Podcasts about Costco

Joe's Premium Subscription: www.standardgrain.comGrain Markets and Other Stuff Links —Apple PodcastsSpotifyTikTokYouTubeFutures and options trading involves risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone.

 In this episode of The Other Side of Midnight, host Walter Sterling celebrates his birthday by tackling some of the most surreal topics on the airwaves. UK Tartaria expert Guy Anderson joins the show to break down the conspiracy of a lost global civilization, hidden free energy, orchestrated city fires, and how Nikola Tesla connects to the orphan trains of the Industrial Revolution. Plus, we cover a terrifying Lake Tahoe otter attack, a ridiculous Starbucks latte rumor, why open offices are an introvert's personal hell, and why buying diamonds next to Costco's rotisserie chickens is the ultimate proof of American superiority.

I went to Costco to buy plants for my sister and walked into what turned out to be a full-on plant drop with a crowd of passionate collectors. I had no idea what I was doing, but that experience cracked open something real about goal-setting. The reason most people feel stuck or behind is not lack of effort. It is that they have never truly defined what they are after. In this episode, I break down how knowing even the basics of what you want helps you eliminate the wrong options faster, and why asking for help from people who know more than you is one of the most underrated performance moves you can make. Key Takeaways There is a market for every passion and skill set. Do not dismiss what you are good at because the right audience exists for it. Vague goals guarantee vague results. 'Make more money' is not a goal until you define exactly what that means. Knowing what you do NOT want is just as powerful as knowing what you do want. Elimination is a legitimate path to the right target. You do not have to be an expert in everything. You just need to know the right people who are experts in the things you are not. Surrounding yourself with people who think differently than you sharpens your decision-making and expands your perspective. Action Steps Write your top goal down right now and then ask yourself if someone handed you a dollar bill, would that technically satisfy it. If yes, redefine it with specific numbers, dates, or outcomes. List three things you already know you do NOT want in your next goal pursuit and use that list to start eliminating options that do not align. Identify one person in your circle who thinks differently than you and ask for their honest read on a goal you are currently chasing. Notable Quote Getting to your goal isn't always about what you're chasing. Sometimes it's about eliminating the things that aren't the right thing for you.

Sheil, Tom, and Billy start the pod by sharing their reactions to Aaron Donald making his big return to the Los Angeles Rams and analyzing the team's travel plans for the big game with the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. They then dive into some of the other hot-button topics around the league, including RB Josh Jacobs being placed on the commissioner's exempt list, J.J. McCarthy's status with the Vikings, and much more. They end the pod by talking about the trade market after cut-down day and shining a light on Tom's 2026 NFL fantasy draft.(00:00) Aaron Donald's return, Josh Jacobs's status, and much more(03:12) Aaron Donald rejoins the Los Angeles Rams(17:05) 49ers-Rams NFL game in Melbourne, Australia(27:27) RB Josh Jacobs placed on the commissioner's exempt list(42:04) QB trade market updates(53:15) Odell Beckham Jr.'s return to the New York Giants(59:11) OT Broderick Jones traded to Dallas Cowboys, plus trade market news(1:04:11) Grading Tom Pelissero's fantasy draft Upgrade Your Performance with Orgain Creatine. Available at Amazon, Costco, Walmart & Whole Foods. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Host: Sheil KapadiaGuests: Tom Pelissero and Billy GilProducer: Chris SuttonProduction Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopowell  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Okay not LITERALLY but it was the same as the rent on my first apartment

In this episode, sponsored by Instacart Enterprise, Portager, and Vusion, Ben Miller is joined by Stewart Samuel, Director of Retail Futures at IGD and a leading grocery retail analyst and industry expert, to unpack the global grocery news stories from this week that we believe are worth paying attention to. This week, they discuss: • Whether weak US consumer confidence is finally translating into changes in grocery shopping behavior, from strong results at Dollar Tree and Dollar General to lower-income shoppers pulling back at Walmart: https://www.supermarketnews.com/finance/dollar-tree-pops-in-q2 • BJ's Wholesale Club's plans to reduce its SKU count by 20%, and whether cutting back on choice is the right move for the membership retailer: https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/bjs-wholesale-club-to-cut-skus-by-20/828618/ • Target's new Beauty Studio concept, launching across 600 stores, and whether it can successfully rebuild the retailer's beauty proposition following the end of its Ulta partnership: https://progressivegrocer.com/target-launching-beauty-studio-concept-across-600-stores • Aldi's decision to close its grocery delivery business in Switzerland, and whether the move is a one-off or a broader reality check for online grocery: https://adalytica.com/news/aldi-swiss-grocery-delivery-10344f62 • Walmart bringing its Scintilla commerce intelligence platform to Sam's Club, and what it means for suppliers, retail media and Sam's future: https://www.supermarketnews.com/grocery-technology/walmart-brings-commerce-intelligence-platform-to-sam-s-club Plus, GrocerTalk Grab & Go brings even more stories to the table, including Simbe's Tally expanding with Tesco, Erewhon's latest store opening, a new Sobeys concept store, and Costco bringing custom cakes and party platters to online delivery through Instacart. GrocerTalk is a weekly podcast from the Omni Talk Podcast Network covering the trends, innovations and technologies shaping global grocery. Episode 003. Welcome to GrocerTalk. P.S. Be sure to check out all our other podcasts from the past week here, too: https://omnitalk.blog/category/podcast/ Music by hooksounds.com.

