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Transcript

Why Fashion Giants Are Breaking Up with Beauty. · The Curve

0:00
Welcome to the Curve Weekly, the podcast where we read the finance news so that you don't have to.
0:06
I'm Vic Harris, a financial expert, and this is Sophie Horreilles.
0:09
Did you forget my last name?
0:11
Kind of. I don't know what to introduce you at.
0:13
I'm kind of learning alongside you, I think.
0:15
Nearly financial experts.
0:16
I'm kind of on my way.
0:18
In today's episode, we are talking about gold, because there's been so much happening in the gold space, isn't there?
0:24
We've done a full deep dive on it, but we just did the top line overviews.
0:27
You know what's going on.
0:28
We've also got big news in the beauty space.
0:30
There's been a big acquisition and a beauty gadget that's gone absolutely viral.
0:35
And so I've given it a little bit of beauty tip.
0:37
A little recommendation.
0:38
What tip for me?
0:39
Oh, we have another meme stop.
0:41
Very excited about this one.
0:42
Yes.
0:43
And a big media company is for sale and there could be a potential buyer.
0:50
And I have quite a sad story that I've brought from the Daily Mail,
0:53
but a very good reminder for anyone who is stressed out about falling for a scam.
0:57
But before we dive in, can we have a little financial chicken?
0:59
Yes, love it.
1:03
Have you had any money, wins or losses this week?
1:07
No.
1:08
Nothing to report.
1:09
I've stopped drinking coffee.
1:11
Oh, no.
1:12
And this is saving me a decent amount of money I must say.
1:14
It's been a whole month now, five weeks.
1:16
This is the thing.
1:17
I feel like my sister will be fine with me sharing this.
1:19
So she is a lawyer.
1:21
She earns as you can imagine.
1:23
A lawyer.
1:24
A lawyer in London.
1:25
She's a lawyer in London.
1:26
Like you're not exactly struggling.
1:28
Yeah.
1:29
Anyway, the other day, so she doesn't drink coffee and she's still drinking much.
1:34
I was like, oh, I bought this brand called Reform.
1:36
It's like you get a pouch and you get a little like zamy thing where you do.
1:39
What is it called?
1:40
Like a little milk froth.
1:41
Oh, yeah.
1:42
Situation.
1:43
Anyway, it's like this sort of at work kit.
1:45
And I had this moment of thinking you earn like a money and you're not spending.
1:50
She was like, I'm not going to spend four pounds of 50 on a march.
1:53
And the first thought that I had was, that's didn't she?
1:57
You earn quite a good money.
1:58
And then I thought, no, she's so smart because she knows what she wants to spend money on.
2:03
She's so generous and so good ways.
2:06
But it was just really interesting.
2:08
I was reflecting on it.
2:09
I was like, I feel like sometimes those small things that are outward or kind of seen.
2:15
You judge someone's financial stability on.
2:17
Like if someone can buy a coffee out or whatever.
2:20
I mean, she bought flights for my mum to come over from New Zealand, this Christmas.
2:25
I mean, there's no way I would have enough money to be able to afford to do that.
2:28
She's definitely not stingy.
2:30
But it was just quite interesting.
2:31
That was my first reaction.
2:33
I was like, you're not buying your march out and you're earning way more than I am.
2:37
And then I was like, no, so for you're the one that needs to be buying march out.
2:40
But also like, but I think there's a big flex.
2:43
And people assuming that you're not well off.
2:47
Oh, like that's sort of the under like thunder tone with someone just assumes you don't have money.
2:52
And you're like, I've just bought flights for him.
2:54
Yeah.
2:55
It's kind of what I mean is that I feel like maybe from the outside like she and her and I have spoken about this quite a bit
3:02
because and I know I've spoken up my own money story on on the podcast before.
3:07
But even just things I really notice in myself where there's such a scarcity mindset.
3:12
For example, around a line bike, if my minutes are going, oh my, it's racking up.
3:17
And my sister and I were talking about that.
3:19
And she was like, oh, I get the same.
3:21
And again, I was like, but you earn good money.
3:23
You know, it's just so interesting.
3:24
It has nothing to do with what you earn whether or not you have money on it.
3:28
You're just having so many judgments.
3:30
Well, the joke's on you, right?
3:32
If you saw someone wearing the same clothes, you're like, oh my gosh, she can't afford.
3:36
And meanwhile, they've got an investment portfolio of like millions of dollars.
3:38
Totally.
3:39
You know, it's like jokes on you, babe.
3:40
How embarrassing.
3:41
You're out there buying clothes.
3:42
Yeah.
3:43
I'm buying properties.
3:44
Yeah.
3:45
You're probably muggle.
3:46
Yeah.
3:47
No, I mean, look, I'm good love to be still buying clothes.
3:49
Yeah.
3:50
But yeah, I don't know.
3:51
It was really interesting because so anyway, I didn't bought.
3:54
I've decided to not drink coffee.
3:55
So I've bought this patch of marcher, which I'm attempting to.
3:57
I mean, I must say they're all disgusting.
3:59
I don't know how anyone makes a good marcher.
4:01
Yeah.
4:02
We're now in Japan.
4:03
I bought, like, five different lunches.
4:06
Yeah.
4:07
Somewhere, somewhere.
4:08
There were like a real authentic ones there as well.
4:11
You know, like the real, it's not added with any sweeteners or anything, which I quite like.
4:16
I'd like to add my own honey if I need to, but just shoot up into the roof when I have sugar.
4:21
Do you remember how old office in New Zealand?
4:23
Yes.
4:24
And you were eating that shit like every day and I looked at the sugar content.
4:28
I was like, girl,
4:29
it was like more than a whole block of chocolate.
4:31
It was like more than a Coca-Cola.
4:32
Yeah.
4:33
It was horrible.
4:34
I was like, this is this marcher stuff.
4:35
Don't let us do it.
4:36
Don't let us do it.
4:37
We've stolen their cover to be honest.
4:40
I must say, as soon as they found that out, I chucked it in.
4:43
Well, they chuck it in the bin, but I was like, I can't.
4:45
That's a dessert.
4:46
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
4:47
That is absolutely not my, you know, morning, like pick me up.
4:50
Yeah.
4:51
Anyway, news item number one.
4:53
We've got some big news in the gold sector, don't we?
4:55
The gold sector?
4:56
Would we ever see?
