all right guys we are live here friday nine o'clock on the independent investor channel this is our flagship product that we put through every single friday i do with and bare feet i do not wear a suit and tie every week to provide information there's no need to do that anymore the power of social media has provided a direct conduit to results they have now although we are moving through a fairly tough phase i do want to remind investors to spread out their time frame a little bit because if we look at the stock market at any time in the acute you're probably going to be either disappointed or over the heels because you're the greatest investor in the world all right and investing is a fantastic activity it's fantastic and it's something that i feel like normal people the folks that i advocate for for on the channel and there's a reason for that i think there's too many dipshits that are running the world right now and i think really power is identified within the day-to-day activities that we carry out whether it be through our firefighters our tradesmen you know our doctors and our nurses welcome to the nurses that have made our way in our our military folks those folks out there that are chomping at the bit working away in times like this these are one of the many layers that i teach upon to try to teach people how to be dynamic how to be multi-layered in their life's approach while you work on one thing know that other aspects are working for you and vice versa when certain aspects kind of kind of fall out of focus we want to make sure that we're always reengaging in that and when your life is organized in this fashion it's amazing to to those people that are organized and and very obvious in that when things get kind of out of kilter just a little bit it makes it very very easy for the organized mind to identify where and when those areas need to be fine-tuned they need to be massaged a little bit they need to be worked they need to be they need to be focused upon and they need to be improved upon and and there's always areas of improvement in our life whether it be financial whether it be spiritual whether it be physical whether it be dietary okay and and i love i love the holistic aspect i really do because if my channel was just all about being one dimensional and the profession on the channel was such that i could convey that there's a possibility to be a perfect investor and and there was a perfect path that if you just followed a b and c that that somehow it was going to automatically render success in your life i just don't believe that and even if i did if there was such a path people would actually screw it up because if you're not if you're not prepared to receive riches and i don't mean monetary i mean in a lot of different capacities if you're not prepared to take on a relationship and devote yourself and it that is the most fulfilling form of wealth in this life okay it beats all other forms of of wealth if you can find that right companion for the rest of your life that is wealth that will pay off dividends into your future okay that is key but if you are not willing to take on that or if the decision is such that you you know fall into a situation with someone that you're not compatible which happens to right we're all humans we all find crazy way to screw things up relationships dietary physical fitness and yes indeed the financial topic as well which is the focus of the independent investor channel but i think people can resonate with the idea to step back and say look man you know the stock market's horrible right now it's terrible i mean it's delivering all kinds of pain and suffering to people who are just trying to get ahead by doing the right thing and stay true on financial markets and it has been a rough ride there's no doubt and going back to january of 2020 is kind of 2021 is where it really started for me with the the the rough volatility in the portfolio now in retrospect when i look back and i go back five years and i include this volatility when you spread it out over a long enough time continuum these things don't matter they don't so me looking at the market in the last 19 or 20 months is really kind of unfair to myself it's unfair of a projection for me to come on and have people actually buy into the title which is clickbait for youtube that the stock market is getting crushed and the world is coming to an end and you start need to start to accumulate your MREs and your ammunition for your prepper bunker right i i i like to believe that there's potentially a better more fulfilling way to live life and and that is to look at the bright side of things if you really took an objective look at your portfolio perhaps maybe now is the time to identify and resonate with the stress test that your portfolio is being subject to one of the greatest ideas that come from the intelligent investor i'll share it with you guys now and is it is just take a step back and imagine your portfolio if you only had access to the company names that you were invested in okay you did not have access to the dollar and cents in other words the the stock price now everybody loves the stock price when it's going up and we can check our phone and we can wake up and we can be like wow i apple's up a couple of bits this is fantastic today is going to be a great day okay i feel like loving my wife more because apple is up a couple of bits okay but the intelligent investor kind of draws this distinction between the stock price being a double-edged sword in other words the intelligent investor would actually look at the stock price as an insight to where day to day a specific value or in other words where the stock market is valuing valuing a current equity from day to day so it's giving you an indication and it seems like certain equities they go down down down down every day or certain equities they go up up up up up every day and i think that indication to investors kind of misconstrues the idea of investing in companies rather than investing in companies as long as the validation is through the stock price okay and i think investors fall victim to this all the time and this pattern can pay out over a number of years stretched together and i think there's companies out there that can unfortunately provide validation to investors habitual validation in so far as if they take an investment and the stock goes up therefore it must be reflective of their decision to enter into a specific equity okay and i think the distinction of it of it there is if you look at it from that perspective and you you think you sit back and you think what if you were only given the stock value of your specific holdings once a year as an insight to the decisions that you've made right we all invest for money but if you could strip away the dollar amount and only be provided the company and you could build a suite or a portfolio of assets that were full of companies companies that you had access to all of the information what product they have how many years they've been in business where the loyalty of the management lies yes indeed you could have access to the balance sheet the cash flow statements and the income statements to give you that idea or supplements to your decision making capability but you were not preppy to the stock price from day to day it's an interesting idea when we look to kind of put this thing into context because where we can string together a series of days and months and even in this case that i declared to you at the top of the live stream years perhaps maybe when i put it into those context i'm up for my second look in my portfolio if i didn't have access to the day to day okay boom we're down again i must be a bad investor or i must have made bad decisions or even worse i'm invested in bad companies johnson and johnson might just not be the investment for me i'm losing faith in my company because this day to day inflow of negative information i e the stock price that i'm constantly checking and looking to see when it's going to reverse is just bringing me down and it's given me that uh continually uh driving in the dirt uh perspective every single day that the world is going to hell on a hand basket because my stock portfolio is down seemingly every day right so something to kind of take away from the intelligent investor i recommend times like this reading a book like that because it can really force you to look in the mirror i speak to people all the time and challenge people to challenge what it is that they think they know about themselves okay and the intelligent investor by benjamin graham actually challenges this idea that people know enough to succeed at investing in the most obvious of ways okay in other words i can just buy a stock low and sell a stock high or i can buy the market low and sell markets high and the the historical context that benjamin graham puts around the philosophies between the early 1900s and up to 1949 when the book was actually written are still applicable today they really are and when you're of a clear mind and you have that time to kind of sit back because for me during stock market volatility i've been through this my whole life and seemingly i'm used to either having a tailwind at my back or having an anchor around my my heels holding me back i i don't know what it would be to be liberated i guess and not have the stresses of the stock market right all the thinking heads out there that are not involved in the stock market currently are all wondering if the investors that have been enjoying this ride over the last 10 years have had enough all the while those investors that actually have the side of the coin perspective to understand who look i am provided the opportunity and insight to my stock prices every single day but i'm going to take those injects tongue in cheek i'm going to realize that i'm being provided a small acute piece of information about my holdings every single day and the idea is that those injects provide you a lot of information about my momentum to the downside i.e. an opportunity to possibly buy more at a cheaper price or an indication that my equity is actually trending upwards okay now over the long term whether or not in the short term it's trending down or trending up really should not play into your idea that if you were stripped away from those stock prices you would still hold a basket of companies that you're interested investing in because you've done your research and you're excited about the prospects of owning this basket of stock or these holdings that you have you know if i stripped away the day-to-day stock price and for