This is, Start of the Store Front. The concept of biohacking has been around for a while now, and the term can encompass everything from tracking your sleep, to getting a blood transfusion from a younger person in an effort to fight aging. Yes, really. The idea is to find ways in which we can harness the fullest potential of our bodies so that we may perform at our best in whatever we do. The term biohacking can be a deterrent to some, as the more extreme methods are often the ones that come to mind when discussing its merits. Our guests today are Lauren Berling-Jerry and Katie Capps, co-founders of Hiredoast. Their goal is to make biohacking more approachable and remove some of the stigma that comes with it, by designing products like the infrared sauna blanket that can easily be used in a home, and by educating their community on the benefits of routine, self-care, and wellness. So listen in, so we cover everything from why biohacking has never appealed to a broad spectrum of women, why it was hard for them to be taken seriously the first time they raised money, and why they decided to offer themselves up as test subjects for the most extreme biohacks on the market. Now onto the episode. All right, welcome to the podcast. On today's show, we're talking to Lauren and Katie, the founders of Hiredoast. Thanks so much for coming. Either one of you can take this question. What does Hiredoast do? So Hiredoast actually started about six years ago, and we launched with infrared sauna spas. So we used to have locations all throughout New York and one in Brooklyn. And pretty much it was like a tanning salon model for infrared saunas. But we had these really cool locations because we had space within a space and we had partnerships with like Equinox and Eleven Howard, which is a trendy hotel, or in the basement of Alchemist Kitchen, which is like a cool wellness place. So it was kind of like this underground vibe and experience. And each location was very different. And we just had infrared saunas there, but we really made the experience amazing. So it was like red light. We had, you know, Burning Man style music, fridges in each of the rooms. So it was like sponsored product, you get free drinks. You know, we just like thought of everything when it came to the experience. So it really just like took off the location business quicker than we expected. And about, I would say three years ago, we launched our first take home experience, which was our infrared sauna blanket. And we just really wanted to bring infrared to the masses and we knew that opening locations was going to be very slow in doing so. So we wanted to develop something that was affordable, easy to use, and just as powerful as the infrared sauna. So we launched our first version three years ago and have always been working on better versions. But pretty much we saw that side of the business, the sauna blanket side of the business grow at 400% versus our location business, which was growing at 20%. So we were like, hmm, there's something with this infrared sauna blanket. I think it reaches way more people. So we decided that we were going to not open any more locations, but rather develop, you know, more products that could bring the higher dose experience to people's homes. And then pretty much what happened was the pandemic hit and just accelerated that idea for us. We closed all of our locations overnight. The demand for the sauna blanket went up for X. And the next thing you knew it was just Katie, myself and one other employee. We used to have 60 employees just to the three of us. And we kind of like had to restructure the whole entire business. And we quickly became a direct to consumer business and with just a lot of focus on creating, you know, wellness technologies that really ignite people's vitality, make people feel good. Just in terms of like, I'm just curious. So obviously SoulCycle came out, they went the whole coaching route and obviously in a non-pandemic world that works. The thing I'm curious about and the thing that I want to touch on for our listeners is more around what was the friction you were running into. And so I can imagine, obviously you have a certain amount of locations, the employees, the overhead, blah, blah, blah, blah. That becomes like a very, almost like a hamster wheel type of grind. But what was the thing you guys kept hitting on that didn't work? Was it outside of just locations? Was it staffing? Was it getting the right vibe in every different location? Like what was the thing where you guys started to go, you know, this isn't it, this isn't scalable? I think one of the big challenges for us that we discovered as we built our wholly owned location was just the build out of a sauna concept can be very extensive, particularly because of the plumbing. You know, we always want to have showers in our locations and we can.  So that was kind of like a roadblock that we didn't really see coming that kind of like informed our strategy as opening as a space within a space. And then from there, like Lauren was saying, the online product sales were taking off. So we saw that kind of as even more scalable and profitable than space within a space. But it feels like such a left, right? And so when you guys decided to start on, on making the blanket, what was your first step there? It's almost like learning a brand new sport. I see you have a tennis racket behind you. That's awesome. I'm a tennis player. But like, what was that like in terms of like, okay, where do you even start? Where do you go? Did you guys have sauna blankets?  What was the first step in getting the prototype ready? Yeah, I mean, very early on Lauren and I partnered with Clearlight and Raleigh Duncan. So he's the CEO of Clearlight, which is the number one infrared sauna company in the US. They make like the cabins, like the one you can see right behind me. And he's been in the industry for, you know, 20, 25 years. He's very familiar with infrared technology and the different formats that it can come in. So we had him on our board of advisors and essentially, you know, pitched him on the idea of helping us co-create these sauna blankets. Prior to the model that we came up with, there were these kind of like rudimentary models that we'd seen in LA at different spas there. But the technology was really low quality. They were super high EMF. The vendors just looked like really sketchy that were producing these things. So we kind of brought an expert on our team, came up with a great design, and then he helped us source like the most amazing manufacturers in the world that we now have exclusive agreements with. And we have a patent pending on our fourth version. So that was kind of our approach. And then when it came to just price point, was that a hard decision to make where you guys, because I can imagine if you're going from in-house visit compared to buying a blanket that can seem like a big jump, but if you just run the numbers, it's probably not. But what was like the price point discussion around how to go to market with it? Yeah, I mean, I think it's a combination of, you know, obviously we have to take into consideration our cost of goods and what kind of margin we're targeting. But then, you know, to your point, we looked at what our customers were typically spending to like come visit us at the spa. And we wanted to offer them a price point that was a good value proposition. Like instead of, you know, doing 10 sessions at the spa, just buy one of these, which is the same price. And then you can do it at home for the next five years. So we wanted something that was definitely like lower price point than a full at home sauna, which can be like around $5,000, but still something that was like, okay, it's clear what the value proposition is. And I can afford this. And yeah, it's a little bit on the high end, but it pays for itself eventually. So that's kind of how we settled on our original price point, which is now, you know, $5.99. And when you guys launch, is there anything that you learned about your customers that you wouldn't have guessed? Like, who is buying it? Where do they live? Are the demographics a little bit odd than or surprising, I guess, from what you would have originally thought? I would say it's not surprising. I don't know if that's because Katie and I feel like we are demographic. So attracting more like-minded and women and women from the ages of 25 and up, just kind of looking for the same things that her and I were looking for. Didn't surprise us at all. But, you know, since we've launched other products like our infrared PENFMAT, we've noticed this is much more appealing to men. And I don't know if it's because it's more recovery based or you don't have to, like, put on different clothes and sweat in them and they can hop on at any time. But, you know, until we launched that product, we really saw our business be like almost like 80 percent women versus men, which also gave us the opportunity to own that because there are so many brands out there, especially within the biohacking space that are catering more to men. And, you know, Katie and I really saw the opportunity to speak more to women. Her and I are biohackers ourselves. But yet we were always like looking to men for advice there. And we kind of dug into why women aren't really into this biohacking space.  Such amazing products. But when you say biohacking women are like, no, no, don't get it. You know, I don't know if it's the word hack or whatever it is, but it just doesn't speak to women. So is that the big point of friction or the hesitation there? Is just the word itself? Like, did you find anything else as to why women are hesitant to get into biohacking as a whole? I feel like it's because there's no real women leading in this space at the moment. Like when you think about biohackers, it's the Dave Asperes of the world, the Ben Greenfields, the Luke stories, and it's like really male dominated. And the narrative is all around like faster, stronger, best muscles, like fasting, like keto. And it's just like those things don't always work for women because women have different genetic makeups. We consider our hormones. We consider like, you know, wanting to have kids. And like, how do you like detox before that? And then after kids and none of this was included in the biohacking world, which is like kind of where Katie and I come in with, you know, wellness tech that is solution for women and men as well, but really speaks to women. I'll just say this much for the month of March, we're doing a campaign with cat footwear, which is called Do More Her Way. And we're literally only interviewing female founders. My wife is a, she owns her own construction company.  