November 7, 2025 • 38 mins
Chuck Zodda and Mike Armstrong discuss what one bleak data point tells us about the labor market. Isaiah Moskowitz, Host Great American Heroes Podcast, stops by to share his experiences working with the DAV, why he feels so compelled supporting veterans, and why he started the Great American Heroes Podcast. Opendoor is an ‘AI company,’ new CEO says. Garrett Barton, Circle K Franchise Business Consultant, joins the show to chat about his time in the Navy, how his injury led him to the DAV, and why Circle K has decided to donate to and partner with the DAV. Ford is considering scrapping the 150-EV.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Financial Exchange is produced by Money Matters Radio and
is hosted by employees of the Armstrong Advisory Group, a
registered investment advisor. All opinions expressed are solely those of
the hosts. Do not reflect the opinions of Armstrong Advisory
or anyone else. Investments can lose money. This program does
not offer any specific financial or investment advice. Please consult
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(00:20):
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Armstrong and Money Matters Radio do not compensate each other
for referrals and are not affiliated. This is the Financial
Exchange with Chuck Zada and Mike Armstrong, your exclusive look
at business and financial news affecting your day, your city,
(00:42):
your world. Stay informed and up to date about economic
and market trends, plus breaking business news every day. The
Financial Exchange is a proud partner of the Disabled American
Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Help us support our great American
heroes by visiting dav five K dot Boston and making
a donation today. This is the Financial Exchange with Chuck
(01:05):
Zada and Mike Armstrong.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Chuck, Mike and Tucker with you here and today we
are participating in a radiothon in support of the Disabled
American Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Our Boston affiliate WRKO puts
this event on every single year and we are happy
to participate to raise money for a great cause, to
(01:32):
help support those who have come back to the United
States after combat and have you know, some struggles that
they are dealing with in doing so and so again,
this is the WRKO Radiothon to benefit the Disabled American
Veterans Department of Massachusetts. To donate, you can call nine
(01:55):
to seven eight six three two, nineteen eighty five or
visit DAV five dot Boston That DAV five K Race
is taking place tomorrow. I will be participating. I will
be there and I always look forward to it because
it is just a fantastic event and we got some
great weather this year. It's gonna be it looks like
sixty degrees in Sonny, which is about as good as
(02:16):
you can get for Boston in November.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Again.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
To make a donation, you can call nine to seven
eight six three two, nineteen eighty five. We also do
have a couple guests that are gonna be joining us
this hour as well. Isaiah Moskowitz, the dav's media manager
and host of the Great American Heroes podcast, will be
coming on. And then Garrett Barton from Circle k H
(02:42):
he is a franchise business consultant there will be joining
us to.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Discuss as well.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
By the way, just gotta note that eighty six thousand
dollars has been raised so far.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Fantastic served to eighty six thousand. If you want to
add to that total again, you can call nine to
seven eight six two nineteen eighty five or go to
DAV five k dot Boston, Mike. Where are we on
our stack?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
What one bleak data point tells us about the labor markets?
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Not much, not much. But here's the thing. Well the
data point, let's start off with. It's a Challenger Gray
and Christmas data that reports that companies have announced one
hundred and fifty three thousand job cuts in October, nearly
tripled September's number and also is the biggest October number
that they've seen in I don't know a long time.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I can't remember early two thousands. It was the end
I think this is two twenty ten.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
It doesn't tell us anything because this is not a
forward looking data series. It's not something where if you
see an increase one month, that means there's going to
be an increase the next. It's not a good number
because it does tell you, hey, there were a large
number of layoffs in the month of October. But it's
not a predictive series. It's not a trending series, and
so it's not one that I think is in any
(03:59):
way you full in building a framework for what comes next.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
What I will say.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
It's been increasingly more difficult to find labor market indicators
that are throwing off positive signals in the last couple
of months. And so again we're not getting the monthly
jobs report now. But if you look at indeed's openings trend,
if you look at the ADP Small Business Hiring Index,
(04:27):
if you go and look at the weekly jobless claims
that are coming out at the state level, there's nothing
bad there. But there's no meaningful improvement on that front.
And so it's something where we're continuing to see a
slowing labor market, and the danger there is at some
point a slowing labor market has the potential to create
(04:49):
some problems with consumption. Normally, it's the other way around. Like,
normally the thing that you see consumption is slowing and
so companies start laying off people. Hasn't been the case
this year. It's been kind of backwards. It's a really
funky situation.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
That we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
The case that you can make is consumption for the
bottom fifty to sixty percent of households has slowed, and
so maybe the layoffs that we're seeing are in response
to that. Even though the top ten to twenty percent
of households by income are still spending robustly, and so
maybe that's why aggregate spending growth is still good, but
(05:29):
you're not seeing it spread across all areas. And so
there are a lot of companies that might have weak
demand because they focus on selling products to that bottom
fifty to sixty percent of consumers.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Local company.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Just so long as we're talking about layoffs, Trip Advisor
laying off twenty percent of its workforce amid major business
rework numbers. Wise, this is not a big number. I
think this company employees about twenty eight hundred employees. Globally,
six hundred employees is not nothing, not nothing, but you know,
we've had ten fifteen thousand person layoff announcements recently, and.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Trip Advisor falling into that same category this week.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It's interesting to me on one level in that travel
demand has remained really strong.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
It has I wonder how much of this is. So
much has been written about, Oh, look at AI and
how easily I'm allowed to am able to build a
travel plan with artificial intelligence. I did so in part
with my most recent trip with Yeah, you didn't come
back very mixed success.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Can you talk about that? Yeah? So I asked I
haven't asked you about this yet.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
I asked it to plan out some hikes for me
while we were in Europe, and it was clearly capable
of identifying mountains, but was not terribly good at understanding
I need a trail that you need a trail to
get between said mountains.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Interesting.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Yeah, yeah, so that was again we ended up using
one of this suggestions that it came up with. But
you know, had we followed it without actually looking at
a map, you wouldn't have been able to get there
from here.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
That's a problem.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Yeah, yeah, so interesting user be aware. I've also heard
that it's helpful for looking up flight information.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I have not found it to be so.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Why would one find it helpful for looking.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
Up Yeah, Like I feel like Google Flights is pretty
good at that, as are many other companies. And you know,
people have talked about, oh, you know it's really better
at detecting.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
No, I have not found it to.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
Be useful whatsoever for the purpose of tracking flight prices
and getting good deals.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Like you just intuitively think about, Okay, it's a large
language model, it's good at putting words together. Why would
it be good at getting you the best flight pricing?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah, have an answer that doesn't compute. So labor
market does seem to be weakening. Do we reach a
tipping point?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I mean like it's here's what I will say. It
feels like we're kind of on a knife's edge here.
And the other thing is, if you look at the
labor market data under the hood, there are parts of
it that are more concerning to me than you would
think at first blush. I mean, what's going on right
now with youth unemployment just as an example, really problematic. Yep,
(08:16):
You've got long term unemployment moving up as well. So
there's just like there's some things out there that are
not signs of health. And the other piece, these are
not things that get helped by the FED cutting interest rates. No,
you know, like it's not stuff that is resolved. If
(08:38):
the Fed's like, hey, we're gonna, you know, start cutting
interest rates more heavily, it doesn't.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Fix those things, right, I mean, look, the FED has
been cutting interest rates. Arguably, the hiking of rates damages
a lot of that bottom, that bottom.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Rung of the K.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
If we're using the K shaped recovery story, right, you
drive up mortgage rates, credit card rates, and all sorts
of loan rates while also bumping up savings rates for
some consumers that bottom half of the K. You know,
even with rates having come down a little bit, haven't
seen mortgage rates decline, haven't seen auto loan rates decline.
