The Best One Yet - 🎟️ “Cryptoball” — Crypto’s sports arena. Apple’s genius fix. Gas prices’ angry letter.

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

The Staples Center is about to become “Crypto.com Arena” — it’s the biggest naming rights deal in the history of sports. Apple stock just jumped because it’s giving you tools to fix your own iPhone. And gas prices have hit such high levels, that President Biden sent a letter to Big Oil (FYI, we just saw $6/gallon. How about you?).$BTC $ETH $AAPL $XOMGot 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.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is Snacks Daily. It is Thursday, the new Friday, November 18th. This is the best one yet. Honestly, this is my favorite mix of stories we've ever done, Jay. Apple is making itself easier for you to fix your iPhone yourself. Yeah, that's our first story.

Mom, guess what? I'm an Apple genius and you're an Apple Genius too. For our second story, crypto.com just spent a reported $700 million to snag the naming rights to the Lakers Arena. Because going to a Lakers game costs about one Bitcoin. For our third and final story, gas prices are so high. Didn't you see $6 a gallon at a gas station? I saw $6 a gallon. Regular unletter.

It was, I don't know what it was, but I was scared. I kept driving it was. So, because of $6 a gallon, the president just sent an angry letter to big oil. And Jack and I are going to tell you what's in that angry physical paper letter. But before we hit that wonderful mix of stories, honestly, my favorite mix we've ever done on a Thursday. Most dating apps are just about posing. Yeah, someone's posing and pics with family. Or you have picks of yourself posing.

on the top of a mat. Or you're posing in picks with sunglasses, puppies, and some kind of trophy. But a new dating app is focused on a particular niche. Yeah, Jack and I noticed a dating app that's focused on cat people, as in humans who have cats. This cat-focused dating app for humans is called tabby, which sounds very much like a cat. It works. Max, any kind of name like that, it works. And it's the first dating app for people specifically with cat forward lifestyles. Now, full disclosure, Jack and I are not in the dating game. And we don't have cats. I'm actually extremely I have a dog and Nick grew up with an iguana, which is a viable pet. They're very friendly.

They're just cold-blooded. But cat dating is unique because cats are the one pet animal that decides their owner's partner. Get this snackers. We jumped in snack style. Two out of three cat owners defer to their cat when it comes on choosing date number two with a certain someone. Is that according to a survey or something?

That's according to a survey of cat people who apparently like cats more than humans. Yeah, so and so seems like Mr. Mrs. Wright, but my cat hissed at him. Yeah, they seem perfect, but they have a cat allergy. So I'm sorry, it's not gonna work out. Yeah, it's not me. It's actually you, according to my cat. Cats, they already control cat owners day-to-day lives. What the heck, they may as well control your future life as well.

Let's turn our three stories. Why not? It's tabby. You're tuned in the snacks daily. The snacks about to hear ain't food. It's ear 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. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member Fenbara slash SIPC. For our first story, Apple finally made the iPhone fixable. Apple did a right to repair move, and they make it possible for anyone to be an Apple genius. Throw it on your LinkedIn Snackers. iPhone, by the way, the iPhone is the most profitable product.

in human history, period. Nearly $200 billion of iPhone sales happened just the past 12 months. Yeah, even like the Roman Toga, nothing comes close to this, most profitable. But if you break the screen to your iPhone, that is the worst. You're playing pickup with your buddy, Timmy.

Next thing you know, you're like spending eight hours trying to find a one-hour window to go to the Apple store in two weeks. Eight hours, if you're lucky, and then it's going to cost you hundreds of dollars. And it's six miles away. You've got to take a bus to a plane to get to this thing.

Because official policy at Apple is that only geniuses are smart enough to fix the iPhone. Apple says, hey, if it's not an Apple store or not an authorized support center, you're not getting it fixed. Because only Apple stores and authorized support centers have the Apple super secret repair guy. Yes, exactly. They're the only ones with Apple's special, really tiny instruments. Until now, because of this news, Apple just launched self-service repair.