Nicole, our resident domestic violence detective, comes back on the podcast for her third appearance—because everyone loves a comeback story... Especially Nicole.Listen in and have a good laugh as Nicole and the Savages explore all things domestic violence—and then wander wildly off course. We discuss guns tucked into leopard-print psychopants, Tesla's possible ghost-detection capabilities, AI casually choosing to murder humanity, and the glamorous world of autopsies, where “methodical and respectful” apparently means treating a body like a Costco chicken with a Sawzall.We also test our police instincts with bizarre calls involving an aggressively drunk raccoon, pitch the next reality-TV disaster—The Secret Lives of Hobo Wives—and continue honoring Jeremy through the unwavering attendance of his empty chair.Finally, Joce brings us a powerful Savage of the Week involving a dangerous domestic violence situation, some quick thinking, and an Alexa that helped call 911 when it mattered most.Listen, laugh, share the episode, and leave us a review. It helps more people find the show and encourages us to keep making terrible decisions behind microphones.Always remember... Stay SAVAGE.www.domesticatedsavages.com

Derek Moore and Shane Skinner dig into what history says about September in a midterm election year, and why Mike Santoli argues investors should be on high alert heading into the month. Plus, a long look at federal receipts versus federal outlays as a percent of GDP and what top tax rates did and did not do to revenue, the widening spread between mega cap winners and losers in 2026, and a forward earnings check on Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Tesla, Costco, and the S&P 500 itself. All that and more this week.     S&P 500 September performance in midterm election years going back to 1928. September is historically the weakest month, but midterm years have their own pattern. Mike Santoli argues investors should be on high alert heading into September. What being on high alert actually means for someone already invested and hedged. Federal receipts and federal net outlays as a percent of GDP going back to the 1930s. Outlays keep running above receipts, and that gap is where the deficit comes from. The top individual income tax bracket has fallen from over 90% since the 1940s. Higher top tax rates have not reliably produced higher receipts as a share of GDP. Schwab data ranks 2026 performance and index contribution across the mega caps. Micron leads the group up 226.8% while Tesla is down 22.5% as of August 28, 2026. Apple at 17.6%, Nvidia at 16.6%, and Amazon at 15.4% beat the Nasdaq's 13.6%. Meta is down 12.4% and sits near the bottom on contribution to the S&P 500. Nvidia trades near 17 times forward earnings on estimates of $12.83 a share. Alphabet sits near 19 times forward earnings versus Apple at over 33 times. Tesla's forward P/E is above 180 while Costco holds near 41 times. The S&P 500 near 7,689 on forward earnings estimates of about $394 a share. That works out to roughly 19.4 times forward earnings for the index. SpaceX vs Tesla forward price to earnings ratio Are index level multiples reasonable when the leadership is this uneven?   Mentioned in this Episode   Santoli: Why investors should be on high alert heading into September https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/santoli-why-investors-should-be-on-high-alert-heading-into-september.html   Derek Moore's book Broken Pie Chart https://amzn.to/3S8ADNT   Jay Pestrichelli's book Buy and Hedge https://amzn.to/3jQYgMt   Derek's book on public speaking Effortless Public Speaking https://amzn.to/3hL1Mag   Contact Derek derek.moore@zegainvestments.com

The full show was back in action today. Klein did not have sex with Sydney Sweeney, but was mad that Ally blew his cover on Friday's show. Ally's sex-fueled weekend didn't go any better, with her attempts at a one-night stand failed horribly, even when it came down to having sex with AI. We did sex up the show today when we broke down a list of the sexiest jobs in America. The list surprised us, with 'Cowboy' at #3 and 'teacher' at number #1. Listen along to chime on what jobs you think should have made the list. Klein is usually the one who gets duped by mislabeled items at the store. After all, he's the guy who bought five hour energy thinking it was for sleep, and bought a non-ice cream filled Ice cream cake for his pool party. This time it was Ally, who thought she bought a Spiderman Lego set at Costco only to come home and find out it was not Lego, it was a 3D cardboard puzzle. Should she go back and return it even after she spent 3 hours building it? Plus the one PHRASE couples should avoid for a successful relationship, a fantasy Draft of all the funniest people, places and things the world has to offer, and someone rubbing their genitals on a guitar.