single stocks i think you'd all agree with me that it's much more difficult to do that and much more in your face with regard to individual equity holdings and that's why i put individual equity ownership in such a category by itself and it's one that i caution investors to be very very careful of because if you're looking to deviate from the tried and true fundamentals of passive investing you truly are taking a step in a direction that you have to be very very careful of and i'll just i'll i'll save you some time and effort in trying to question whether or not you're going to be the one you're going to be the one that picks that magic basket of 30 stocks or that magic basket of 15 stocks and you're going to be the one that's going to end up falling into riches someday okay i'm going to save you a lot of time and effort and tell you that you're not the one Wyatt okay you're not the one all right and and don't take this personally i can look in the mirror and say i'm not the one either all right do i engage in a dividend investing strategy i do i do i invest in that strategy using the gems of the stock market the blue chip winners over time comprised primarily by the dow Jones 30 if you look at those companies you'll find that their five-year rates of return are actually quite impressive and it's times like these where i wake up this morning and i look and and it gives me some comfort and understanding that the stock market as a whole is going down but the emails that i get where i say you've received a dividend from two holdings i've got a dividend email almost every single week this week i just went through a flux of dividend payments what did i do to take to earn that money well i took the initial investment to earn that money and it just so happens that the dividend investing strategy right now in the face of and in times of volatility is is paying me now a small stipend i will add okay a lot of people would look at it and say Ryan come on i mean you got $28 this week that's not a big deal oh contrary my prayer okay it's um a little bit more than what you would think okay and the power of dividend investing is certainly to be realized below the surface in understanding that that is just one of many strategies that i'm enjoying right now how many of you guys are are waking up every single day and enjoying the fact that you have some level of solid employment okay if you stripped away my entire portfolio and i was stripped of the value of the portfolio or at least being preppy to set value now i would still own my portfolio i've earned it i bought it on the stock owner i own the portfolio as many of you own your portfolio you own it it's yours but the comfort that we take in one of the many strategies that i speak about okay credit discipline spending habits living below your means saving to cash see my cash and the opportunistic aspect about my cash is actually increasing in value as the stock market actually rolls off okay the health and well-being that i'm exploiting i was in the gym every single day this week again five days this week 445 in the gym okay i'm in the gym by about 508 okay i need to tell the truth i get up at 445 and with all due respect it's early in the morning so it takes me a couple of seconds to get the cobwebs out before i hit the gym but that's just one of those many many aspects health and well-being dietary fitness cash savings to the side maybe take a little bit of digression on the budget if you're concerned about the real estate market right now which is really rolled off significantly they're talking about the contribution of that roll-off actually helping inflation a little bit because that is really a huge contributor to the gdb gdp factor uh in in in kind of assessing that contribution to the overall gdp and its overall effect to the inflation rate but home prices are rolling off but to take comfort in the fact that you have a steady employment is probably one of those things that can help people if they tune into me and say gosh why isn't ryan turning mad or why isn't he talking about the stock market crushing or why isn't he talking about the stock markets going to hell you know why does he seem to have such a level head about him the truth of the matter is that i do now if i looked at it singularly through the lens of the stock market perhaps maybe i could actually buy into the the pundits that would have you believe that it's going to zero um or the the massive put buying that was uh registered this week would be an indication that i need just need to sell everything um or even to buy into the fact that perhaps maybe it's a political influence or or another um you know i i tend to not go here on the channel because i really to be honest with you guys and and i hope for you guys to cover and and think maybe i'm not as of a devote american which i devote to my country on a day-to-day basis in my own way i don't pay much attention to the stuff to be honest with you most of the leaders right now both here domestically and abroad really don't impress me at all anyway uh the people that i meet in my day-to-day interaction those are the people that impressed impressed me anyway so whether or not that this is your your belief i'm not really sure how it needs to play into your investment decisions eventually this president will be out and a new one will be brought in the problem isn't necessarily um on one individual i think it's probably more tacked on to the overall dysfunction of the government right now and making decisions that really are not very well thought through making decisions based on the best political ramification rather than the best realistic ramification i just don't think they're proof tested very often uh to be honest with you i i don't necessarily think i think these people are scholars and they're absolutely book smart um and but but as far as uh reality and realism uh you know i we had some pretty poor news just released today i'm highly on holdings i considered to be fairly poor and i sat back and i thought man alive for these for these guys that boast to be engineers i'd be hard-pressed to understand the reality of the situation i spent an awful lot of time just this week in the engine room talking to engineers on my job actually doing the job and actually speaking about machinery and actually speaking about what it is that's important um and you know i i question this sometimes i really do and and i i i voiced my opinion through social media and i was pretty pissed about the results that were released but you know that that just goes to say man there's a lot of honest people in my group here um and and i think all we're really trying to do from a simple perspective is live a day today life and take solace in the the jobs that we have and trying to build a better future for ourselves but i i you know i think outside of that i i think the the unfortunate perception about these folks that are being provided such a phenomenal opportunity and i'm speaking about highly undirectly uh is that the uh idea or the perception is such that you can say whatever it is that you want to say and get away with it um as long as it sounds elegant and you can get it by the powers that be um and get a lot of people to buy into your your your um your program and and i'm not saying that it's not going to turn out well uh but i'm getting kind of tired of having the rug pulled out from underneath of me i can make decisions on information but if you're suggesting that the decisions that i need to be made are based on taking a specific statement and then cross-checking that statement insofar as suggesting that each statement is a downright bald-faced lie then that's too much for me i i can't i can't think on that line of thinking that everybody out there is just intending to deceive in this life i don't i don't i i don't treat people like that um i i want to be a positive uh thinker i want to believe that information that's disclosed um has some merit to it but what we're learning is really the credibility and the shallowness of the information as long as it's colored really really well uh and it sounds realistic and it sounds really really good and there's maybe a potential in some fairy tale land like a flying DeLorean at some point in the future can come to a potential of reality then we can actually put that out there as hey maybe this is going to be true at some point in the future about right now it just sounds really really good but i want to take this opportunity drinking a copper top tonight man for sure um for the most part it's been a pretty crazy and fulfilling week for me the stock market was kind of like a Jekyll and Hyde made up some serious capital the last couple days that was a nice reprieve anyway i don't know if that speaks to any type of turnaround whatsoever uh there is some suggestion perhaps that we are oversold in this market but uh i i actually think the higher interest rates are inevitably going to be healthier for financial markets i felt like for many many years the the the depressed interest rate was manufactured and probably manufactured a lot of complacency in the market no i think people got used to waking up every single day and seeing the market go up and that's that's typical i think markets go up more than they go down i think when they do go down they go down at an accelerated pace because people panic and they don't have what i'm going to talk about in this video tonight what i consider to be financial intelligence not necessarily people who come to me and they're like ryan what do you think about passive investing so well it's good well what do you think about dividend investing what's good to well which one should i do well i don't know which one works for you well what do you think about how much cash i should have on the side well i don't know how much cash do you think you should have on the side should i spend like a moron in other words can i invest and be a moron with my spending habits well i don't know if you want to help supplement your investing program what would you suggest is a better way going forward to spend like a moron or maybe i don't know learn to say no on all the trinkets and crap that you bring into your household that you get a short term benefit from but you really don't need that and it ends up in the basement or in the corner of the garage or in a storage box after a year anyway and i think that right there is probably more socially acceptable to to people than actually looking at investing oh like we can't we can't do that we can't do investing by god you know that investor on on youtube he's crazy he's