The Best One Yet - 🚁 “Mission: iMpossible” — Apple’s Hoarder’s Quarter. The Cars-becoming-Spas trend. Elon’s DOGE exit.

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

Luxury cars are adding wild mindful wellness features… But will anyone pay for an in-car spa?Elon just exited DOGE… So we calculated the $$$-saving scorecard.Apple pulled off a “Mission Impossible” operation… We’re calling it the Hoarder’s Quarter.Plus, who will win the Kentucky Derby?… The horse whose name begins with “S.”$AAPL $SPY $MGGYYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… the Starbucks Frappuccino 🥤Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It is Friday the real Friday, May the 2nd. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Mark your calendars for Monday, baby. And why is that, Jack?

We are announcing our next T-Boy live show on Monday. The city, the state, the location will reveal it all on Monday, the next T-boy live. Wait, did you say, did you say it's May 2nd? I said it was May 2nd. Happy birthday, Mom. Top of the show. Shut out. Why not? Jennifer, congratulations over there. Always remember to call your mother. Jack, three stories for today's tea boy. What do we got in the pot? For our first story, Apple just pulled off

what we're calling the Tom Cruise quarter. Actually, we're calling it the hoarders quarter, but it does involve Tom Cruise. For our second story, the hot new trend in luxury cars is mindfulness. Meditations, massages, scented, hybiscous smells, yet he's every car brand now thinks it's a spa. And our third and final story. It's unofficially the end of Doge. Elon Musk just left his Doge task force. He talked about Buddha. And so we ran the numbers for you.

But Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What? A mix of stories to go into the weekend with. Love it, Jack. Happy Cinco de Burke Derby playoffs to all those who celebrate. That's right, because Yeties, this weekend, we got Cinco de Mayo parties. We've got the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder meeting. Plus, NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs.

and the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby. It is by far the biggest weekend of the year for social sports shareholder actions. If you chose this weekend for your wedding, which our buddy Emmy did, you may get some no-shows. But Nick and I want to focus on one of those events in particular, and it's not Emmy's wedding.

No, it is the longest running sports event in America, the Kentucky Horse Race Derby. Since 1875, the Kentucky Derby has happened each and every single year. including during World Wars and the Great Depression. So we were curious. After 151 years, is there a trend in terms of what horse rins the waist? I think you mean what horse wins the race, but I love what you said, Jack.

We were curious. Can we predict the Derby Victor just based on the horse's name? The answer? Yes. Because get this. 13% of Kentucky Derby winners were horses whose names began with S. That's right. Secretariat, Smarty Jones.

Sea Hero S-S-S. And we're not double-counting for the four horses who had double S names. Seattle Slew, Super Saver, Street Sense. How about Sunday silence? All of them are Kentucky Derby winners. And statistically speaking, S-names win four times more than their share of the alphabet. And this year, Nick, the two horses with the best odds to win? Well, that would be Sandman and sovereignty.

Therefore, the secret to who's going to win the Kentucky Derby may simply begin with the letter S. But besties, to borrow line from Warren Buffett, this is not financial advice. The letter S may just be correlation, not causation. So, Yetis, if you're watching the Kentucky Derby, first of all, it's a six-hour event, but it only is the last two minutes of the six hours. But second of all, it looks like the alphabet is going to be the leading indicator. Say yes to S. And let's hit our three stories, baby. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea It's the best one yet, but the best is enormous.

Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 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. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

Our first story. Every big tech company reported earnings this week, but all eyes were on Apple. So we want to tell you about the hoarder's quarters. and Apple's Mission Impossible. But first, Jeddies, Jack and I would like to talk about Tom Cruise. Because Tommy Cruz is 62 years old, but he looks like he's 26. I just grew a 12th ab on his stomach, too. I think he drew a 13th ab on his fourth bicep, Jack.

And Tom Cruise just filmed his seventh Mission Impossible movie, not too shabby. And apparently, it was inspired by Apple. Because one month ago, Apple computer pulled off a move that would make a secret agent blush. airlifted 600 tons of iPhones out of India overnight. We're talking $2 billion of devices evacuated out of India. Six cargo jets left Chennai, India, headed for six different U.S. cities. It was Operation AirDrop. Literally.

In fact, Apple even sent a representative to the Indian government to change the customs approval process from a 30-hour wait to a six-hour wait just for this night. And then, in the darkness of the night, when the airports were least busy, they evacuated those iPhones as the clock was counting down. One sec, Jack. I'm just stressed right now hearing the story. Apple ended up rescuing two million phones before Trump's initial 26% tariffs hit India. This was Apple's Mission Impossible Moment. That drama deserves an Academy Award.

Yes, it does, Jack. Best pivot in a leading role. Yeah. Like, how often do you see a logistics team at a tech company? Act like actors in an action movie, man. And that performance is also what set the stage for Apple's earnings report, which dropped yesterday. Perfect timing. Because this week, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon all reported earnings, and they all beat the earnings's expectations.