Ed DeLauter @ff_litigator is back from Costco and wrapping up his final slow drafts of the season! In this episode, Ed breaks down the latest risers and fallers on the Underdog best ball streets, walks through his last two slow draft teams, and makes his final pick of the year. ⏱️ Timestamps: 0:00 — Intro & welcome back 0:26 — On the clock in final slow drafts of the season 0:55 — Slow draft team #1 overview (2-6-7-2 build) 1:42 — Adding Isaac Teslaa & the Lions stack 3:25 — Risers & Fallers segment begins 3:45 — Riser: Mike Washington (Raiders RB) — Round 17 → 12 5:35 — Riser: Keenan Allen (Colts WR) — Round 18 → 14 7:17 — Riser: Ja'Kobi Lane (Ravens WR) — Round 16 → 13 8:20 — Riser: Caleb Douglas (Dolphins WR) — Round 18 → 15 10:39 — Fallers begin: Jordan Tyson (Saints WR) — Round 6 → 8 11:51 — Faller: Isaac Teslaa (Lions WR) — Round 15 → 17 12:55 — Faller: Isaiah Pacheco (Lions RB) — Round 14 → 16 13:51 — Faller: Oronde Gadsden (Dolphins TE) — Round 15 → 16 14:53 — Faller: Alvin Kamara (Saints RB) — knee injury 16:25 — Best Ball Mania draft recap begins 17:12 — Josh Allen (pick 39) & full team overview 19:41 — Final pick of the season: Seth McGowan (Colts RB) 21:42 — Outro & what's coming next week Thank you for checking out the Podcast, be sure to follow and comment if you have any questions, we are always happy to answer any. For Access to our Premium Tools (Trinity, WAR & More) & Discord Community https://ddfantasyfootball.com/subscriptions/ Join the discord for FREE: https://discord.gg/TAeWz3B5VW Subscribe to the Youtube Channel DDFFB https://www.youtube.com/@DDFFB Sub to the Wake up YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaIJqSepjl-eZ2YEaaLciFA Subscribe to Ray's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RayGQue Follow Ray on Bleacher Report: https://br.app.link/7ExIDsWfHVb Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/destinationdevy Become a Member on Youtube for access to the Dynasty Deal Show Live, Destination Chill and other member benefits, like priority reply to comments and unique badges and emojis: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV84gHvtBMXxzN9ZPI9XHfg/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an increasingly fragmented America, could Costco be one of the last places that still brings everyone together? Michael explores how the warehouse giant became an unlikely cultural phenomenon—from $5 rotisserie chickens and $1.50 hot dogs to date nights, marriage proposals and remarkably loyal employees—and asks listeners: What is Costco's secret sauce? Listen in about how its not just a place to shop - its a place to mingle. Original air date 14 July 2026. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hysteria over data centers is not rational. It's us our China. The mines in the Strait? Psy op of the Iranians. Brandon Johnson racism. EVERYONE is considering a run for president in 2028. Costco in Westfield?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hysteria over data centers is not rational. It's us our China. The mines in the Strait? Psy op of the Iranians. Brandon Johnson racism. EVERYONE is considering a run for president in 2028. Costco in Westfield? JMV talking about the upcoming Colts season, and the of WR Keenan Allen. Today’s Popcorn Moment: Trump: ‘The Oil Is Going to Go Down Like a Rocket ... as Soon as We Win that War’. Cyclists protest Flock cameras in Indianapolis. How the war against Iran against needs to be won Get your tickets for Trivia night. Gerry joins to talk about Data Center moratoriums and the latest with NIPSCO. Markets react after latest hostilities. TV Theme Song: The Naked TruthSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nonfat rallied nearly 30 cents in about 15 days. Can that rally can hold? WPC80 is showing its first real signs of softness in a while. Is it a seasonal slowdown or a sign? And milk proteins are still finding support. Will demand stay strong as new products come online, or will the economy finally put a lid on protein? In episode 105 of The Milk Check, host Ted Jacoby III and the T.C. Jacoby & Co. team focus on two of the busiest corners of the dairy market right now: nonfat and protein. In this episode, we cover: Why low inventories could keep powder markets volatile How exports, Mexico and production interruptions contributed to the move How the price gap between whey and milk proteins is encouraging reformulation What consumer spending, GLP-1 use and alternative proteins, and the economy could mean for dairy protein demand But this is still a market with plenty of unanswered questions. Listen as the team at T.C. Jacoby & Co. shares their view and outlook on what's coming and why. Listen to The Milk Check episode 105: Powder pops. WPC 80 slips. Dairy proteins defy gravity. Also available on: Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Got questions? We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check Transcript: Ted Jacoby III: [00:00:00] Coming up on the Milk Check. Diego Carvallo: We’ve had a 28 or 30 cent nonfat rally in a matter of about 15 days that caught a lot of people by surprise. Ted Jacoby III: Welcome to the Milk Check from T.C. Jacoby & Co., your complete guide to dairy markets, from the milking parlor to the supermarket shelf. I’m Ted Jacoby. Let’s dive in. Ted Jacoby III: We are going to have a very focused market discussion. We’re recording this on August 24th, and the reality is, so far in the milk side of the business, things have been relatively underwhelming. We’re expecting milk to tighten up. It has, but only in a very normal way, so nothing huge to talk about. Cheese has been a non-event. The cheese market is very quiet right now. We’re expecting it to stay quiet. But there’s been a lot going on in nonfat and a lot going on in protein. So we’re gonna focus on nonfat and protein today. Diego, let’s go ahead and get started on nonfat. What’s been going on in the nonfat market, and what do you think is gonna happen next? Diego Carvallo: It’s been a very interesting market, Ted. We’ve had a 28 or 30 cent nonfat rally in a matter of about 15 days that caught a lot of people by surprise. We went from about $1.45 per pound to $1.75. And now we’re slightly