an anomaly he's a phenomenal investor what he has done is built up something that you cannot do yourself okay so so therefore people shouldn't invest because a guy like myself has stumbled through trip fell on his face broke his teeth many many times in life and still happened to to to to to accumulate the amount of wealth that i have in this life guys i'm here to tell you what i've done and what i share with people is two different things what i've done is what it is what i suggest as far as opportunities going forward and the opportunities that exist in today's investing opportunity and and what has changed over investing over the last 20 years has has probably opened up more opportunity for people to actually trip fall and not break their teeth but actually fall into some level of success even if you're a complete moron seriously investing does not have to be one of those things that's that difficult and i'm here to share and break down some of those barriers to entry for all investors out there it is absolutely possible and we provide this insight from week in to week out guys will be back with you in just a moment life is good baby yes it is what's the appropriate amount of cash on hand i think just deliberating around this question is good enough for people i always try to strike at those themes that can help people when was the last time people out there and look if everybody had the answer to this question and they're like hey my number is 25 grand that's what i want that's what i'm gonna get i would leave this topic alone but i'm intrigued from a fundamental wealth building perspective look if your number zero no problem at least you're asking the question and you're thinking about this ryan i'm a i'm a risk tolerance high i'm a 10 on the richter scale i'm an aggressive investor most aggressive investors that would have been admitted to being aggressive five years ago probably wouldn't be so stuck in their ways maybe it's like yeah i don't know maybe i'm not so tough i i don't know where i am maybe i'm a nine maybe i'm a 9.5 instead of a 10 but i always have fun with this i always kind of take the investor through a step back and a reflection to suggest that your number has to be reflective of of what it is that you're comfortable with i know there's rules of thumb out there six months of earnings in the bank i think that can be an astronomical number and i think a lot of people can struggle to get that at the expense of putting $50 of segue money into the market so i don't typically like those rules of engagement i think we can be a little bit more dynamic with our thought in pursuing this end and and i'm probably stating you're probably at an 80 20 there right so you know if you had 100 grand of wealth put away maybe you've got that $20,000 put away and maybe that's appropriate for you i think if that was your plan and your strategy now i think the fallacy is becoming more conservative now as the market rolled off i talked about this last week a little bit um but for me my cash isn't necessarily something that i just freak out to to to push into the market i i really do for the most part from day to day keep my cash savings building if i can and where appropriate i'll take that stab into the market okay i think it has to do with your age i think you know the younger you are i think the less you probably need to have in cash albeit i do i am a proponent of no matter how young you are to start to begin a cash savings buffer because i think it can really help a lot of investors what does it mean for me it helps me buffer the volatility in other words having status static accessible cash in there uh is is a kind of a buffer to the markets and the volatility going on right now provides me that optionality to maybe segue some capital into the markets if they do retract farther remember i talked about the stock price from day to day being kind of an indicator now i want to separate for you guys the indicator on the single stock side and being opportunistic there based on the data that we're being provided as well as the opportunity on the indexing side of the house if we're buying ETFs or index funds right um we can use the data the same to maybe parlay some dollars into the market here at lower cost so that's what we talk about when we talk about the opportunity cost of money right and there's a few others in here that are kind of sharing this philosophy 95 five there is not a right or wrong answer here here so ubert l is talking about a 95 five which i would consider to be a little bit cash lean which is great you know i mean look if you had the uh the uh maturity to understand that what is cash and what is its value to you okay excuse me i've placed that value on cash for me sleep easy money money available in an emergency opportunity cash to be segway to my disposal into markets an opportunity or a drop point to take surplus capital in addition to my dollar cost averaging program to segue into a savings bucket in other words i don't look at my strategy and i would look at my total comprehensive portfolio and say that i just want to chop that savings layer out of my portfolio doesn't make sense for me i couldn't really imagine actually looking at my savings account and being proud that there's zero dollars in there you know um and for me five percent is a little bit lean i typically like to have um you know a pretty good amount of cash on the side i would say that right now i've i've got a very complex um the suite of layers building up right now guys so i don't want to make this about me but but my number right now is well north of fifty thousand dollars of just cash um and for you guys it could be he says five dollars in checking that's awesome uh home and that can work you know i i don't put a whole lot of value in cash outside of the um the the rudimentary elements that i affixed to cash that i've shared with you this evening um but i do like the idea of having some cash now um part of that cash is in the savings about forty thousand and the other twenty five probably sixty seventy thousand in cash probably right now i guess because i build the business up in the cornerstone capital solutions that we've incorporated and this year you know it's been a kind of a silent killer for me in the market but i've just been doing really really well on the business side of the house i'm doing really well uh and building those chips the chips i'm not grand stefan i i make you know a little bit of money through social media and it's it's actually very fulfilling to be um uh to be supplemented for my time in that capacity but um you know it's a nice additional layer um i talk about the health the family the fitness the diet the the routine all of the things that i talk about just an insurmountable amount of benefits and life i mean there's insurmountable and and i think i would love to see people not be so negative all the time you know um we're the lucky ones we really are we really are and um oh i'm not perfect and neither are you but i think you've probably got some of the same similar attributes in your life that i reflect upon in mind and that's really the common thread that people can use that they can use that as a power they can harness that power and they can really look to embolden their total overall health score in life their mental approach to life and man alive that can make you a killer as an investor it can just make you a killer and make no mistake about it i forgive the pun uh and forgive the the language but i really am i'm looking for killers and individual investors have that opportunity to just be killers and that way when people come to them and they say investing is like gambling or you know i saw comment the casino is open um you know if that's truly how you feel so be it um you know i'm set up here in 15 years i'm set up with the potential of of really knocking on the door to something special i really am and i wouldn't be in that position now to make that statement if it hadn't been for the power of investing okay the power of investing and i'll go one further and i share some insights with you guys and you can take this for what you will all right the fact that i've paid more attention to financial literacy and financial intelligence is really the difference and i made a statement to a colleague of mine this week and i suggested that wealth building is all mental how is that possible they gotta have dollars right you gotta earn the dollars and you gotta stack the dollars and the dollars have to get bigger as you stack and that's all physical right what the hell are you talking about it's when mental it's not mental none of it's mental it's all physical paper is physical a stack of paper is physical and the larger the stack bits the hard the the larger my physical stack is i'm not looking to misconstrue or confuse you but i tell you what people's capability to just stack paper if that's your shallow approach to wealth building is futile and most of the people that i find do not have good financial intelligence are incapable of stacking chips anyway they're incapable they're incapable they try and it falls over they try and it burns down they try and the first trip to the mall they spend it all they try and they have a unexpected expenditure in their life all right here you go to the savings account and get the twenty five hundred dollars i guess here it is again life steam rolling us right over the top man it's pulverizing us right into the ground i know here it is again low as me same thing as last week you know when the hundred inch tv fell off the wall because you didn't put the freaking tv uh mount in the studs in the wall you moron go to walmart and get me another one you know there's always some life catastrophe that comes by that we have to you know make right by dipping into our savings and we resetting our financial lives back to zero right i think just a ton of people have a hard time imagining themselves wealthy and for those people who can circumnavigate life and they can go through life without the stresses maybe of pursuing a better end in their life um i i kind of envy those people i really do i i think being conveniently naive and just being happy all the time and walking around with a you know a cloud around your head and it's like hey when i invest sure i don't know at all it's okay everything's okay everything's everything's good yeah independent investor sure i'll watch him you never do you know yeah investing yeah that's a good thing harry down the streets that i should get invested and you never do why because you you're happy it's okay everything will work