Right About Now with Ryan Alford
Business News & Trends: Trump's Gold Card Visa Program - DOGE $65B SAVINGS - The Great Sports Card Boom
Fri, 28 Feb 2025
SUMMARYIn this episode of Right About Now, hosts Ryan Alford and Chris Hansen break down the latest headlines shaping the business world. They dive into President Donald Trump's newly launched Gold Card Visa Program, a bold initiative designed to attract high-net-worth foreign investors by offering U.S. residency for a $5 million investment.The conversation shifts to Apple's groundbreaking $500 billion investment in U.S. facilities — a move set to create 20,000 jobs and boost the domestic economy. Ryan and Chris analyze how this massive commitment signals confidence in the U.S. market and what it could mean for the future of tech infrastructure.With AI reshaping industries at a rapid pace, the hosts explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the job market. They discuss both the displacement of traditional jobs and the emergence of new opportunities, offering insights into how businesses and workers can stay ahead of the curve.The episode wraps with a deep dive into the volatile cryptocurrency market, examining recent setbacks, future potential, and tips for navigating crypto investments in uncertain times.Throughout the discussion, Ryan and Chris emphasize the importance of adaptability, strategic thinking, and seizing new opportunities in an ever-changing business environment.Tune in to stay informed and gain actionable insights into the forces reshaping today's economy.TAKEAWAYS Discussion of President Trump's gold card visa program for attracting wealthy foreign investors. Analysis of Apple's $500 billion investment in U.S. facilities and its implications for domestic manufacturing. Examination of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market, including job displacement and creation. Overview of the current state of the cryptocurrency market, including Bitcoin's volatility and recent hacks. Insights on the cyclical nature of sports card collecting and trading, particularly around major events like the Super Bowl. Strategies for buying and selling sports cards, emphasizing timing and market fluctuations. Introduction of new sports card products, such as the Prism football cards, and their appeal to collectors. Explanation of card breaks and the mechanics of bidding on individual teams for card collections. Discussion on the grading process for sports cards and its effect on market value. Encouragement for audience engagement through live pack openings and e-commerce platforms for card sales. If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE. Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding. Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What is Trump's Gold Card Visa Program?
I know. And, you know, we're going to get right to the headlines here. I was going through my normal feed of socials. Doing my research for the day. Okay, what are the headlines? What's coming across? And I don't know if there's like the top of the news heap, but I thought it was great. President Donald Trump has announced a new gold card visa program aimed at attracting wealthy foreign investors.
Part of me chuckled and thought this was hilarious, Chris, but then I was like, hell yeah. I mean, this is how it should be, right? You want to get in? You pay to get in. You know, bring your money, bring your ideas, bring your innovations. We'll let you into the greatest company. Freudian slip that might actually be becoming true. I was going to say, in a way, yeah. Greatest company.
We want good employees. Come to our team.
Come to country slash company. Greatest company and country. And maybe, hey, if we're going to be, let's start acting like a great company would be a start. If we want to be, what do I say, by, of, and for the people, we need to be better all the way around. So, yeah, if you want to get in here, pony up that gold card, baby.
I want to see card-carrying members, you know, flaunting that thing around.
I agree. I and I sadly earlier I read that 60 percent of Americans have under a sixth grade reading level. Oh, that tells me maybe we need to bring in some outside talent that has some resources and can help help help the other 60 percent.
It's a pathway to U.S. residency and citizenship for individuals willing to invest five million dollars. The gold card provides green card privileges and a route to citizenship for that $5 million investment. It is designed to attract affluent individuals who can contribute significantly to the U.S. economy.
The new initiative is set to replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor program, which requires a lower investment and had been criticized for inefficiencies and susceptibility to fraud. Go figure. The administration anticipates the program could generate substantial revenue, potentially aiding in reducing the national debt.
President Trump suggested that selling one million gold cards could yield five trillion. Yeah, that would that would be he suggested. I think that's just math. I don't know. He suggested it's just he didn't create math. That's just math. Right. Doing the old arithmetic on the old calculator on your phone or however you do it. Chat GBT to do that shit. I think my eight-year-old can do that math.
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Chapter 2: How is Apple's $500 billion investment shaping the U.S. economy?
It sounds almost like we should have had them doing this to begin with. Yeah. American company, manufacturing in America, you know?