below that. We’re close to the 1.70, but the CME spot market has remained at a premium. I think what led to this rally were a couple of things. One is when we got to 1.45, we became very competitive for skim milk powder. And we know for a fact that a few of the large producers in the U.S. made very interesting sales for exports after having exported very little for this year so far. That helped manufacturers and the whole market, find some sort of psychological support to prices. And then, at the same time, we noticed how several of the manufacturers were in a relatively good spot when it comes to sales for August and September. They were not having burdensom inventories, and they were pretty proud with their offers. So I think the whole market realized that Mexico still had a few shorts that they needed to cover. We made some international exports after not exporting for a while, so I think the whole market found some support and it rallied quite a bit. I was also surprised to see that rally. I think we got to the $1.75 and we started seeing pushback from Mexico. We started not being competitive in international markets again. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a correction in the coming days. At the same time, there are some rumors and also facts of production interruptions by some manufacturers. That also got people nervous, and I think that also contributed to the market rally. Ted Jacoby III: What do you mean by production interruptions? Diego Carvallo: There’s news that have gone around about some plants having recalls and some also production issues that have delayed [00:03:00] their releases. That added to a market that was nervous already. Ted Jacoby III: So, basically, a supply chain that has been relatively low on inventory to begin with, any kind of potential supply disruption such as another FDA recall or something that at least holds that product for a little while, the market’s just pretty sensitive to that, and that’s causing this extra volatility. Diego Carvallo: Exactly. Yep. Ted Jacoby III: Jake, what has this volatility been doing to the hedgability of our nonfat market? Jacob Menge: We’ve seen pretty poor CME NDPSR correlation compared to history. I don’t know if poor correlation is the word, but if you’re in short-term hedges you have a coin flip here of how well that hedge is gonna work for you. But in general the market’s actually been pricing in lower volatility than what we have actually realized. That’s over a multi-month period. So there might be a week where you are along for the ride of a really sharp move one way or the other. But in general I would say it’s been fairly functional, the market has. Weird low volume in some of this volatility. I think that’s probably the one note is you’ll have really volatile markets like this. I would have expected better volume like we saw with our crazy run-up in February, March, whenever that was. Ted Jacoby III: What do you read into the low volume? Jacob Menge: Yeah, I don’t know. They’re numb to it now, after what everybody experienced in March, a quick little, 15, 20 cent pop doesn’t scratch the itch anymore. The market probably was a little bit better covered than they were back in February, March. So, even though the pop happened, more participants could sit on the sideline without panicking yet. Now, if we continue at these prices for another month or something like that, there’s gonna have to be more buyers, and I would imagine that leads to some more participation. Ted Jacoby III: Diego, how do you see this market playing out over the next three to six months? Do you think the volatility comes out of the market, or do you think we’re on this rollercoaster and we still gotta stay buckled up? Diego Carvallo: I think we’re gonna still have volatility, Ted. And the main reason is Europe, which is a significant player for the SMP market has gone through very bad weather. It’s gotten very hot. Solids in the milk are going down, and for that reason the cheese plants are having to use more milk. So, there’s fewer volumes of liquid milk hitting the dryer at a period where we have little inventories in Europe, so I think that’s gonna contribute to high volatility. And the same scenario can be said of the U.S. We don’t have much inventory. The manufacturers are sitting in a good spot in terms of availability. They do not have too much pressure to sell. So, any type of disruption to supply chains, production, or any pickup in demand, it’s gonna result in big swings, both ways, not only up. Josh White: I think that our seasonality has shifted. We’re already hearing rumblings that there’s some Ramadan buying beginning [00:06:00] to happen. That’s business not too many years ago didn’t happen until the first quarter. That helped create a outlet to clean your inventories before the heavy seasonal production for Europe and the U.S. Now, that business is trying to get in front of Christmas business and Chinese New Year business, and it’s coming at the worst time, when the U.S. is in a short squeeze, Europe is going through a heat wave, New Zealand’s not yet completely online, and it’s keeping things tight. My personal opinion is that we’re drowning in nonfat within the first quarter. We don’t have anywhere to go with it. This whole phenomenon’s been set up that we’ve been selling nonfat domestically somewhere that used to take skim solids. Somewhere in the margins, people are buying powder that usually interchange between powder or cheap skim, that it may have been buying skim more recently. Right now is the tightest time ever to be selling UF products, yet everyone’s responding with incremental UF production at the same time that everyone’s launching more UF competitive products. That’s gonna be saturated at the exact same time we don’t have anywhere to go with powder. Q1 looks ugly to me from a skim solid standpoint. Ramadan is like the second week of February or slightly before, which means that Chinese New Year, they’re within a few weeks of each other. Last year they were already bumping into each other, but there was plenty of inventory. Don Street: You get through October, typically we would say U.S. Christmas demand, certainly for nonfat, is