4:57
We could ever say that.
4:58
The gold asset.
4:59
Gold asset.
5:00
Yes, this week, gold has had a little bit of a stumble.
5:04
So it's putting it mildly, isn't it?
5:07
Well, the thing is gold doesn't really stumble, you know?
5:10
Like it's supposed to be the steady walker that doesn't trip over
5:13
and fall down.
5:15
We have actually done a deep dive on this.
5:17
Yeah.
5:18
In raising the curve.
5:19
So if you haven't listened to it, we put it out last week
5:21
and we'll touch on it now.
5:23
But I think everyone should listen to that episode.
5:26
Agreed.
5:27
I'm still friends after that episode.
5:29
If you listen, you're like, um, whoa.
5:31
It's so funny how confident I was going into that episode.
5:34
And now, hindsight, I'm just well.
5:36
It's a good reminder though, right?
5:38
Because even the stock market has done so well
5:41
over the last, like, 10 years.
5:43
It's hard to, you know,
5:45
if something continues to do really well,
5:47
or the memory of a fall or correction gets more distant.
5:51
It's hard to think that this isn't just going to be you
5:54
for your forever.
5:55
Yeah.
5:56
Does that make sense?
5:57
It's almost like, you know, it could happen,
5:59
but yeah, you sort of don't actually expect it to.
6:02
Yes.
6:03
Yeah.
6:04
Try to think of a metaphor.
6:05
Maybe it's like, you know, being,
6:07
okay, sorry for anyone that this is triggering for,
6:09
but it's like being married for 40 years
6:11
and you think all is fine.
6:12
Then all of a sudden, you realize,
6:14
maybe they've gone and had a baby with someone on the other side.
6:19
No, but seriously, it's like,
6:20
you feel like you're going to have a baby
6:23
everywhere.
6:24
You feel really secure and safe in it.
6:25
Yeah.
6:26
You feel secure, you feel safe.
6:27
It's consistent.
6:28
You've got a long track record of thinking
6:30
everything is going to be fine.
6:31
And then all of a sudden it goes away.
6:33
And you forget the normality for an investment,
6:36
not particularly gold, but like the stock market,
6:38
is for it to go up and down.
6:40
But when we keep seeing up and up and up and up and up,
6:42
we think that the downs are not going to happen
6:44
and when they do, we get shocked.
6:45
And it's like, well, actually, no, that's normal.
6:47
I think the property market's a really good example of that.
6:49
Yeah.
6:50
Because forever and a day,
6:52
I feel like most people up until the last few years,
6:54
probably most of us who are under the age of 45,
6:58
have seen house prices or property be a pretty good investment.
7:03
And I think a New Zealand.
7:05
Well, particularly New Zealand,
7:06
but like even over here in the UK,
7:08
people think of property as a solid clever investment.
7:12
There hasn't been any ginormous scares on that front
7:16
until the last probably five years,
7:17
or that I remember as an adult.
7:19
I remember really early on in the curve.
7:22
And we did an event and I think it was,
7:24
should you invest in property or stocks?
7:26
And everyone that came to that event just assumed
7:30
it would be way more clever to put your money in property.
7:33
Because it's an asset that always goes up.
7:36
But it's not the case for any asset.
7:38
They go up and down. That's the whole point of investing.
7:40
Otherwise, you would just leave your money in the bank.
7:42
And that's so right.
7:44
Like most assets go up over a long period of time.
7:48
Yeah.
7:49
It's like a brick or a brick with some times.
7:50
No, it's so good to be reminded of it.
7:52
And when I look at the fact that gold is fallen by 10%.
7:55
Even though that doesn't sound like a lot.
7:57
In a short space of time, that is quite a big drop.
7:59
And it's a big drop for gold.
8:01
I think that's the thing to remember is that gold
8:03
is not supposed to jump around like a stock price.
8:06
Yeah. And this is what we speak about in the episode
8:08
that does a deep dive.
8:10
But I feel like I'm somewhat educated enough to say this.
8:13
But it's the idea that gold really holds value.
8:16
Would you say an example of this could be even our stock
8:19
can hold its value?
8:20
It's dictated by the earnings of the companies.
8:22
Yeah.
8:23
So the earnings for whatever or the profit
8:26
doesn't eventuate or that share price can change hugely.
8:30
Whereas gold, nothing's changing about gold.
8:32
It's the same.
8:33
It's stable.
8:34
It's not all of a sudden going to turn into a banana.
8:36
It's very consistent.
8:38
And so therefore the idea of it going up as much as it has
8:42
is quite wild as well as it dropping.
8:45
How much was it?
8:46
It was in a day.
8:47
It was a lot, wasn't it?
8:48
Yeah, it was like about 5% in a day.
8:50
So this is the biggest ball in 10 years.
8:53
It's the second thing.
8:54
Well the thing is in theory that should mean,
8:57
okay, everyone is selling gold to invest in other things
9:01
because they think that the world is a great place now.
9:05
There's not so much uncertainty like all of that.
9:07
But with this, because gold had done so incredibly well,
9:11
I was like, the chart was like exponential.
9:13
That this is just people being like, you know what?
9:16
It's had it absolutely crazy run.
9:18
I'm just going to take some profits.
9:20
Right.
9:21
And if you multiply that by a million to millions of millions of people.
9:23
I never know.
9:24
You can't think.
9:25
There's so much psychology.
9:26
Yes, definitely.
9:28
But I find it quite frustrating when if something goes up or down,
9:32
there's so many reasons that it could be because there's so many people buying and selling.
9:37
So at the same time that gold could fall,
9:40
because people all of a sudden think the world's a really safe place.
9:43
And actually, let's go and invest in waste, you know,
9:45
riskier things and blah, blah, blah.
9:47
It could also just be that people think,
9:49
oh, I've made lots of money.
9:50
I'm going to sell now.
9:51
But you need to get me a reason.
9:52
You need to get me a reason.
9:53
Something happens.
9:54
So we had something happen that made it more.
9:56
It was it had just gone up.
9:58
A ridiculous amount.
10:00
So there was nothing to do with people changing their mind about gold.
10:02
It was purely the fact that people wanted to cash in.
10:05
There was also like the US dollar is getting a lot stronger.
10:09
So in order to buy gold, which is the US dollars,
10:12
it becomes more and more expensive for people.
10:14
You only buy gold in US dollars.