But Apple is the one big tech company whose profit puppy is the sale of physical products. Now, no one has slapped a digital tariff on cloud computing yet, so Microsoft, they're not that worried about the trade war. But 90% of iPhones are made. in China. And the rare earth metals in those iPhone batteries, 100% of those are mined in China. Which is why, amid the trade war insanity of the past two months, Apple's been working on a plan. Get this. According to the Financial Times, all U.S.-bound iPhones will be made in India by 2026. To avoid Trump's China tariffs, they're going to make all U.S. iPhones in India and keep making in China the iPhones for the rest of the world. And now besties, Jack and I have been

fascinating by this epic logistic shift. And Jack, what did we just learn in Apple's learnings yesterday? Apple confirmed that they're actually halfway done with that massive operation. We repeat, half of U.S.-bound iPhones are now made in India. Most others made in Vietnam to avoid those China tariffs. Yeties, if you recently bought an iPhone, show us what country it's made in on the back. Because I've never seen one that's not made in China. Nope, it is now an Indian-made iPhone. Overall, Apple beat earnings with a surprising surge in iPhone sales. Because of our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the mission impossible takeaway for our buddies over at Apple?

Prepare for the hoarders' quarters. The hoarders quarters. Yet is this round of earnings going on right now covers Q1, the first three months of the year, right before the trade war got really hot. Because remember, Trump's Liberation Day was on April 2nd. So the first quarter earnings results were mostly irrelevant. Investors, they're looking for hints about what's happening in the second quarter. The second quarter, which is April, May, and June, is what we're calling the hoarder's quarter.

The hoarder's quarter. Consumers are loading up on cars, electronics, and big ticket made in China items before those tariffs hit. Like an early splurge on an iPhone 16 or a Dodge Durango before the price pops because of tariffs. Because China, they've shown no sign of back and down to Trump's trade war. It's probably going to keep up. ongoing. And as of right now, tariffs between the United States and China sit at 145% and 120%. So interestingly, Apple mentioned yesterday, they're already seeing early signs of hoarding. Because the theme of Q2, it's the hoarder's quarter. The hoarder's quarter. For our second story, breathe in, breathe out. The hottest new trend in the car industry is

wellness. Yeah, the health and wellness. industry. Health and wellness has come for the car industry. But is anyone willing to pay for a car that's also a spa? That's the big question and we'll answer it here. Yeties, let's look at the new Lincoln Nautilus. Jack, what am I staring at right now? The same brill, wheels and tail lights as Lincoln's other SUVs. But Jack, pause the pod for a second. There is one difference on the inside and what is it? On the screen, there's a button called rejuvenate. And if you push it, panoramic ambient light displays will start to soothe your entire soul. Air filtration turns on, the seat reclines, and relaxing nature sounds from the mystic Amazonian forest

waft into your ears. Rejuvenate is Lincoln's new, quote-unquote, multi-sensory stress reduction initiative. And we're not talking like two or three or four senses here. All five human senses, including smell, will now be triggered by this new Lincoln car. Because there's an in-car diffuser spraying relaxing hibiscus in the whole front seat area. You're stressed out after your workday? You need more than ASMR. You can experience 10 minutes of shavasana before entering your house in your car.

I think when you push the button, it lays the front seat flat, so you're laying down. I think it even goes further than flat, Jack. Lincoln even partnered with a sleep app, calm, so that the car will narrate a 10-minute meditation to you. I thought my adaptive high beams were luxurious. You know the ones that automatically dim when there's a car coming in the opposite direction. Lincoln is turning their car into the white lotus. One sec. What's that on the chassis, Jack?

One of your 42 skin creams. They don't have skin creams built in, do that? Not yet. Yeah, this is what we found fascinating. It's not just Lincoln. This is a new trend. The car industry is turning the car cabin into the wellness retreat. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, my dad's Mercedes 20 years ago had massages in the chairs.

And it did. That was a nice independent feature in your dad. But what we're talking about is a coordinated symphony of multiple features into one spa-like experience. Exactly. Bloomberg reported that this trend is actually happening across all the luxury car brands, and we mean all of them. Lincoln calls it rejuvenate. Mercedes calls it energizing comfort. BMW, they call it carrying car, and they're all promoting it right now. And Genesis calls it the mood curator. Okay, we dove in T-boy style. There is one Mercedes that actually offers four different perfume mists. That's right. They have four reservoirs somewhere in that car to hold four different

perfumes. Yeah. You can get mystic, violet cashmere, or you're ready for the fourth one, Jack? Azur. I don't know what that is. Azoor. So, yeah, if you're waiting for your kids at the pickup, you can take a five-minute treat yourself with Azur in your own little mojo-dojo Casa House sensual. Now, the strategy here is actually pretty simple. Auto brands are chasing growth, and they know where they think they can find it. In the health and wellness industry, which is growing 10% per year, according to McKinsey. Now, from a profit perspective, these bells and whistles, they justify the $8,000 higher price on that trim model car. And those upgrades, those are how the car companies make their profits.