(09:16):
If you're in that top portion of that K shaped recovery,
you might not need the auto loan, but you probably
have the savings to put into a CD.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I mean, I would say that the changes in interest rates,
it's most heavily impacting that middle forty percent. Sure, like
the bottom the top thirty percent of wage earners and
households by net worth aren't forced to bural. No, it's
a situation where there's more flexibility on that side. To
begin with the bottom thirty percent of wage earners and
(09:44):
asset owners, they don't have the money to buy cars
and homes anyways. Yep, that middle forty percent is the
one that I think is most heavily impacts to any changes.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Car Loans, mortgages, all of those things are the things
they're participating in. Let's take a quick break here.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
When we return, we're going to be joined by Isaiah Moskowitz,
the DAV Media manager and host of the Great American
Heroes podcast. Again, we're in the middle of the WRKO
radiothon to benefit the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
To donate, nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty
five is the number, or go to DAV five K
(10:22):
dot Boston. Isaiah Moskowitz joins us after this.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Find daily interviews in full shows of The Financial Exchange
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This is the Financial Exchange Radio Network. The Financial Exchange
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(10:50):
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Speaker 4 (11:01):
A segment of The Financial Change is powered by circle
K Convenience Stores. Circle K is now the official convenience
store of the DAV Department of Massachusetts. On behalf of
circle K. Thank you Veterans for all that you've done.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Join us now is Isaiah Muskowitz.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
He's the DAV Media manager, host of the Great American
Heroes Podcast. Joins us now to talk about his partnership
with the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusets.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Isaiah, thanks for coming on, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Hey Mike, thanks for having me. You guys are doing
a great job today. Thank you for all your support
for the DAV Department.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Of mass So I want to I want to talk
first about the podcast Great American Heroes Podcast.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I've appeared on it and want to talk about just.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
What it is, who you feature, who you talk to,
and how people can listen to it.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
Sure listen.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Years of working on the radio doing shows like yourself.
You know, when I started working with the DAV years
and years ago. As time went on, you know, I
was like, well, why don't we do a podcast where
we can talk to veterans, we can talk to partners,
we can talk to sponsors, friends and family. The whole
point just like with your radio show, right, your job
is to get the financial word out there to the
(12:13):
world and make people understand the world of finance and business.
Same exact thing with the podcast here. We want to
do the very best we can to educate people about
what the dav Department of Massachusetts does for veterans and
for families. And it's been a nice run. We've got
some amazing guests and people that come on. They tell
tremendous stories. And you understand radio better than anybody. You're
(12:35):
a host. It's all about storytelling.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Sure, any of those particular storytelling experiences stick with you.
I mean, I'm sure there's been a lot of great ones,
but anything you'd care to share.
Speaker 7 (12:45):
Sure, there are so many, you know, I've.
Speaker 6 (12:48):
You know, and Paul's gonna hate me on this because
he hates being brought to the forefront. But Paul Wahlberg
is such a great supporter of the DAV Department of Massachusetts.
He's so humble, never wants the recognition, but he just
he's a humble man who just likes to get on
and do very good things for the veterans. And when
you hear people like that, and you look at the
success they have and they're just they're they're rooted back
(13:12):
to the simple fact that we should be doing this
stuff for our veterans, okay, And that's he always tells
great stories. There have been so many veterans on the
Great American Heroes podcast that you know, I didn't serve
this country, but I'll tell you what. Listening to the
stories and being able to share the stories of what
they went through in combat, what they've gone through when
(13:32):
they come home, it's and what the dav Massachusetts does
to help those folks that'll stick with you.
Speaker 7 (13:40):
Those those stories stick with you.
Speaker 6 (13:41):
So you can find all the episodes that Mike's talking
about a dav M A dot org, da v M
a dot org and you can just drop down the
podcast page and they're all right there.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
So Isaiah talked to us a little bit about your
history with the DAV of Massachusetts. I know it goes
back several years. You've been doing the podcast for years,
but how did you get started with the organization and
what about it is meaningful to you.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
After about twenty five years of working in radio, I
started my own marketing firm and I was doing a
lot of business with the Veterans Administration in New England,
so via New England Healthcare, I was helping them with
radio and television and sports marketing so we could get
the word out there to veterans and families about the
health benefits that veterans have available to them. And that's
(14:23):
a very important message that moved over into the DAV.
One of my friends who worked at the VA said, Isaiah,
I want you to meet Dan stack Over at the
DAV Department of Masks. They're trying to reach a younger audience,
they're trying to reach more veterans. And I sat with
Dan and said, look, this is what I do for
the VA, and the two go hand in hand, because
(14:45):
if a veteran's looking for their benefits, they have to
go and deal with the VA.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
And that's not an easy ask.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
It's a tough thing to it's tough wall to climb over,
but that's what the DAV Massachusetts does.
Speaker 7 (14:56):
They help veterans.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
They sit down, they help you with your paperwork, they
help you with everything you may need, whether it's a
ride to a doctor's appointment, whether it's housing.
Speaker 7 (15:06):
You know. So that's where it all started when I
sat with them.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
That might have been about seven years ago, Mike, and
I'll tell you what it's It's grown and it's going
to continue to grow. And let me just say it's
growing because of people like you. It's growing because of
the Financial Exchange Radio network. And congratulations on the XM
Channel one thirty two that just takes this show and
puts it global as it should be.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
You guys do great work, and you've been such a
huge supporter.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
Of ours and I really really appreciate that, so I
wanted to highlight you guys before we kept going on.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Isaiah, thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
I mean, look, we all have these personal stories about
our experience with the DAV and maybe you can share
a bit of yours. I mean, for me, I continue
to think about the complexity of all the VA benefits,
mainly because you know, I work as a financial advisor
on my day job and I have seen people struggle
with this exact challenge before. What else sticks out to you?
(16:00):
Just in terms of the work the DAV of Massachusetts
is doing these days.
Speaker 7 (16:04):
People have to understand and people don't.
Speaker 6 (16:07):
People know what they know, and people don't see all
the pieces to every puzzle they're looking at. Right, the
DAV Massachusetts does everything for veterans. So think about a
veteran who's gone to war, is coming home from war.
Think about what that man or woman is going to need,
the reacclimation into life. Let's be serious, how we get
back to going from what they saw where they sought
(16:29):
to coming back here to the States and getting a job,
having housing, making sure you're okay mentally and physically. There
are so many aspects. What health benefs do you have?
You know, the work that the DAV Massachusetts does is
just so it's so incredible for the veteran and it's
so incredible for the veteran family. Again, I didn't serve
(16:50):
this country, but as a civilian, it's the least I
can do to try to help, you know, with the
media side of things, again, we've all been in media.
I've been in media for a long time. I'll do
everything I can do to try to help spread spread
that word. And every day and every year we do this.
Every day I do this, I see different things and
it just it makes me really proud to be involved.
Speaker 7 (17:10):
It's the least I can do as a civilian.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
Isaiah Moskowitz, he is the media manager for the DAV
of Massachusetts, host of the Great American Heroes podcast, and
joins today talk about his work and support for the
Disabled American Veterans of Massachusetts. Isaiah, thanks for coming on.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (17:25):
Mike, We appreciate it. We'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Once again, folks.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
Today we are supporting the WRKO Radiothon to benefit the
Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts. To donate, you can
call nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty five.
The auction for a six course dinner for eight people
from Chef Paul Wahlberg is still open. You can bid
on that by calling that same number nine seven eight
(17:49):
six three to two, nineteen eighty five. You can also
learn more and donate at DAV five K dot Boston.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Mike, I want to talk a little bit about open Door.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Yes, the real estate platform.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah, got it.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
They reported earnings yesterday and now They're an AI company.
They called themselves an AI company, which like sure, like
you don't even have a or I in your name,
So questions again, what do they do?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
They they open doors? Yeah, the door openers the online
real estate.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
They basically help like facilitate transactions online. They're like a
real estate buying platform. Is my understanding?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Okay?