10:16
No, you can buy another dollar.
10:17
But it's the main currency is US dollars.
10:19
Like with the US dollar market and all of that,
10:21
like it's all in US dollars.
10:23
As in the easiest place to access gold generally is the US dollar market.
10:26
And that's in US dollars.
10:27
Yeah.
10:28
And so the most liquid, like the most the easiest to access.
10:32
So with that getting stronger as well,
10:34
that makes it more expensive if you've run.
10:36
So in terms of converting your pounds to US dollars.
10:40
You buy less gold essentially.
10:42
Oh, how do we feel about the US dollar getting stronger?
10:44
This is a good thing about that.
10:46
I guess the currency is a reflection of an economy, right?
10:49
Honestly, I just was really excited for this to blow up in Trump's face.
10:53
Yeah.
10:54
And I'm feeling a little bit thrown by the fact that there's all these things
10:57
that are happening in his favor.
10:59
I know.
11:00
You know, I mean, here we were like,
11:03
what an idiot tariffs this there.
11:05
And now it's benefiting the states.
11:08
It's kind of scary.
11:10
I think he's a lot smarter than we give him credit.
11:12
Unfortunately.
11:13
I'm impacting like a total idiot.
11:15
I think his whole stick is he's secretly knows what he's talking about
11:18
when it comes to money in the economy.
11:20
Well, I think with a lot of presidents and prime ministers,
11:22
they have teams behind them, right?
11:24
We're forgetting.
11:25
We're putting him in all the credit.
11:26
Yeah.
11:27
But he's the poster.
11:28
He's not there.
11:29
You have got, you know, some of the top economists,
11:32
the top, you know, researchers, health care professionals,
11:35
everyone behind him, and just giving him credit.
11:37
Can I use the kind of guy to make, like, listen to that many people, though, I will say,
11:41
like to even choose smart people to listen to,
11:44
takes emotional intelligence,
11:46
something I would have thought he had zero on.
11:48
Moving on.
11:49
Moving on.
11:50
Moving on.
11:51
To annoyed.
11:52
There's been a bit going on in the beauty space.
11:53
Yes.
11:54
What is this?
11:56
This is exciting.
11:57
It is kind of exciting.
11:58
So caring, who is a luxury brand,
12:01
owns, it owns the Gucci brand,
12:03
it owns Balenciaga,
12:04
it owns Patega,
12:06
they have sold their beauty division
12:09
to L'Oreal for $4 billion.
12:11
So L'Oreal can now produce and sell
12:15
the Gucci fragrances,
12:17
the Saint Laurent fragrances,
12:19
like all the fragrances that
12:21
are currently caring used to make it own,
12:24
because it's sold them to L'Oreal.
12:26
So it's got 50 year licenses to the Gucci brand in the beauty space.
12:30
You know, L'Oreal is not going to go make clothes.
12:32
Clothes.
12:33
Yeah.
12:34
So this is, this is caring streamlining.
12:36
It's like, look, we just want to focus on fashion.
12:38
Right.
12:39
Luxury is struggling.
12:40
Yes.
12:41
We spoke last week about LVMH,
12:44
which is Louis Vuitton,
12:45
but he and I see kind of his turn to corner.
12:47
But it's still,
12:48
we're still at the bottom.
12:49
Yeah.
12:50
And so this is caring, saying,
12:52
you know what, we just need to focus on what we do.
12:54
Well, that's fashion, not beauty.
12:55
It's not so stupid,
12:57
but I didn't know Votega
12:58
and all those other brands had beauty.
13:00
Do they just have fragrances
13:02
or do they also have make up
13:04
and all sorts of other things?
13:05
Because I know Gucci has other products,
13:08
but is it predominantly perfume
13:10
of all these brands?
13:11
Oh, yeah.
13:12
That's where most of the money is
13:13
and the best products are.
13:15
Yeah.
13:16
Mostly perfume, mostly fragrances.
13:18
It's fine.
13:19
I almost wouldn't have even thought of
13:21
perfume as beauty.
13:22
I know what it is.
13:23
It's not so stupid there.
13:24
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:25
I almost think of it as its own whole division
13:27
and make up more as the beauty piece.
13:30
You know, like,
13:31
beauty or what's Haley Beaver's one?
13:33
I feel like other one.
13:34
I feel like every man in his dog has a beautiful,
13:36
has a fragrance now.
13:37
I agree.
13:38
I feel like everywhere I look,
13:40
you know, Millie Bobby Brown.
13:41
She has Florence By Mills.
13:42
Yeah.
13:43
And he have Road from Haley Beaver.
13:45
It's basically they've created these products,
13:48
which they're kind of probably
13:50
exclusively selling to the audience.
13:52
Yeah.
13:53
But it just kind of blows my mind
13:55
that all of these celebrities are able
13:57
to launch beauty brands that sell products.
13:59
Well, I think Skims is getting into beauty as well.
14:03
Isn't that competing with me?
14:04
I know.
14:05
I would be like,
14:06
I'd be like,
14:07
you could sell toilet paper.
14:08
Can you stay on your lane?
14:09
Yeah.
14:10
I would be if dog.
14:11
Millie, you launching a fashion brand.
14:13
Totally.
14:14
Your sister has a one.
14:15
You're calling it Paris Lapper or something.
14:17
I imagine.
14:20
That is so.
14:22
I know.
14:23
But it shows this.
14:24
I'd be so annoyed at the same.
14:26
But yeah, I guess maybe that's the point
14:28
that there is so much market demand for beauty
14:31
that there can be that many competitors.
14:33
But I would have thought it was oversaturated by now.
14:35
But also being under a big parent like L'Oreal,
14:38
you have scale benefits,
14:40
you've got distribution,
14:41
you've got, you know,
14:42
like there's a lot that the L'Oreal name could bring.
14:44
Yes, there's a lot that the Kering name could bring.
14:46
But I think Kering's just like,
14:47
you know what?
14:48
We're going to focus on fashion.
14:49
We're going to double down on what we do best.
14:51
And this has all come from a new CEO
14:53
who's been in there only kind of less than six months.
14:57
And he came from Renault.
14:59
Renault?
15:00
Renault, a car company?
15:01
No, no, I've never heard of that.
15:02
Renault?
15:03
I really genuinely don't know.
15:05
I bet I'll start seeing them absolutely everywhere.