And then I also invest in personally invest in a lot of female led companies. And in that scenario, I'll tell you one quick story. There's a woman named Brooke. She just had a baby and she's fundraising whenever she fundraises, she dyes her hair pink and it becomes like her cape and she just fundraised while pregnant. And so we have a lot of female listeners. Obviously, I wish we had more because the space in podcasting is so male dominated still in terms of even listenership. And on YouTube, I think 70% of all YouTube videos across the board are watched by men. Are there any stories that you guys can share just around what it's like to be two women entering biohacking before that, you know, you guys are launching a company. What have been some of the things that you guys have found that have either been gems along the way or I'll give you one example. There was one woman I spoke to and I asked her, like, what is it like fundraising while pregnant? And she had the best answer ever. She's like, it's amazing if you have the right team. And so, you know, she felt like there was no reason for her to worry. She knew she was going to leave the company for a few weeks or months or whatever it may be, but she was fine because she had the right team. And I think when I think about all founders across the board, men don't think that way, right? And so I'm like, this is a superpower.  And that level of insight is so remarkable and makes the company that much better without people really knowing it, right? Without like it being so abundantly obvious. Do you guys have anything that you really tap into as two female founders and friends? It's a good question, you know, like looking back to when we were trying to raise our first friends and family round to open as a space within a space. I think it was very hard to get taken seriously as two women, first time female entrepreneurs. I'm sure you hear that a lot. So it was initially challenging, but then I think once we did open and we were, you know, kind of competing against maybe other like drip concepts or IV concepts that were led by male founders, I think naturally like the press and media tended to gravitate towards Lauren and myself and our story.  Anything on your side, Lauren? I just feel like, you know, women are the main buyers in their households. And I feel like a lot of these, you know, biohacking companies are missing the mark a lot of the times. And I really feel like it's given us the opportunity to like own this gray space and be like the first like female led biohacking company that really like speaks to women and makes them feel like they can be included into this space and not feel uncomfortable or or not worry about it because it's not like meant for them. So I really see it as more of an opportunity than anything else. And I'm excited about it.  We just started hiring more men. So we've always had this like amazing foundation of women on our team too, as well, which has been really awesome. So I would say like I have to say I felt more supported by women than anyone else in this whole entire journey. So it's really awesome to be able to create products that speaks to them. No, I totally love that. And then let's talk about your YouTube video. So you guys are releasing a whole new series called Biohacking where you guys put yourself in very uncomfortable, super vulnerable positions as founders together. Can you just give our listeners a window into what that YouTube page is about and what you're trying to experience there and what information you're trying to get out to the public? Yeah, it's a great segue. So it's called Biohack Hers, which is kind of a really cute name. But, you know, as Katie and I were, you know, dabbling in this biohacking space, we started to realize that most of the studies that are done in the health and wellness and fitness space are done on men and not on women. And it actually, I think it was like until 15 years ago, women weren't even required to participate in studies, which is crazy. And still to this day, men are six times more likely to be chosen in studies than women are for obvious reasons. You know, we carry children, we get pregnant, we're breastfeeding. There's a lot of times where we can't be a part of studies, plus our hormones change throughout the cycle of a month. Worse versus men are on a 24-hour cycle. We're on a 24-hour cycle plus a 28-day cycle. So our needs change, you know, our whole bodies change. Our minds change, you know, depending on where we're at in that cycle. So it's really hard to do consistent studies on them. So for obvious reasons. But it's made it really hard for us to navigate this space because we'll try something and we'll be like, wait a minute, you know, like this just makes me feel stressed out. I don't feel better. My hormones get worse. And we've really had to like navigate this space very differently. So I think the show is just really like coming at it from a female's perspective and like how we feel afterwards. And then also going after goals that speak more to women versus men.  They want muscle building. You know, they want just different goals in women. Women have always like, you know, wanted things that make them feel either either detoxing before having a baby or they want, you know, better skin solutions than Botox and filler. Just very different goals in mind. So the show premise is pretty much Katie and I trying the wildest health hacks out there. Using ourselves as human guinea pigs and then reporting authentically on our experience, you know, with it, especially to women because of course we're too female, you know, trying to tackle all of this stuff. So it's just really awesome. I think a lot of women are in awe of things that are out there that they didn't even know existed, you know, different technologies in the space and things like ketamine therapy or radio frequency for your vagina or like just peaking practices that are, you know, tontra focused that can really like help our overall well-being. So I just think that there's going to be like a lot of like kind of strange moments where they're like, wow, I didn't think that existed, but like this is really helping me because I can actually like use these things to tackle what I'm trying to do. In terms of building a community and expanding the reach of your business and yourselves and your influence, I think for one, the bio hackers space that you're creating is is great because it lends credibility to everything you're doing that you're trying to experiment. You're you're putting yourselves out there in a very vulnerable position, as Diego said, and I'm curious, like I've also seen another segment that you did on a show called MVP, where you pitched to athletes and had them as ambassadors. I'm curious in your minds, what works better in terms of building your community and creating an engagement? Are you finding that this space that you're creating now with bio hackers is better than, say, athlete ambassadors? I think it's still early days in terms of kind of pioneering this bio hacker space. You know, we just launched our first couple of episodes last month.  But in terms of, you know, a strategy of having, you know, affiliates and ambassadors promote our products. I think that's worked incredibly well for us, especially as we kind of like cultivate these, you know, health and wellness thought leaders and doctors and functional medicine practitioners promoting our product. That's been extremely effective because, you know, some of the technology is still unknown to people. A lot of people still don't know what infrared is or PEMF or red light therapy. So when this is coming from a health expert, that kind of third party seal of approval goes a long way, you know, and of course we love it when athletes are using the product and endorsing it as well because they train harder than anybody else. And if higher dose products can help them, then it's, you know, probably going to help the average person too. So I think Rob Grinkowski and Camille Kostick have been loving our higher dose infrared mat, which has been great. A lot of like MMA fighters who need to cut weight before matches love using our blanket for that. Actually, the blanket was featured in the movie bruised, which is about like a professional fighter trying to cut weight. And I think Holly Berry is the lead in it who is in our blanket. So so yeah, I love seeing how the products are penetrating different verticals and resonating with people. Did you reach out to Hallie after that and see if she would come on full time as an ambassador? No, but it's on my list. So if anybody knows her, let me know. As you guys are launching your YouTube channel, what else is in store for 2022 for you guys? Any new products you're working on, maybe differentiating into other biohackers type products? Anything on the horizon for this year? Yeah, we're actually launching a whole CPG line of products that complements the wellness tech that we've already launched and enhance the experience at home. And we're building rituals all around the experience. So like, what can you do pre, post and during your son of like it experience and yeah, it's a mix of topicals and ingestibles and our hero ingredient across all of the CPG line is going to be magnesium. We really love magnesium. Katie and I personally take three to four different types of magnesium that do different things. But really the opportunity is the fact that, you know, 60 to 70 percent of North Americans are deficient in magnesium, which is because our soils are so depleted of it and magnesium is responsible for over 300 very important functions within the body. And those include some of the main reasons why people come to us detox, weight loss, skin relaxation, sleep. So we really see this as like a hero ingredient that could go across our whole entire product line. And then on top of that, you know, we have products that make you sweat like you've never sweat before. So hydration is a really big key and magnesium is one of the main electrolytes to keep water in the body. So there's going to be a really cool story just around