Boom, coming early next year, it's going to be less eye genius, more you genius. This is a new online store on Apple.com with guides and repair kits specifically for you to fix your own iPhone 12 or 13 and the MacBook. It's like a DIY Apple store. Basically, Tim Cook is sending you a scalpel and a Phillips head. They've even got calibration tools that you can like plug in your phone and it will tell you what's wrong. And then they'll give you exactly what you need to fix it for a price, but hopefully a low price. Now, Snackers, first thing Jack and I are thinking this is you'd think Apple stock either like wouldn't be affected or actually drop because of this news. Well, this could hurt iPhone sales. It could totally hurt iPhone sales.

If you break your iPhone, you might have to buy a new one. But instead, now you're going to like maybe fix it yourself. And so you're not going to splurge on the new iPhone. But Apple stock actually rose yesterday on this news by 2%. And there are actually a few reasons why Apple stock actually jumped on all this. First, self-repair boosts customer love for Apple. Yeah, you give us the tools, Tim, and we're going to cherish you for life. Second, self-repair can save Apple costs.

Apple doesn't need as many geniuses to replace a screen for the ninth time. And of course, Apple's not unisone. No, it's not. We said Apple's not giving you the tools. Apple is selling you the tools. And based on how much Apple charges for dongles. What do you think? In Donglegate 2.8? Well, I think the iPhone 12 repair kit could be like $169. There's no way this is under like $48. Like no way. We'll sit. Yeah. We'll see. Maybe they'll surprise us. Honestly, if it comes in a really cute one of those adorable Apple white boxes, I would pay. You're paying for the box. Dude, I'm done with the boxes. I've got so many. They're just so pretty. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies?

over at Apple. If you have to do it eventually, do it now. Okay, this is why I love this takeaway, Jack, because it feels like it's a life lesson and it's a business lesson at the same time. The smallest kid in the group, they're forced to get the middle seat in the car. The seat, nobody else wants. Your buddy Nick Rose. Your buddy Nick Rose is this guy. My buddy, Nick Rose when I was growing up, but he was a savvy kid. He was always like, dibs on middle seat. And Snackers, that's what the savvy kid does. They're not forced to be in the middle seat. They choose to do it. They own it. They do it on their terms. Remember that for a second. Now, the right to repair movement is unique in America because it has bipartisan support.

When it comes to the right to repair, we've seen an executive order from the president on this and state laws about your right to repair. And they all got passed. Apple could have waited for the government to force it to launch something like self-repair, which they just launched. But instead, Apple just wrote their own right to repair rule. Kind of like Jack's buddy, Nick Rose, Apple preempted legislation. It did this on its own terms.

Instead of eventually changing on the government's terms, Apple changed now on their own terms. If you have to do it eventually, just do it now. On your terms. It grows. For our second story, crypto.com just paid a record amount for an entire Los Angeles sports arena. It's an arena-sized, targeted ad.

Okay, can we go back to 1997, Jack? Remember where you were? A lot of big things, 1997. I was nine. Okay. Titanic, that came out. That was big. Actually, I haven't seen Titanic. I still haven't seen it.

You're kidding. No. I mean, I know Saline's song. It's a great song, but I haven't seen the movie. They won 11 Oscars. Well, I was too distracted because Harry Potter, the book, had also just come out of that year. And Staples. Yes.

Signed a deal to get the naming rights of the iconic basketball arena, the Staples Center. We're talking the Lakers, the Clippers, the Kings, they all play in the arena. We're talking the Kobe and the Shaq era. And it was named after a three ring binder. Starting on Christmas, the office supply chain, though, is out. Yeah. And crypto.com is in. Trapper keepers are out.

Dogecoin is moving. Crypto.com Arena. That's what it's going to be called. Rolls off the tongue. And they paid a reported $700 million to get the name of that arena for 20 years. And that's according to some PFWTMs. Honestly, Jack, I'm still going to say Staples Center for like, I don't know, three or four more years. It's like calling the new Yankee Stadium, the old Yankee Stadium.