out for me you know i work hard therefore i want to spend all my money i want to enjoy it right you know don't you want to enjoy your money too well it's because the value that i place on my mental perception of myself five or ten or 20 years down the line um is significantly more valuable than you um trying to accumulate stuff stuff right you gotta accumulate stuff it's the american way baby i gotta accumulate stuff man you gotta make sure that your pile is bigger than your neighbors mm-hmm make sure your car is bigger or more expensive or flashier um or gets more attention or is the next best thing and i don't know superficial perhaps um i just don't put a whole lot of value in that stuff honestly um i really do put value in where it is that i envisioned a long time ago i wanted to be uh and look if i did a progress check i just turned 45 this week happy birthday me um i if for anybody who uh follows me on facebook man they saw that my daughter took me to the most killer concert tuesday night that i've ever seen in my life uh he's like burn hair back flying hair back fire coming off my head and you're like what did you see ryan what'd you see um i went to see ramstein so for you guys that are european you're you're gonna understand and for you guys that don't understand you're like i've never heard of them before um they're one of my favorite bands um if you want to know how it is that i get up at five o'clock every single morning and go to the gym and get warmed up and my secret is is is ramstein okay it's it's one of my favorite metal bands and in live uh it kind of changed my life a little bit it was a lot of fun but if i'm going to look at my life at 45 and i would i would say gosh ryan um you could never tell how life is going to twist and turn you're going to never know where it is it's going to end up but the vision that you set for yourself and the goals that you set for yourself some many moons ago when you were a young confused boy um and set sail on this journey can you sit back and reflect at 45 and say are you on track to meet your goals the honest answer my friends is yes yes we are um if i was 45 and i had not invested and my head was still in the clouds everything's good i'm never gonna have a health event i'm never gonna have a tooth that i need to have worked on right i know how to put the tv into the stud in the wall so it doesn't fall off i know how to circumnavigate life and never have to incur any type of financial hardship i don't need money now so i spend it all to make myself happy now because i'm expecting that somewhere down the line somebody's going to take care of me right people owe me i don't need to save my money now i want to blow my money now whose money is it ryan tell me ryan whose money is it it's my money it's not your money you can't come on to youtube and tell people what to do with their money i want to spend it all fair enough okay teach his own it's fine all right i bid you all the best okay in your opportunity to approach life as you see it because evidently you've mentally got it figured out remember what i said it's all mental but you seemingly have it very very figured out and where your mental approach is going to take you at some point in your life and i wish you all the best i really do you know paying attention to financial markets requires some level of tolerance okay if you're not careful the stock market will drive you bat shit crazy all right it's it's not for the faint to heart okay i'm not asking you to do something easy okay i'm not asking you to just trip and fall into the market and still have your head in the clouds you know and expect okay ryan okay i invest in stock market over here it's okay you've convinced me it's okay i'm not going to change who i am not going to change i'm still going to spend like a moron still going to spend like a moron but okay ryan i buy s and p 500 it's okay yes you asked yes they had like these flamethrowing machines that were shooting freaking flames into the air and i was on the second deck had phenomenal seats and uh every time these flames would shoot up in the air man i could feel the freaking heat go through me so when i talk about hair on fire man it's like if you ever have the chance to watch uh watch ramstein in concert they're coming to europe in 2023 it it is well money well spent okay now for my spenders out there they'll be like ryan said i can go watch ramstein i'm good all right thank you ryan you're the man because i love to just enjoy my money all right now mind you i will impart to you i got the tickets for free all right the tickets for free uh remember what i do for a living okay there are some fringe benefits to said program and i am in the mecca of opportunity here in new york city all right baby new york city all right this is not topeka kansas all right this is not flagstaff arizona this is new york city all right this is the heart of the action okay we play hard here and we work hard we play hard and we work hard all right get with the routine or you will be steamrolled over in the city all right but absolutely man it was it was insane man it was insane it was really good i i recommend it to anybody and my daughter i took she's 15 years old and she didn't know what to expect and um she was blown away but it's just a fantastic man tells it tells a great entertainer and does a great job um and good on him man for doing that that stuff to me just intrigues me and it's along the lines of somebody who has done what it is that they have dreamed of doing somebody that is walking a path and could you have expected to end up on said road this is the deliberation that i expect each and every one of you guys to go through and sit back and say gosh is it possible ryan says that i can kind of envision myself maybe in a better place down the line is it okay to think like that it's okay it's okay all right if you need to put a fan in front of your face and blow the cloud away by all means do it the quicker you can do that and i don't mean a physical cloud my friends this is literal okay you got to dig a little bit deeper with me okay i'm trying to get you guys to understand that the the vast majority out there with regard to financial literacy okay need to stand in front of a fan okay not literal but figuratively okay and get that crap out of your brain okay because this thing really when i think about it more and more the less i stress about money the more i gain um the less i think about money the more i gain the older i get the more i gain um the older i get the wiser i get therefore the renderings of the portfolio that i'm able to grow even with the last little bit of downturn the portfolio is churning okay it's churning right now if it all goes to zero well then we can shut down the channel and we can all just go about our separate ways and continue to to follow along this confusing path to inevitability i i don't know okay um but as long as i'm not at zero i'm still in the fight right a lot of you guys if you objectively look at the portfolio and say well i'm not at zero all right jesus you know ryan says i can have a little fun here god dang it i'm gonna i'm gonna see where where where rammstein's coming a town near you like i check it out it dude it dude it was insane freak freak and freak and freak it was good it was good get some comments man very good stuff my boy dave's in the house i appreciate you dave i love you man hope all is well great dialogue i had a hell of a week i hated to end at that way i was like initially when i saw the number come through i was a little irritated but the more i got to thinking about it um perhaps maybe they i i shouldn't have to tell them i'm just a little guy a nobody right i'm a nobody that's easy to ignore so why would they have to actually sell me on this idea why can't we just put out a 780 number and expect that the market isn't going to accept that as positive okay i'm not really sure if they don't just sit back for two seconds and just ask themselves how is this going to be received by the grander market again i i turned back to the book smarts but as far as discretion uh my friends i cannot teach people discretion i can't and at present it seems as if highly honest lacking in said discretion hmm in other words i could have just done without that tweet or the last two tweets okay just take the tweets and put them on the shelf thomas put them on the shelf we're going to put the tweets away i don't need to know that the hybrid is seven percent because seven percent is very very close to zero percent and if we can actually prove that the hybrid uh uh product actually turns back zero percent of value then what is the point thomas it really even on paper as a scholar or a bookworm okay doesn't make any sense in other words we're coming out with a solution that's not really a solution at all uh it's just a really heavy piece of machinery that we bolt onto the truck for zero efficiency right so what exactly does this mean thomas maybe we step back and we give some color around the number 780 we did not burn the entire tank we had three quarters of a tank which doesn't make any sense why they wouldn't start the test without a full tank right burn it all from fuel to bone dry burn it and be that burned out on the freaking side of the road and say dang we got a thousand and twenty not under load okay i think the piece that caught my attention the most is the fact that it wasn't under payload right so how is the truck going to perform what is going to be the performance is the horsepower of the axle going to be able to overcome an 80 000 pound load and not affect the efficiency uh that much over the road i don't know who am i i'm a nobody so are you dave you're a nobody um all of us are all a bunch of group of naive nobodies that don't know anything and therefore in highly on we trust and therefore that is the current snapshot of where we are all right um i'm really not surprised i i i wouldn't want thomas to come on an interview with me and i know a lot of people are going to be like oh you're you're you're a low man ryan you you know you blew that off man you're irresponsible man you throw a cuss word out there every now and then you want to know something my friends everything that comes out of my trap everything um i have spent more room against engines john dear caterpillar mtu's you name it rolls roice all right i i've been with more engines this week than thomas feeley i guarantee you and as far as coming and sitting on an interview where i sit and just joke about trucks what's the truck here you go thomas here's another olay can you hit a softball