15:07
Anyway, he used to be the CEO of that company.
15:09
Wait, sorry, I forgot.
15:10
I got very distracted by the cars.
15:12
Who are we talking about?
15:13
The Kering CEO.
15:14
The Kering CEO.
15:15
And done a bit of a reject.
15:16
Got you.
15:17
And he got a 20 million Euro signing bonus
15:21
when he joined Kering.
15:22
Being a CEO is where it's at.
15:24
I know.
15:25
Who thought that you would be paid that much to be in business?
15:28
I genuinely had no idea.
15:29
Imagine being that in demand.
15:33
That you can be like,
15:34
give me 20 million euros and I'll come.
15:37
I mean, Odyssey, 100,000.
15:39
I've been like, coming.
15:41
Are you soon?
15:43
I'm so much money.
15:45
They must be so.
15:46
I mean, I know many times I've given CEOs shit.
15:49
But like, they must be very good.
15:51
You're a little cheesed player.
15:53
You're like, I'll do this and I'll do that.
15:55
And I think this is going to work, you know.
15:57
Totally.
15:58
Imagine being like, look, look, we've got fashion.
15:59
We've got beauty.
16:00
We don't need beauty.
16:01
We can sell that.
16:02
Who wants to buy it?
16:03
Cool.
16:04
Yep.
16:05
You go there.
16:06
Yeah.
16:07
I like it.
16:08
Hearing shares were up.
16:09
Laurie, she was up, which is a win-win.
16:11
And there's actually been some other news in the beauty space as well.
16:15
So speaking of the Kardashians.
16:17
Yes.
16:18
Kylie Jenner had used this LED device on TikTok.
16:22
And it was this Korean skincare brand.
16:25
Anyway, the company is APR.
16:27
And it is this high-tech skincare device.
16:30
It uses LED lights.
16:32
Anyway, she's sent a shout out on TikTok.
16:34
And this skincare company is now a $6 billion beauty empire.
16:40
She prices up 400% this year.
16:42
It's now Korea's most valuable skincare cosmetics company.
16:47
It's just, I mean, honestly, I hear that.
16:49
And literally the first thing I Google is that to go and buy it.
16:52
Yeah.
16:53
So I understand why that happens.
16:54
But imagine having that pulling power that you just put a gadget on TikTok
16:57
and it goes, like, makes this company the most.
16:59
Oh, that that family is genius.
17:02
And anyway, South Korea has now become the third largest export for skincare
17:09
and skincare related products in the world behind the US and France.
17:12
I feel we could have seen this coming.
17:14
Yeah.
17:15
Give it to like two years ago.
17:16
I remember there was some shop.
17:18
Hard shop.
17:19
Oh, yes, yeah.
17:20
Tasha or something.
17:21
Right. Right.
17:22
Amazing branding.
17:23
Beautiful bottles.
17:24
Blah blah blah.
17:25
I do feel like this trend of Korean skincare we could have seen coming.
17:28
Yeah.
17:29
Yeah.
17:30
Yeah.
17:31
But I think what we're seeing happening now from an investing point of view is the colliding
17:53
of skincare and technology.
17:55
Oh, emerging trend alerts.
17:57
Yes.
17:58
We need to have like an alarm that we can fire when this happens.
18:00
About what we've done.
18:01
Yeah.
18:02
Well, like some kind of fireworks we can let off.
18:03
Yeah.
18:04
That is so cool.
18:05
And it's such a good point because the face mask thing is just taking off those stupid
18:09
roller things.
18:10
I shouldn't say stupid.
18:11
I'm so want to buy all of them.
18:12
So I'm absolutely not.
18:13
Yeah.
18:14
I think people have realized.
18:15
Scrooge skin care.
18:16
Like, I want Dr.
18:18
Yeah.
18:19
Yeah.
18:20
There's this brand over here called Face Gym.
18:22
And what?
18:23
No.
18:24
Was it not good?
18:25
No.
18:26
I weighed a few years ago.
18:27
And I wanted a nice facial.
18:28
Oh.
18:29
You go in there.
18:30
It's not a relaxing nice facial.
18:31
It is slipping your cheeks.
18:32
Yeah.
18:33
Yeah.
18:34
Did you have no idea?
18:36
No.
18:37
I came out and I was like, I felt great.
18:39
Don't get me wrong.
18:40
But I was just not expecting.
18:42
Yeah.
18:43
I remember a couple of years ago.
18:44
I spent so much money.
18:45
It was really bad.
18:46
I was like, tension release.
18:47
Because miners.
18:48
I'm an absolute psycho.
18:49
Like, I start going to sleep.
18:50
And I'm like, relaxing, relaxing.
18:51
And I think I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just getting more intense.
18:56
Anyway, I remember going to get a book or message.
18:58
I was really, really cold.
18:59
Where they meet to go in there and get your daughter, like, just chill out.
19:03
But I remember at the time thinking, I almost wanted to go and learn how to do it.
19:07
It was so relaxing.
19:08
And it's so good for you.
19:10
Now that I've seen Face Gym pop off, I'm like, it was a good idea.
19:14
Yeah.
19:15
I think it's just having your eyes open.
19:17
You know?
19:18
It's a good example.
19:19
So, yeah, I mean, I'm seeing it seeing all this skincare tech colliding happening.
19:25
Maybe we could look into some ideas in the nursing club.
19:27
That would be quite cool.
19:28
Yes.
19:29
I'd love to look at it.
19:30
I would love to invest in a Korean skincare business.
19:32
It does freak me out tiny bit what they put in their skincare where it makes you look so good.
19:36
It's actually snail mucus.
19:37
Or salmon sperm.
19:38
Wait, hold on.
19:39
Do you mean, when a snail moves, the trail that it leaves on the ground, it's that stuff.
19:43
Oh, so if you're off.
19:44
Oh my god, I'm just rubbing my face on the ground.
19:47
She's going to go pick up some snails and be like, I can get a cheap version of this.
19:51
No, I wouldn't even, I love snails, they're cute.
19:53
Yeah.
19:54
I think we should just look at some ideas and maybe do a bit of research around this.
19:57
Because I think it would be one of those ones that a lot of people listening would be interested in.
20:01
I think I'm going to have to do a research trip.
20:03
Exactly.
20:04
I might need to calm as your PA.
20:05
Price and products.
20:06
Put it on the camera.