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Again, like take it for I don't know. I've never
used the platform. But here's what I do know. The
stock opened today down around twenty five percent. Now this
is one of those meme stocks that you know, has
all kinds of so it's rallied back to be almost
flat over the course of the day. And so ultimately, like,
(18:54):
I don't know what you take of this other than hey,
like you you look at the actual earnings. Revenue fell
by about a third for the quarter year over year,
so that's not, you know, great. They reported a net
loss of ninety million dollars after booking a seventy eight
million dollar one last year, so the loss got bigger. Yep,
(19:18):
but Ai, but Ai. Let's take a quick break and
when we come back.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
But AI.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Bringing the latest financial news straight to your radio every day.
It's the Financial Exchange on the Financial Exchange Radio Network.
Time now for Wall Street watch a complete look at
what's moving market so far today right here on the
Financial Exchange Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Well, the sell off is accelerating on walls trade as
investors continued to show concerns about high valuations in the
tech in AI space. Right now, the Dow is down
two thirds of a percent, sm P five hundred down
over one percent lower, Nasdaq selling off one point eight
percent or four hundred and twenty three points, Russe two
(20:18):
thousands down one point three percent, ten year Treasure Reel
down two basis points at four point zero six nine percent,
and crude oil up about a half a percent, trading
just below sixty dollars a barrel. Tesla shares down four
percent after shareholders approved a one trillion dollar pay package
for CEO Elon Musk but offered mixed support to the
(20:39):
idea of the ev maker investing in his XAI ventures. Meanwhile,
sports betting company DraftKings cut its annual sales outlook after
reporting disappointing third quarter results. However, that stock is up
over half a percent. Elsewhere, Airbnb posted a revenue beat
for the previous quarter and lifted its fourth quarter new forecast.
(21:01):
Despite that, shares are down over two percent and Ford
is up over one percent after the Wall Street Journal
report of the automakers' executives are in active discussions about
scrapping the ev version of its Ford F one point
fifty pickup or the Lightning. Ford is racked up thirteen
billion dollars in EVY losses since twenty twenty three. I'm
(21:23):
Tucker Silva and that is Wall Street Watch.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
As promised, we are now joined by Garrett Barton from
Circle K. Garrett is a franchise business consultant there with
their worldwide franchise group. He is also a Navy veteran. Garrett,
thank you for joining us today and thank you for
your service.
Speaker 8 (21:43):
Hey, I appreciate it so very much. It's an honor
and privilege to be here. And I'm very excited for
the five K rice tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Absolutely looking forward to it myself. I know you've been
with Circle K for eleven years now, and I just
learned today actually that Circle K is now the official
convenience store of the dav of Massachusetts.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
How did that partnership end up coming about?
Speaker 8 (22:07):
You know, it's been a number of years in the making.
Zaya Moscows who just had on and my boss, our
regional director, Pete Radsowitz, have been working together for a
number of years helping out at the golf tournaments in
the five k We've been supplying some items like water
and things of that nature of a number of years,
and with Pete and I talking, we decided to take
(22:27):
it to the next level. So we went to our
marketing department, into our VPS and said, look, you know what,
this is something that we really need to be involved in,
and being a DAV myself, it really hits home. So
we were able to take it up a notch and
now certain Katy is donating thirty thousand dollars to the
DAV Massachusetts. So it's a huge honor, huge privilege and
(22:51):
something that's been in a number of years in the making,
and we're so happy and proud to be a part
of this organization.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Garrett, you mentioned that you have experience with the DAV yourself.
I know that you joined the Navy back in nineteen
eighty three and served through nineteen eighty eight. Can you
tell our listeners a little bit about your time in
the Navy.
Speaker 8 (23:13):
Yeah, it was something that I'm very proud of done.
My father was a Korean War veteran, so it was
something in the family. My brother in law was also
in the Marines, so it was something that we've all
been indoctrinated into. And I wanted to go into something
that was going to be very advanced as far as
(23:35):
going to college and things of that nature. So I
really took advantage of the VA benefits and the VA
bill to be able to go to college and get
my degree to the VA. Now, I started off in
San Diego. They got transferred up to the Great Lakes,
Illinois doing advanced electronics, and mine was a six year
mandatory enlistment since I did two years of schooling. Then
I transferred over to Virginia Beach and finished my last
(23:56):
Missile Radar System school and was assigned to the USS
Barney DDG six Guidements of the Destroyer out of Norfolk, Virginia.
And during that time, of course, you go on a
number of cruises and things of that nature. But I
blown out my knee and I went through a year
of therapy with that through the VA Hospital enforcement Virginia,
and unfortunately, since I'm not fit for the fleet because
(24:20):
of my knee, I was not fit for the Navy
and I was mentally discharged under honorable conditions. So with that,
I got involved in the DAV a whole lot more.
They paid for all my schooling, they paid for all
my surgeries, all everything I've had to have done. The
VA was there for me. I've been to sixteen VA
hospitals throughout the country as I've lived in sixteen different
(24:42):
states and been to all fifty and have never ever
had a bad experience at a VA hospital. And you know,
shout out goes out to all the nurses, the assistants,
the helpers, and the doctors of the VA hospitals. They've
all been tremendous and I'm very proud of them all
and very proud to be part the organization.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Garrett, I understand that you also play a leading role
for all the veterans that work for Circle K. Regarding
the National Brave Organization, can you tell our listeners a
little bit about that organization and your involvement in that program.
Speaker 8 (25:16):
Yeah, The Brave Organization is a group of veterans within
the Circle K organization where we have our own little
group to talk about veteran ideas things how we can
promote the veterans and the dav how we can get
out to other veterans within the community as well within
our own community, outside our local geographical area, as well
(25:37):
as within Circle K itself. So it's a spotlight where
we do articles, we have weekly we have quarterly newsletters.
We actually just sent out the red Poppy pen to
all of our personnel throughout the franchise group to help
support the organization and bring awareness to it. And so
many veterans, as Isaiah was mentioned earlier, that they just
(26:01):
don't have a clue on all benefits and opportunities that
are there for them and how important it is for
them to reach out to the DA. As Isaiah had
stated earlier, you know, it's not necessarily an easy situation,
but the payoff is tremendous. What they can do for
you and help you, and so many things I never
had a clue on. You know. I notified my father,
(26:23):
you know, when he was getting older about the VA
and things that they could do, as well as my
brother in law, and we really I talk to people
all over the country about this everywhere I go. I
traveled everywhere, and I know I get up with all
the different veterans and let them know what's going on.
You know, I have veterans come back to me and
see Garrett, thank you so much for giving me this information.
(26:44):
You were absolutely great and I appreciate so much because
I had no idea what I was eligible for until
I went and asked. So it's a great honor and
I'm so happy that I me it would be a
part of it would Circle K and as a DAV.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well Garrett, thank you again for the time today, thank
you for your service, and thank you for the support
of the dav Department of Massachusetts. Again, we really appreciate
you joining us and just thank you so much for
everything that you're doing on behalf of veterans.
Speaker 8 (27:16):
Yeah, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for
the time, and for all your veterans out there. You know,
if you don't know, go out and talk to somebody.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Garrett Barton from Circle K talking about his work with
the dav Department of Massachusetts again to donate to the
WRKO RAI radiothon to benefit the disabled Americans. Veteran Department
of Massachusetts called nine seven eight six three two nineteen
eighty five. That number again is nine seven eight six
(27:46):
three two nineteen eighty five, or you can visit dav
five k dot Boston. Quick Break here when we come back,
a little bit of stack route.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Let here the Financial Extreme Change every day from eleven
to noon Non Serious XM's Business Radio Channel one thirty two.