let's see thomas um that type of activity is not going to happen on my channel okay i will dig deep i don't care who you are i don't care how young you are but i do push you against the responsibility that you have you you elected for this okay you can't just have the good and and avoid all the bad and there are questions that need to be answered right now but he says my patience has been tested before this week company still has a lot going for them i totally agree with that setbacks happen but perhaps we will see more clarity now clarity is a good thing um i actually think this seven percent uh is is very vague and if it's seven percent interpreted in the way that i could could interpret it could be very very positive 780 miles of range uh running on cng could be very very good if that can be potentially improved upon uh and whether or not the payload of 80 000 a nice payload doesn't affect that now remember the erx is kind of built for more of flat terrain and the and the hybrid product performing so well in the hills right that's what the product was built for uh and and and in an environment right now where green is a big push to this right going a little bit more green uh and and actually um pulling ourselves away from diesel uh all options are on the table right now so uh you know i do i do i have a feeling about this stock yes i have my instinct has told me this entire time uh and and it has not wavered there's something special about this company and i cannot put my my my finger on it um i just think we're going for through very lean times right now with eventual catalysts that i think we need to get through and i think we need to put behind us and i think we need to keep our eyes kind of on the on the horizon here as we approach some of these major milestones of the company uh i think they've got a phenomenal idea i was disappointed in the number uh the 780 i was disappointed in the 7 percent when it came out but what exactly does this mean what is going to be the reception from in from industry um there was a couple of retorts that i had about the success of Cummins garnering that 500 order i think that's a unfair comparison to say well why isn't highly on getting a 500 order you know or even an order of 50 um Cummins is a beast okay they have over the last 100 years earned every piece of business they've got so people can rest assured step into a Cummins product um knowing that those decades of tried and true performance and engineering has went into those products to place those purchases and orders highly on has not earned that yet and they will need to do that if they're going to be successful on a mass scale in other words it needs to be more of a household brand Cummins is highly on is not my friends it is not one of those household brands but i appreciate you stepping on brother i hope all is well with you man and it's great to see you man good luck and we'll continue the dialogue on this thing um i i i don't have any doubts in my mind that this thing is going to improve over time no doubt about it again i come back the idea of not focusing so much on the stock price and we've been here before we've been here six months ago we've been here a year ago we've been here 18 months ago right the idea is is the company further along in their progress now than it was then and that's a question that you're just going to have to answer for yourself on whether or not you're going to take a bullish stake in the company or you're going to you know find uh any one of the thousand other opportunities that you have in the stock market and it doesn't mean that it's a one-way street right now it may be perceived as if it's a dead-end street and that's usually the time where the stock market steps up and where you think that you're going to uh olay the stock market olas on you and it tricks you and all the people who think that they've got this stock licked um are going to have kind of a rude awakening and i'll just be sitting there calm cool and collected because um i i don't jump up and down because the stock goes up i i don't look down and and imagine my genitalia bigger because my stock portfolio goes up i i don't i don't do that okay um i don't i don't fall on tilt and be like i'm done with life i'm good my stock portfolio went up um i'm somehow a happier man because my stock portfolio goes up the the reason why i express to you guys why my portfolio um or why i'm happy it has to do with a lot of other things that i spend a lot of my time on i haven't spent a lot of time on my portfolio over the last couple years i i have not been coming on and being like i'm buying this um there's youtubers out there that still do it and good for them i'm i'm over it i'm over it i don't do that anymore i do my thing uh and my thing is my thing now that that topic is being raped on social media i'll let them continue to rape that ass it's all good um let them rape that topic it's all good i'd rather deliberate around topics that only i can deliver i like it because nobody can copy me on the stuff i do nobody um but you can see people like there's all kinds of vti vlo videos now because they they come onto my channel and they're like this nimrod got 50 000 views man i'm gonna i'm gonna blast this out i'm gonna get 150 000 views that's awesome try to come out with a original thought yourself that'd be awesome right um so now i put out content that's impossible to to take if you want to get the content you got to hear it from me so what are your thoughts on hydrogen as the next form um well it is going to be a form of energy there's no no doubt about it um my thoughts are very very simple and and whether or not you think that my approach is much more neutral and it's much more realistic uh in this deal what i mean by that is do i think hydrogen is going to be the dominant fuel source in 10 years not a chance jack it ain't going to happen not a chance 10 years what do you think is the percentage of hydrogen in the class 8 trucking space going to be what do you think it's going to be 10 percent you're smoking okay uh smoke more okay save your money that that ain't going to happen five to be five percent ryan and it can be five percent either sorry sorry to burst your bubble well then is is highly on going to have five percent to the market for renewable natural gas nope they're not okay the companies that are going to win out over time are those that adhere to an idea of a fuel optionality um where hydrogen is in the mix um where methanol is in the mix where ammonia is in the mix okay for you guys that are stuck in this rut of like worshiping a specific stock okay um i do a pretty good job of advocating for highly on but i don't i don't worship it and i'm very critical of it i'm one of the very very few out there that are that are actually critical of the company there there's a few out there that won't criticize because they feel like somehow their loyalty will be will be jaded like mine has been jaded right i don't even care i would rather have a voice i'd rather speak my piece i would rather call into question and scrutinize those numbers because i don't think kyleon is doing a very good job of scrutinizing the numbers before they release it it shouldn't take a stockowner to do that shouldn't right um what are your thoughts on hydrogen those are my thoughts um i i don't think we're we're going about this thing with the perspective of picking a winner in the fuel in other words highly on is going to win because it's a renewable company now and it's going to segue into hydrogen therefore it's going to win i think that's an escape to thinking i think it's much more multi-tiered and i think if i can use the words of thomas healy what he is coming back to is a common theme amongst industry it is can your product provide us a total cost of ownership and that's the one that resonates the most with me will it be exclusively through fuel of course not of course not well will that be part of the equation certainly certainly will will driver experience be part of it yes will the ability to enjoy some of the tax incentives both federally and locally be part of the equation indeed will the amount of payload that can be hold be part of the equation indeed will the amount of downtime be part of the equation of course and it's more of a holistic approach rather than just changing my channel to the hydrogen channel all right because that's the end all be all and if you see it any other way you're more on oh and by the way you need to uh uh subscribe to my channel because i'm the one who has the sources in life i'll give you all the answers all right the only way you're going to get set answers is to subscribe to my free youtube channel now i don't believe that i don't believe it i don't believe it we're at 60 minutes it is the fastest 60 minutes on youtube there's no doubt about it um i appreciate you guys it's been a hell of a week i will sign off i'm very very tired i just delivered the live stream at about 38 percent 38 percent you imagine man what would the live stream be at 100 percent i i don't know man you'll have to stay with me until i actually retire and then you'll find out what this product is when i'm actually rested after a day at the golf course after a day in my pool sauna hot tub cigar room as well as my wine cellar as well as sitting through a movie in my own personal theater guys i impart to you where it is that i see the vision for myself i used the analogy that Matthew McConaughey has shared through social media to think of your your biggest challenge in life is to always pursue your best self of five years from now and i just love that analogy i really do and when i actually reach that end five years i'll actually reflect yes but always be pursuing who it is that you're actually aspiring to be in life dare to aspire to that place man it's super super interesting it's super important for you to find that your own personal best okay into into life having blown away later life having blown away those clouds right and later on in life you can reflect back and you can say there was one injunction in life where i actually came to an idea and said you know what instead of allowing life to control me i'm going to actually take control of my life it's very very important and the quicker you can come to that end the better off you'll be guys i appreciate you tuned in to the independent investor channel live stream man i love each and every patron of you guys man you can hate me love me this is social media all is fair and love and war and make no mistake about it if you're a proponent to the message or you're a critic of the message i love you all the same i do i am on your time my friends i am on your time and the very sheer nature of you devoting that time to me i'm a debt to you i'm glad to turn out the product from week to week with the sheer goal of empowering one investor at a time and the beat the beat goes on and on and on guys it really does i love the product it's not going anywhere we'll be here 10 years from now that i can guarantee my friends we will be back next friday on the independent investor channel live stream be well and we'll catch you next week