magnesium as our hero and then topicals and ingestibles that complement the devices and just build out amazing experiences at home. And that's going to be launching around May. I'll share a quick story with you. We had a founder that created almost like a hormone balancer. She had PCOS. And so for a year, she had her own struggle with this and nothing was working. And so she would just go to the store and create her own literally like became her own her own scientist until she found the solution that worked. And now she has this like huge company. And we had her on the podcast. And one of the things that I was so amazed by it's like a bad story turned good. So her Facebook accounts get shut down. And that like her Facebook page was where all of her community was built. And so like that's where they would interact customers would interact with each other, blah, blah, blah. And so the Facebook page goes away. It gets hacked or it gets deleted. And so it's zero. They try to get it back nothing. And then she creates like this app where she literally invites all of her community members to purchase products, to talk to each other, to hold each other accountable. And in my head, I'm like, that's very difficult to pull off. That's like basically creating a different version of Instagram just for your world. And what are the odds of this working? So then she's here and she's showing me and she's like, take a look. And it's like all this incredible engagement on this app that she built based on losing her Facebook page. And people can buy directly from her app. And I think one of the things like, as an NFT investor in the crypto space right now, you basically learn it's community or die. It's really that simple. And so when you guys think about, obviously it's like launch the products first, but how, you know, I think the hard part is like actually getting engagement with the community members in a meaningful way. What do you guys do in an effort to do that? Is do you guys hold like retreats? Do you guys hold like events? What are the things that you really do to literally create community? Yeah, actually two things. So we were really lucky to start with these infrared locations where we built a cult like following in a community and, you know, we had that personal touch with our customers coming in. How are they doing? How are they feeling afterwards? What do they not like about the sauna? How do we make the sauna better? Just like picking their brains. And I think that people in our community have always like really appreciated that about us, is like we really want to learn from them. And that's how we make our products really amazing. So we were really lucky to have those locations in order to do that. That's how we really built the brand. And then, you know, now that we're more of this direct to consumer business, this has been like our main challenge, right? It's like, how do you continue that on building that community in the brand? And I think it really is the content strategy like we're talking about. There's really such a need for education within this space, like Katie said, like people don't know what infrared and PennFar and red light therapy and how it's good for them. And how do I use them at like, what do I do? And so we're building out a whole content strategy on like educating the consumer on why they're doing it, how they should be doing it, giving them experiences while they're in it, breathwork, meditations, you know, access to other affiliates and influencers within our network that are creating content with us that are curated on our wellness tech. And then, of course, the biohackers. And at some point, maybe we'd like to have an app later on where we can help people track how good they're doing, if their sleep is better, if they're losing that stubborn weight that they wanted to lose and then have the content strategy on that afterwards. But I totally 100% agree it's community or die, especially in today's day and age where we feel like we can't really connect with people the way that we used to now that everything's online. Yeah. And just to add to that, too. I mean, I think we never want to launch a product that people go, yeah, it was okay. Like everything that we launch, we expect people to be fully addicted to. And I think that really helps with engagement. Like we did a survey that showed 80% of our clients use their sauna blanket one to two times a week, which means higher dose is actually very top of mind for the customer because it is so addictive. And I think that really helps build an engaged community because they're thinking about higher dose, it's part of their life. So we found that when we send out newsletters, we have like a very high open rate and whenever we tap customers for product, market research studies, etc., we always get a strong response rate. So I think, yeah, like having an amazing product is definitely helpful for building community, too. I'll say this much. I use the blanket probably once or twice a week myself, usually before a tennis match, sometimes after or just like if I had a long day. But Dr. Rod DePatrick, like I'll watch videos of her while I'm laying in the blanket, just to get to expose myself to the benefits of it because I don't think anyone goes deeper into the research than her. It's pretty remarkable. She's my ultimate favorite. If we could only get a hold of Dr. Rod DePatrick and yeah, dream collab. Yeah, because we really do believe that our sauna blankets get your core body temperature hotter than any other sauna. So we feel like it would release heat shock proteins and she's like the heat shock protein queen. We'd love to work with her on that. And of course, like just to power women herself, she's definitely by far one of my favorites. We will advertise this podcast when it releases directly to Dr. Ronda and all her followers. And we'll see what later I'll do it. We'll run some ads and see we'll target her see if we can get an engagement from Dr. Ronda. That would be epic for me and for you guys. Yeah, I'm curious about the story of your company going from brick and mortar to D to C and one of the stories that I've heard recently about Peloton is that most of their sales are coming from their in store locations. People in the health and wellness space really like to touch and feel a product before they they make that purchase. And with you guys going from brick and mortar to online sales, it's not easy to do first of all. And I'm curious if you ever ever think like that you might go back to like pop up stores in in addition to selling directly online, just so people who might be on the fence about it have the opportunity to experience the product or try it out and kind of get their feet wet in a sense. Is that something you've considered at all? Totally. Yeah, we definitely see the value in an omnichannel approach. So we're just trying to figure out the most strategic way to execute on that, which we feel like is through, you know, a hotel partner or another location based experience that's already up and running. You know, we recently launched our product in preview in Miami, which is like a concept store where you can go like touch and feel our mat before you buy it. So I think or even like a show fields, right? So there's more of these concepts popping up that are like shared real estate amongst several different brands. So we've been talking to some of those concepts. But again, there's nothing like actually going to a location and trying a session and getting that incredible sweat. We do have two locations open in New York where you can do that. But yeah, in the pipeline is adding several more over the next couple years. I love the hotel concept. I just think that's such a no brainer that would be like I would love that, especially after like a, for example, like if I'm going to Aspen or Deer Valley and I come back to the hotel and I can just be in a sauna blanket that like that like the snow crowd to me is no brainer. Just yesterday I was at Irwan, which is a grocery store here in L.A. and I they have like Valley parking anyway. And so I get in my car at the end of it and there's like two new companies that are creating sparkling water and they like just place them in my car. And they're like, hey, that's for you.  You know, it's like these little things that these little touches, which now I love the grocery store even more. And now I've just learned about two different products that I would have never done. And so yeah, I mean, I would that would be incredible if you guys could be in hotels. I think that's that's an easy touch. Yeah, we love the hotel model. It's just such a great experience. And a big part of our experience is like doing the cold water shower afterwards. So you know, have to have your own private hotel room with your own shower there and it's just like there's nothing better. So yeah, we would preferably love to continue to open locations with an amazing hotel partner and have these active show rooms for us for product. I know TheraBody or Thera, the TheraGun there, TheraGuns are now in some hotels, which is smart too. Well, listen, thank you guys for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it. Tell everyone where they can find you, where they can support, where they can watch your videos, all that good stuff. Yeah, please check us out at Hiredoast.com. That's where our blog is where you can watch Biohackers too as well. And then our Instagram at Hiredoast. And then my Instagram, if you want to follow me, even I'm not that great on Instagram, but is at Lauren Burlingery and Katie's. Mine is at K letter TKAPS. I'm also not that great on Instagram. So you might just want to go to Hiredoast.com. At least you're honest about it. Thank you guys for joining. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for having us. That was our conversation with Lauren and Katie from Hiredoast. Since you've stuck around for the credits, why don't you just go ahead and subscribe or even better. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's honestly one of the best and easiest ways you can support the show. We are at Startup Storefront on every social media platform, except for Twitter, where you can find us at STS Podcast LA. The team consists of Diego Torres Palma, Natalia Capolini, Lexi Jamison, Owen Capolini and me, Nick Conrad. Our music is by DoubleTouch. Thank you for listening. We'll see you next time.