Keep it here for the latest business and financial news
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(28:20):
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Speaker 7 (28:29):
Network, Ladies and Gentlemen the weekend.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
This segment of a Financial Exchange is brought to you
by the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism. Your next
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Speaker 5 (29:12):
All right, we got some stuff to talk about for
stack Roulette's first Wall Street Journal exclusive. Ford consider scrapping
electric version of f one to fifty truck. Remember, at
one point they said they had like seven hundred and
fifty thousand reservations for this.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
And they call this like the model t of the era.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
They're now selling about fifteen hundred of these a month,
So if you do the mathout, that's about eighteen thousand
a year.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
Pretty close to three quarters of a million. Not good demand, Okay.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
My guess is that they probably could get by with
like three to four times that much. Like you're selling
like seventy five thousand of these. You can't make money
selling twenty thousand dollars of twenty thousand units of a
pickup truck. It's just not going to work.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Think there are two questions on this. The first is
does this mean anything for other electric pickup trucks, namely
the cyber truck and the Rivian R one. The second
is doesn't mean anything more broadly for EV's as a whole.
I take more about the EV's as a whole.
Speaker 5 (30:12):
But when I think about why somebody buys a pickup truck, granted,
there are a lot of people that drive a pickup
truck to their office job every single day. Yes, but
I think at least part of the justification on there
is I do want the flexibility if I'm going away
for the weekend, that I can tow.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
My RV or my boat towed behind.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Yeah, and that is just not practical with an EV,
especially in a third of the country where it's cold
all the time, or in like the parts of the
country where yeah, it's like you are are shows based.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
In New England to everyone listening.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
Yeah, the states get bigger when you get away from
New England. I've realized this over time. You go through
New England and you're like, wow, I just went through
all six states in one day. You get to Texas,
You're like, where's the other end of it? You know,
it's just you. It's not feasible. And so I think where.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I'm currently standing on the EV side is the low
hanging fruit is gone anyone who wanted an EV basically
has one now, and everything else you're just picking up
along the margins. There's not much left there. The next
shoe to fall is going to be the introduction of
solid state batteries, which is perpetually three to four years away.
(31:30):
I keep hearing that five years ago Toyota was like, yeah,
we'll have it by the middle of the decade. Today
they're like, yeah, we'll have it by the end of
the decade. The promise of solid state batteries is the
energy density is like four or five times what you
get from conventional lithium battery lithium ion batteries, and so
because of that, you can do one of two things.
Either a use a battery pack that's like a third
(31:51):
the size, get the weight ray way down and you
still have slightly better range. Or hey, here's a thousand
mile range in any you don't have to have range
anxiety because unless you're literally trying to drive across the
country in a single you know, single shoot, single pass trip.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yes, that I don't know what that was difficult?
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Well, no, not a trip like without like stopping until
then better, And that's not like you don't need more
than a thousand miles of range.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
No one has a thousand mile commute.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
Frankly, until then, better and better evs or or hybrids
or what's going to dominate?
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Hybrids and plug and hybrids are the place to.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
Be in my mind, and specifically the one that I
keep talking about this and we still do not have one.
I think it's coming in twenty twenty six. But the
the E REV is that what you call it? Yeah,
Extended range electric vehicle. It's got the gas thing that
powers the battery that then powers the car. Yes, yeah,
again I think Dodgers rolling out the first one. But
again it's a pickup truck. Like I just want a
(32:53):
small Tesla like vehicle that runs an EV with a
gas generator on it. But that's what you want, maybe
nobody else does. Yeah, I mean you want some some things. Yeah,
I drive a minute. Tastes may not reflect the greater public.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
I have a supero outback. You and I are not.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
We are not the average Texas man. No, we're not
good proxies for what most people want in carme Okay,
I have well we have to cover.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Meta, right.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I wanted to hold that till Monday, sure, just because
I think.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
All right, so once again metas and some really garbage
stuff and we'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
More about it on Monday. What else did you want
to get?
Speaker 5 (33:34):
There's another story on open Ai that's related that we'll
have to cover as well. Let's see, I want to
cover this piece from Bloomberg. It's titled cash is Not King,
It's Cringe. A survey of gen Z consumers find that
fifty three use physical cash only as a last resort,
and twenty nine percent believe that people who pay with
cash are cringe. So, those of you who are not
(33:57):
gen z ers, cringe is the gen Z adoption of
cringeworthy or embarrassing or cringeworthy like you you know, like yeah,
that that face you make when you're like when you're
watching something like really awkward on a reality TV show
and you're just like like not gonna work.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
So here's here's the thing. I do think there's something
interesting in that younger generations. And look, I'm a proud
you know, mature millennial now having you know, gone through
that period where I was an avocado toast eater for
a while, and there is an interesting juxtaposition and that
if you talk to basically gen X and older. What
(34:39):
you find is that if they don't have cash in
their wallet, they feel naked.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
They feel naked.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
If you talk to millennials and younger, if they have
cash in their wallet, it's like, ooh, found money.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Ye look at this.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
The only time I have cash in my pocket, or
when I discovered it in a pair of jeans that
I didn't realize was still there because I don't even
I have an idea of why I have because I
have to play it. Pay the guy that runs my
hockey skate with twenties.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Same when I ran my you know, men's league soccer team,
the refs only took cash payments, so I had to
have cash at all times.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
Wait until jen Z gets addicted to scratch tickets. Then
they're going to realize that they need cash. Why do
you need scratch tickets if you got gambling on your phone?
That's true, You don't you know, like what stamble all
my money away? Almost scratch tickets on phones and now too?
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Right?
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Isn't that a thing?
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Yeah? Whatever?
Speaker 5 (35:28):
Those apps are, like the courier apps and stuff like that.
I've heard lottery apps out there. They've got these courier
apps which it's it's wild. It's basically, you pay the
money on the app and then someone goes out and
physically buys the ticket for you, and you basically are
trusting them that they're not going to take your jackpot.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Just kind of wild to me, because, Okay, let's be
one hundred percent honest, Mike. If you get a winning
lottery to I guess you wouldn't know if it's winning
until after. So there's nothing to trust because you probably
have to snap a picture of it and send it
back to the person who bought it. Right, Because if
(36:07):
you had the winning ticket, yeah, aren't.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
You gonna like sit on it?
Speaker 5 (36:13):
You know, like human nature is, Hey, there's like a
billion and a half dollars in my hands, gosh, you
know like it. So anyways, cash is not king, it's cringe. Look,
I'm a big believer, like the devise of cash has
been predicted forever. I'm not saying that we're gonna use
more cash in the future, but I don't think it's
ever going to go away for a large number of reasons.
(36:36):
The big question to me is can we get transaction
fees down for cash less transactions? Because again, the restaurant
that I go to once a week for lunch, offering
a three percent discount in cash because they probably pay
two to three percent in credit card fees, and the
margins for Visa and Amex and MasterCard are not thin.
(36:57):
And I would never do it, but maybe that's you know, well,
I don't know what Venmo charges businesses.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
It's probably more than one percent.
Speaker 5 (37:02):
So yeah, all of these payment processors are still a
fair bit of money, and that's the next big question.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
Can they get that stuff down?
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, it's a big one, folks. As we've been doing
all day. We are in the middle of our dav
radiothon for our affiliate WRKO to benefit the Disabled American
Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Mike, I actually put the phone
number somewhere else. Do you happen to have it?
Speaker 3 (37:30):
I do, It's right here. It is nine seven eight
six three two one nine eighty five.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
So again, that is the number to call to donate
to the disabled Americans Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
Nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty five. As
we wrap things up, S and P now off eighty
points almost one to quarter percent. NASDAK down about two percent,
Dow off about three quarters of a percent, so another
(37:59):
tough day in markets that are reckoning with Hey, is
the AI trade running out of steam? We don't know
the answer yet, but there are those questions being asked
by markets today and they're gonna look for some answers.
Quick break for the entire weekend. Have a fantastic weekend.
We'll see you Monday.