It's a statement. But Snackers, this isn't just $700 million. This is the biggest stadium naming deal in the history of stadiums. And it was just paid by crypto.com. Crypto.com is a Singapore-based crypto brokerage. They also do NFTs and other decentralized finance. Can we emphasize how big this is? Like Caesar didn't even name the Coliseum after Caesar.

They just went with Coliseum on that one. It's not the first time a crypto company has taken over stadiums. No, it isn't. Great timing. Crypto.com's rival, FTX, just paid $135 million for the naming rights to the Miami Heats Arena. Now, this is what Jack and I find fascinating about this story. The name on the arena, that's just like an obvious billboard. But using the product in the arena, that is.

the real opportunity. Imagine a half-court shot competition at half-time during a Lakers game. Instead of giving away like $50,000 in cash or like a mid-sized Lexus, if that ball goes in, what do they give you a one Bitcoin instead? So the gift shop, they got jerseys of Kobe and Shaq and Classic's Magic Johnson. But next to those jerseys, what if there's a Pau Gasol NFT? There we go. Oh, you bought a $13 pretzel. What if they gave you a discount instead? But only if you pay with your crypto wallet. Jack, what do they gave $5 in crypto? fun money to every fan who bought a ticket and just ran around the stadium. It'd be interesting if crypto.com finds a way to make this name deal with the Lakers and the

Kings and the Clippers, actually a game deal, something more. Turn this arena into a crypto playground. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at crypto.com? This is actually one huge targeted ad. Snackers, the best ads are the ones targeted at the specific demographic that's most likely to actually become the customer. It's why Facebook shows skiers ads for ski goggles, not last. Apgog.

Yeah. Well, this crypto.com naming rights deal, it isn't just about mainstreaming crypto. It's actually about targeting a very specific audience. Because sports fans and crypto users happen to be very similar audiences. Sports fans, according to data, are more likely to be mail and take risks like sports. But crypto investors are also more likely to be mail and do take risks when investing in crypto. So crypto.com just spent a record amount of money to slap its name on an arena.

But it's actually one huge targeted ad. For our third and final story, gas prices. They've jumped to such high levels. We just hit a breaking point. The president is probing big oil because of big gas prices. Okay, so Jack, we're driving by Mendocino. You're about to canoe with the river outers. I was trying to enjoy the river outers.

They're great people. I guess they're great mammals. And we're three hours north of San Francisco. I see $6.5.5 gasoline. I've never seen $5 gas. Unprecedented. I didn't know that could go that high. So Joe Biden sent a physical letter on white,

how stationary to the head of the FTC. Her name is Lena Kahn. It wasn't just because I noticed this. Also, we should point out gas prices are up 60% to their highest point in seven years. Joe Biden's message to the FTC, the gas prices are too dang high. Mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil and gas companies. That's the literal wording that was in the physical letter. Joe Biden's concerned that with winter coming, the high prices of oil and gasoline

are going to crush middle and lower income Americans' water. So he's asking the Federal Trade Commission, hey, can you look into this? Can you see if there's any like foul play going on? The oil lobby on the other hand, they call this stunt a political distraction. Okay. So the FTC, if they're going to look into this, we're thinking, you know what? Maybe Jack and I should look into this deal. All right. All right. So let's compare right now in 2021 to 2008 when oil prices were insane. Okay. You and I were living together in Burlington, but I believe our only method of transportation was like bike and foot. We took the public bus that summer. I remember I had no idea what gas prices were, just seeing that they were really high on like the TV.

We never actually bought gas. Well, we looked it up and the price of a barrel of oil in 2008, the summertime, was a record $145 per barrel. Now, Snackers, here's the wild thing. That record in 2008, it's still a record today. Today, a barrel of oil is almost half of what it was in 2008. It's just $78 bucks right now. So oil was record expensive back then. Was gas record expensive back then?

Okay, well, 2008, it looks like the average gallon of gas. was going to cost you a four bucks and 11 cents. That's high. That's really high. And today, the average price of gasoline in America is $3.41. So not quite $4.11, but close to the 2008 record high gasoline prices. All right. So what we're saying is that the price of oil is nowhere close to where it was back in 2008. But the price of gasoline that you actually paid the pump, that is pretty close to where it was in 2008.