First question on today's episode, a question from subs came from my guy, Sebastian. He said, man, I don't know why some Ravens fans say that the slot cornerback position is unknown when the Ravens are making it pretty clear that Kyle Hamilton will be playing it again by their moves this all season. So let's see what he's talking about. He said, number one, they tried to sign Adrian Amos. Number two, they paid Geno Stones. Number three, Hobbs said that Brandon Stevens will be playing more safety this season. All these moves are way before they signed cornerback Rock Yesen. They say, that's some good points because yeah, that's them adding safeties or then trying to add safety. They wanted to sign Adrian Amos, but then when Chuck Clark went down because he had visited Baltimore for two times. And the second time was like a big secret, but they tried to sign him. So I guess they wanted another safety over top because maybe that does mean that they will not try to fix what's not broken with Kyle Hamilton because they did have him in sort of in that slot nickel roll last year. So that could be what they're foretelling. Then yeah, they did bring back Geno Stone on a, I think a one year deal. And yeah, like you mentioned, Hobbs just said, Brandon Stevens is gonna be playing a lot of safety again this year. So it seemed like they're gonna have some people roaming back there and maybe keep super duper Kyle where he was at last year. I wouldn't have a problem with that because it worked. He got more and more comfortable as the year went on. So I wouldn't be mad at all if they did that. You made some really, really good points. He said, my question is, what do you think is more of a need this season? Past Russia or slot cornerback? And if you could snatch anyone from any team at that position, who would it be? So past Russia or slot cornerback? I will probably say past Russia because right now it's a lot of unknown. I mean, this is some unknown at cornerback too, but I'd say it's more unknown at the past rush role because we have David Ajaubo and he's expected to be really good, but we gotta still see it. He was obviously really good in college, but we gotta see it on an NFL level consistently. Without that fair way, we still don't know about him yet. And yeah, so it's pretty a lot of question marks there. Pretty unknown there. So I would say past Russia because again, if you have a past Russia, a good, great past rush, then that helps make it easier for everybody behind him. It helps make it easier for the cornerback for the safety of everybody. So I will say past Russia. And if I could get, snatch anyone from any team at that position at cornerback, for cornerback, I'll probably do past certain the second. As far as past Russia, I will probably do TJ Watt. And he said, take care. Keep the great discussions coming. I'm overseas where football is not that big. So it's like having a friend from far away. Hey team, keep it clean. We not just friend, we all family, man. So I appreciate this down. Something else that I appreciate is hearing a word from our sponsor. And now a word from our sponsor, Morgan and Morgan. While we're watching the games, we see these football players flying across the field at full speed, trying to make plays for their team. But an unfortunate part of that process is injuries. But they're professionals. So when they get hurt, they know exactly where to go to. They know exactly who to call. They know exactly who to reach out to if something happens. But not all of us are professionals. So we don't know. And sometimes even if we do know, it can be a little bit intimidating. But it shouldn't be. With Morgan and Morgan, submitting an injury claim is easy. Morgan and Morgan has modernized the injury law process. 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And you can have America's largest injury firm fighting for you. For more information, go to ForThePeople.com or dial pound law. That's pound 529 from your cell phone. And you know just what I mean. What I mean. You too, team, keep it clean. You see my boy, he like, out of made it. Out of made it. Boy, that's my homie, ain't that right engraved? Right engraved. So Team Keep It Clean, welcome to another episode of Questions From Sells where you can ask any question that you want to. If you wanna be a part of it, you can send an email to teamkeepitclean.com or for the Team Keep It Clean patrons, you can send it directly on Patreon. If you wanna become a Team Keep It Clean patron, you can go to patreon.com slash angravenviz and shout out to our newest Team Keep It Clean patron, my guy, Caleb. And this is his question. Now he said, my opinion on the offense and defense, I ain't engraving, hope you and the family have been doing well. I had a thought come to mind that I never thought about over the past few years, we have had a great defense while having a not so good wide receiver core. Oh, you ain't thought about that. We were talking about that a lot of time, but it's all good. But anyway, so a lot of Ravens fans are complaining that we don't have good corners or edge rushes, but at the end of the day, it's really hard to have a great offense and a great defense at the same time. Look at other teams. The Chiefs have an amazing offense, but they're not so good defense. They're gonna have a good offense, but they're not so good defense. Bills have a great offense, but their corners always struggle. I would say the only team that has a great offense and defense is the 49ers and Eagles, but the 49ers have a quarterback problem. Just the injuries, really. Injuries. When you talked about the Bills, as far as their quarterback struggling, injuries. Chiefs, yeah, they do have amazing offense. Their defense is opportunistic because their offense puts so much pressure on opposing teams. Like it's hard to keep up. You can't keep up with the Chiefs. So that makes it easy for their defense to hold it down. So, and with the Bengals, yeah, they got a really good offense. Their defense has been good too, man. But anyway, since the Ravens now have upgraded their Y receiver court and got that group set it out, they don't have the money to acquire what they want for edge rushes and corners. All Ravens finally stopped spending all their money on defense, like we said, and started spending it on offense. So we need to understand that. So, yeah, they did sort of change the game a bit, but remember they still spent some money on defense now.  Money Stanley still on a big contract. Mark Andrews, he got paid, but defense still got paid too, man. Like, I mean, Mark and Peter, he just left. He had gotten paid, but Roquon Smith. Look at Roquon Smith. Marlon Humphrey. Look at Marcus Williams last year.  They still been taking care of that, but I'm glad to see that they put a lot more emphasis on the offense this year because that was well needed. Special kind of question today because this package came from my guy, Justin in Ohio, and he sent some Baltimore Ravens signature cards. So Justin, I appreciate this a lot and he not only sent, like, a lot of cards, which I appreciate, he also hand wrote his question. So this special right here, I appreciate this a lot because this is different, man. This is a different level of love, man. So I appreciate this a lot, man. He said, engraving my man, I figured it was about time to send you some more cards. This time I put a Lamar rookie card and two autograph rookie cards. Appreciate everything you do for the fan base. So here's something for you and Carter. Hey, now I appreciate that especially about Carter. I always appreciate extra when people always look out for Carter. So thank you for that. I appreciate that a lot, man. He said, I have never been so confident in a Ravens rookie ever. Months before the draft, I was going nuts over Zay Flowers prior to us drafting him. Whether we drafted him or not, I was an M on the Zay Flowers train. I was buying up all his autograph rookie cards even before the Ravens got him. So you could imagine my excitement the day we secured our franchise QB and Zay Flowers. I truly believe Zay will be our first Pro Bowl wide receiver and that he will be a household name, not only in Baltimore, but all over the country. Ooh, that's a lot. All right now.  It will make sense. He said, thank you for everything you do. What do you believe Zay Flowers will do for Baltimore? And PS, my wife Heather says, hello. She loves your intro song, believe me. She hears it every day. I appreciate that, man. What will Zay Flowers do for Baltimore? What will he do for the Ravens? Just open things up. Open things up for everybody else. Wow, when he gets the ball, creating his own big plays too. Zay Flowers is exciting to think about because you think about the possibilities. You think about what it could be. You think about what it should be. You think about what already is as far as Mark Andrews established guy with Rashad. Babe Moon kind of, kind of know him. We still got some more to learn about him. Oh, they'll back him during your established guy too. But Nelson Aguilore, he could be in the mix too. Devon Duvenay, but then you throw in Zay Flowers as well. And it's just another playmaker. But probably he'd probably be the shiftiest guy on the team. Yeah, he'd probably be the shiftiest guy on the team now. And he got a good speed, good hands. And again, you can never have enough playmakers. And Ravens, I think it took him a while. We've been trying to let them know for the longest, but it took him a while to be here. But now they have some more legitimate playmakers. And a lot of it was play calling as well. So it's a mix of things to execute. It's a mix of a lot of stuff. But now it seems like Ravens are finally turning the corner when it comes to that offense. And Zay Flowers could be a big part of that. Next question came from Charlotte. She said, hello and Raven. I found your channel during the plague or COVID and have been following you ever since. Hey, that's, COVID was crazy, man. And that's a pretty good way to put the plague, yeah.  