The Financial Exchange is produced by Money Matters Radio and
is hosted by employees of the Armstrong Advisory Group, a
registered investment advisor. All opinions expressed are solely those of
the hosts. Do not reflect the opinions of Armstrong Advisory
or anyone else. Investments can lose money. This program does
not offer any specific financial or investment advice. Please consult
your own financial, tax, and estate planning advisors before making
(00:20):
any investment decisions. Armstrong Advisory and the advertisers heard on
this program do not endorse each other or their services.
Armstrong and Money Matters Radio do not compensate each other
for referrals and are not affiliated. This is the Financial
Exchange with Chuck Zada and Mike Armstrong, your exclusive look
at business and financial news affecting your day, your city,
(00:42):
your world. Stay informed and up to date about economic
and market trends, plus breaking business news every day. The
Financial Exchange is a proud partner of the Disabled American
Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Help us support our great American
heroes by visiting dav five K dot Boston and making
a donation today. This is the Financial Exchange with Chuck
(01:05):
Zada and Mike Armstrong.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Chuck, Mike and Tucker with you here and today we
are participating in a radiothon in support of the Disabled
American Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Our Boston affiliate WRKO puts
this event on every single year and we are happy
to participate to raise money for a great cause, to
(01:32):
help support those who have come back to the United
States after combat and have you know, some struggles that
they are dealing with in doing so and so again,
this is the WRKO Radiothon to benefit the Disabled American
Veterans Department of Massachusetts. To donate, you can call nine
(01:55):
to seven eight six three two, nineteen eighty five or
visit DAV five dot Boston That DAV five K Race
is taking place tomorrow. I will be participating. I will
be there and I always look forward to it because
it is just a fantastic event and we got some
great weather this year. It's gonna be it looks like
sixty degrees in Sonny, which is about as good as
(02:16):
you can get for Boston in November.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Again.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
To make a donation, you can call nine to seven
eight six three two, nineteen eighty five. We also do
have a couple guests that are gonna be joining us
this hour as well. Isaiah Moskowitz, the dav's media manager
and host of the Great American Heroes podcast, will be
coming on. And then Garrett Barton from Circle k H
(02:42):
he is a franchise business consultant there will be joining
us to.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Discuss as well.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
By the way, just gotta note that eighty six thousand
dollars has been raised so far.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Fantastic served to eighty six thousand. If you want to
add to that total again, you can call nine to
seven eight six two nineteen eighty five or go to
DAV five k dot Boston, Mike. Where are we on
our stack?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
What one bleak data point tells us about the labor markets?
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Not much, not much. But here's the thing. Well the
data point, let's start off with. It's a Challenger Gray
and Christmas data that reports that companies have announced one
hundred and fifty three thousand job cuts in October, nearly
tripled September's number and also is the biggest October number
that they've seen in I don't know a long time.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I can't remember early two thousands. It was the end
I think this is two twenty ten.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
It doesn't tell us anything because this is not a
forward looking data series. It's not something where if you
see an increase one month, that means there's going to
be an increase the next. It's not a good number
because it does tell you, hey, there were a large
number of layoffs in the month of October. But it's
not a predictive series. It's not a trending series, and
so it's not one that I think is in any
(03:59):
way you full in building a framework for what comes next.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
What I will say.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
It's been increasingly more difficult to find labor market indicators
that are throwing off positive signals in the last couple
of months. And so again we're not getting the monthly
jobs report now. But if you look at indeed's openings trend,
if you look at the ADP Small Business Hiring Index,
(04:27):
if you go and look at the weekly jobless claims
that are coming out at the state level, there's nothing
bad there. But there's no meaningful improvement on that front.
And so it's something where we're continuing to see a
slowing labor market, and the danger there is at some
point a slowing labor market has the potential to create
(04:49):
some problems with consumption. Normally, it's the other way around. Like,
normally the thing that you see consumption is slowing and
so companies start laying off people. Hasn't been the case
this year. It's been kind of backwards. It's a really
funky situation.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
That we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
The case that you can make is consumption for the
bottom fifty to sixty percent of households has slowed, and
so maybe the layoffs that we're seeing are in response
to that. Even though the top ten to twenty percent
of households by income are still spending robustly, and so
maybe that's why aggregate spending growth is still good, but
(05:29):
you're not seeing it spread across all areas. And so
there are a lot of companies that might have weak
demand because they focus on selling products to that bottom
fifty to sixty percent of consumers.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Local company.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Just so long as we're talking about layoffs, Trip Advisor
laying off twenty percent of its workforce amid major business
rework numbers. Wise, this is not a big number. I
think this company employees about twenty eight hundred employees. Globally,
six hundred employees is not nothing, not nothing, but you know,
we've had ten fifteen thousand person layoff announcements recently, and.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Trip Advisor falling into that same category this week.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It's interesting to me on one level in that travel
demand has remained really strong.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
It has I wonder how much of this is. So
much has been written about, Oh, look at AI and
how easily I'm allowed to am able to build a
travel plan with artificial intelligence. I did so in part
with my most recent trip with Yeah, you didn't come
back very mixed success.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Can you talk about that? Yeah? So I asked I
haven't asked you about this yet.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
I asked it to plan out some hikes for me
while we were in Europe, and it was clearly capable
of identifying mountains, but was not terribly good at understanding
I need a trail that you need a trail to
get between said mountains.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Interesting.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
Yeah, yeah, so that was again we ended up using
one of this suggestions that it came up with. But
you know, had we followed it without actually looking at
a map, you wouldn't have been able to get there
from here.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
That's a problem.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Yeah, yeah, so interesting user be aware. I've also heard
that it's helpful for looking up flight information.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I have not found it to be so.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Why would one find it helpful for looking.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
Up Yeah, Like I feel like Google Flights is pretty
good at that, as are many other companies. And you know,
people have talked about, oh, you know it's really better
at detecting.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
No, I have not found it to.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
Be useful whatsoever for the purpose of tracking flight prices
and getting good deals.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Like you just intuitively think about, Okay, it's a large
language model, it's good at putting words together. Why would
it be good at getting you the best flight pricing?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah, have an answer that doesn't compute. So labor
market does seem to be weakening. Do we reach a
tipping point?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I mean like it's here's what I will say. It
feels like we're kind of on a knife's edge here.
And the other thing is, if you look at the
labor market data under the hood, there are parts of
it that are more concerning to me than you would
think at first blush. I mean, what's going on right
now with youth unemployment just as an example, really problematic. Yep,
(08:16):
You've got long term unemployment moving up as well. So
there's just like there's some things out there that are
not signs of health. And the other piece, these are
not things that get helped by the FED cutting interest rates. No,
you know, like it's not stuff that is resolved. If
(08:38):
the Fed's like, hey, we're gonna, you know, start cutting
interest rates more heavily, it doesn't.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Fix those things, right, I mean, look, the FED has
been cutting interest rates. Arguably, the hiking of rates damages
a lot of that bottom, that bottom.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Rung of the K.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
If we're using the K shaped recovery story, right, you
drive up mortgage rates, credit card rates, and all sorts
of loan rates while also bumping up savings rates for
some consumers that bottom half of the K. You know,
even with rates having come down a little bit, haven't
seen mortgage rates decline, haven't seen auto loan rates decline.
(09:16):
If you're in that top portion of that K shaped recovery,
you might not need the auto loan, but you probably
have the savings to put into a CD.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I mean, I would say that the changes in interest rates,
it's most heavily impacting that middle forty percent. Sure, like
the bottom the top thirty percent of wage earners and
households by net worth aren't forced to bural. No, it's
a situation where there's more flexibility on that side. To
begin with the bottom thirty percent of wage earners and
(09:44):
asset owners, they don't have the money to buy cars
and homes anyways. Yep, that middle forty percent is the
one that I think is most heavily impacts to any changes.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Car Loans, mortgages, all of those things are the things
they're participating in. Let's take a quick break here.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
When we return, we're going to be joined by Isaiah Moskowitz,
the DAV Media manager and host of the Great American
Heroes podcast. Again, we're in the middle of the WRKO
radiothon to benefit the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
To donate, nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty
five is the number, or go to DAV five K
(10:22):
dot Boston. Isaiah Moskowitz joins us after this.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Find daily interviews in full shows of The Financial Exchange
on our YouTube page. Subscribe to our page and get
caught up on anything and everything you might have missed.