Hello and welcome to the session in which we'll discuss influences on international operation or international business. When a company operate internationally, they're going to face a multitude of factors that can significantly affect the success and sustainability of the business in the global market. Therefore, businesses, multinational, they have to understand these factors if they want to navigate the international market, manage risk and seize opportunities. Because if you work in another country, if you sell your product or if you operate over there, there are certain things that you need to be aware of. Therefore, you understand your environment, you understand your customer base, you understand how to deal with suppliers, with customers, with the culture, with the norms. The following are some important factors. There are political factors, legal factors, taxes, the economic system that you are operating in, technological factors, and of course, of course, cultural differences. For each of these factors, I will explain a little bit more in details, but I will focus more at the end toward the cultural differences. We're going to go ahead and start by looking at the political factors. Before we proceed any further, I have a public announcement about my company, farhatlectures.com. Farhat Accounting Lectures is a supplemental educational tool that's going to help you with your CPA exam preparation, as well as your accounting courses. My CPA material is aligned with your CPA review course, such as Becker, Roger, Wiley, Gleam, Miles. My accounting courses are aligned with your accounting courses, broken down by chapter and topics. My resources consist of lectures, multiple choice questions, true-false questions, as well as exercises. Go ahead, start your free trial today. Starting with political factors. There are some positive political factors and some negative political factors. If there's a free trade agreements with that country, free trade agreements are one of the most direct ways in which politics can impact international trade. So free trade agreements are negotiated and signed by political leaders and government, and their goal is to reduce or eliminate tariffs, quotas, and other trade restrictions. A good example will be free trade agreement like the EU or the agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada. It used to be called NAFTA, but the point is, when there's a free trade agreement between countries, it's going to make conducting international business much, much easier. On the other hand, trade wars, they arise from political dispute and they would lead to the trade wars, and which could have a negative impact on international trade. And trade wars usually involve the opposite of free trade agreement, adding tariffs and trade barriers, which would disrupt global supply chains, make goods and services more expensive. A case in point between 2018 and 2020, the US and China, they both imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods. They went into a trade war. Asset expropriation, also known as nationalization. In the US, we have something similar. It's when the government takes over your asset. In the US, we call it eminent domain. Basically, if the government, the state or the local or the federal government, they need to open a highway or some public infrastructure. They might ask you if you want to sell your property. They will offer you a fair market value price. If not, you may sue them. You'll take them to court, but eventually the government can exercise their eminent domain and take over your property. That's in the US. This is not what we're discussing, but it's the same concept where the government takes your property. But nationalization or asset expropriation is basically when the foreign government takes over your asset. Basically, it's a form of theft by the foreign government. This could be because there is a public rage against that country. For example, you have a US company operating in Russia. Well, there's the US, the Russian-Ukrainian war. And all the people say, well, let's take over all the US property in Russia. Well, the Russian government may exercise asset expropriation and take over those assets or fault political reasons or economic control. But that's always a political risk when you operate in a foreign country. There are legal factors. One major one these days is intellectual property laws. Laws protecting intellectual property, including patent, copyright and trademark, provide companies the assurance to sell their product internationally. Knowing that their product won't be copied, stolen without repercussions. So simply put, you're telling the foreign investors or the foreign sellers, you can come here. You can sell your property, you can sell your, you can use your patent copyright property and we will protect you. You have to be aware whether this country is respect those intellectual property laws or not. If not, you want to be very careful operating in those countries. Trade regulations, regulations like health and safety standard, environmental standards and labor standard can affect how goods are produced and traded. Well, these rules can protect consumers and workers. They can also act as a non tariff barrier, complicate and international trade. So you don't want to work in a country or operate in a country. Well, they don't have a safety standard for their employees or health standard. Why? Because it's a bad publicity. So you want to be aware of the legal factors in that countries. Legal remedies, international legal bodies, such as the World Trade Organization, provide mechanism for resolving dispute. What happened if you have a dispute in that country? Are they going to go to the WTO or do you go to the local court? And if you go to the local court, you know, does the local business have more influence on the court than you do? Then it's unfair. These legal mechanism can influence trade by providing a venue for countries to address unfair trade practices. So you look at the legal system. Is it a fair legal system or not as fair? Also legal cost and navigating the legal system. Do they have a lot of red tape or less red tape? Taxes is another factor. In some countries, they have the value added tax as a type of consumption tax that's placed on product. Whenever value is added at a stage of production and at its final sale. Many European countries, they have this value added tax. And for importers, what's going to happen if you buy stuff and you try to sell it in Europe, that's going to increase your cost. It's going to make your product less competitive for exporters. What happened in some countries, they give you a refund if you export the goods after you export the goods. They would refund your value added tax, which will make your product more competitive. So you want to understand what country are you operating into? Do they have a value added tax and if so, how it's going to affect your product? Corporate taxes in different countries have different corporate tax rate. And that's going to influence whether you're going to operate in this country or not. For example, Ireland, they have a tax rate of 12.5. It's a safe haven for corporation from taxes. It attracts locations for many international companies like Google and Apple to set up their European headquarters. And I do have a YouTube about why Apple don't pay any taxes explaining specifically how it happens. Double taxation treaties. Do they have a double taxation with the US or not to avoid businesses being taxed twice? Many countries has established double taxation treaties with each other. So if I pay my taxes in Europe, well, guess what? I don't have to pay my taxes again in the US because I'm going to get a tax credit for that. For example, a double taxation treaty between the UK and India means that a British company operating in India can avoid paying taxes by both the UK and the Indian government on the same profit. Because it's going to be more costly. So you pay taxes either in UK or India or if you pay in the UK, they give you a credit in India. If you pay in India, the UK will give you a credit. So you want to pay the taxes only once on the profit. Assuming they have they have a treaty. If they don't have a treaty, then you have to pay taxes in both places, which is not good. You also want to understand what type of economic system you are operating in. There are many economic system. The two extremes are free market economy, which is capitalism and communism. And a free market economy, businesses and individuals are free to exchange goods and services across borders with minimal government intervention, just free trade economy. Trade policies and currency exchanges are typically driven by supply and demand. So the prices are set by supply and demand. The currency is set by supply and demand. The US is a good example. We trade with other countries around the world, sourcing product where they are most efficiently produced. So if you are a free, if you operate in free capitalist system and you deal with other free capitalist system, as if it's the same system, because you're going to be looking for product in supplies, where it's the most cost efficient. So it's an efficient way to do business. The other extreme of free market economy is the command economy or communism. The government controls everything, all major aspect of economic production and distribution, including international trade. In these countries, you have trade restriction on the flow of goods and services as well as the money. And then in and out of the country, often leading to less international trade. You don't want to operate in these countries because you don't know what's going to happen next because the government can tell you what to do. An extreme example is North Korea as a command economy has limited international trade to maintain its economic independence and control. That's fine, but no one wants to operate. Those are the two extremes. There are other economic systems such as a mixed economy combines both element of the free market and the command economies. The government controlled certain sectors of the economy and allows market forces to dictate other factors. So the level of the government intervention depends on the