20:08
R&D.
20:09
We're doing some research and development.
20:10
Yeah, yeah.
20:11
I'd love to go to Korea.
20:12
And China.
20:13
Korea.
20:14
Yes, South Korea.
20:15
Yes, South Korea.
20:16
Okay.
20:17
And news story number three.
20:19
The onto me.
20:20
This seems like a bit of you.
20:22
Yes, I was going to say I'm really excited about the story.
20:24
But in two ways, actually.
20:26
Oh my god, yes, it's a meme stock.
20:29
Yes, we have another meme stock.
20:31
This is my favorite.
20:32
So I always is like, back, why can't you tell me when the meme stock is popping up?
20:36
I'm like, this is really good.
20:37
I mean, I would be.
20:38
I would love to know when a stock is up 1000% in three days, too.
20:42
Right.
20:43
So you didn't know.
20:44
No, okay.
20:45
Yeah.
20:46
We've got to get into those little, like, hacking teenage boys on Reddit groups.
20:49
We need to be on top of this.
20:51
Yeah, I know.
20:52
Oh my god.
20:53
Because this is an actual business that hasn't been doing terribly.
20:55
Has it?
20:56
Yes, beyond me.
20:57
So it was used to be that it was the plant-based meat.
20:59
And it was like a darling.
21:01
Like when IPO in 2020, it was the poster child of like everyone's going vegan.
21:06
Everyone's eating plant-based.
21:08
Beyond me, it's going to be all through like McDonald's, all through, you know, like big change.
21:13
It's going, it's going global.
21:15
And it's share price.
21:16
And then we went all the way down.
21:20
Why has it done that?
21:21
Because it just didn't take off.
21:23
But it did though.
21:24
That's why I'm so confused.
21:25
I mean, we've definitely seen in the last 12 months a shift away from environmentalism
21:30
or regenerative, like I'm aware of that.
21:32
But the fact that this has been going down for way before that kind of confuses me.
21:36
Well, I think it was a combination of the exuberance.
21:39
Whenever something is hyped up, it kind of gets a bit ahead of itself.
21:43
In terms of its share price, everyone thinks it's going to like take over the world.
21:46
And, you know, when sales don't come in as expected or, you know, then investors start losing hope.
21:52
But also, you're right.
21:53
There was kind of a big craze.
21:55
Well, there is still there.
21:57
But there's also a ton of other competitors now with meat.
22:02
That might taste better.
22:03
Like corn, but it's felt like you are in awesome.
22:06
Yeah.
22:07
There's also a move to it will personally, because I'm a sample size of one.
22:11
If I'm going to have a burger, I have a mushroom burger.
22:16
Like, I don't want to fake meat burger.
22:18
Do you know what I mean?
22:19
I must say, when I was vegan back in my days where I was doing some good for the planet.
22:23
Yeah, I felt the same.
22:24
I always wanted lentil burgers or things that were more whole foods.
22:29
Yeah.
22:30
The whole point of, I mean, yes, you, a lot of people have different reasons why they might not eat meat.
22:34
But for me, there's also a health element.
22:36
Right.
22:37
I want to be putting nutrients into my body and it's sort of like eating not plastic.
22:41
But what is that?
22:42
What is that?
22:43
Like, is it even better?
22:44
But anyway, this is a meme stock.
22:46
So it's share price had fallen from $170 to $3.
22:51
Shit, that's so sad.
22:52
It was one of 14 billion dollar company.
22:55
And it's now $1 billion.
22:58
Imagine working there.
22:59
And you're just being a part of a sinking ship.
23:01
It's so stressful.
23:02
It would be so depressing.
23:03
You'd have people walking out of the door.
23:04
You'd be like, trying to be like, we're growing.
23:06
It's great.
23:07
And people are like, have a burger.
23:09
Yeah.
23:10
Hey, we'll give you some stock as part of your conversation.
23:12
Oh, no.
23:13
No, no.
23:14
No thing.
23:15
It's like Snapchat.
23:16
You just do feel a bit sorry for them.
23:17
Anyway, this week it was the most traded stock on the stock market.
23:20
You think they're really happy to have been a meme stock?
23:23
Or is this really damaging for a business?
23:25
I think if it has legs, then it's great.
23:27
But when something's up 1,000% in three days, like, again, coming back to our set about gold,
23:32
you know, you want consistent.
23:34
The same goal.
23:35
The same time they've actually got to invest in and say, look, we're doing so well.
23:37
We're up 1,000%.
23:38
Yeah, exactly.
23:39
But that is like $10,000 going to $110,000 in three days.
23:44
Imagine if I'd called this.
23:46
No, this is kind of what I mean.
23:48
I know we're not about getting rich quick, etc.
23:51
But not no.
23:53
Yeah.
23:54
Right.
23:55
It's sold.
23:56
So has it started, Peter and I jump on board?
23:58
No.
23:59
So it's been halted.
24:00
What a fun.
24:01
So because there is...
24:02
I'm sorry, I'm so tired.
24:03
I woke up 4.30 this morning.
24:04
I don't know what was going on in my head.
24:06
I know.
24:07
When I saw emails, it's 6.30.
24:08
I was like, so I'm not going to last a day.
24:09
I know.
24:10
It's going to get to 3 and I'm going to need a nap.
24:12
Absolutely.
24:13
I just couldn't sleep.
24:14
I was like, I could sit here for another hour, like trying to think of a happy place that
24:19
I want to, you know, I was pretending I was in Bali.
24:22
I was pretending I was trying to all the tricks, you know.
24:25
And I was just like, okay, I'm just going to call it and get out of bed.
24:28
And now, yeah, I can just feel myself breathing.
24:30
You know, I've already watched.
24:32
Just for anyone who hasn't, does no idea what we're talking about.
24:35
I get up early.
24:36
My boyfriend doesn't like getting up early, so he bought me a vibrating wristwatch, which
24:40
buzzes like a ankle bracelet, like I'm a prisoner or something, at 6 a.m. in the morning.
24:47
She forgot to put it on last night.
24:50
And yeah, it does work, but it's all sort of really loud.
24:55
So he kind of wakes up.
24:56
I mean, Cybrides allowed.
24:57
Yeah.
24:58
Okay.
24:59
We know how that works.
25:00
Anyway, I woke up.
25:01
It wasn't even on my wrist when I woke up to it.
25:03
Okay.