This is the Financial Exchange Radio Network. The Financial Exchange
is now available every day from eleven to noon. Non
Serious XM's Business Radio Channel one thirty two. Stay informed
about the latest from Wall Street, fiscal policy, and breaking
(10:50):
business news every day. The Financial Exchange is life on
Serious XM's Business Radio Channel one thirty two. This is
the Financial Exchange Radio network and.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
A segment of The Financial Change is powered by circle
K Convenience Stores. Circle K is now the official convenience
store of the DAV Department of Massachusetts. On behalf of
circle K. Thank you Veterans for all that you've done.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Join us now is Isaiah Muskowitz.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
He's the DAV Media manager, host of the Great American
Heroes Podcast. Joins us now to talk about his partnership
with the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusets.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Isaiah, thanks for coming on, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Hey Mike, thanks for having me. You guys are doing
a great job today. Thank you for all your support
for the DAV Department.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Of mass So I want to I want to talk
first about the podcast Great American Heroes Podcast.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I've appeared on it and want to talk about just.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
What it is, who you feature, who you talk to,
and how people can listen to it.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
Sure listen.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Years of working on the radio doing shows like yourself.
You know, when I started working with the DAV years
and years ago. As time went on, you know, I
was like, well, why don't we do a podcast where
we can talk to veterans, we can talk to partners,
we can talk to sponsors, friends and family. The whole
point just like with your radio show, right, your job
is to get the financial word out there to the
(12:13):
world and make people understand the world of finance and business.
Same exact thing with the podcast here. We want to
do the very best we can to educate people about
what the dav Department of Massachusetts does for veterans and
for families. And it's been a nice run. We've got
some amazing guests and people that come on. They tell
tremendous stories. And you understand radio better than anybody. You're
(12:35):
a host. It's all about storytelling.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Sure, any of those particular storytelling experiences stick with you.
I mean, I'm sure there's been a lot of great ones,
but anything you'd care to share.
Speaker 7 (12:45):
Sure, there are so many, you know, I've.
Speaker 6 (12:48):
You know, and Paul's gonna hate me on this because
he hates being brought to the forefront. But Paul Wahlberg
is such a great supporter of the DAV Department of Massachusetts.
He's so humble, never wants the recognition, but he just
he's a humble man who just likes to get on
and do very good things for the veterans. And when
you hear people like that, and you look at the
success they have and they're just they're they're rooted back
(13:12):
to the simple fact that we should be doing this
stuff for our veterans, okay, And that's he always tells
great stories. There have been so many veterans on the
Great American Heroes podcast that you know, I didn't serve
this country, but I'll tell you what. Listening to the
stories and being able to share the stories of what
they went through in combat, what they've gone through when
(13:32):
they come home, it's and what the dav Massachusetts does
to help those folks that'll stick with you.
Speaker 7 (13:40):
Those those stories stick with you.
Speaker 6 (13:41):
So you can find all the episodes that Mike's talking
about a dav M A dot org, da v M
a dot org and you can just drop down the
podcast page and they're all right there.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
So Isaiah talked to us a little bit about your
history with the DAV of Massachusetts. I know it goes
back several years. You've been doing the podcast for years,
but how did you get started with the organization and
what about it is meaningful to you.
Speaker 6 (14:02):
After about twenty five years of working in radio, I
started my own marketing firm and I was doing a
lot of business with the Veterans Administration in New England,
so via New England Healthcare, I was helping them with
radio and television and sports marketing so we could get
the word out there to veterans and families about the
health benefits that veterans have available to them. And that's
(14:23):
a very important message that moved over into the DAV.
One of my friends who worked at the VA said, Isaiah,
I want you to meet Dan stack Over at the
DAV Department of Masks. They're trying to reach a younger audience,
they're trying to reach more veterans. And I sat with
Dan and said, look, this is what I do for
the VA, and the two go hand in hand, because
(14:45):
if a veteran's looking for their benefits, they have to
go and deal with the VA.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
And that's not an easy ask.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
It's a tough thing to it's tough wall to climb over,
but that's what the DAV Massachusetts does.
Speaker 7 (14:56):
They help veterans.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
They sit down, they help you with your paperwork, they
help you with everything you may need, whether it's a
ride to a doctor's appointment, whether it's housing.
Speaker 7 (15:06):
You know. So that's where it all started when I
sat with them.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
That might have been about seven years ago, Mike, and
I'll tell you what it's It's grown and it's going
to continue to grow. And let me just say it's
growing because of people like you. It's growing because of
the Financial Exchange Radio network. And congratulations on the XM
Channel one thirty two that just takes this show and
puts it global as it should be.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
You guys do great work, and you've been such a
huge supporter.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
Of ours and I really really appreciate that, so I
wanted to highlight you guys before we kept going on.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Isaiah, thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
I mean, look, we all have these personal stories about
our experience with the DAV and maybe you can share
a bit of yours. I mean, for me, I continue
to think about the complexity of all the VA benefits,
mainly because you know, I work as a financial advisor
on my day job and I have seen people struggle
with this exact challenge before. What else sticks out to you?
(16:00):
Just in terms of the work the DAV of Massachusetts
is doing these days.
Speaker 7 (16:04):
People have to understand and people don't.
Speaker 6 (16:07):
People know what they know, and people don't see all
the pieces to every puzzle they're looking at. Right, the
DAV Massachusetts does everything for veterans. So think about a
veteran who's gone to war, is coming home from war.
Think about what that man or woman is going to need,
the reacclimation into life. Let's be serious, how we get
back to going from what they saw where they sought
(16:29):
to coming back here to the States and getting a job,
having housing, making sure you're okay mentally and physically. There
are so many aspects. What health benefs do you have?
You know, the work that the DAV Massachusetts does is
just so it's so incredible for the veteran and it's
so incredible for the veteran family. Again, I didn't serve
(16:50):
this country, but as a civilian, it's the least I
can do to try to help, you know, with the
media side of things, again, we've all been in media.
I've been in media for a long time. I'll do
everything I can do to try to help spread spread
that word. And every day and every year we do this.
Every day I do this, I see different things and
it just it makes me really proud to be involved.
Speaker 7 (17:10):
It's the least I can do as a civilian.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
Isaiah Moskowitz, he is the media manager for the DAV
of Massachusetts, host of the Great American Heroes podcast, and
joins today talk about his work and support for the
Disabled American Veterans of Massachusetts. Isaiah, thanks for coming on.
Appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (17:25):
Mike, We appreciate it. We'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Once again, folks.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
Today we are supporting the WRKO Radiothon to benefit the
Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts. To donate, you can
call nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty five.
The auction for a six course dinner for eight people
from Chef Paul Wahlberg is still open. You can bid
on that by calling that same number nine seven eight
(17:49):
six three to two, nineteen eighty five. You can also
learn more and donate at DAV five K dot Boston.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Mike, I want to talk a little bit about open Door.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Yes, the real estate platform.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah, got it.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
They reported earnings yesterday and now They're an AI company.
They called themselves an AI company, which like sure, like
you don't even have a or I in your name,
So questions again, what do they do?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
They they open doors? Yeah, the door openers the online
real estate.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
They basically help like facilitate transactions online. They're like a
real estate buying platform. Is my understanding?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Okay?