sectors. If the sector is important for the government, they might control it. If it's not as important, they may not control it. China is an example of this type of mixed economy where the government controls certain aspects of the economy and it allows market mechanism to influence international trade in many other sectors. And this is making China one of the largest international partners with the US as well as around the world with many countries. Transition economies, these economies are transitioning from a command to free market economy based market. What are we talking about here? We're talking about the former Soviet Union countries, the Eastern European countries. Initially, they faced economic stability, but over time they developed stronger trade relationship with the EU and the US as well. So here international trade can fluctuate dramatically because they are still in that transitional factor. Technological factors could influence your operation. Technological advancement vary from country to country. So you have to know whether they have a reliable internet or not. Think about if you're operating in a country where there is no reliable internet. And believe me, there are certain countries where there is no reliable internet. I come from Lebanon and they still don't have a reliable internet. So the level of communication in a country can significantly impact how business operate internationally. Do they have an e-commerce infrastructure? What does that mean? The ability for the population to engage in online transaction greatly influence the ability of business to sell online. Do they have access to the internet? Reliable internet, fast internet, digital payment system. Now they have access to the internet. Can you make payments? Can they pay online? Do they have a digital payment system? Can they receive payment? Can they pay? The adoption of digital payment system varies greatly across countries. For example, in Lebanon, there is no PayPal. There's many digital payment systems that are not available. Data storage and security. Basically, if you operate over there, are they going to provide you security like a cyber security infrastructure? Advanced data storage system like cloud services can help businesses store, manage and analyze large data more efficiently and most importantly in a secure manner. Manufacturing technology as well. High-tech manufacturing equipment can increase production efficiency and product quality, providing businesses with a competitive advantage. On the other hand, businesses operating in countries with less advanced manufacturing technology might face higher production costs and lower product quality. So when you look at all of those factors, as well as many others, but the theme here is are they advanced technologically? Because you might be operating in a developed country. It means it's well developed. They have all these infrastructure or developing that's on the way. Cultural differences play a major role and you have to be aware of that when it comes to international trade. Now, I'm going to expand a little bit on cultural differences. And I'm going to tell you, you may want to look at a half set cultural dimension. This is very interesting. If you are interested in this cultural differences between countries, it provides a valuable insight that can help businesses navigate cultural differences, international trade. So you have to understand these different cultural dimensions so you can develop more effective communication strategies, build stronger relationship, don't get into trouble, create product and services that that's better aligned with the value of the different cultures. And I'm going to go over some of these dimensions. Again, this is very, very interesting topic. I enjoy teaching it. I have a separate recording for this in my international accounting course, if you're interested. But I'm going to go over some of them just to kind of illustrate the cultural differences. One of the dimension is called the Power Distance Index, PDI. This index measures the extent to which less powerful members of the organization, lower level people and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. So the people who are at the bottom accept that the people at the top make all the decision. In cultures like this, which is called high power distance, like India and China, there's an acceptance of a hierarchy in which everybody has a place that needs and no further justification. So if you are conducting international business in these countries, you have to understand people at the lower level, they cannot make decision. So understanding the power distance can help in understanding the business hierarchy and decision making process. Other dimensions other than power distance index could be individualism versus collectivism. This dimension explained the degree of which individuals are integrated into a group. In individualistic societies like the US, individuals are expected to look after themselves and their direct family only. So here the promotion in a company is based on individual performance and employees are encouraged to voice their opinion and stand out from the crowd. It's individualistic society. In Japan, on the other hand, in a more collective society, you are part of a group and the group are looking for each other. So employees tend to work in teams. So you're you're not doing well. The team is doing well and decision are made by consensus, not individuals, you know, airing their opinion. Loyalty to the company is highly valued in the US. No, you are individual. You don't care if the company doesn't treat you well, you leave. It's uncommon for employees to spend their entire career in a single in a single company in Japan, not in the US. This also could influence how you do business relationship and marketing strategies in international trade. Other dimension of the cultural differences that you need to be aware of something called uncertainty avoidance index. This dimension expressed the degree to which people feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. Do you like uncertainty and ambiguity or you don't like it? You want to avoid it. Cultural with a high uncertainty avoidance tend to have a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, leading to the creation of extensive everything. What you do now, if you have low avoidance of this, you want laws, rules, lagerations and controls to reduce that uncertainty. On the other hand, cultural with low uncertainty avoidance tend to be more acceptance of uncertainty and ambiguity and are more tolerant of different point of views and behavior. Let's go back to Japan that are high on uncertainty avoidance index. Once I put a number in these, it means there's a score. This half-stat measures, they give you a score for each country, for each culture. For example, the Japanese culture is high on this uncertainty avoidance index. This can be observed in their society and business practice. Japanese society value structure, establishing rules and regulations for everything. Businesses are heavily structured and employees tend to avoid risks. For instance, in business meetings, every detail is planned and outlined to avoid any ambiguity or uncertainty. There's a common Japanese phrase that says, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, which reflects the society's general aversion to uncertainty and non-conformity. You don't want to stick out in Japan. And this is what happened to the Nissan CEO, I've been mentioning him in many of my lectures, Carlos Gussin. I believe that's how you spell it. He was the CEO of Nissan and he basically stuck out and that was not good. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. On the other hand, if you look at a country with low uncertainty avoidance index, like the Denmark, they scored low and their score is 23. The Danish people are generally more comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. In a business environment, this can translate to a flatter organizational structure, fewer formal rules, greater willingness to take risks and more tolerance for innovative and unconventional ideas. So you need to know what type of culture am I dealing with, high uncertainty or low uncertainty. Other factors that could affect the cultural differences is long-term orientation versus short-term orientation. For example, the U.S. is low on long-term orientation, score 26. American businesses focus on achieving quick results and value traditions and current societal hierarchy. For instance, American business will prioritize quarterly earnings report. They meet an immediate market expectation of a long-term strategic planning. Why? Because managers, they're looking after themselves. They're emphasizing individual performance promotion. So they want the short-term effect, they want the short-term results. China, on the other hand, scores 87 on this on this cultural dimension. They highly value perseverance, thriftness and adopting to changing circumstances. Chinese businesses reflect this by planning for the long-term and being willing to take short-term sacrifices for long-term benefit. This could manifest in significant upfront investment and infrastructure or relationship with the expectation that these investments will pay over time. The U.S. is totally different, the way they approach project. Short-term, what's my interest? What's my interest? How can I improve myself? And the point is, if I can improve my interest, everyone's interest will be improved as well. That's versus a culture, will they value long-term orientations? Like, well, let's all benefit. So it's a different way of looking at things. Again, those are cultural differences. In order to understand businesses, and in order to operate, not understand businesses, in order to operate internationally, a business will need to understand what type of environment they are operating in and what influence those environments. Again, political, legal, taxes, economic system, technological factors, and cultural differences is a big one. What should you do now? Go to Farhad Lectures and look at additional MCQs that's going to help you understand this topic better and help you prepare for the exam. Good luck, study hard, and of course, stay safe.