They're hoping it's a profit puppy, which leads to the big question, though, are consumers actually buying it? In this economy, who's paying $8,000 for four different perfumes in your Mercedes? Breathe out. Breathe in. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the meditation mindfulness car industry? Just because it's not used doesn't mean it's not useful. Now, yet it is one car analyst called this a mistake. A delusion said there is no evidence that any person in America actually wants this.

Nobody's going to use this. But using it isn't the only source of its value. Because you may never turn on the scented massage meditation light show in your car, but you may value knowing that it's there or telling people that it's there. Jimmy, you got to take a spin in my Lincoln. The whole front seat, it's like a spot. Yeah, it reminds me something my mom says about living in a city with a ballet. Like, she doesn't go to the ballet a lot, but she just appreciates that the ballet is available to her.

When her friends visit New York, she can say, maybe you can pop into the ballet. Right, exactly. Well, you know, sometimes consumers buy things simply to know it's there, and that makes them feel good that they haven't. So, yeah, data may show that no one asked for it or that no one's going to use it. But besties not being used doesn't mean it's not useful. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story before the weekend, Elon Musk's Doge era is over. He just had his exit interview over at the White House.

But Elon says Doge is like Buddhism. And he's Buddha. So we ran the numbers on Doge to see if it was all worth it. Yeties, on Wednesday night, the two biggest stories of the day were Elon Musk and Elon Musk. The first story was a report from the Wall Street Journal that Tesla's board had reached out to executive search firms. And Jack, what would be the goal of them doing that? To set up a process to replace Elon as the CEO. This is straight out of succession, a total Kendall Roy move right there.

Now, the board denies the Wall Street Journal's report, but we believe it. Because the board has a legal responsibility to look after the company, and Elon's been focused on politics. Which leads to the second Elon in the news, which was Elon at the White House holding a press conference. He said on Wednesday night that he will be spending less time at Doge and a lot more time at Tesla. Axios says that this had the feel of like a de facto exit interview.

It basically ends the Doge era. Although Donald Trump is letting Elon keep his West Wing office and said that he can sleep over in the White House anytime. But yet he is here's what. what we found fascinating about this story. Elon said that Doge will continue without him by comparing it to Buddhism. Buddhism continues, even without the leader of the religion, right? Buddha's not here anymore, but Buddhism's still around, and he's saying the same thing will happen to Doge, so we decided to jump in T-boy style to the numbers. Elon set the expectations for

Doge back in October at a rally at Madison Square Garden. Exactly. That's when he said he could save, as a quote, at least $2 trillion a year through Doge. So we looked at the receipts that are posted on Doja's website. And Jack, the financial tally, what kind of numbers we've seen? $160 billion. That's how much Doja saved. Although we should point out those are Doja's calculations, and experts contest how accurate they are. Now, $160 billion is a lot of money.

That is 32 lifts right there. But it's 8% of the goal, Elon stated, and just 2% of all federal spending. So that is shocking. But if you've been listening to this show for a while, like a good Yetty or Bestie, That's also not shocking. Yeah, we said in December that 88% of the federal budget is off limits without congressional legislation. Plus, we should point out, $160 billion in savings doesn't tell the full picture here of costs. Because Doge's firings were actually expensive.

That's right. According to the Partnership for Public Service, they estimate that rehiring of workers who were fired by mistake, plus lost productivity, plus paid leave. It actually cost the government $135 billion. So add it all up, net net, Doge saved about $25 billion this year, which is a drop in the pale considering the expectations and the size of the federal spending. Also still, 200,000 people were fired and some entire agencies were all but eliminated. So, Yeties, we've said the spirit of Doge's mission efficiency made sense.

But in practice, the small savings and the huge chaos outweighed it. And to explain everything we just said, we whipped up this takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Doge? The U.S. government is basically an insurance company with a military. Now, yetis, close your eyes for a second. When you picture public services, you're probably imagining teachers, police, the DMV, the court system. For the most part, though, everything Nick just said happens at the state and local level. Right. The U.S. government at a federal level is one whose debt is $36 trillion, a lot of money.

That's the one that Doge was targeting. in the spending that resulted in $36 trillion of debt. Now, 61% of what the U.S. federal government spends money on, it's Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In other words, 61% of the federal government is retirement insurance and health insurance. Okay, the next biggest? The military.

26% of our government spending at a federal level is the military. Now, those huge chunks of spending, both of them could be reduced. There are efficiencies to be found. But they can't be reduced by Doge. They would require an act of Congress. And besties, that's why we told you in December. There was no chance Doge could make serious dense in spending.

