The Best One Yet - 🪴 “Pardoned but still cuffed” — Marijuana’s financial crime. Handbag alt-vestments. YouTube’s thumbnail secret.

Episode Date: October 10, 2022

Weed stocks just had their best day in 3 years because President Biden loosened the financial handcuffs. Handbags are the hottest alternative investment, because the marketplace for secondhand Gucci is easy and online. And YouTube legend MrBeast revealed the secret to YouTube: The Thumbnail.$CGC $TLRY $GOOG $REAL $LVMUYFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn 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. Welcome back. It is Monday, October 10th, and today's pod is the best one yet. It's going to be the best week yet, because this is a T-boy. The jobs report for September, though, it was too good. Oops, we did it again. We added too many jobs last month in America. Eddie's, the jobs market is so good right now that stocks are actually falling. Counterintuitive.

Because if the economy is this hot, the Fed is going to have to keep slapping us with interest rate hikes. cool things down. You know what can't be cooled down, Jack? This teaport? This pod. Jack, what's our first story? Cannabis stocks just had their best day in over three years. Because the government loosened their financial handcuffs. For our second story, and Arme's handbag just sold for a record 340 Gs. Because handbags are the new hedge funds. For our third and final story, YouTube star Mr. Beast just revealed the key to cracking YouTube's code. What is Jack? The Thumbnail. The Thumbnail. The thumbnail. It is why YouTubers are making more money than Netflix's. That's right. We're dedicating a whole story to a thumbnail.

It's a picture, but it's so much more. But Yeties, before we hit that fantastic mix, just the perfect mix to kick off the week, man. What was the number one movie of this year, Nick? Ah, Jack, that would be Top Gun by Tom Cruise. Did we mention we tried to grow Miles Tiller mustache? We gave it a shot a couple times. We tried it once or twice. But that gave Jack and I an idea over the weekend.

What if we mixed Hop Gun with our pod interview from this past weekend? What if we added Tom Cruise intensity to last weekend's bonus pot? Take our interview with Jonah Peretti. Yeah, the CEO and founder of BuzzFeed. And sprinkle out a little Hollywood pixie dust. E drop in a little dazzle of drama. Should we give it a shot, Nick? No, Siskel and Ebert this thing?

Yeties, we're going to roll the trailer of our bonus pot. Jack, let's go full Jerry Bruckheimer on this thing. In a world. videos go viral. In a market where listicles are briefed. In an age where salmon is slamming. Jonah Paredi created BuzzFeed. And unlike Gwack, this bonus pod ain't ex.

A little disappointed that you didn't have any hot wings. Oh, yeah. We've only had the burritos. Yeah, the burritos. If you already listen to the full bonus episode, thank you. Let us know what you think. But if you haven't jumped in T-Boy style, check it out. We ripped up a takeaway or two for you.

In the meantime, Jack, let's hit today's three stories. 15 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 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. For our first story, last week, President Biden pardoned everyone convicted of simple marijuana possession and weed stock surge. Because it started the uncuffing of the American cannabis industry. All right, Jack, let's sprinkle on a little context here. First, can we talk about the literal handcuffs? Petty marijuana possession crimes. Yeah, these countless Americans have criminal records for pretty victimless crime over here, you know?

Yeah, plus, this is a huge racial justice issue. because whites and blacks, according to studies, use weed the same amount. But Jack, what is that same day to show? Black and brown people go to jail for weed crimes way more frequently than white people do. Well, last week, President Biden used his pardoning powers to do the second largest pardon of all time by a president on Thursday. One giant pardon of anyone who has had marijuana possession crimes. Now, we should point out that the president only has federal powers. So there are some limitations here.

Yeah, so this impacts only the 6,500 Americans convicted of federal marijuana possession crimes. Ipso facto, Jack, this move, it seems like it was largely symbolic. Right, because 98% of marijuana possession charges, they're state crimes, not federal crimes. Yeah, so the president was hoping this would be more of like an inspiration to the state. He hopes that the state governors follow Biden's move and pardon this crime at the state level, too. Now, yet here's what Jack and I found fascinating about the story. It looks like Joe Biden passed the duchy this way, but hasn't passed it that way. That's exactly correct, Nick, because he hasn't done the biggest thing the cannabis industry wants.