Apple will invest $500 billion. Yeah, exactly. $500 billion in expanding U.S. facilities over the next four years. The move comes on the company, faces new 10% tariffs on Chinese imports. Apple says the investment will create 20,000 new jobs. He created his tariffs. Trump created his tariffs for Apple's decision saying he's investing hundreds of billions of dollars and others too.
Apple CEO Tim Cook stated, we are bullish on the future of American innovation. Yeah. We got to start building at home, baby. Just like we talked about all these microcomputers doing AI and shit. This needs to be on our turf, on our terms. Even if it costs more on the front end a little bit, This is part of the game. And yeah, it's global economy. I'm not saying it's not.
We want it to be global economy. But it can't be at the expense of American people and opportunity and jobs. So there you have it. I mean, it's funny how all this stuff works. Doesn't sound coincidental to me.
No, and if you dig a little deeper on this, I would almost... Say this is a good signal for the mining industry, too, because I would assume and I've heard we're getting deregulating some mining efforts. Right. A lot of this was done in China, from my understanding, because of the raw materials. Right. Yep. The batteries, the lithium. We have those same things in our ground, too.
We just haven't been able to drill. Yeah. So I'm wondering if this is an indicator that that. is kind of in the corner. Right.
Yeah.
Like it's time for us to get return on investment we've made in the free world.
Exactly. As simple, simply said, yeah. Yeah.
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Chapter 3: What impact is AI having on the job market?
Yeah.
That spring new and interesting industries and ideas and things and not the same old, same old. And so they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. There's a lot of old dogs that are going to have to, like, I mean, and this is where, like, I love, I say this because I practice what I preach, like, You know, I've been in business for 20 plus years, but I love change. I love innovation.
Not all my friends do. And I feel bad for them because it's coming.
I very frequently get the question, What's going to change in the next 10 years? And that is an interesting question. It's a very common one. I almost never get the question, what's not going to change in the next 10 years? We know the energy we put into it today will still be paying dividends for our customers 10 years from now.
When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it.
I don't have a crystal ball for exactly how it's going to impact everything. But it's moving quick. And you got your eyes, you got your head in the sand if you don't think it's coming for the status quo. AI is just coming for the status quo. It's not coming for everything. It's coming for the status quo. It's a status quo killer. That's the soapbox for today, my friend.
Starbucks is laying off over a thousand corporate workers. I... AI is not in this headline, but I'll let you kind of judge. Eliminating 1,000 corporate jobs and closing several hundred open positions. It says its goal is to simplify operations, remove layers, and increase efficiency. That sounds like AI to me. Somewhere in there. But nonetheless, I do think...
everything comes in seasons and it's like, you know, you've got Trump and you've got the Doge government efficiency, You're going to see this sort of trickle down. Everybody's sort of getting with the program a little bit that there's a lot of fluff, a lot of waste, a lot of inefficiency that's going on. And you look around and you figure, I've done it with my business the last six months.
Then like, all right, why are we still doing this? Why are we doing like this doesn't make any sense. And even at the highest levels for hundreds of thousands of jobs, these major corporations are looking around going, wait a second. Are we still doing that? And I think some of that's fueled by it was coming anyway.
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Chapter 4: How are companies like Starbucks adapting to new trends?
I can see them in there. Yeah.
Meanwhile, they're giving bonuses for how many million you cut this week. They're like, there's your SPF $1,000 bonus on your check this week.
A new leaderboard ranking government agencies by cost-cutting efforts. The leaderboard tracks savings from fraud detection, contract cancellation, renegotiations, asset sales, workforce reductions, and regulatory changes. Look. The government needs innovating. It needs juice. It needs... I know there's arguments on every side about how it's getting done and this, that, and the other.
And we can nitpick that all we want. But I think we can also agree the same old, same old of doing it is what ain't working. So... let's get a leaderboard. Let's get it. Let's get gold stars on our report card, whatever the hell it is.
Yeah.
Yeah. You know, like let's incentivize what should be incentivized. Let's not get incentivized to keep things status quo. And, uh, there's a title to this episode. It's book status quo. Yeah. Like a cowboy. Yeah.
Right. Crypto markets kind of like riding that buck and bronco right now.
What the hell is going on with crypto, Chris? What crypto, Chris, man? It's like I barely it's like, what is happening?
Crazy, Chris. Yeah. Great question. I'd love to know. I mean, obviously, we've got some of the big events we know happen. I mean, as of right now, when I checked, Bitcoin was at like eighty six thousand, which is definitely crazy. Way lower than it's been in a few months. The biggest thing, there was a hack.
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