Only Congress can. Because the U.S. government is basically an insurance company with a military. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for the real Friday? Apple just said that half of U.S.-bound iPhones are already made in India. The Mission Impossible moment. That was the first quarter. The second quarter is the hoarder's quarter. For our second story, the latest in luxury cars is in-car health and wellness, turning the front seat into a spa.

Will people use their rejuvenate button? Maybe not. But that doesn't mean it's not valuable. And our third and final story is that Elon's Doge era is over. So far, it's saved $25 billion net, which is one and a half percent of the $2 trillion goal. Doge just couldn't really touch spending because the U.S. government is actually an insurance. insurance company with a military. But Yetis, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. First, but-da-b-pah-bo-bo-low. McDonald's just announced its worst quarter since COVID. Sales at U.S. McDonald's fell by 3.6%. The third shrinkage in the last four quarters. The reason? Economic worries, guy you're freaking out about that McFreek. The CEO said that consumer sentiment is down,

and that's translating to fewer visits to Mick D's. And second, Sam Altman, apparently, heavily considered a presidential run back in 2016. And by heavily considered, he probably asked the chat bot, should I run for president. And it was so sycophantic, it's like, yeah, you should definitely run for president.

It's actually a detail from a new book called The Optimist about Sam Altman, which, full disclosure, my mom was the literary agent on, and she's amazing at her job. And I guess when it was Trump versus Hillary, Sam thought he could run and win. And finally, if you're down in Texas right now, look out for millions of dimes

that are all over the road. Because a huge truck left the Federal Reserve mint and was hit by a car and a whole bunch of dime spilled out. Texas actually shut down the highway and used a sewer-grade vacuum to suck up all the coins. The latest report is that the rain has wiped many of them away, but, you know, if you still got a dime, hit us up. Now, time for the best fact yet.

This one sent in by a legendary Yeti, Savannah Westwood from down in Orlando. Did you know that the Snickers bar was named after a horse. Didn't know it, Jack. Tell me more, buddy. Well, the Mars family, who created the Snickers bar in 1930, named it after one of their favorite horses. Yeah, the horse was named Snickers,

and after it passed away, the family chose to honor it in the best way possible. With a chocolate-covered, nuggety, caramel candy bar. And Jack, what's the first letter of that horse? S. Yes. Wow. We're not saying you should bet on ass. We're not even saying you should bet.

But we have said it like six times in the show. If you don't, I don't know what you're thinking, though. Yeties, you looked fantastic all week. Remember, stay tuned on Monday. Live show reveal coming then. Also, tomorrow's Friday, so we're going to answer some of your questions at T-BoyPod on Instagram. So follow us on Instagram there. And finally, Jack and I didn't want to leave you empty hanging.

So we whipped up the special surprise for Saturday morning. Tune in here for an episode on the Frappuccino. Before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti, Christian Licked to you down in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania celebrating with some fantastic dairy. And happy birthday to a mourmer of 11 grandbabies. Andrea Hansen, wow. Aramon, Utah. And Stephen Kearney, he's turning 34 years old down in Austin, Texas, the sabbatical to Japan and Bali. Oh, that's going to be fantastic.

Enjoy, Stephen. Can I be the plus one? Plus two. Let's make it happen, Steve. And happy birthday to Monica and Shiva Taramani, who are both turning 30, twin. birthdays in Atlanta, Georgia. And Neil DeSay, over in Chicago, Logistics wants a cookie crisp

for that birthday, Jack. Oh, and Dan and Hand Tillman down in San Diego are moving to Virginia, and we wish you luck on the beautiful move. Shout out to Michael and Adam in Des Moines, besties who are headed to the Berkshire Hathaway meeting. Woodstock for capitalists.

You got to paint your faces, guys. That's how you celebrate there. And Adam Katzenbach's got a new dream job in Venice, California. Congratulations, Adam. Fantastic to have that win. And a big shout out to Emily and Rebecca Aschino, two twins graduating from the University of Central Florida. And Christina Cuivas and Harrison Pollock are getting married tomorrow in Oceanside, California. Congratulations, guys. Send us some picks. We can't wait to see them. And finally, congratulations to Anthony and Danielle. Plus, their groomsmen, Evan, Dan, and Sam. There is no better way to wake these guys up

in the morning with a little T-boy Daily. Congrats to Anthony and Daniel for getting married. Congrats to Evan, Dan, and Sam for being groomsmen. Up next, by the way, 10-10 wins. Celebrate the wins, and after party for the wedding, we're getting drinks of the loopy-dupy. You give us 22 minutes. We'll give you the T-Boy.

If you know, you know. This is Jack. I own stock in Berkshire, Hathaway, and Amazon, and Nick and I both own stock in Apple.