Get Congress to decriminalize weed. He hasn't asked Congress to decriminalize weed. Yeah, because although your state may have legalized weed, that doesn't mean that the cannabis is legal. Because the FBI follows federal laws. Yeah, so it may be legal in the state of California, but it's, It's also technically illegal in the state of California. Yeah, it's both legal and illegal. It depends who the cops are.

Yeah, knock, knock, knock. Who's there? Nobody. State troopers, come on in. FBI, I'm not here. So besties, while 40% of us live in states where weed is legal, 100% of us live in a country where it is not legal. And it's not just not legal.

It is class one illegal. This is like a stage five zucking. It is the ultimate kind of illegal. Our laws say that weed is a worse drug than fentanyl. That's why weed legalization advocates hope that the government's moved last week starts a new trend. And they hope that the trend really quickly ends up like this. We treat weed like we treat whiskey. You treat Mary Jane like a Mickleau Bolger.

Right. If we treat marijuana like we treat alcohol, there's rules, but it's generally legal for adults. That's the end game here. Like there are rules, but you're going to have to show some ID, McLeaven. I'm old enough. old enough for what? To party. So check, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the cannabis industry?

Cannabis stocks have had financial handcuffs on. Get this besties. Stocks of major cannabis companies, they soared on Thursday on this news, but then those stocks plummeted on Friday. This is why they fell. Until marijuana is legalized by Congress, the cannabis industry is still financially handcuffed. For example, a weed startup based outside of Boston still can't sell their product beyond Massachusetts state lines.

It's hard to scale if you're stuck within your state. Or how about this? Weed companies can't use national banks. They're still stuck with local credit unions. You can't grow big if you can't borrow big money. Oh, and how about this? A weed company, any weed company could still be busted by FBI agents because it's federally illegal. Investors, they're not huge fans of drug busts.

knock, knock, knock, not good for the bottom line. So despite President Biden's latest move, cannabis stocks are still financially handcuffed. For our second story, the latest alternative investment is in real estate, it's not crypto, and it's not fine art, it's handbags. That's right. Investors are moving big money from hedge funds to handbags. All right, Jack, again, the hero statistic of the weekend. What happened last week over at Sotheby's?

A bag and strap combination. for $346,000. Yetis, we're talking about a handbag. This thing wasn't made out of like extinct ostrich either. Although it's just as rare. Yeah, actually, this was your classic Armease, Himalaya, Retornay, Kelly bag. Glad you mentioned the Kelly.

That was worth 100 G. Good point, Jack. We're talking about a handbag here, the price of a house. Crocodile. Skin, mother of pearl. Jack, the metal latch was made of unobtainium. Strange thing, though. Bloomberg chatted with the buyer of this handbag?

They did. And basically said, like, why did you spend so much money on this bag? And what they say, Jack? This is a real investment for the long term. We had to beep, beep, beep this thing, back up. An investment in your ability to carry your belongings? No. Bloomberg says that handbags are a trending alternative asset. Get this, Yeties.

Apparently handbags are the luxury item most likely to hold value over the last few years. So Nick and I had to jump in T-boy style and look into this whole hand-vesting thing. I thought we were going with bag anomics. Are we doing bagonomics or hand vesting? Nick, they're not profit puppies. They're profit purses. Yes, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about this story. Handbags are now the number one most bought fashion accessory.

And they're a nice way to round out your portfolio. Yeah, apparently you're diversifying with Christian Dior. How's your portfolio, Greg? I'd say strong to quite strong. According to Business of Fashion Magazine, 40% of Americans are in the market for a new handbag. So it must not just be women. It's men, too. We call it a European carry-all. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But these hand vesters, they're not treating it like a handbag. They're not taking it out to see and be seen with this thing. No, they're not. What are they doing, Jack? They're storing it in a vault like it's a bar of gold. They're treating a Versace handbag like it's a Picasso painting. They're storing it like they'd store a 68 Mustang. And the result, handbags are outperforming stocks lately. According to Credit Suisse, Chanel bags are up 25.