This is stock number 10201. We are here at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. You're new and used car headquarters. Today we are checking out this super clean 2009 Dodge Charger. From this HD video, you will be able to tell that for the age of miles. This car is really nice all the way around inside and out. We shoot all of our videos in 1080p, so if you have HD capabilities, turn them on right now because it is like you're right here looking at the car with me. This is definitely your best way to check out the vehicle before seeing it in person. Infernal crystal red pearl is the color. Pretty clean down this side of the car. Little rockers all look really good. Comes with the factory alloy rims. And this car has brand new Firestone all season tires. These are 22560R17s. They still have the little wear knobs on them. We put those on in our safety inspection all the way around. You can see any dents and dings on that front fender. Headlight lenses are nice and clear. Front bumper is in pretty nice condition. Passengers side fender is in really nice shape as well. And the passenger side rim, no major scuffs on that. As you go down this side of the car, see just how reflective and mirror like that paint is. The body is in pretty nice condition. Not a couple little dents and dings but it is a 132,000 mile used car. But overall in very nice condition. You take these HD videos so you can get the most accurate representation of the vehicle as possible before you get here. Back rim. But the same as the rest and those back tires are brand new as well. Four wheel disc brakes on this car. As we come around to the back of the vehicle, rear bumpers in really nice condition. No major dents or cracks on that. And the trunk lid is in pretty nice condition as well. Just a couple little dings that I saw. Nothing too bad. Down this side of the car, just as clean as that passenger side.  And that tire is brand new too. Inside the SXT package gives you the dark charcoal or black cloth interior. No rips or tears in the seats. They are in nice shape. Has the power driver seat with lumbar, factory floor mats throughout. Power windows, power locks and power mirrors. As we hop inside the vehicle you can see that this one does have 132,000 miles. 132,316 miles to be exact. White faced instrument cluster. Steering wheel, no major rips on that. And it does have cruise control. AM FM CD player and your climb control is right there. Automatic transmission. Passenger seat and floor mat are in nice condition as well. No rips or tears. Smells very clean inside this car. I don't think it's ever been smoked in. And the headliner is in nice shape. No rips or tears on that. You do get your map lights up there. We'll take a quick look at the back seats and we'll also check out the trunk, space and under the hood. Back seats are in nice shape as well. It does have the latch child safety system back here. These seats also fold down for extra storage. You do get cup holders right there. And it does have factory floor mats back here as well. Trunk area is very nice and clean. There's your jack. And it does come with a spare tire. And that is where your battery is kept. We'll take a quick look under the hood. I would personally like to thank you for checking out the video today. Hopefully from this HD video you will have been able to tell just how clean this car is all the way around inside and out. Under the hood we have the 3.5 liter high output V6 motor. Engine bay is very clean. Runs very smooth. This car has been fully safe and inspected by our service shop. Has a fresh oil and filter change. All the fluids have been checked and topped off. The car has been gone through mechanically 100% and is 100% ready to go. To see more pictures of this car, one of our other 450 new and used cars, trucks, SUVs, minivans, wranglers, halftones, 3 quarter tons, one tons, you name it, we got it. Go to our website www.summitauto.com Full pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle from two locations. All at www.summitauto.com. If you'd like to check out more HD videos, you can go to www.summitauto.com. Remember to like, subscribe, and share on this video and all the videos that you see there. If you'd like to see more HD videos, you can go to www.summitauto.com. You'll see a link to subscribe to our YouTube channel on your left. A link to more used car and inventory videos like this one on your right. If you have not been to our website, on the bottom link to this vehicle on our website, click those, check us out, and we really look forward to helping you with this. Super clean 2009 Dodge Charger SXT. Thanks again.


Greetings, everyone. My name is James P. Madonna of Megalife21, and I am here with Patterson's own performing artist, the one and only, Ken Creight. Ken, how are you doing, sir? Hey, doing there, Jim. All right. We are here at the Patterson, New Jersey Historic Museum at, uh, two market street, I believe, two market street, Patterson, New Jersey, right next to America's newest national park, the Patterson Falls, the Great Falls, newest national park, which I've heard we're very proud of. And what we have here is our second video, part two, because it's been a long time since I did one, of the Colt Firearms exhibit right here at the Patterson Museum, Samuel Colt, and the guns that you see in the Western movies and the guns that won the West, so to speak. Originated here? Originated in Patterson, New Jersey, is where the Colts were made, and here we are. Now, Ken, this is one section of the exhibit, and what we're going to do is, you're going to read the sign on some of them, and I'm going to have my cameraman zoom in on it. Okay, hold on. Okay, which one are you going to read first? Okay, we've got the little one up here. Okay, you've got to stand aside a little bit, so we can zoom in on it. Hold on. All right. Okay, now, point to that little one on top. We have the little one up here, which I think is a very interesting little gun. It's called the Colt Patterson number two belt model revolver. Really? All right. And then the one over here, which looks like it's in the same shape, but might be a little different. Are you going right below it, sir? No, this one over here. Oh, no, that's the one I was zooming in on. Where's the first one you were talking about, man, but if you went there. Oh, that's the one, the Colt Patterson revolver? Right. Okay, and the one next to it? That's also a Colt Patterson number two belt model revolver. Okay. And then we have over here, which is a bigger gun. Over here is right below it. Right here. All right, sir. And that's a Colt Patterson number five. It's a Texas model revolver. Oh, with a longer barrel apparently. Yes, absolutely. Okay. And then the one underneath that is also another Texas model revolver. Okay. Amazing guns. Any detail on that sign about? Well, it says it's serial number 795. It's a 36 caliber. Okay. Seven and a half barrel. And it's pull or advocate junior collection. Okay. So these are all pull, advocate junior collections. Okay. Now, what about that nice looking revolver with the pearl handle? Right here?  Right. That's also a Colt Patterson number five Texas revolver. Okay. And to the right of that is another lovely looking long barreled. Right over here? Yeah. Beautiful. Number five, Texas model revolver. Okay. Very good. I know it's... Now, this one was Norman B. Thompson junior collection. Yeah. Norman B. Thompson collection. And what about that little guy up below there? This one right here? Yeah. Yeah. That's real interesting. That looks like a little toy gun. That looks like a little derringer. It's a baby model. Wow. So these are little baby models here. That's a baby model, too. Okay.  Well, we also have over here... I know. I'm going to take the camera, which I should have really done. Now, which one are we... Right here. Go to the box. Oh, the little box. Okay. Now, you got the boxes. I guess these are the symbolies that go with the gun. Right. Okay. And that's a belt model revolver. Number two, Cole Patterson. Thompson junior collection. Right.  And then we have over here another Patterson Colt. Another Patterson Colt. Beautiful. Patterson Colt. The Royal Patterson Colt. The Royal Patterson Colt. Now, these rifles. Right. We got some beautiful long... That's a model 1839. Which one? On top? Yeah. Carbon. Carbine? Yeah. Another carbine. Different designs. Don't mind those people. That's a shotgun. Look at the shotgun back then. Oh, where do we look? The one in the middle or below that? Below that. Oh, okay. Look at that shotgun back then.  