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Again, like take it for I don't know. I've never
used the platform. But here's what I do know. The
stock opened today down around twenty five percent. Now this
is one of those meme stocks that you know, has
all kinds of so it's rallied back to be almost
flat over the course of the day. And so ultimately, like,
(18:54):
I don't know what you take of this other than hey,
like you you look at the actual earnings. Revenue fell
by about a third for the quarter year over year,
so that's not, you know, great. They reported a net
loss of ninety million dollars after booking a seventy eight
million dollar one last year, so the loss got bigger. Yep,
(19:18):
but Ai, but Ai. Let's take a quick break and
when we come back.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
But AI.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Bringing the latest financial news straight to your radio every day.
It's the Financial Exchange on the Financial Exchange Radio Network.
Time now for Wall Street watch a complete look at
what's moving market so far today right here on the
Financial Exchange Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Well, the sell off is accelerating on walls trade as
investors continued to show concerns about high valuations in the
tech in AI space. Right now, the Dow is down
two thirds of a percent, sm P five hundred down
over one percent lower, Nasdaq selling off one point eight
percent or four hundred and twenty three points, Russe two
(20:18):
thousands down one point three percent, ten year Treasure Reel
down two basis points at four point zero six nine percent,
and crude oil up about a half a percent, trading
just below sixty dollars a barrel. Tesla shares down four
percent after shareholders approved a one trillion dollar pay package
for CEO Elon Musk but offered mixed support to the
(20:39):
idea of the ev maker investing in his XAI ventures. Meanwhile,
sports betting company DraftKings cut its annual sales outlook after
reporting disappointing third quarter results. However, that stock is up
over half a percent. Elsewhere, Airbnb posted a revenue beat
for the previous quarter and lifted its fourth quarter new forecast.
(21:01):
Despite that, shares are down over two percent and Ford
is up over one percent after the Wall Street Journal
report of the automakers' executives are in active discussions about
scrapping the ev version of its Ford F one point
fifty pickup or the Lightning. Ford is racked up thirteen
billion dollars in EVY losses since twenty twenty three. I'm
(21:23):
Tucker Silva and that is Wall Street Watch.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
As promised, we are now joined by Garrett Barton from
Circle K. Garrett is a franchise business consultant there with
their worldwide franchise group. He is also a Navy veteran. Garrett,
thank you for joining us today and thank you for
your service.
Speaker 8 (21:43):
Hey, I appreciate it so very much. It's an honor
and privilege to be here. And I'm very excited for
the five K rice tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Absolutely looking forward to it myself. I know you've been
with Circle K for eleven years now, and I just
learned today actually that Circle K is now the official
convenience store of the dav of Massachusetts.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
How did that partnership end up coming about?
Speaker 8 (22:07):
You know, it's been a number of years in the making.
Zaya Moscows who just had on and my boss, our
regional director, Pete Radsowitz, have been working together for a
number of years helping out at the golf tournaments in
the five k We've been supplying some items like water
and things of that nature of a number of years,
and with Pete and I talking, we decided to take
(22:27):
it to the next level. So we went to our
marketing department, into our VPS and said, look, you know what,
this is something that we really need to be involved in,
and being a DAV myself, it really hits home. So
we were able to take it up a notch and
now certain Katy is donating thirty thousand dollars to the
DAV Massachusetts. So it's a huge honor, huge privilege and
(22:51):
something that's been in a number of years in the making,
and we're so happy and proud to be a part
of this organization.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Garrett, you mentioned that you have experience with the DAV yourself.
I know that you joined the Navy back in nineteen
eighty three and served through nineteen eighty eight. Can you
tell our listeners a little bit about your time in
the Navy.
Speaker 8 (23:13):
Yeah, it was something that I'm very proud of done.
My father was a Korean War veteran, so it was
something in the family. My brother in law was also
in the Marines, so it was something that we've all
been indoctrinated into. And I wanted to go into something
that was going to be very advanced as far as
(23:35):
going to college and things of that nature. So I
really took advantage of the VA benefits and the VA
bill to be able to go to college and get
my degree to the VA. Now, I started off in
San Diego. They got transferred up to the Great Lakes,
Illinois doing advanced electronics, and mine was a six year
mandatory enlistment since I did two years of schooling. Then
I transferred over to Virginia Beach and finished my last
(23:56):
Missile Radar System school and was assigned to the USS
Barney DDG six Guidements of the Destroyer out of Norfolk, Virginia.
And during that time, of course, you go on a
number of cruises and things of that nature. But I
blown out my knee and I went through a year
of therapy with that through the VA Hospital enforcement Virginia,
and unfortunately, since I'm not fit for the fleet because
(24:20):
of my knee, I was not fit for the Navy
and I was mentally discharged under honorable conditions. So with that,
I got involved in the DAV a whole lot more.
They paid for all my schooling, they paid for all
my surgeries, all everything I've had to have done. The
VA was there for me. I've been to sixteen VA
hospitals throughout the country as I've lived in sixteen different
(24:42):
states and been to all fifty and have never ever
had a bad experience at a VA hospital. And you know,
shout out goes out to all the nurses, the assistants,
the helpers, and the doctors of the VA hospitals. They've
all been tremendous and I'm very proud of them all
and very proud to be part the organization.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Garrett, I understand that you also play a leading role
for all the veterans that work for Circle K. Regarding
the National Brave Organization, can you tell our listeners a
little bit about that organization and your involvement in that program.
Speaker 8 (25:16):
Yeah, The Brave Organization is a group of veterans within
the Circle K organization where we have our own little
group to talk about veteran ideas things how we can
promote the veterans and the dav how we can get
out to other veterans within the community as well within
our own community, outside our local geographical area, as well
(25:37):
as within Circle K itself. So it's a spotlight where
we do articles, we have weekly we have quarterly newsletters.
We actually just sent out the red Poppy pen to
all of our personnel throughout the franchise group to help
support the organization and bring awareness to it. And so
many veterans, as Isaiah was mentioned earlier, that they just
(26:01):
don't have a clue on all benefits and opportunities that
are there for them and how important it is for
them to reach out to the DA. As Isaiah had
stated earlier, you know, it's not necessarily an easy situation,
but the payoff is tremendous. What they can do for
you and help you, and so many things I never
had a clue on. You know. I notified my father,
(26:23):
you know, when he was getting older about the VA
and things that they could do, as well as my
brother in law, and we really I talk to people
all over the country about this everywhere I go. I
traveled everywhere, and I know I get up with all
the different veterans and let them know what's going on.
You know, I have veterans come back to me and
see Garrett, thank you so much for giving me this information.
(26:44):
You were absolutely great and I appreciate so much because
I had no idea what I was eligible for until
I went and asked. So it's a great honor and
I'm so happy that I me it would be a
part of it would Circle K and as a DAV.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well Garrett, thank you again for the time today, thank
you for your service, and thank you for the support
of the dav Department of Massachusetts. Again, we really appreciate
you joining us and just thank you so much for
everything that you're doing on behalf of veterans.
Speaker 8 (27:16):
Yeah, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for
the time, and for all your veterans out there. You know,
if you don't know, go out and talk to somebody.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Garrett Barton from Circle K talking about his work with
the dav Department of Massachusetts again to donate to the
WRKO RAI radiothon to benefit the disabled Americans. Veteran Department
of Massachusetts called nine seven eight six three two nineteen
eighty five. That number again is nine seven eight six
(27:46):
three two nineteen eighty five, or you can visit dav
five k dot Boston. Quick Break here when we come back,
a little bit of stack route.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Let here the Financial Extreme Change every day from eleven
to noon Non Serious XM's Business Radio Channel one thirty two.
Keep it here for the latest business and financial news
and the trends on Wall Street. The Financial Exchange is
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Face He's the Financial Exchange Radio Network. The Financial Exchange
(28:20):
streams live on YouTube. Subscribe to our page and stay
up to date on breaking business news all morning Long
Faces the Financial Exchange Radio.