percent since last year. Jack, how about Goyard? Botega Venena? What kind of numbers are we seeing on those puppies? 20% and 22% up since last year. The Carl Lagerfield Edition Chanel bag. It is the Exxon mobile stock of 2022. That precious purse is up 40% in value compared to last year. Now, besties, we should point out the entry price to investing in a handbag. It isn't cheap. Yeah, these things are like two to $50,000. It sits on your arm, but it also costs an arm and a leg. An expert say you can only expect the value to rise. If you'll leave the tags on the handbag and never use it. Basically like a glorified beanie baby. So if you literally want to park your handbag in storage, it can be a good store of value. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in the hand vesting economy? There's no market

without a marketplace. Yeties, the key reason a Christian Dior bag is an investable asset. It's because there's a marketplace. Now, Southern Bees and Christie's, they've always been around those auction houses, but they're only for really big ticket items. It's the real. It's the rise of the online platforms that verify luxury goods, that's what makes a market more accessible. The Real Real is one of them and it went public last year. Or how about rebag, a platform for reselling only handbags? It's now valued at half a billion dollars. And sneakerheads no stockax. That company has expanded to handbags too. So investors, they're moving money from hedge funds over to handbags. But the online marketplaces make the market possible. Now a word about our

sponsor, Robin Hood. You can do just about anything from your phone, but some industries, they've just been slow to move. The finance industry was slow to move from phone to computer and then from computer to app. Robin Hood wasn't. It's the Silicon Valley-based brokerage that's been updating app since it was born in 2015. Using the Robin Hood app for your stocks and crypto is almost as easy as downloading it. So you can invest to your pace on your terms by downloading the Robin Hood app. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robinhood.com slash T-boy and choose your stock. That's robin hood.com slash tbohy limitation supply. Stocks are offered by Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC.

Crypto offered through Robin Hood crypto. All investments involve risk. By the way, this podcast is not owned by or part of Robin Hood, and we are not employees of Robin Hood. For our third and final story, we just learned how the world's number one YouTube creator cracked YouTube. We just learned how the number one YouTube creator cracked YouTube. YouTube. They actually get this. Make more money than Netflix. And it's all because of one picture.

Nick, what did you think of my Mr. Beast impression? I think your Mr. Beast impression is getting really good. You just shout a sentence. You outdid the cookie crisp. I just want to put that out there. Well, yeah, it is Mr. Beast. We mentioned him on the pod last month. He was crowned number one by Forbes as the number one creator in the world.

He got 150 million YouTube subscribers. He's making $54 million a year. And he's doing it by paying you cash to bury you alive and then filming. Paying you cash to bury you alive. So a lot of Yetis were wondering, how did the number one creator, Mr. Beast, make $54 million in a single year? His revenue? It's mostly YouTube ads. Now, this is what we thought was interesting.

Last week, Mr. Beast was interviewed by Colin and Samir, and he revealed the number one way he gets so many YouTube views. The thumbnail. The thumbnail. The thumbnail image. The thumbnail picture. we've all seen. One little JPEG, one PNG file. The secret to the number one YouTube star isn't the massive amount of content. It's a picture the size of your thumb. Yeti's the thumbnail is that

little image preview that every YouTube video has right next to the title. And the insight from Mr. Beast and his YouTube team is that one picture, that thumbnail is what gets the click. And that click is what gets the view. So Mr. Beast team creates 25 thumbnails for each video before picking the one to actually use. We repeat, the world's number one YouTube star has to pick from 25 different thumbnail options. That's how much they care about the thumbnail. He treats thumbnail selection like the Nobel Committee treats Nobel Prize winners. Because what drives your click on YouTube isn't the video's title.

And it's not the video's content because he haven't seen that yet. It's the thumbnail pick. Exactly. Now, the videos have to be compelling. There's got to be good content. But they won't even get clicked without the pick. And that pick won't exist unless it's the thumbnail. Now, yet is we've told you before that packaging can be the product.

Well, the thumbnail is the equivalent to a videos packaging. The thumbnail is the digital packaging of a digital product. And you know why packaging is so important on YouTube? Because how many YouTube videos are created, Jack? This is one of those, wow. 3.7 million videos are uploaded every day. Sit down, stand up and sit back down again. 3.7 million YouTube videos.