25:04
I don't know.
25:05
We were just going to give it a little bit of quality so we could tell the whole story.
25:10
Anyway.
25:11
So sorry, the sheer price has got halted.
25:13
So you cannot trade it.
25:14
And is that because someone, some regulators looking at this and saying, this is not good?
25:19
Yeah.
25:20
When things go a little bit crazy in the stock market, like they're supposed to work really
25:23
hum, honestly, you know, and when things get this crazy for no reason, they'll regulate
25:28
it can step in and go, if it's abnormal and come down, I used to see it back in the day,
25:33
you'd have a company, you know, Amazon, say it just absolutely sank one day for no reason.
25:39
There's no financial news.
25:41
There's nothing in the media.
25:43
That's a big red flag because that means that there is information out there.
25:47
But it's almost like maybe inside a trade.
25:50
So that's why they kind of hold it and they go to the company and go, do you have anything
25:53
to disclose?
25:54
So if they might be doing a takeover and it's been leaks or, you know, something like that.
26:00
And then you kind of have 24 hours or 48 hours to disclose to the market so that it's public
26:05
information that everyone can.
26:06
They're trying to keep an even playing field, essentially, because you cannot trade on material
26:11
non-public information.
26:12
But with this.
26:13
But with this, this is, this is crazy.
26:15
And so they've halted it and gone, this is, this is great.
26:17
What does it mean though to halt as in you close, you cannot, you just close, yeah.
26:21
No, I meant more for the people who aren't playing around and, you know, have blah blah blah.
26:26
The ones that are manipulating it, does it ruin their plan?
26:29
Not really.
26:30
No, it's more, if I bought shares, right?
26:33
But when it was up 500%, I bought shares and went up to a thousand.
26:36
I can't sell them because it's been halted, like it's been stopped trading.
26:41
That's what I mean.
26:42
So is it kind of ruining their plans?
26:43
Well, it's kind of, it is a bit of an interference, like in terms of the regulator coming in.
26:48
You're like, oh, we're having fun here.
26:50
But, but what I mean is if they've bought really low and the price, everyone's buying and the
26:54
price is going up and then it halts.
26:56
As soon as it unhulls.
26:57
If there's heaps of people selling, then that price will fall back down.
27:00
That's what I mean.
27:01
So it's almost like it could totally ruin their plans in terms of if you wanted to sell, you know,
27:04
you've missed your opportunity and then it crashes again.
27:06
Well, now this has gone to mainstream media and everyone's listening to our podcast.
27:09
And then people might be like, I want to buy it too.
27:11
Yeah.
27:12
So then it comes off halt and then even buys.
27:13
Right.
27:14
But usually it falls.
27:15
Yeah.
27:16
You would think as soon as the police is knocking on your door.
27:18
Yeah.
27:19
Okay.
27:20
This is over.
27:21
But yes.
27:22
I guess, like for those people that don't know what a mean stock is.
27:24
So it's essentially when a company has done so badly and everyone mainly in Reddit gets
27:33
in a group and goes, you know what?
27:36
We're going to buy this company and boost up its sheer price.
27:39
And usually it's because a lot of big hedge funds or big investors in Wall Street are short
27:46
the stock.
27:47
That means that they profit when the sheer price falls, not like in a normal situation,
27:53
which we profit when the sheer price rises.
27:56
So when something is up a thousand percent, the hedge funds are absolutely having a field day
28:02
because they're losing hedge money.
28:04
They're screaming.
28:05
Sometimes going out of business.
28:07
Sometimes they've been so bankrupt from this.
28:10
But like you said so, you know, is this the start of turning the business around?
28:14
It kind of has with GameStop, which was the first initial mean stock.
28:18
Really?
28:19
Yeah.
28:20
They've kind of done managed to sustain a little bit of that.
28:23
Like no pair of bad pair.
28:25
Yeah.
28:26
It's kind of.
28:27
Yeah.
28:28
And I guess what it does mean is that if the sheer price continues to go up and up and up,
28:31
then you can raise money at a higher price.
28:34
So you can go back to investors and go, look, we actually need, I'm not pulling up,
28:38
like we need $10 million to invest in a new manufacturing facility for our beef patties
28:43
to then sell.
28:45
You know, so it can actually be a bit of a turning point.
28:47
But what I don't like is when sheer prices move this quickly, but also they're not based on anything.
28:52
It's just everyone just getting excited over nothing.
28:55
I mean, it's not related to the earnings or the growth of the business.
29:00
Yeah.
29:01
But it's also I found, like I was just looking at the past meme stocks.
29:05
It's also weirdly kind of a bit of nostalgia going on for these investors.
29:10
Like if we think about the companies, it's GameStop, which is a gaming company.
29:15
It's BlackBerry Nokia, you know, a bed bath and beyond.
29:19
It's all these real old school kind of 90s companies that Wall Street's just like,
29:25
you know what?
29:26
Let's kind of bring them back into the mainstream media.
29:30
All these companies that people have forgotten about.
29:32
Oh, this last one.
29:33
Did you used to work here?
29:34
Where?
29:35
Warner Brothers?
29:36
No.
29:37
Oh, why?
29:38
Why?
29:39
Well, they are looking to sell their business.
29:42
Warner Brothers.
29:43
Why is this the deal?
29:45
Have they had the same owner for a long time?
29:48
They're a public company.
29:49
So they're owned by shareholders.
29:51
But they've come out and said, look, we are exploring a sale.
29:54
And they've had multiple interested buyers.
29:57
One of those being Netflix.
29:59
Why would you buy them though?
30:01
Sorry.
30:02
Also, Warner Brothers produced their own films, right?
30:04
Yes.
30:05
They're a film company, basically.
30:06
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
30:07
Yeah, their production company.
30:08
So they produce like all the big movies they've got seen in.
30:11
They own CNN.
30:12
They own HBO.
30:13
HBO.
30:14
Oh, shit.
30:15
Okay.
30:16
Warner Brothers Studios.
30:17
Yeah.
30:18
So they're an enormous production company.
30:19
Yeah.
30:20
They're that icon.
30:21
You know, the big WB.
30:22
Every movie pretty much.
30:23
Oh, the WB.
30:24
Yeah.
30:25
The WB.
30:26
Yeah.
30:27
Yeah.
30:28
Yeah.
30:29
That usually is the front of lots of blockbuster movies when you're in the opening credits.
