The Best One Yet - 🃏 “Caesars Locked Palace” — Casinos’ Hack Attacks. Arm’s Coolest IPO. Surge Pricing for Beer.

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

Take the weekly news quiz: Go.tboypod.comSubscribe to the daily newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter- MGM has been hacked so badly that the hotel keys cards don’t work — We think the solution to ransomware attacks is “The Liam Neeson Doctrine.”- The biggest IPO on Wall Street in 2 years is Arm computer chips — The stock surged 25% to a $60B valuation because its computer chips are the coolest in the world. (Literally).- And the largest chain of British pubs is launching Surge Pricing for Beer — So we’re looking at the economics of Happy Hour.$ARM $NVDA $AAPL $CZR $MGMSubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday, the real Friday. September 15th, and today's pod is the best one yet. It is a tea boy, Jack. Nick, the temperature in Vermont this morning? 46 degrees. Celsius or Fahrenheit, Jack?

Fahrenheit. You know what that means? It's double-collared shirt weather. That's the trend I'm bringing on this fall. Vermont weather sounds a lot like Nantucket clothing, Jack. Double-pop collars? Are you getting maple syrup or are you going to a yacht club? They wouldn't let me wear this.

to a Y Club, trust me. New York Fashion Week, take note. First story, what do we got on today's project? MGM Resorts, the hotel and casino company, has been taken over by hackers. And we've got the solution to this cyber attack. Here it is, the Liam Neeson Doctrine. For our second story, we're looking at Arm. The computer chip company just had the biggest IPO on Wall Street in the past two years. Because Arm's computer chips are the coolest chips around. Literally. And our third and final story is Britain. Over in Britain, the biggest chain of pubs has introduced surge pricing.

The pints are pricier during peak hours over in the UK. If surge pricing can come for beer, then surge pricing can come for everything. Is no liquid sacred? But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix, wonderful mix of stories before a weekend. Love the mix, Jack.

Speaking of sacred liquid, 1.2, 3, drinken. Las die out out, Jack. Yet is day one of October Fest begins this weekend. Oh, we know. You don't have to double check your calendars. It's still September. Deutschland, they like to round up early.

Yeah, so tomorrow is the opening day of October Fest. The biggest beer festival on Earth. The biggest beer festival since Hands Across America, Jack? Line up your later, hozen and prost your pints. Like Jack said, ain't that zai. Homaker and Schlemmer. And yeties, the epicenter of October Fest is in Munich. the capital of Bavaria over in Germany.

And those Bavarians have been doing this beer tradition since 213 years ago. Yep, the first October Fest was to celebrate the wedding of Kaiser Ludwig Das Ersta, who is the great-grandpapa of Ludwig van Wulfhausen. Now, yadis, we could tell you how much beer is consumed at this beer drinking event, which is 1.98 million gallons of beer. And we could tell you how many sausages are eaten at October 1. Which is 60,000 brought worse sausages. But we think the better.

funnier, the more expensive statistic? Is the number of things lost at October Fest every year? Get this. Last year, attendees of the Munich Beer Festival lost 520 iPhones. They lost 600 wallets. They left behind 1,300 passports. That's right, they lost 1,300 passports at this beer festival. Falassen, forgetsing, forlorn.

Lost, forgotten, and und left behind. The Yeties and besties, if you're pulling, out some Pilsners this weekend. If you're brow-housing in Bavaria right now. If you're toasting in a tent. Oh, if you're pulling a pretzel with that shepet. Remember to drink responsibly. And remember.

To remember. To remember. To remember your things. Right. Like wallet? Check. Passport? Check.

Podcast? Double check. Let's hit our three stories, Yeties. Mockensy-Schnell, Jack. Mockensy-Zee-Suggy, Zygi-Zaggy, Zygi-Zaggy. And a ho-ho-ho? Ooi. You're good.

Don't worry. Let's at the shelf. Get it wrong every time. 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 an norm. Jack, 50%. That's a fat tip.

Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. For our first story, hackers have taken total control of MGM casinos and hotels in the biggest cyber attack in years. We think there's a solution, and we think that solution to ransomware attacks is the Liam Neeson doctrine. But Jack, you know what's the worst feeling in the world? When you go up to your hotel room and the key card doesn't work and you got to go back down again.

That is so frustrating. Oh my God, yeah, the key card room rejection. It's the worst thing ever. Well, Yeties, for over three days, room keys at MGM's hotels and casinos across the whole country have not been working. But it's not just the room keys, is it, Jack? As of this recording, the MGM website is down. Nobody can book a reservation or learn anything about the hotel. Checking right now, it says offline, the entire MGM resort worldwide.