filled at that point because you’re manufacturing things, cookies, crackers, whatever, and that would also be your lead time to ship. So, you could even see, if you’re right, this convergence to the downside in November, December, even before Q1. Josh White: I think markets have been really smart, too. Whenever we find the points at which we think it happens, it seems like the market’s anticipating, and we’ve been trading anticipatory markets, and it’s moving a little bit in advance of that. This sounds really smart until you realize you’re already in it. I think we are already in it, and that’s created a little bit of the bump that we’ve seen right now as everyone’s trying to get in front of short covering. Every sell-off I think is gonna be met With buying for the next month or so. Ted Jacoby III: Everybody, we will be right back after these messages. Diego Carvallo: I’m Diego Carballo with T.C. Jacoby & Co. T.C. Jacoby & Co. specializes in international dairy markets. For new customers that haven’t done business with Jacoby, I would tell them that we can provide them with many of the powders, dairy products that they consume, not only with the physical product, but we can also help them mitigate their risk. We know dairy. We know the main players. We know the main providers for the whole value chain. We are one of the strongest players in the U.S. market because we have contact all the way from the farmer moving the liquid milk all the way to the end users that buy the end products. I am [00:09:00] Diego Carballo with T.C. Jacoby & Co., and we bring dairy to the world. Ted Jacoby III: We’re gonna come back to nonfat in a second, but I’m gonna switch over to protein and ask Josh what he’s seeing in the protein market, and then we’re gonna talk about if there’s any relationship between the two. Josh, what’s going on in protein, whey proteins, milk proteins? Has this market changed at all, or are we still on the bullish ride? Josh White: I’m not really ready to call a change in the long-term trend, but the market has softened, particularly for WPC80 over the past few weeks. What’s difficult to read, is this the product of the summer holiday season and just a little bit of a Q3 slowdown in B2B buyer activity and are things fine on the consumer end? Ted, it’s a tough-to-read market at the moment, but I would say over the last several weeks to a month, we’ve definitely seen more availability for products like WPC80 in the market, and the market’s really trying to digest that. After many quarters of higher pricing than the prior quarter, we’re now in a spot where if you’re out there looking for an extra load or two, you might be able to achieve it at a price better than you did in the prior quarter or where your quarterly contracts are. It’s the first time we’ve experienced that in a while. I don’t know that I’m ready to call that the end of the long-term uptrend in dairy protein, in particular whey protein, but it certainly feels like we could retrace a bit. Let’s take a peek at one or two variables that could be contributing to this. One is just the seasonality of it. We’re coming out of the summer holiday season. A lot of buyers, particularly in the B2B transactions, have been away from their desks on their summer holidays and are now starting to return to the desk and take an assessment of how their supply chain and inventory situation looks. I don’t think that’s limited just to protein. We’re seeing that across all of our dairy commodities. And over the last seven to 10 days, some of the activity with customers has picked up a bit. Secondly, we’ve priced ourselves out of the international market, or at least the European pricing and the U.S. pricing has achieved levels that have slowed down the international appetite. And as a result, we’ve seen that reflected in our export numbers. Does that create enough incremental and additional volume for the U.S. consumer that puts us in a spot where there’s extra product available? And maybe we will see a little bit more of an aggressive offer to try to clear some incremental volume that was leaving for an international buyer previously. Or have we actually tested a point where the consumer products have to increase their prices and the consumers are going to push back or are starting to push back? Anecdotally, talking to the people that are more more retail end-user-facing, it feels like their demand’s fine. It feels like they are expecting promotion activity for the fourth quarter. They’re not indicating any type of slowdown. We’ll see after a month or two where this thing settles out, but it feels like a few more incremental offers than it does customers pushing back. But I don’t know that every manufacturer out there would [00:12:00] describe that the same. The market’s a bit confused right now. Ted Jacoby III: Do you think that there’s been any changes on the supply side? Josh White: No, not substantial changes on the supply side. I don’t. Ted Jacoby III: So we might just be in that point where everybody’s looking at their inventories, right-sizing their inventories. If they have a few extra loads, they slow down their buying a little bit, but they’re gonna wait for the fall orders, which tend to be heavier than the rest of the year, to come through to see whether they need to do any more adjustments or if they’re good to go forward. Josh White: There’s like a poker hand of possibilities right now. You know, on the one hand, we’ve seen more product launches and new product introductions outside of the traditional health and wellness or sports nutrition space than we’ve ever seen before. Has that created a vacuum effect, and has that overstated demand a bit? Some of those products might win, some of those products might lose, but ultimately, to launch them, you have to produce them, and that creates a pipeline fill and a vacuum effect. Has that overstated demand? Am I right that we were just in a summer slowdown and people may have depleted their working inventories a bit, and we’ll see reorders happen over the next month or two? Did we kill enough international demand to saturate the U.S. consumer and the U.S. market? Did we see enough incremental production that outperformed against