I like your keep, kept clean content. And you don't get as crazy as some of the other hosts. I appreciate it. I appreciate you watching too. Here's hoping you can answer these questions. Number one, what did you take on Art Mordell? Not already being in the Hall of Fame. He has done a lot for football, media-wise. And after all the other teams have moved around, this should not be held against him. See, with the interface with the Hall of Fame, I feel like the Hall of Fame, the voters and stuff, they are a very sensitive bunch. So you could have all the statistics and whatnot to prove like, hey, I belong here. I should be here. But if you did something that made them mad, if you did something that really ticked them off, then they will keep you out of the Hall of Fame for a while. Even if you're supposed to be there, even if all the numbers say, hey, you need to be there. Like I think about Ocho Sinko, Chad Johnson. I think about Terrell Owens, guys like that. They had big personalities, which I appreciate it, but NFL, NFL Hall of Fame, they don't appreciate that. So I think that could be a big part of what it is. So number two, have you looked at into Baltimore Lightning in the GDFL? This season, they have worked with the Ravens on promotions and also participated in team workouts with them. No, no, I haven't looked at that at all. I'm naive to that. And then she said, number three, what is your opinion on the drip? I get the styling part of some of the players and that time's changed. Personally, I still hold the opinion that if you're going to your official business meeting, you should dress accordingly, like in a suit. Thanks for reading, I see you on YouTube. I appreciate it. As far as the drip, I feel like it's like, well, players wear some of the stuff I can't get with. There's some stuff where I'm just like, really? But a lot of times it's like, when you look good, you feel good. And a lot of times when players are translated to you, look good, you feel good, you play good. So if they come looking nice, and that could be for anything too. Like you may get a new pair of shoes or something that you just ordered off line or something off the sneakers app.  Oh, I got the shirt to go with them perfectly and the fans and all that. Then you put it together and it looks even better than you thought.  You got a little extra step in your walk and whatnot. But I think it's the same way with players. That can be just a small thing to help their mental, to help just build them up mentally. But Charlotte, I appreciate you. I appreciate you sending these questions. And yes, J.W.R. Day, baby. Speaking of looks, maybe a new look. Next question came from my guy Evan. He said, Aang Raven, and I am here. Hope you and the family are doing well and prospering. In the midst of off-season preparation, possible signings and speculations about what our team will be this year, I thought to ask you another team keeping clean family, something a little less serious. Okay, I appreciate that, man. It said literally, it seems like every other team is getting a new uniform. Whether it's a full redesign for home and away sets, or it's a new alternate, I love all look, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to change our classic fits. However, it'll be nice to see us in something a little different or modern. You know, people have been saying this for years. And Raven's just been like, oh, no, we good. Now, I wouldn't want them to change it, something like ugly now. Cause some of the stuff, some of the upgrades for some teams, it's like, what is that? Some of them could be super, super basic. And sometimes basic is good, but sometimes basic is not so good. But yeah, it all just depends. But anyway, he said, Arizona traded they look for something more simple. Since he added the all white unions last year. Oh yeah, those are fire.  But anyway, he said, Cleveland just got an all white set as well. Indy just dropped a new alternate today. Hence why I'm writing this. ATL got a new set two years ago. Both LA teams had redesigns in the box to bring back the creamsicle alternates. Again, I'm not saying we should change our look completely, but I do believe that we could benefit from a fresh new look to go with our promising new system and team. What's your thoughts on this? Thank you for your content always. You definitely hit the point where you're part of a multitude of folks, daily routine, myself included and you're very appreciated. Peace and blessings and hashtag team. Keep it clean. Appreciate that, Nia. Thank you, man. And thank you for watching.  Well, yeah, you gotta be a little bit crazy, but I appreciate you being crazy. But I wouldn't mind. I certainly wouldn't mind.  I like those a lot. I like when they mix it up a bit. Even if they, when they did a little ugly uniform, little muster pant uniforms, I was like, okay, cool. I do like to switch up from time to time. It's nice to see something new. But for the Ravens, I just, I don't expect them to really make any like big significant changes or anything like that when it comes to the uniforms. Even a throwback, like, I mean, they got the whole little legal battle that they would have to clear with the guy who created, designed the original logo. They would have to, I guess they had to cut that check for him. They wanted to use those as throwbacks, but I don't think that's happening. So we'll see, we'll see. I feel like with Ravens, they can run from some stuff for just for so long, but they got to update and upgrade soon because I feel like for the longest, they were upgrading from, really upgrading the Y receiver room. I mean, they've been running for that for years, but it finally did it. For the longest, I feel like the Ravens were almost running from them international games because it, the last one that happened, I think in, I want to say 2017, I think something like that, but it was a while back. But now we playing this year. And I think week six against the Titans. So they seem like they've been running from this, this Jersey change for a long time too. Maybe this will be the year. Expression came from my guy Mark. He said, ain't Raven. Hope you and the family are doing well. Quick question here. Do you think the return of Michael Pierce is being underestimated? Keep up the hard work, brother, love the videos and positive community you helped create. Appreciate that Mark. And yes, thank you for bringing that up because I'm somebody just about like 97% of the time when we talking about the defensive line, I always forget that we have Michael Pierce. So yes, yes, yes, yes. Cause that boy can play, but his thing has been health. So if he could stay healthy this year, that would obviously, everybody could stay healthy this year. It sucks because we just, we've already been getting reports of players going down non-contact injuries out for the season. Naim Hines from the Beals. CJ Gardner from the Lions, I want to say, who used to play for the Eagles? He went down with a non-contact. So it's starting up already. So hopefully it can stop for just, not even just the Raven, but there's the whole league and nobody else will get hurt at all. But you know how the NFL goes. It's a unfortunate part of the business with them injuries, man. But yes, I do believe Michael Pierce is being severely underestimated by myself. Cause again, like I said, he ain't really played last year. He played for like some of one game and that was it, I think. Or did he play a couple of games? No, I think he only played one game. But either way, he ain't played that much last year. So for me, he was kind of like an afterthought. And whenever I think about the defensive line, I always think Justin Maddabee came and Broderick Washington and Travis Jones. And that's it. I always forget about Michael Pierce. So having him back will be really, really nice for Ravens. Next question, well, he said, not a question, but it came from my God, Terrence. He said, that ain't great, but just wanted to let you know that I think what you've done in the Ravens community has been life-changing. You provided a community where fans can gather and discuss our favorite team with people just as passionate about the team as we are. You provide insight and perspective on aspects of the game that we may not have considered previously and provide coverage when the season is over and things slow down. In so many ways, you help us all keep going. Being a part of this family has been such a gift. This channel is not only the best Ravens channel, it's the best small sports media coverage channel on YouTube. After games, I always search for reaction videos from both Ravens and the opposing teams to bask in his sorrows. I mean, except when Ravens lose and yeah, this is all, but anyway, even the one thing I always notice is that the quality and vibe of their videos just don't quite match what you offer. I know you don't like talking yourself up, but trust me, you're kind of nice with it.  You're going to get yours soon. Thank you. Oh, Terrence, I appreciate this a lot. This is special. And yeah, I appreciate this, man. That's all it is. We don't got no secret knowledge, anything like that.  We ain't got no secret plugs, anything, no connects, anything like that.   But I appreciate this, man, because that's what the goal is, man. And that's what it was, what it still is, just to come on here and have some fun, have a good time, talk about whatever it is that's going on. We have learned so much from y'all, and just to try to just help people enjoy stuff even more, because people already enjoy football. But when you get to talk about it after the fact, like, because it's one thing if you just go through the week, go through your work week and whatnot, it's like, oh, gotta go to work, gotta do this, gotta do that. Take care of this, that and all that. That could be stressful. But then you look forward to when you get to watch the game and whatnot. So you watch the game, the game is like three and a half hours. Like, all right, this is fun. Then it's over. So you're like, oh, okay. And not to say that you don't have anything else to look forward to in life, which you definitely do. It's plenty more things to look forward to in life than football. But when it comes to football, this is just, it just adds a little extra bonus for all of us, because it helps me, it helps the time with me, it helps with the time. I hopefully, hopefully with y'all too. But, and it's a fun way of doing it. And again, it's something that's everybody's welcome to. It's family friendly. We ain't on here cursing and all that and da-da-da-da. I mean, no offense to the channel that I do, but that's just, not as we wanted something that would welcome everybody. Everybody could come through. Everybody could watch the videos and stuff. Everybody could have a good time. Because again, football is entertainment. It's entertainment, it's a business, it's fun. So it should be kept at that. But yeah, it's fun to talk about, it's fun to watch it. It's fun to talk about what you think is gonna happen, what you think should have happened, what you think could have happened. Ifs, the buts, the wins, the what, all that good stuff. It's fun, man. And y'all make it that much more fun. So I appreciate y'all positionless players. Next question came from my guy, Jordan. He said, I think the Ravens aren't signing an edge until right before the season, if they even do. Because they will use certain packages where they will put Simpson, Harrison, and Ross on the outside to give David a way and Bowser a break to switch it up. All three of the inside linebackers have had snaps at the outside either in season, Harrison, pre-season, Ross, or in college, Simpson. Just a thought. That's a good thought. You might be a little defensive coordinator on the low, but that could be something that they could do.  