Even the casino floor at MGM's signature hotel and resort in Las Vegas has been shut down. The slot machines aren't working. You want a daquery? You can't even get one of those right now. Now, the reason MGM hotel and casinos is in complete paralysis right now, it's been hacked. MGM just got hugely hacked, didn't it check? It was such a big hack. They had to make a filing with the SEC. It was such a big hack that MGM stock is down 5% this week because you can't even get a shrimp cocktail right now.

Now, executives at MGM are trying to solve this crisis, but they don't even have access to their corporate email. This hack is so bad that they have to use their personal g-mails in order to communicate at the company. The CEO is trying to solve this crisis with like his Blackberry BBM. Now, yet he's, this feels like the fourth sequel of Oceans 11. Call it Oceans 14. I've like waited for George Clooney to just pop out of nowhere and say he did the whole thing with Matt Damon. But this story actually begins on the other side of the Las Vegas strip. And Jack, what's on the other side of the Las Vegas trip?

Caesar's Palace Hotel and Casino. The same casino that starred in The Hangover, wasn't it, Jack? Yeah, remember he says, did Caesar actually live here? Caesar's Palace, mattress, mattress, mattress, the last scene. Well, last week, Caesar's Palace also got hacked in a similar, fashion as MGM. Funny coincidence, Yetis. Just last week, hackers were able to obtain a list of Caesar's loyalty members, including

their driver's licenses and their social security numbers. That hack at Caesar's Palace is over, though. Caesar's Palace confirmed. But what Caesar's Palace has not confirmed is how that hack ended. And according to reports, it ended because Caesar's paid the hackers $15 million to end the hacking. A $15 million ransom payment. to let Caesar go free. And that's the point.

Both of these cyber attacks, they appear to be classic ransomware hacking. Jack, it's got the fingerprints of a classic ransomware attack. That's when cyber criminals pretend to be employees of the company, call the IT help desk, and schmooze their way to getting the username and password. They basically pull a Tom Cruise and bingo bingo, they get the username, the password,

and then they are into that system. And then they hold the computer systems hostage and demand a cash payment. And Caesar just, just paid that ransom. And now MGM has to decide if they're gonna pay a ransom. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at MGM? We need to ban ransom payments.

We need the Liam Neeson doctrine. Ah, yeah, it is Jack and I, we're not blaming Caesars here for allegedly paying cybercriminals millions of dollars. $15 million is a small price to pay in order to retake control of your company. But guess what? That payment, it encourages future cybercrime. the one that hit MGM just this week. And as long as companies are paying ransoms, then there's a financial incentive for cybercriminals to hack again. Because ransom payments are a solution

for a self-interested company, but they are a problem for the whole economy. That's why we think the government has to step in and ban ransom payments from companies. Yeah, we don't negotiate with terrorists. Why should we haggle with hackers? Would Liam Mason pay a ransom payment? I don't think so. Neither should these Las Vegas hotels. We have a very particular set of skills. Yeties, if we criminalize ransom payments, then companies won't pay them anymore. And if companies don't pay ransoms, then hackers wouldn't hack. For our second story, the biggest IPO in two years just hit Wall Street. And that IPO is the Arm computer chip. We were curious why Arm is so big and so valuable. And it's because Arm is really cool. Literally.

Yet is the number one financial theme of this fall. It's not football. What is it, Jack? It's IPOs. They're back, baby. Call your Goldman buddies and grab those dancing shoes, baby. There are big names you know that are going public this fall. You got Instacart and you got Birkenstock shoes. But yesterday there was one big name you probably didn't know that went public. And that company going public is the Arm computer chip. Arm was actually the biggest IPO of the last two years.

and the third biggest tech IPO ever. In fact, Yetis, you are using ARMS product right now, and you probably didn't even realize it. But we'll get to that in a minute. Yes, we will, Jack. Meantime, Arm went public at a $50 billion valuation, and their stock jumped 25% yesterday on day one of trade. And the big financial winner here, who is it, Jack?

Massa! Massa! Because SoftBank, the Japanese venture capital firm, happens to own 90% of Arm. We work didn't work out for SoftBank. Arm is working out for SoftBank. But Yetis, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. We were curious, weren't we, Jack?

Why is Arm getting all of the Wall Street love right now? Why is Arm any different than any other computer chip out there these days? Oh, we looked into a T-boy style. Arm is so hot right now because its computer chips are so cool right now. Literally. Arm has developed the most energy-efficient chip on the planet. We jumped in further, T-boy style. Arm mentions the word energy more than they mentioned computer in their IPO paperwork.