forecasts? We just had the July milk production report released. In June, numbers were revised higher. We’ve got plenty of milk. I think most of us would’ve argued that July should’ve been a bit slow given all the heat we experienced in Middle America, yet we reported year-over-year milk production growth against very, very strong comparables. Did we outperform our production expectations? Or has the consumer finally started to push back? And I really don’t know the answer to that, and I imagine it’s a combination of all of them. We’ll just see as we go into the fourth quarter what that means. The price responsiveness to some of these signals is going to change. A larger percentage of this dairy protein, and whey protein in particular, is being used in applications that are relatively new to our demand profile. We’re seeing it added as an ingredient in snack foods and as an ingredient in food manufacturing-type products. That’s something that trades much differently than the quarterly priced sports nutrition market. To digest exactly how shifts on the CPG level might reflect in what the current S&D situation feels like, that’s uncharted territory for us in a lot of ways. Ted Jacoby III: You mentioned WPC 80. Has whey protein isolate been weakening in the same way? Josh White: No, WPI has been well-reported to be pretty stable. I don’t believe that’s going to change in the short run. I really think the higher you go in terms of the value of the product at the moment, the more specialized and ingredient-based it is. And it feels like the majority of the WPI is graduating into an area that has much less price elasticity than the traditional WPC80 products. So, at the moment, it’s held fairly strong. We haven’t experienced any major production shifts in WPI for over a quarter. And as [00:15:00] long as we don’t test the consumer’s price tolerance anytime soon, it sure feels like they’re gonna hang in there and continue to buy the product and prices will remain firm. Ted Jacoby III: What about milk proteins? Have we seen any slowdown on the milk protein side or has that demand stayed strong as well? Diego Carvallo: It stayed strong, Ted. We’re actually seeing growing demand of companies and projects switching from WPC80 to MPC80, 85, and 90. There’s a greater amount of new projects asking us for samples on MPCs than WPCs. What we have seen is that whenever nonfat moved from let’s say $2 to $1.45, the price of MPC also moved lower by a smaller degree, but it still moved a little bit lower because the manufacturers had the wiggle room to make their offers a little bit more competitive. Ted Jacoby III: So, in the whey protein markets, one of the things we’re anticipating and we’re already starting to see is that for those annual contracts, the multipliers are probably gonna go up relative to the whey market, probably quite significantly. Are we seeing the same thing in the MPC market as well? Diego Carvallo: Yes. The multiple has strengthened. MPC 85, as a reference, it usually traded for many years at, let’s say, two and a half plus a premium of 70 cents, 60 cents, and I think it’s now closer to three times nonfat plus maybe another 75, maybe 80 cents. It’s definitely strengthening. Ted Jacoby III: Further production of whey protein is restricted by additional cheese capacity. So, unless we’re gonna build another big cheese plant, we may not be able to create much more whey protein production, at least here in the U.S. Whereas with milk proteins, it’s easier and cheaper to switch over, let’s say, a nonfat plant and make it a milk protein plant. So, increasing that capacity is gonna be a lot easier. How’s that gonna play out? Do you think that MPC multiples will stay strong even as we see added MPC production? Diego Carvallo: I agree that there’s gonna be more supply, but I think demand is gonna be higher than the additional supply that we’re seeing, at least for the coming two to three years. I think multiples are gonna be long-term stronger than they are right now. Josh White: I take the other side in this particular instance. The UF side has a different demand profile than the dry product side with the RTD movement and so many launches and so much interest in ultra-filtrated liquid products. That creates opportunity for the market to find some imbalances, and for the milk protein side to feel more commoditized seasonally. You’ve got a tremendous buyer in the cheese side that can step in and take solids and well support the multiple when it makes economical sense. But the profile for making UF or MPCs, relative to traditional nonfat and skim, could result [00:18:00] in more drying seasonally of MPCs that could make that basis a bit more volatile than what we’ve experienced in the past. Ted Jacoby III: I’m anticipating that protein demand stays strong and maybe even continues to grow internationally. The demand for milk proteins will continue to go up because it’ll be slower to see whey protein production go up than these demand increases. So, I’m splitting the difference between the two of you guys. I do think that we will switch over nonfat production to MPC production in various plants throughout the country, but I also agree with Diego. The demand is gonna be there. There’s going to be a lot of new products that wanna be able to say, “Hey, we have 30 grams of protein in our product, too.” But they can’t really make it cost-effective on the whey side, so they’re gonna do it on the milk protein side. That’ll keep things strong. But the pressure’s gonna be there. Jake, do you have any thoughts? Jacob Menge: None. Outside my Area of expertise. Ted Jacoby III: Thanks. You’re a big help. Jacob Menge: I’m just being honest. Ted Jacoby III: Tristan, do you have any thoughts? Tristan Suellentrop: Yes. At what point does MPC get expensive enough that you lose the substitution advantage over WP80? Ted Jacoby III: Josh, I think you’re the one who needs to answer it. Tristan Suellentrop: It’s a hard question. Josh White: The simple math is the per unit protein value. We would start there. They’re relatively similar from a total protein value. WPC80 market is trading between $12 and $13 a pound, and you’re about half that for your MPC 85. They