They like doing some crazy stuff. They'll have Michael Pierce dropping back in the coming, but they will do some crazy stuff. So what you saying is not far fetch it all, Jordan. Zayy Receiver won. Next question came from my guy, Jaylin. He said, with all the rave over Zay Flows, is it crazy to say that he could end up being the Ravens' Y-Receiver won by the end of the season? With that being said, OBJ is a veteran superstar Y-Receiver. Could OBJ and Zay end up pushing Rashad Bateman down to Y-Receiver three over the duration of the season? Anything's possible. Anything is possible. Ravens didn't draft him in the first round to be a slot guy for the future. They drafted him in the first round to be an impact guy right here, right now, right away, and for the future. So when you think about Zay Flows becoming their Y-Receiver won, it's not far fetched at all. Last line of defense. Next question came from my guy, D3. He said, hello, Engraven and team. Keep it clean, hope all is well with you and the family. I have two questions for you and the crew. Number one, from a warfare standpoint, knowing your enemy before engaging is a necessity. With that being said, why is the Bengals' defense being ignored after they've lost both starting safeties? They might not be able to stop anyone on the back end this year. Oh yeah, Jesse Bates and, I know they both went to the NFC side. I think the other one went to the Panthers. Bates went to the Falcons, I think, and the other one went to the Panthers. I cannot, is it, Mike, is it Hilton? Is it Hilton? Anyway, that's a good point. That's a good point. So I'm not sure, I don't recall what they did there at the safety position. I know they drafted Dax Hill last year, but I don't know what else they did there. So that'll be something to watch out for this year for sure. And so number two, is it safe to say that the Ravens have the best defense in the conference and should be the favorites to win it, barring any injuries, the best defense in the conference? I don't think it's safe to say that yet. We gotta see what that secondary looking and that pass rush is looking like this year. Like the defense was nice last year, especially against the bad quarterbacks, but the defense was, we gonna see, we gonna see. They gotta show it on paper. They look straight, but we gotta see it cause there's a lot of unknown right now. So they got a lot to work through as far as the pass rush and whatnot. We'll see what happens with that. But I can't call them the best defense right here right now, cause it's just, it's so many unknown that with the Ravens. I said again, thank you for all the content, time and effort and dedication to keep us informed. Universal law states that if you want something, you have to give it first. I speak life and light into your career. ESPN had major layoffs to make room for you. Congratulations in advance. No, we ain't laughing at the layoffs now. I'm just laughing at what he said, cause I know layoffs are speaking from experience. It's tough, but it can, like it's, you just never know what could happen. You never know what could happen. Had I not ever been laid off from my job that I was at, probably would not be going on like it's going on right now. And I, again, we ain't got no big channel and nothing like that. But I would have never had that push to like really go for it. Cause I was, I would not, cause I got a wife, a kid and half old was caught up back then. I mean, regardless of how old he was, that was my responsibility, both of them, my responsibility and myself too. So to take in my family, that was my responsibility. So I was like, look, it sounds great. You hear about it in the movies and stuff. You hear some different people take that leap, but I wasn't about to walk away from no job with like, hey, that's why I understand Lamar. I wasn't about to walk away from no job with guaranteed money, guaranteed money, man.  Let me, let me go for this. Let me just take this leap of faith. No, are you crazy? No, I wouldn't do that.  Especially when you applying to jobs and stuff ain't shaking like that. But I am very, very grateful. Super, super grateful, everything worked out in the long run. It's been a lot of work. It still is a lot of work, but super appreciative. That's why I appreciate all of y'all so much because y'all help all of this a lot, more than you realize. Next question came from my boy, Kevin B. He said, Alfonzo Graham, man. Hey, engraving hope all is well. I've been meaning to send this for a while. So to still be picked up and undrapped, I'd like to free agent running back Alfonzo Graham back in May. If you don't know him, he's a Baltimore kid. Went to the same high school as Tayvon Austin, Dunbar High. Then stayed home and went to Morgan State College. I've had the honor to have watched him grow just like I did with Tayvon. Don't know if he'll make the team, but he's a great player, man. He was top running back in the MEAC, rushing for over 1100 yards and averaged over 100 a game. If he makes a cut, I'm rooting for him, but not for the Steelers. He's a good kid and I wish him well. There'll be some more kids coming up from Baltimore out of Merville High School, peace and blessings, my friend. Hey, I appreciate this, man. I appreciate this because this is special. When you get to watch somebody's success, man, you get to watch somebody that you've known or even that you know about and you see them, you may see their potential from a young age and then you just watched them grow and watched them reach that potential. And now like somebody that you watched, somebody that you've known from Dunbar High, now he's in the league. He's in it like that's crazy when you think about it. Especially knowing that there's only 1% of people in the world that make it to the league. So shout out to my, I do hope he does well, especially for you, because that'd be super cool. Just seeing somebody that you, it's always nice when you see people that you know and they do well. It's nice to see other people do well. It's nice to see other people do big things because you appreciate it and you're genuinely happy for. And the last question on this episode, this is the last episode that we're recording before Training Camp starts. I mean, I'm recording this on the 24th. You may see it on the 24th, probably see it on the 25th, but you'll see it when you see it anyway. Last question on this episode. So these last questions before Training Camp is official. Next questions that we get, it'll be while Training Camp is official, while things are going. So I love y'all and I appreciate y'all's questions. I appreciate everything. I appreciate this off season. I appreciate everybody sending questions to this off season. Thank you for questioning from subscribers. Thank you for it always being fun and engaging, always showing respect to other people's questions too. Always showing respect to other people's answers. I appreciate y'all, man. We headed into the season now. The off season is over. We done made it y'all. So this is the last question of the off season. This is it. And it came from my guy, Michael. He said, morning, and many blessings to you and your family. While watching your video this morning, he sent this on July 21st. I don't know what video it was because it would be a million video, but anyway, he said, while watching your video this morning, I have two questions. What are your thoughts on the praise of Justin Herbert over Lamar and what game this season, do you believe will be a breakout game to let the NFL know we are serious? Well, to that second question, I say week one. Put it all out there week one, man. Run it up. Run it up on week one. Have a Dolphins-like, 2019 Dolphins-like game, not last year. But have that type of game where you just run it up. I don't care if it's no rookie. I know Ravens don't care if it's no rookie quarterback that they going against. Run it up, man. Straight up.  Ain't worried about no, ain't worried about no peeking too early.   Do your thing. Try to get acclimat. They had that offense. Try to have them running, like running full speed week one and like really getting at them Texans, man. And as far as your first question, my thoughts on the praise of Justin Herbert over Lamar. I think that's something that a lot of NFL people really want because Justin Herbert is more of a typical quarterback. He's more of the quarterback that has the look that people go for, the personality that most people go for. He's what a lot of people tend to expect in a quarterback and Lamar is not. I think that's a big part of it. I think people really want, they really want Justin Herbert to be successful. And I mean, Justin Herbert is nice. He's nice. But I think people's base, they base the Justin Herbert praise of Lamar off of expectations rather than results. And I think that's where another part of the issue lies. Like if somebody like Justin Herbert and Lamar, okay, great. But I always like hearing people's why. What's the reasoning? What's your thought process behind it? And hey, we respect it. Even if we don't always agree with what somebody may say, we respect it. But I think that's what it is. It's them basing it off of expectations instead of results.  Oh, just what I made. You two team, keep it clean. You see my boy, he like automated. Well, that's my homie. Ain't that right engraving? Right engraving. Shout out to engraving.