Because Arm's computer chips require 150th the amount of energy of competing computer chips. It literally stays cool. They're so cool because they stay so cool. And for what product is a small and really energy-efficient computer chip the most important? I don't know, Jack. Let me just pull out my phone to figure it out. The smartphone. That's what needs ARMS computer chips.

Exactly. And get this, Yetis. According to ARMS paperwork, 99% of the world smartphones use ARMS chips. That's right. 99 out of 100 smartphones have a chip made by this company. Which makes us wonder who's that 1%? Like the Palm Pilot, man?

Arms one-of-a-kind energy-efficient chip is the reason your smartphone battery lasts one day instead of one hour. If it's 2 a.m. and you have 5% battery left to call an Uber, you should be thanking Arm, not Apple. That's why Apple just signed, get this, a 20-year deal for Arm to supply chips for iPhone.

That's right. The iPhone 32 is going to be using an armed chip. The battery life of your most important tech product depends on this one cool chip. Yes, it does. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Arm Computer Chips? Not all chips are created equal. Yeties, Jack and I have said it before, and you know what?

We're going to say it again. Do not underestimate the chip. Don't just dip that chip. Just about all electronic things require chips right now. And that's led to chip stocks soaring. Navidia stock. It's more than tripled in the last year, all thanks to the artificial intelligence rush. NVIDIA's chips are critical for AI, but they use tons of energy to do it.

On the other hand, arms chips can't compute for AI, but they use very little energy. So you got Nvidia, now the fifth most valuable company in the world, and you got Arm, the biggest IPO of the year, even though their chips are very different. The lesson here, chips are crucial in this economy. But not all chips are created equal. For our third and final story before the weekend, British pubs are about to start a new thing. Here it is. Unhappy hour.

British pubs are implementing surge pricing on drinks during peak drinking hours. Jack, let's go back to our last trip to London. Remember, we did our first live pod show to a live audience? That was January 2020. Does the name Stonegate Group mean anything to you? No, it does not. It doesn't mean anything to me either. But actually, they're the company that owns Slug and Lettuce, the popular bar in London.

I think we were near there one time. Yeah, your favorite pub in London, the thirsty stagg. It's probably owned by this conglomal bar, actually, Stonegate Group. This conglomerate company StoneGate, they own 4,000 pubs, 16,000 bartenders, and 25,000 taps for you to enjoy a lukewarm ale. And these bars in Britain, they also serve Shepherds Pie, bangers and mash, and fish and chips. And they ride all those products to $2 billion of annual revenue.

$2 billion in revenue for this pub conglomerate. That means they're as big as Lift the Ride Hail Act. And guess what? This chain of bars just borrowed Lyft's business model. Get this. Britain's biggest pub chain is bringing surge pricing to 800 of its pubs. When the bar gets crowded on Saturday night, beer prices at these bars will rise by 25 cents. Extra people at the bar after work, what's going to go down, Jack?

He'll have to drop an extra quitter two for that Carlsberg. Well, I never. Well, I never. Now, Yeties, we know what you're thinking about this new business model. It sounds like an unhappy hour, but here's the funny thing. We've actually had surge pricing at bars all along. And you didn't even realize it. Surge pricing at bars is what happy hour is.

Happy hour is ironically a form of search pricing when the price changes in response to demand. Happy hour. It's when drinks are cheaper, a dollar off, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon. Because there's lower demand during the afternoon. Well, this pub chain in Britain, it's the same concept as happy hour,

but in the opposite direction. Unhappy hour just means more expensive beer at 7 p.m. and on weekends. Because there's high demand at 7. 7 p.m. and on weekends. Hell yet, he's just to sprinkle on more context here. We've told you before. Consumers hate surge pricing, but surge pricing is an economist dream. Because surge pricing restores market balance with dynamic pricing.

With surge pricing, you end up paying more for that beer at the pub during a busy soccer match. But if there wasn't surge pricing, there'd be a line out the door, and you wouldn't even be able to get it. So we hate the bracket to you, besties, but surge pricing is economically efficient. It's economically sound. but try explaining that to Nigel, who's been going to the thirsty stag since Lord Mountbatten.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in the services industry? There is a time and a place for surge pricing, and pubs aren't it. Interesting thing here, Yetis, there actually are certain industries where we all tolerate surge pricing. Like hotels, airlines, and trains.