are not the same product. They have different functionality characteristics and different nutritional profiles. Similar in many applications, but different in many ways, which means when you rank the highest valued application for your whey proteins to the most competitive value for the whey proteins, the MPCs would need to compete in the final tranche of your traditional WPC consumer tier. It means that MPCs do not need to achieve WPC pricing to start to get pushback. The pushback begins long before it achieves parity. The MPC market has the opportunity to balance itself much differently. The MPC can toggle between a dry product and a liquid product, depending on where that demand pull is. And right now the real growth in the dairy category and the superstar as of late has been the ultrafiltrated products. I think that most households have some version of this in their refrigerator now. It’s a growing category, but it’s also becoming a highly competitive market. You’re gonna see some volatility. I think to Diego’s point, we are seeing some CPG applications and some sports nutrition applications reformulating where they can, but not on a one-for-one basis. They’re adding it as an additional ingredient or increasing the inclusion rate of the milk proteins relative to the whey proteins, but they’re not one-for-one interchangeable.  We can afford to see MPCs go up several dollars a pound or WPCs come down several dollars a pound without eliminating the advantage to explore reformulation in MPCs for those that can use it. Ted Jacoby III: Mike, do you have any thoughts? Mike Brown: I just came back from Interstate [00:21:00] Milk Processors meeting. Lots of talk between the whey guys and the MPC guys on demands and expectation for further substitution of WPCs with MPCs where it can happen. There’s places that really works. There’s places it doesn’t work quite so well, particularly in some beverages. As long as there’s a cost advantage, we’ll see it. It’s already happening in some of the protein ice creams, for example. Ted Jacoby III: So, what’s the prognosis when it comes to proteins? Demand stays strong, but we continue to produce more concentrated proteins, at least on the milk side? How is it all gonna play out from a price perspective, let’s say in the next six months? Josh, it sounds like your thoughts are: we’re steady as she goes. We’ve maybe reached a point where we’re range-bound rather than just ratcheting higher? Josh White: I think you just walked me into a trap that is absolutely gonna blow up in about six or nine months when this podcast is still being played. But right now, the story is over the next six months, I believe we will see lower whey protein pricing. Over the next six months, I’m not 100% convinced, but I would still call the milk proteins as bullish. What we need to decide then, was that a retracement? Was that a pullback in price? And with enough time, the consumer’s going to respond? Or are we in an unhealthier macroeconomic environment than any of us expected, and will that influence the dairy proteins or not? We seem to have come out of the summer holiday, and people were spending. Now, I get anecdotal reports that the spending is slowing. People are running out of money, the disposable income is not readily there, and at the same time, we’ve achieved unbelievable price increases in dairy proteins overall, and particular whey proteins. Does that at some moment come to a head? Ted Jacoby III: I’ll go ahead and stick my neck out a little bit on this one. So, one of the reasons that I think proteins, and whey proteins in particular, have stayed strong even as our macroeconomy has weakened but not fallen apart, is the way I’d call it, is because the way that most of the population seems to be dealing with this inflationary environment that is causing their spending to be restricted is to cut back on their restaurant visits. They’re just spending less when they go out. And the majority of increasing whey protein demand that I’ve seen seems to be happening more on the retail side. Meaning, it’s happening in their stay-at-home consumption rather than their restaurant-going consumption, and that has helped keep that market strong. If we start to see retail demand weaken because the economy gets even weaker, then I think we’ll start to see whey protein demand weaken with it. Jacob Menge: The implication is actually equally as interesting that if the economy gets better, you would argue that also impacts whey protein demand. You don’t go to a restaurant and order a protein shake. Ted Jacoby III: So, the possibility exists that if the economy strengthens, we’ll also see a weakening in dairy protein demand because the meat protein demand would go up, but dairy protein demand could drop. Assuming [00:24:00] that the increase is a per capita increase rather than a total increase. Mike Brown: I think the elasticity for the proteins is very low. Consumer demand’s gonna remain relatively consistent. It’s purchased for a different reason. Again, back from the conference I just came from, there was a marketing person who said in GLP households, calorie count of purchases are down 30%, cost is down only 1%. So, people are definitely moving up the quality of food that they’re buying, and proteins play a role. I think rather than say the prices are going up or going down, I think where I see is that the spread between MPC and WPC is just gonna lessen, to some degree, as uses develop to replace when possible. We’re at such high levels, what’s down? We go down to $9 on WPC 80. two years ago that was unheard of ever. So, part of this, I think, is a function of a changing consumer shift. Will that stay? It’s hard to say. If people are feeling better about how they feel and how they live, I would say that demand’s gonna remain strong. What I found interesting is that lactose still sells. It seems like the whole dry complex is relatively healthy. As we talk in our industry, we’ve always talked for years about three, four spreads, and I think the thing we’re seeing is the demand for the protein side on Class IV milk, dry powder milk, is gonna keep those prices tight and often inverse compared to what history has shown us, just