Joe Biden suspects that oil companies are jacking up prices. and taking the amount in between as huge profits. Because you're paying more for ice cream and face-so up these days. Maybe you won't notice if you're paying more for gas too. And to prove it, Joe Biden points to ExxonMobil's profits, which are higher than they have been in nearly a decade last quarter. So that's why the FTC is looking at potential collusion. Basically, they're checking a sea of oil companies agreed to keep prices high.

You're supposed to compete, not collude. Different teams. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies paying a whole bunch of gas these days? The policy is unclear. The politics aren't. More oil? that's one way to lower gas prices. And that's what the oil industry is responding with. But more oil would mean more climate change because of more emissions. So high gas prices are bad for

consumers. Low gas prices, though, that might require being bad to the planet too. That's why Joe Biden has decided to blame the oil companies. Because the solution of one problem is actually creating another problem. Blaming big oil is presidential politics 101. Presidents have been doing it for a century, literally. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Apple's doing their own right to repair. It's called self-service repair. Here's the thing. If you're going to have to do it eventually, do it now on your terms. Crypto.com is trying to mainstreamify crypto with their L.A. Arena deal. But it's also just one huge targeted ad. Gas prices are very, very high, so the president is probing big oil. Fixing high gas prices could worsen

climate change, and that's why Biden's blaming big oil. Now, time for our snack factor. the day that could not have had more perfect timing. It's from Bob Iyosu and the whole Ayosu family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who just heard us do a story about Hershey's yesterday. Okay, Hershey's. It's based in Hershey's Pennsylvania. Love the town. They also run an amusement park there, too.

It's called Hershey's Park. And it started out as a large playground for the employee's children, but it's grown into a full scale amusement park. Yeah, but get this. There is one, like, storage building. It's actually a pretty cool, big building that sticks out. It's a little awkward looking to, like an ugly barn. It looks like a Division III.

multi-purpose like sports facility. Classic. They got like six basketball hoops and like three Zambonies, just like in the middle of the thing. Here's the thing. You can't tear that building down because it's an official historic place. And historic event happened there in 1962. In 1962, Will Chamberlain and the Philadelphia Warriors played the New York Knicks in this Hershey Park arena. And Will Chamberlain scored a record 100 points against the Knicks in that Hershey Park arena. Every basketball fan knows Wilk Chamberlain scored 100 points one game. Nobody knows it was in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Biggest thing to happen in Hershey since the 9-inch Reese's pie. Snackers, you look fantastic today. And remember, if you have a cat, ask their permission to listen to Tomorrow's snacks, too. Mick and I'll see you tomorrow. I was hoping you wouldn't. And before we go, happy birthday to the legendary Dave Franzel over on the Upper West Side. The buddy Dave started a burrito shack in Egypt during the Arab Spring. He did.

And guess what? Even though it was all the way in Egypt, he still charged extra for guac. Happy birthday to Ty Dinger in Cambridge Bass. And Josh Metz and his 8-year-old in Alexandria, Virginia. Happy birthday to Joe Kim in Chicago. And Aaron is turning 25, also in Chicago, also in logistics. Happy birthday to Rohe in Los Altos, California. And Jessica Vow, happy birthday in North Augusta, South Carolina.

Congrats to Greg Pink for getting promoted down in McKinney, Texas. And happy congratulations to Matt Kazajuse, who just got promoted to, also in logistics, in Morrisville, South Carolina. Happy anniversary to Ethan and Samantha Decker down in Florida. Huge congrats on the Annie. And to anyone all celebrating today, make it a tea boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, nickel and stock of Apple, and we both own some Bitcoin.

It's Ben. 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., Robin Hood Financial LLC or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates.

All investments involve risk, including loss of principle and past performance, does not guarantee future results. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Apple, Bitcoin, Ethereum. Do we mention Apple? We did. We did a whole story on Apple. It's really funny.

Did you see that on purpose? No.