Prices change depending on how strong the demand. I've been doing it for years. We don't even mind. But there are other industries where we don't tolerate surge pricing. Like movie theaters. Nick, this year, AMC tried and then had to cancel surge pricing because customers hated it. So Jack and I are wondering, what is the reason customers accept surge pricing with travel,

but we don't accept it with services like bars or movie theaters? The answer? One has limited availability and the other doesn't. Search pricing, it's socially acceptable if it's necessary to avoid a shortage, like with travel, trains and planes. But it faces customer backlash when surge pricing is applied to a habit. Like drinking at a pub. With Nigel. At the Thursday stack.

Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday? Nick, the MGM hack appears to be over. The website is live again. Are you checking it right now? Do you just refresh the screen? Yeah, I just checked. I refreshed the window. Maybe they made a ransom payment to the hackers.

But to end these hackings, we need to ban ransom payments. What we need is the Liam Neeson doctrine. For our second story, Arm just IP. Their chips are the reason your phone battery lasts a full day. Because not all chips are created equal. And our third and final story is Stonegate. Their 800 bars in Britain are facing customer heat with their planned surge pricing for drinks. Because there's a time and a place for surge pricing.

Beer and bourbon are not it. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Delta just completely revamped their loyalty program on us. So now you earn your status from spending money, not. fly in actual miles. From miles traveled to dollars spent. What do we always say about airlines, Jack? Airlines, their credit card companies with a side hustle in logistics. And second, the president's son, Hunter Biden, has been indicted on gun charges. He's accused of lying about his drug use in a form

he filed to buy a gun in 2018 and possessing a gun while using narcotics. And finally, the biggest paper in America, USA Today is hiring two new reporters to follow Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Because Taylor Swift and Beyonce are economic forces. These are basically economics reporters. Yeah. Now time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me to just cap off the week for you. Earlier this week, we told you that bananas contain 75% water and watermelons are 96% water. And cucumbers are also 96% water. But get this, chicken? Chicken is 75% water. We got curious. We dove in further, T-boy style. What do we discover, Jack? Pork, beef, even duck, 75% h. too well. Turns out the majority of chicken meat you eat, you're actually drinking. You ready for this,

Nick? Human beings are 60% water. No wonder. I'm staring at a tall, cool glass of water over there, Jack. The reason, that is the majority of muscle tissue is comprised of water. So pretty much every living thing is majority of water. Which means we don't really eat food. We drink it. And we don't drink water. We drink ourselves. I don't even know what you mean. I love it. Yeties, you look fantastic all week. And we got a couple updates for you. First, if you've got a shout-out, if you want to get a fact of the day on the pod,

if you got a birthday, just go to our website, t-boypod.com. Click the shout-outs tab and fill out the forms and you can make it into the show. And if you want to get our takeaways to share and read every day, then you can get our newsletter also at t-boypod.com.

Put our takeaways in your inbox. Easy to share, easy to read. And Jack, I just got to say, your double collar looks fantastic and that's a win I want to celebrate. I'm a fashion trailblazer. You can be too. Don't sue us, Vineyard Vines.

We did it first. There's plenty of room under these collars, Nick. Have a fantastic weekend. Celebrate the wins. Jack and I will see you Monday. I can't wait. And before we go, congratulations to legendary Yeti

Amanda Tessoff, who just graduated from flight attendant school for Southwest Airlines. Congratulations to Travis Mount and Bailey, whose sixth wedding anniversary just happened in Charlotte, North Carolina. Not too shabby, and Jessica and Daisy are just a couple of besties hanging out on the Panama City Beach, enjoying their tea boy. I wish I could be there, to be honest.

And Damien Prendergast, happy birthday down in Jamaica. And happy birthday to Johanna Weiss in the Philippines. And Letty Goldberg, happy birthday over in Seattle, Washington. Happy birthday to Poncho Scanone, playing some paddleball for his birthday down in Miami. And Oliver DeMuris is doing the Rubik's Cube for his birthday over in Rogers, Arkansas. And happy birthday to Clancy Shepherd in Beaver Creek, Ohio. And Adam Lessing, enjoy that birthday in Brale, New Jersey. Happy birthday, Mary Beth Schubert in St. Paul, Minnesota.

And Kirawita, happy 13th birthday over in New York City. And a huge happy 27th to Frankie Golan, who's on the catwalk in Santa Monica right now. Frankie, really, really ridiculously good. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple and no vineyard vines were harmed in the making of this podcast. Nice job jumping into the S-1, by the way. I noticed how primary reporting your links were, you know, as one. I really love that. I'm like, I got the CEO, Jack.

I kidnapped him and I brought him here to you to tell you to your face that 99%. Is that information integrity good enough for you, Jack? Tell him what you told me. I don't care if it's in the S one. I want him to hear it.