I mean, we're not... I can't create myself, are not firearms experts, but this is American history. Absolutely. This museum, the Patterson Historic Museum at Two Market Street, Patterson, New Jersey, is a piece of American history. And this definitely is, without a doubt, a piece of American history. Absolutely. Pioneer days. Pioneer. And then we got some other rifles. Top over here. It's a revolving rifle. Wow. Really? Amazing. Look at that. And that's a revolving rifle, too. Mentioned the year? Uh, no. That's another revolving rifle? Yeah, this might have been, I don't know, late 1800s, early 1900s. And is that a shotgun right below? Uh, this one over here, it's a ring lever rifle. Hmm. Look at this, over here. Yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful, and of course... What's this one right here? Beautiful. How it's put together. And that little one. This is the real deal, Ken. Oh, absolutely. Only at the Patterson Museum, at Two Market Street, Patterson, New Jersey, and the director is Jaco Maldicefino. And here is just the surrounding area without getting into detail. Look at this right here. Old Gooseneck fire engine. Number one. Old fire engine. Look at it. And on the bottom over here... Oh, it was refinished by... Look at the date. May 21st, 1821. Alright. Amazing, huh? And we got that other Patterson fire department truck with the man on top. The old... Well, look at this. This is probably where the water came out, right? Oh, this top section? Yeah. Yeah. That might have been the hose. Look at this over here, this bucket. Hold on. I just want to get a shot at this other nostalgic fire truck. The bucket. What's in there? What do you put in there? Whiskey, bourbons? For the fire? I have no idea. Yeah. But that's about it. They're probably what they did. Yeah.  Well, we don't want to show the... Maybe maybe they pull horses. It's possible. You know what I mean? Maybe they're old. Yeah. Because it looks like this is a hitch. Yes. Yes, it is. Right. Well, we don't want to show the entire museum. I think we've sufficiently done it already. So anyway, the main thing here is that we showed the Colt exhibit. There's a sign, says the Patterson Colts from the Norman B... Yeah. Hold on. Let me finish reading this. The Patterson Colts from the Norman B. Tomlinson Junior and the Paul R. Applegate Junior Collections. Okay. What were you going to say, Ken? Look at this picture here and look at the guns that represent these guns. Okay. I'm going to show you this mural. All right. I guess that's Samuel Colt, I'm assuming. And then you have a stage coach up there. You know, with the poor Indians? Oh, boy. It's another talk show. But anyway, and here's somebody getting blasted in a gunfight. Now, look at that gun right there. Yeah. The rifle? Yeah. Doesn't look like it's that rifle. Well, yeah. I would expect it to be. Right. I would expect it to be. But anyway, that wraps it up. Thank you, Mr. Ken Cray, Patterson's own performing artist. Can create. Thank you. And I'm James P. Madonna from the Patterson Historic Museum. Come here when you can, when you're in the area in Northeastern New Jersey. It is the place to be. It is part of America, is American history at its finest. Near America's newest national park, the Great Falls. All right. Thank you.


Welcome to All Hands Update, I'm Petty Officer Ian Cotter. Navy Detailers are currently working to improve the enlisted manning process. The Navy is implementing billet-based distribution, or BBD, to build on the Career Management System Interactive Detailing, or CMSID, to provide accurate and timely manning information. These changes will provide detailers and personnel managers with more information about sailors training and education, as well as more details about open billets. BBD aims to allow detailers and leaders to fill billets with the right sailors for the right jobs. This system is also designed to be a seamless upgrade to the current system, so sailors looking for billets won't experience any major changes. Instructions on the details of BBD are scheduled to be released this coming spring. For more information on BBD, visit the Navy Personnel Command website.


So, let's see. We come to the end of the speeches, but I'm really curious to what you have entered in the tool. So, let's switch over to the Internet Browser Renée and see what's in there. 34 reactions I can see. It's anonymous, so I can't tell who it was. And now is the time. Just take a few seconds to like or dislike anyone's input. So, we can vote the top ten elements of these last nine speeches, eight speeches. Don't just stick to the likes. So, I come to three and then I'll close this item. Three, two, close. And then we can see on top. Is it on top? No. Did I close it well? Can you refresh the browser, Renée? Yeah, thanks. Here's the result. On top you see the first ten. Your top ten of elements called Vibrant Campus is on the most top of this. Great. Thank you. We leave this here. The chat is still open, but the question is closed.


Welcome back everybody! Happy Thursday! Welcome back everybody. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome back to the Cyber Group Morning Meeting. Hopefully everyone's all excited. Today, big day, we got the Cyber Expo that's going on at 12 o'clock.  It is horrible out there.  I'd be honest with you. Excuse me if I'm open. It'd be rude to anybody, but it's really bad out there. I don't know how you guys doing out there. Good to see you, Grant. Good to see you, Randy.  I'm telling you, I'm going through the market. I don't see anything good. Everything looks like it's short. Let me tell you, I started, I sold half my swing trades like two days ago, three days ago. I had a, I beg God, I did. I still got a half. I think I'm getting out of all of them. I think I'm going to go, go, go to cash. I don't like what's going on.  I'm like, I'm looking at my, I'm looking at my swing trades. I'm like, all right, I'm only down like a half a percent. And then at the end of the day, I'm down like one, well, a 2%. And then I'm looking at, oh, I'm up about it. I had another half percent. Boom, I'm down. It does like a pattern going on. Does not look good. Joneson is like a two day of selling. Listen, they got some good news. I throw it in a labor department. They said it was the best in a year. And that's not even closing it. It's not even closing it. And then, I mean, I'm a look, I want to know what's going to happen because they're saying that here in the United States, you know, obviously we have a government that's owned by, you know, by all three governments controlled by a Democrat party and they want to pass a three trillion, they said might even be $5 trillion. The only thing I could see a value of that is maybe some stocks are going to bounce from that. But I don't know, let me tell you how Wall Street works. Wall Street looks three months ahead. That's how they look. Okay. So, you know, the stimulus package, like some of you looked at it and you could see that, you know, it was a good sugar rush. Okay. Now what? Okay. So you got $1.7, $1.9 trillion spent. Now it was spent another three trillion. So is it going to be a good sugar rush or is it going to help a long term growth? Is it going to help certain stocks? I don't know. But let me tell you what I was kind of shocked about. I was looking at, you know, New York state wants to pass pot here in New York and I thought the pot stocks would take off. They didn't even go anywhere. They actually went down and thank God I sold it. TRLY. Let's bring up TRLY. I mean, look at it. We watched this pot stock go make a really big run. We did great with TRLY. Great little run up from 20 up to 70 and, you know, obviously I got shaken out. I'm like, when I see this thing, I think I got around 45 and whenever I screwed up, so yeah, so the stock went up. But if I still own it now, remember good traders never buy at the bottom. It's all top. It was buying between. But I thought with this new little sugar rush that's coming in that they can allow in New York, you know, being a very progressive state that, you know, legalized pot would make these stocks run up. No, they came back down. They're going down. So it's kind of really weird what's going on. So I would be really concerned. But what's the good thing about trading? You could show it. You could show it.  That's why I have multiple brokerage accounts because I don't know about you guys notice. There's sometimes I short a stock and one brokerage firm won't let me because it's not a near short list. I have to go to another brokerage firm. So that's why like I have several brokerage firms that I use regarding about that. Some of them are friendly. Some of them aren't. You know, some got a good short list. Some of them don't. So I'm telling you, like shorting is, listen, Apple, Apple, Apple, you know, the Godfather of Wall Street, the Grayson, look at Apple, look at the long-term chart.  