amazon over at Whole Foods. But you can. And Whole Foods also has Amazon lockers where you can get packages delivered instead of your front door where the package could get taken. Martha should know because this is Martha's job.

This is her job. Thank you, Martha. Appreciate it. Snackers, you look fantastic today. If you haven't yet, turn to a buddy next to you and say, hey, H, H, H, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, have you had your snacks, day? If you know, you know, that's how we grow. Get me some Rico from Whole Foods.

Nick and I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, happy birthday to Herardo Racinos over in Surf City, El Salvador. Great name. Herardo just opened his first Bitcoin wallet down in the capital of Bitcoin. Oh, and Dr. Ryan Massodi, the master of the fill of cheese steak, happy birthday at Thomas Jefferson University. That's the nickel guy, Thomas Jefferson. There we go.

And Jan, happy birthday in Chicago. It all comes full circle, Jim. Happy birthday to Lauren Bartlett in lovely Tulsa, Oklahoma. And Sam Gordon and Brian Ocean, congrats on launching the new Venture Capital podcast down in Austin. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a TV. Celebrate the wins and get some Senheiser mics. These are just the best mics.

These are great mics. This is Jack, I own stock of Amazon, nickel stock of Apple, and we both own some Bitcoin. Robin Hood Snacks, newsletters, and podcasts reflect the opinions of only the authors, who are associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC and do not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc., or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. They are meant for informational purposes only and are not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, cryptocurrency, or investment strategy in any account. This is not an offer or sale of a security, not a research report,

and is not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Any third-party information provided therein does not reflect the views of Robinood Markets, Inc., Robinood Financial LLC, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal and past performance does not guarantee future results. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Got it. No. No.

Sorry, dude. I got on my last one, too. What's the word? Do you want me to tell you the word? Tell me the word. I'm just texting it to you. Oh. Oh, sweet.

It was sweet.