30:32
I think Netflix is low key.
30:35
Gobbling all the cute little fish in the palm.
30:38
Yeah.
30:39
I think they're acquiring too much.
30:41
Yeah.
30:42
They're done with Spotify, podcasting.
30:45
Yep.
30:46
If Netflix were to buy them, do you think Netflix is starting to get too big?
30:50
Is that one of those examples of, you know, similar to good watch?
30:54
Emily just looked at us with like an excited face.
30:57
Wait.
30:58
Okay.
30:59
Can I pass them my phone, Emily?
31:00
So I predicted the gold for.
31:01
Yeah.
31:02
Yeah.
31:03
Yeah.
31:04
And there's also another prediction that I made, which is what?
31:06
I'm going to play a clip from December last year.
31:09
Because Vic literally predicted this exact headline.
31:12
And here we are.
31:13
At the end of 2025, what do you think is going to be the like left field,
31:18
black swan thing that nobody's thought about that's going to happen?
31:23
This is the best game we've ever played together.
31:25
I reckon Netflix and Spotify will merge.
31:28
Epic.
31:29
Great.
31:30
One of the biggest media companies in the world.
31:32
Are you serious?
31:34
It's called me crystal ball.
31:36
I think this is so epic.
31:38
Oh my God.
31:39
Vic, that's so impressive.
31:41
Holy shit.
31:42
There's, you know, they could be pushed.
31:44
They could purchase Warner Brothers and go like downstream.
31:46
You know, like, oh, in the studios.
31:48
And going to news.
31:50
They've now got news like they could become quite a media of government.
31:54
I'm not scared of that just yet.
31:56
Some of the tech businesses I don't love.
31:59
But it's more entertainment.
32:01
I don't feel like it's having a negative impact on society.
32:04
I don't, I don't, maybe that's the least bizarre way to look at it.
32:08
But I think there's, there's kind of a few things going on here, right?
32:11
They're gone from like not just a streamer.
32:13
They'll be like a full media empire.
32:15
They'll control production.
32:17
They'll control distribution.
32:19
We'd probably see more, more exclusive content.
32:23
But one thing we probably would see because they own,
32:26
they've got like such control would be high prices.
32:28
Because it's fine.
32:29
So I'm a dad to carry the alternative now.
32:33
34 year old still.
32:34
Sorry, Mike.
32:35
No, to be fair, I actually got locked out the other day as a depotator.
32:38
It was like just it was being like must check your password.
32:42
I was like, like, hi, dad.
32:45
What point do you know a child?
32:48
I know.
32:49
I think I'm going to feel like a child my whole life.
32:52
Yeah, maybe at the point in which I have my own is when I start to like not do that.
32:56
Even then.
32:57
It's like me and my sister were like, what should we get mum and dad for Christmas?
33:01
I'm like, we're in our 30s and 40s.
33:03
We know we're going to stop getting joint presents.
33:05
We've got respective partners as well.
33:07
Like it's quite weird.
33:08
I got a lover.
33:09
I know.
33:10
But yes, this could be a big game change for Hollywood.
33:14
Even if it's Netflix not buying it, it could be like paramount, for example.
33:18
But there's a lot of consolidation going on in media.
33:21
And what was kind of the traditional media companies and the new tech streaming companies.
33:27
It's now a bit more thing.
33:28
Yeah.
33:29
So I guess with Warner Brothers, like it's a public company, it could get split into two.
33:32
So it could be there's Warner Brothers and there's a discovery.
33:35
So it could be split into it could be sold as an entire business or a combination of that.
33:41
But Warner Brothers is not going to exist as it stands.
33:44
I'm not sad about it.
33:45
Yeah.
33:46
I think I'm done with Warner Brothers.
33:47
Yeah.
33:48
Let's just hope Netflix, if they do buy it, doesn't increase our prices again.
33:51
Thank you.
33:52
That'd be nice.
33:53
I brought a story.
33:54
Yes.
33:56
I may or may not have found this five minutes before we set a recording.
33:58
So I haven't done as much digging into this as I would have liked.
34:02
639.3 million was stolen by scammers in the first half of this year.
34:10
Which is 3% more than the same period last year.
34:13
And I thought this was a, I mean, firstly, I thought it was quite interesting that banks stopped.
34:18
Like 870 million of it.
34:21
But I thought the fact that romance scams were up 35%.
34:26
Yeah.
34:27
Like a romance scam.
34:29
Do you remember when we got Tracy?
34:31
Oh.
34:32
Was her last name haul.
34:33
Yeah.
34:34
We have to find that episode in Lincoln in the podcast show.
34:36
It's it is the most wild story ever.
34:38
Yeah.
34:39
So she got like absolutely, absolutely blindsided by this total con artist.
34:44
And she told the story on the podcast and it was, it was so mind blowing anyway.
34:48
The idea of romance scams could be anything, right?
34:51
Like someone messaging from the outside of the world.
34:53
I mean, I love you.
34:54
Send me money so I can get on a flight or, you know, it's the idea of conning someone and say hello.
34:59
Where are you?
35:00
Are you coming?
35:01
Yeah.
35:02
And quite sad to be honest.
35:03
And I think a lot of this as well, I've seen is younger people being scammed.
35:10
Like, and this is why younger people on social media and stuff is so, in my opinion, such a something that needs to be addressed.
35:17
But do you mean young young?
35:19
I mean, like 16, 17, you know, even like 13, 14 year olds being like, hey, if you don't give me money, I'm going to share new nodes that I've got of you.
35:27
Oh, that's so cool.
35:28
And then they don't even have nodes, but they're like so worried.
35:30
Yeah.
35:31
But I would totally fall victim.
35:32
So yeah.
35:33
I'd be, I'd steal money to go and pay that back to not get made fake nodes released.
35:37
When you're that young, you don't know.
35:39
I don't know that they're not capable of it.
35:41
Or you don't have to go to, you don't think to talk to someone.
35:44
You just think, worst case scenario, like you don't want to tell my parents.
35:47
Oh, that's awful.
35:48
Yeah.
35:49
I think it's just, I think the scariest part of a scams in general.
35:52
Like, I mean, it's awful when you hear about elderly people being taken advantage of.
35:56
But even people like our age or friends that we know, apparently there's this thing where they email you as soon as you start at a company.
36:04
And like, no, there's just like this so many scams out there.