I mean, granted it was at $50 before the crash, right? You know, so, but like, look at the trend right there. It is at right now in a typical moment that if it gets past this major support levels right around the 115 or so, this stock could drop down to 105. And if it breaks through that, I mean, you can go down to 95. It's not look like it's really, you know, when does Apple really have been going down? It's really weird. So, you know, you got to look at some of these brand names and over, look at this. Since February, we had that new high. I mean, all February came back down. Where's the sugar rush for that?  So the certain stocks that you have to use as a parameter on what goes on. Maybe it was a big, a buy it, the rumors sell the news in New York pot deal. Michael, listen, it's always a buy on rumors sell on news. Okay. But listen, still people's very skeptical. And also here in New York, you know, they also own the three forms of government, the Democratic Party. So they could pass whatever they want. You know, there's no debate. So they want to pass it, they could pass it. But I don't know, I just don't really, it's not really helping on the gauges of these stocks. So, you know, listen, I'm more concerned by short.  You know what I mean? But what I like to do, what I always try to teach everyone is, you know, you could always hedge on an option.  But that's what I would be looking for. But I'm a little nervous what's going on. I'm seeing too much of a pattern going on and it's not like I'm getting used to sugar rushes, but I keep seeing it going down lower. It's not really cool. All right, so let's go through the watch list because it's not really that much going on out there. I am, first of all, yesterday though, was pretty cool. WP was amazing yesterday. So some of you that missed out on this one, this stock was just awesome. This thing just did not stop and get halted. It went up. Stock went from $10 all the way up to about $23.  It was pretty cool in F hours too. You saw that, went from $18.00 away to $22.00.  I got a little beat up on certain stocks, but if it wasn't for this one, I actually, I lost money yesterday, not, you know, more than I wanted to. And this stock kind of like salvage half my losses that I had. Thank God. It's got really, you know, and I was, and I did one of the big carnival stakes. I was starting to like get into a point where I was trying to like do catch up and I was doubling and tripling down. Sometimes it works out for me. Yesterday it worked against me in the worst way. But I took a shot with this WKE. And you know what? I was actually, unfortunately, I was actually talking to a student yesterday at this time. And I kind of missed the rush. It took me up until about $17 to get it. So, I mean, I should have had the stock at 12. Honestly, when it did the first hole. But anyway, it was, it was okay. We did pretty well. That stock was a, was pretty decent. There was a couple of the ones too that did pretty well yesterday. A DLPN was another one. Dolphin. Am I spelling it wrong? I'm spelling it wrong. What was that? What was it again? It was a DLPN. What was, oh, there we go. DLPN yesterday was also a really nice little stock. Let me just bring this back. So it had a really nice push, had a nice pop right at the open, and then obviously ended up becoming a really good short. But it was great. And after I was yesterday, that stock did pretty well yesterday. That thing went from like a 20 to like 35. Nice little short right now. APTO was another one too. Was a nice little pop early in the morning. You could see that thing just ran from five right at 930 and just shot right up to about 720. And then obviously once it started breaking lower lows, it was game over on that one. So there was not a lot yesterday. So you know what? Let's see what happens today. And today is Thursday, which is supposed to be a really good day. Apple likes third quarters, fourth quarters, and 215. Yeah, Joan. I'm telling you, listen. You know, can I just make a comment about Apple? So I bought my wife a new Apple phone, okay? Because we had to get my little son a new phone. So we gave her phone to my youngest son, younger son to have a phone. And we gave her the new phone. And I don't know about you, but like, what's so impressive?  What is so nice about the app? It's the same program.  There's nothing different. They never change the, they never change the software. So it's like, so what are you getting? You know what I mean? I don't get it. Nothing really changed. It's the same thing. You know what I mean? Like, there's nothing, nothing great about it. I mean, I don't know. Other than I need to get a new phone. But I don't know. I still got the X. It's about three years old. It's no different than my wife's phone. You know what I mean? Who makes a better, who makes a better computer than an Apple? We're not going to go there. Okay. Depends on what kind of account you are. You're trading, you know, but I'm talking about phones and I'm just talking about software.  You know, there's nothing really there. So I could see there could be some type of correction. They better come out with something. My iPhone 6 still works. There you go, Wayne. Look at that. See, same software, right? Maybe just like a half a second slower, but does that really matter? All right. Let's go look at what's going on in the market because we got to go through a couple of things. CYTH is another one that's moving this morning. Nice little push. Company's pretty new. It's got a nice little trend. It's about 20%. Spreads a little big. Tier size a little bit small. A couple of nice little shorts. Riot coming down, taking a big hit right here. Look at that crash. The thing is up, but I don't know what Bitcoin is right now, but look at that stock. Stock was at 47%. It's already down to 37, down $10. Stock's been almost hit 70. Look where it is, where it's closing right now. It's getting close to this major support levels right around, I don't know, what is that, set 35, 32? I mean, it breaks that. It's finished. Okay. But you could see it's making a lower low. You know what I mean? So not looking too good for that riot trade. Got a couple other ones around the B list. SOS. Nice little short. I don't know if she's on your short list. That one's coming down. I know Mara also is coming down. MARA. Thanks for sharing that with me, Joan. Yeah, Mara's the same thing. So you got Mara and all of them. So I don't know if it's on your short list. My broker, I got to go check my other broker, but they kind of gave up all their shorts. I'm going to see if it holds support levels here. Mara right above 29. SOS, back down to five. You see that's the sugar rush right there. You know, here comes a short squeeze. HW. I don't know what happened. She kind of just NIO on that one. NIO taking a hit too. Oops. Look, already people calling me right now. She's still worth about 35 million. Anyway, great story. It was fun. We had fun making money on it. You know what I mean? So that was the beauty about it. Maybe for a day on paper, right, Lewis? It sure is. And I tell you one thing. My uncle Rudy, God bless his soul, always told me one thing. He said, listen, I'm going to teach you something about business. Everything is for sale. Everything.  They're like, everything is for sale. If you bought the house of your dreams and you're like, I finally get that. You know what? It'll be for sale for tomorrow. Okay? Everything is for sale. Always remember that. There's a price for everything.  It's for sale. It goes by a cheaper. They even sell the old China. Exactly, Joe. Just sell it, whatever. Actually, funny story about the China. I don't know. Did you read about the guy that found a little China bowl? There's only five in the world. He went to some garage sale. He paid like $35 and now it's worth like $500,000, something like that. Talking about what they call those pickers. Anyway, let's get ready for the market. Tuber says, what about APOP on YouTube is starting to make a climb? Listen, it's on the B list. It's starting to make a little bit of a pop. I do see that. Just be very careful. I'm going to wait until the open. I'm going to be waiting for the open. All right. Listen, before we go, just want to remind everybody, today is our big cyber expo. Let me just bring it back up so you guys can see it. So we're going to start in less than three hours. Three hours. Four great speakers. We're going to talk about Forex. We're going to talk about stock trading. We're going to talk about swing trading. We're going to talk about options trading. Don't miss this opportunity. We do this. It's a very exclusive event. If you have not registered, you know, there's no better place to be than being at a webinar.