Speaker 7 (28:29):
Network, Ladies and Gentlemen the weekend.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
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Speaker 5 (29:12):
All right, we got some stuff to talk about for
stack Roulette's first Wall Street Journal exclusive. Ford consider scrapping
electric version of f one to fifty truck. Remember, at
one point they said they had like seven hundred and
fifty thousand reservations for this.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
And they call this like the model t of the era.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
They're now selling about fifteen hundred of these a month,
So if you do the mathout, that's about eighteen thousand
a year.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
Pretty close to three quarters of a million. Not good demand, Okay.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
My guess is that they probably could get by with
like three to four times that much. Like you're selling
like seventy five thousand of these. You can't make money
selling twenty thousand dollars of twenty thousand units of a
pickup truck. It's just not going to work.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Think there are two questions on this. The first is
does this mean anything for other electric pickup trucks, namely
the cyber truck and the Rivian R one. The second
is doesn't mean anything more broadly for EV's as a whole.
I take more about the EV's as a whole.
Speaker 5 (30:12):
But when I think about why somebody buys a pickup truck, granted,
there are a lot of people that drive a pickup
truck to their office job every single day. Yes, but
I think at least part of the justification on there
is I do want the flexibility if I'm going away
for the weekend, that I can tow.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
My RV or my boat towed behind.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Yeah, and that is just not practical with an EV,
especially in a third of the country where it's cold
all the time, or in like the parts of the
country where yeah, it's like you are are shows based.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
In New England to everyone listening.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
Yeah, the states get bigger when you get away from
New England. I've realized this over time. You go through
New England and you're like, wow, I just went through
all six states in one day. You get to Texas,
You're like, where's the other end of it? You know,
it's just you. It's not feasible. And so I think where.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I'm currently standing on the EV side is the low
hanging fruit is gone anyone who wanted an EV basically
has one now, and everything else you're just picking up
along the margins. There's not much left there. The next
shoe to fall is going to be the introduction of
solid state batteries, which is perpetually three to four years away.
(31:30):
I keep hearing that five years ago Toyota was like, yeah,
we'll have it by the middle of the decade. Today
they're like, yeah, we'll have it by the end of
the decade. The promise of solid state batteries is the
energy density is like four or five times what you
get from conventional lithium battery lithium ion batteries, and so
because of that, you can do one of two things.
Either a use a battery pack that's like a third
(31:51):
the size, get the weight ray way down and you
still have slightly better range. Or hey, here's a thousand
mile range in any you don't have to have range
anxiety because unless you're literally trying to drive across the
country in a single you know, single shoot, single pass trip.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yes, that I don't know what that was difficult?
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Well, no, not a trip like without like stopping until
then better, And that's not like you don't need more
than a thousand miles of range.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
No one has a thousand mile commute.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
Frankly, until then, better and better evs or or hybrids
or what's going to dominate?
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Hybrids and plug and hybrids are the place to.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
Be in my mind, and specifically the one that I
keep talking about this and we still do not have one.
I think it's coming in twenty twenty six. But the
the E REV is that what you call it? Yeah,
Extended range electric vehicle. It's got the gas thing that
powers the battery that then powers the car. Yes, yeah,
again I think Dodgers rolling out the first one. But
again it's a pickup truck. Like I just want a
(32:53):
small Tesla like vehicle that runs an EV with a
gas generator on it. But that's what you want, maybe
nobody else does. Yeah, I mean you want some some things. Yeah,
I drive a minute. Tastes may not reflect the greater public.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
I have a supero outback. You and I are not.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
We are not the average Texas man. No, we're not
good proxies for what most people want in carme Okay,
I have well we have to cover.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Meta, right.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I wanted to hold that till Monday, sure, just because
I think.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
All right, so once again metas and some really garbage
stuff and we'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
More about it on Monday. What else did you want
to get?
Speaker 5 (33:34):
There's another story on open Ai that's related that we'll
have to cover as well. Let's see, I want to
cover this piece from Bloomberg. It's titled cash is Not King,
It's Cringe. A survey of gen Z consumers find that
fifty three use physical cash only as a last resort,
and twenty nine percent believe that people who pay with
cash are cringe. So, those of you who are not
(33:57):
gen z ers, cringe is the gen Z adoption of
cringeworthy or embarrassing or cringeworthy like you you know, like yeah,
that that face you make when you're like when you're
watching something like really awkward on a reality TV show
and you're just like like not gonna work.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
So here's here's the thing. I do think there's something
interesting in that younger generations. And look, I'm a proud
you know, mature millennial now having you know, gone through
that period where I was an avocado toast eater for
a while, and there is an interesting juxtaposition and that
if you talk to basically gen X and older. What
(34:39):
you find is that if they don't have cash in
their wallet, they feel naked.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
They feel naked.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
If you talk to millennials and younger, if they have
cash in their wallet, it's like, ooh, found money.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Ye look at this.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
The only time I have cash in my pocket, or
when I discovered it in a pair of jeans that
I didn't realize was still there because I don't even
I have an idea of why I have because I
have to play it. Pay the guy that runs my
hockey skate with twenties.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Same when I ran my you know, men's league soccer team,
the refs only took cash payments, so I had to
have cash at all times.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
Wait until jen Z gets addicted to scratch tickets. Then
they're going to realize that they need cash. Why do
you need scratch tickets if you got gambling on your phone?
That's true, You don't you know, like what stamble all
my money away? Almost scratch tickets on phones and now too?
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Right?
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Isn't that a thing?
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Yeah? Whatever?
Speaker 5 (35:28):
Those apps are, like the courier apps and stuff like that.
I've heard lottery apps out there. They've got these courier
apps which it's it's wild. It's basically, you pay the
money on the app and then someone goes out and
physically buys the ticket for you, and you basically are
trusting them that they're not going to take your jackpot.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Just kind of wild to me, because, Okay, let's be
one hundred percent honest, Mike. If you get a winning
lottery to I guess you wouldn't know if it's winning
until after. So there's nothing to trust because you probably
have to snap a picture of it and send it
back to the person who bought it. Right, Because if
(36:07):
you had the winning ticket, yeah, aren't.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
You gonna like sit on it?
Speaker 5 (36:13):
You know, like human nature is, Hey, there's like a
billion and a half dollars in my hands, gosh, you
know like it. So anyways, cash is not king, it's cringe. Look,
I'm a big believer, like the devise of cash has
been predicted forever. I'm not saying that we're gonna use
more cash in the future, but I don't think it's
ever going to go away for a large number of reasons.
(36:36):
The big question to me is can we get transaction
fees down for cash less transactions? Because again, the restaurant
that I go to once a week for lunch, offering
a three percent discount in cash because they probably pay
two to three percent in credit card fees, and the
margins for Visa and Amex and MasterCard are not thin.
(36:57):
And I would never do it, but maybe that's you know, well,
I don't know what Venmo charges businesses.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
It's probably more than one percent.
Speaker 5 (37:02):
So yeah, all of these payment processors are still a
fair bit of money, and that's the next big question.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
Can they get that stuff down?
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, it's a big one, folks. As we've been doing
all day. We are in the middle of our dav
radiothon for our affiliate WRKO to benefit the Disabled American
Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Mike, I actually put the phone
number somewhere else. Do you happen to have it?
Speaker 3 (37:30):
I do, It's right here. It is nine seven eight
six three two one nine eighty five.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
So again, that is the number to call to donate
to the disabled Americans Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
Nine seven eight six three two nineteen eighty five. As
we wrap things up, S and P now off eighty
points almost one to quarter percent. NASDAK down about two percent,
Dow off about three quarters of a percent, so another
(37:59):
tough day in markets that are reckoning with Hey, is
the AI trade running out of steam? We don't know
the answer yet, but there are those questions being asked
by markets today and they're gonna look for some answers.
Quick break for the entire weekend. Have a fantastic weekend.
We'll see you Monday.
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