36:07
And I just kind of break my heart about it.
36:10
But also, it's getting better and better.
36:12
So it's harder to tell if it's a scam or not.
36:14
Like, I nearly fell for one.
36:16
It was, I can't remember what the email was, but I honestly, it was so close.
36:20
And I'm, I mean, sometimes I'm quite stupid, but like not a lot of the time.
36:25
I remember at my old work, we did this whole course on, you know, knowing if emails with scams or not.
36:31
Because we worked in finance.
36:32
So people would be like, hey, can I withdraw?
36:34
Of course.
36:35
You know, 10,000 from my account.
36:36
Anyway, they did this whole thing.
36:38
And then they sent around to like a test email.
36:40
And it was a simple thing.
36:41
And like, hey, you've got a parcel, you know, here.
36:43
And then it's sent back.
36:45
Oh, if I try to get my parcel.
36:47
And I'm talking.
36:48
And they were like, they sent around the stats.
36:50
And they're like, everyone in the company except two people fell for it.
36:54
And I was like, those two people, you know, and then.
36:57
And it was, you know, my boss had me done things like that.
36:59
I was like, but that was a parcel.
37:03
He's like, oh dear God, we've just been through all this training.
37:06
But we also, we had one that actually we did manage money for this person.
37:11
And it was a couple.
37:12
And the email was from the wife to the financial advisor saying, hey, can I withdraw?
37:17
Ex amount of money.
37:18
And the advisor was like, yeah, we just needed to fill out this form and get your husband assigned.
37:22
And she was like, oh, my husband's away or something.
37:25
But here's my signature.
37:26
Anyway, went through like multiple iterations to the point that the financial advisor.
37:31
Nearly withdrew all the money for that person.
37:34
And it was a fake person.
37:35
And then we're just something in their gut was like, I'm just going to call them.
37:39
And call them and they had no idea.
37:43
We're drawing all their money in their account.
37:45
And like, doesn't insurance cover that?
37:47
Well, now that they put process in place, like you have to call, you have to be in contact with the person before you make the draw all of it.
37:53
But insurance does.
37:54
Yes, yeah.
37:55
But only if you've got the right procedures in place, right?
37:58
Like if you're just giving out money, will they really?
37:59
Really bloody insurance.
38:00
Yeah.
38:01
But I think it's really important as an individual.
38:04
If you do get an email or if you do get something that looks fishy or is asking a big thing of you financially, just double check.
38:14
Like if you are an older person, just try and call.
38:18
Oh, I don't reckon it's an older person.
38:19
I think honestly, I reckon we are all.
38:21
So like I default one to my sister not that long ago and say like, is this a scam?
38:25
You know, just don't be afraid to ask.
38:28
Yeah, just don't be afraid to be like, hey, so I've just checking.
38:31
You'd be like, yeah, I need the money.
38:32
You know, it's okay.
38:33
Cool.
38:34
Yeah.
38:35
It's rather than just assuming.
38:37
I think the thing is a lot of people.
38:38
It's not necessarily that it even just is busy.
38:41
Yeah.
38:42
And some people just, you just want to do the thing.
38:43
You get it done and take it off your to do list.
38:45
I think it's just taking a beat to think if it's a financial thing, just take a minute and be like, is this legit?
38:51
And I think also from the curve perspective, we will never ask for your bank details
38:57
or ask you to transfer us money through social media or anything like that.
39:02
There's been so many people doing that to our community.
39:04
So yeah, please, if that ever happens to you, screen shot and send it to us because it's so not us.
39:09
Yeah.
39:10
And quite scary.
39:11
It's not funny.
39:12
I don't know why I'm laughing.
39:13
Okay, before we finish this podcast, we would like to thank everyone who voted in the poll last week
39:18
because we released our episode a day late.
39:20
We were having so many technicals.
39:22
You know how everything went down, like Slack and AWS.
39:25
It was a great fun.
39:26
It was a great service.
39:27
We couldn't upload our podcast.
39:29
And so we released it the next day anyway.
39:31
Oh, also Emily was sick.
39:32
There was many reasons.
39:33
But whatever.
39:34
You guys voted and said that Mondays is really the day that you want to have the podcast race.
39:38
Which I really rate.
39:39
It's so good to know that.
39:40
Yeah, yeah.
39:41
You look so confused.
39:42
You're good.
39:43
Sorry, no, I thought you're going to say the Halloween costume.
39:45
And so I was getting really excited.
39:46
You were like, and even said Monday, and I was like, oh, yeah.
39:49
So for context, we are dressing up for Halloween.
39:53
And I feel like we put stuff out on socials last night.
39:56
Yes, we were blocked from seeing the socials, which I kind of love.
39:59
So I have no idea what we're dressing up as.
40:01
Love not being in control with this kind of thing.
40:03
I know.
40:04
Because it was a bit unfair last year because I was desperately wanting food to be.
40:09
To be fair, I didn't rig it.
40:10
But I was so close to doing that.
40:12
Anyway, have a great week.
40:14
Yes, thank you for listening.
40:15
And we will see you on Monday.
40:18
Nice back.
40:19
Thank you so much for listening to the Curve Weekly.
40:22
Make sure you hit the subscribe button to stay up to date with all the many business stock market news.
40:26
And if you like what you heard, we would love a review.
40:29
Thank you.
40:30
Yes.
40:31
We would love a review.
40:32
That if you did hate it, please.
40:33
Yeah, don't leave one if you hate it.
40:35
No, but in all seriousness, could you please leave a review?
40:38
Because it really helps other people find our cute little podcast.
40:41
And we hope you have a good week and see you next Monday.
40:43
Bye.
40:44
Bye.
40:45
See you next Tuesday.
40:46
Well.
40:47
See you next Tuesday.
40:48
I mean Monday.
40:49
No, actually though.
40:50
New episodes out every Tuesday.
40:51
Okay, quickly, the Curve was created to empower and educate you about investing.
40:54
But we are not financial advisors.
40:56
Our platform exists for educational purposes only.
40:59
And it doesn't provide personalized investing advice for your individual needs.
41:02
And should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
41:05
And always remember to do your own research before making any investment or financial decision.
41:08
We're here for any knowledge and support you need.
41:10
But the final call is always yours.
41:12
And thanks for being here.
41:13
You got this.
41:14
Yeah, we know you got this.