Every single day. Jack, with that much kind of, competition, the first impression, which is the thumbnail, is the only impression. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in the creator economy? YouTube's code is a code worth cracking. Yeties, the other key insight that we learned beyond the thumbnail picture, it's that YouTube pays a whole lot better than you think. Those aren't our words.

Those are the words of Mr. Beast again in a 2018 video. Because the differentiator for YouTube is how it pays its creators. YouTube brings in a bunch of ads and gives half of that revenue to the uploaders. Yeah, can you whip up the YouTube numbers from last year? Last quarter, YouTube made over $7 billion in ads for their parent company Alphabet. Okay, if so facto, that means YouTube paid an equal amount. $7 billion. To the people, the creators who uploaded videos.

That's $28 billion a year in YouTube revenues for creators. Okay, now, Jack, can we sprinkle on the context here? That's the same revenue that Netflix makes. YouTube is paying its creators the same amount of money that Netflix brings in. That's why YouTube's thumbnail code is a code worth cracking. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Cannabis stocks were buzzing after President Biden's weed pardon. But the cannabis industry, it's still financially cuffed.

For our second story, handbags are the top appreciating luxury items. Yeah, you can't have the market without having the marketplace. And the third and final story is the top YouTuber. He creates 25 thumbnails before landing on one. But the YouTube code is a code worth cracking. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by legendary Yeti, Srinny Sankar, in lovely Boston, Massachusetts. Just outside Boston.

We just got a morning consult poll for the most trusted brands in America. Now, some of the brands, Jack, we would have expected these. We've seen it. Home Depot, UPS, Visa. Some of the brands, we were a little surprised to see we're the most trusted. The Weather Channel? Really? Usually it says 72 degrees.

It's sometimes 76. But the big surprise was that the number one most trusted brand in America. The biggest most trusted brand in America is Band-Aid. The Band-Aid. Like the little fabric for your boo-boos is the most trusted band in America. It kind of makes sense though because has Band-Aid ever let you down? No, it's like you love your mom and then you love the Band-Aid she puts on you. It makes a much sense.

I'm stuck on Band-Aid brands because Band-Aid stick on me. It's the second line of defense after your skin. Lives depend on the Band-Aid. Literally. It saved our lives. If only our scabs held up as well as Band-Aids do. Jack, the Band-Aid got us in our window of loyalty. It did.

Back when I used to scuff my hands and knees like every day. Yeties, you look fantastic to kick off the week. And if you haven't yet, pull your phone out of that ostrich-lined-fur Gucci handbag. And remember, click to follow us on any podcast app you're listening on. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, happy birthday to the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. It's their 100th birthday.

And happy one year anniversary to Aubrey and Leo Montero in Orlando, Florida. And Joel Cranmer and Madison Cranmer Crawl. Happy anniversary in West Orange, New Jersey. And happy birthday to Chris Adams in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And Jake Miller is on his way to work, and it's his birthday at work in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Jake, if your coworkers didn't make you a cake, yeah, hit us up. We'll hook you up. DM us, we'll take care of the cake for you.

Nick's a big cake guy. Everyone deserves cake. I'm a cake guy too. And to anyone else who's celebrating. something today. Make it a tea boy. Eat a cake. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix. Nick own stock of The Real Real and we both own stock of Robin Hood. Now a word about our sponsor, Robin Hood. Jack, rule number one about a kitchen renovation. Tell your friends about your kitchen renovation. We know the cabinets are expensive. Well, in the pandemic, a lot of companies renovated their

businesses focusing on apps and digital. Robin Hood didn't have to. It was built digital from the start. Robin Hood's mobile first and intuitive design makes investing a little easier for every stage of your investing journey. Whether you want to trade options, ETFs, or stocks through Robin Hood Financial, or buy some Bitcoin on Robin Hood Crypto, you can do all that right on the Robin Hood app. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet to get started, go to Robinhood.com slash T-Boy and choose your free stock. That's Robinhood.com slash TBOI. Limitations apply. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC, all investments involve risk. By the way, this podcast is not owned by or part of Robin Hood. And we are not employees of Robin Hood.