because that demand for protein is so strong. Ted Jacoby III: One of the things that history has shown us is that people tend to take major market trends, like in this case protein consumption, and underestimate the significant macro shifts in those patterns. It’s been strong, it’s gonna stay strong. How could we be wrong? Is there anything out there that nobody’s paying attention to that we think could cause a fundamental shift in protein demand relative to what we’re seeing right now? Josh White: If we find out GLP-1s are dangerous, things will change fast. And I’m not crediting GLP-1s to this entire movement. I think that too many people actually give all of the credit to the protein movement, to the American adoption of the GLP-1 drugs. I actually think this is a broad movement that was overwhelming dairy’s ability to provide enough of the high-quality protein that the market demanded, particularly when it was on the cheaper end of its historical price curve several years ago. Now, we’re in a spot where the market is moving in this direction, the health and wellness trend is a global trend, the science is behind dairy as a highly functional and digestible protein And then you have this catalyst of many Americans watching their diet better than ever before and wanting to enhance their total digestible protein intake and create an efficient use of the calories that they’re bringing in. It’s the perfect storm. That being said, it’s the perfect storm that may have driven prices slightly above where we would’ve seen them without the intervention or addition of the GLP-1 user community. If that were to shift, it could take the entire final tier out of this price, and I don’t even wanna try to [00:27:00] define what that tier looks like at the moment. Mike Brown: I think the bigger threat is through food science, no matter what it might be, is alternative proteins to milk. I think we can’t underestimate what may happen with plant proteins, for example, with time, with genetics. It gets down to a cost, and we all know the functionality can be very different, and to Josh’s point, nutrition can be very different. Does the price spread get wide enough? For example, if you go into the protein bars in your local Costco, the ones that are the lowest cost are the pea protein. They’re plant protein-based bars. The whey and milk protein are higher. I don’t think we wanna assume that it’s dairy’s business forever, ’cause there’ll be people looking at ways to get the taste, flavor, and to some degree the digestibility with alternative sources. Just because if there’s a savings in the long run, they’ll try to do it. So far, I think the success has been kinda limited, but I wouldn’t wanna count it out not happening. There’s enough dollars at stake to make it worthwhile to look into that. Ted Jacoby III: You know what, Mike? I’ll piggyback on what you’re saying, and I would say this. If we step back five years and remember the time when all we were talking about was cellular agriculture and how you could create all this protein in a vat, and then that kinda just died off, and I think it died off because people found that it was more expensive than they thought to run that process. However, innovative technology such as cellular protein tends to have, come in waves, where the first wave often will fail, but then people in the background will continue to work on ways to improve the process, make the process more efficient. And if another innovation comes along that makes it less expensive, all of a sudden you can see a big rise in, let’s say, whey protein-like proteins being created in a vat, a la cellular agriculture. Mike Brown: It hasn’t popped like we all thought it was going to, or at least a lot of the industry did. I’m a former insulin user. I know what it costs to make insulin. It’s the same process. It’s kinda hard to make a digestible protein with that process and make it competitive cost-wise. For example, take lactoferrin. That’s a different story. And- Mm-hmm … … as they get more efficient, will we move down the chain to more common ingredients or even supplements, too. I’ve learned, with food science, just never say never, ’cause you’ll be surprised. Someone’ll come up with something that can make a difference. Meanwhile I think the demand for high-quality protein isn’t going away. I think we need to make sure that dairy remains the key source of that, ’cause right now it certainly is. The high-protein products that are the most popular are milk protein based or whey protein based. Ted Jacoby III: Cool. Thanks, Mike. All right, guys, before we wrap up, what conferences are we going to in the next couple of months? Let’s tell our listeners where they might be able to find us. Diego, how about you? Diego Carvallo: So, we’ll have a stand at the next show in Mexico City at the end of September. It’s called Banamex Mexico City Show. Would love to see you guys there. Ted Jacoby III: Is that the one everybody refers to as FOOD TECH®? Diego Carvallo: Yes, exactly. Ted Jacoby III: Perfect. Yeah. Awesome. How about you, Josh? Josh White: The International Whey Conference in Chicago is in September, and we’ll have some people at that along with the ADPI board of directors meeting. And then shortly after as we get into October, SupplySide Global [00:30:00] is in Las Vegas, and we will be exhibiting in the ADPI section. Ted Jacoby III: Excellent. Awesome. And I will probably be joining Diego at FOOD TECH®, and then Joe and I will be heading over to Food Ingredients Europe in November. So look forward to seeing everybody there. Hey, thanks everybody for tuning in. I hope this was a educational market discussion for everybody, and look forward to seeing you guys soon. End commercial. Mike Brown: For one part of the supply chain to be successful, everyone has to be. My superpower is practical application of data and analysis. I believe firmly that Jacoby’s success is because we help our suppliers and our buyers be successful. I’m Mike Brown, and I love working for T.C. Jacoby & Co. because I get to help people make their businesses more successful.

also: Carolyn quit our condo's Lil' Library, Frankie got a new scratcher & Grandma Thien deemed Costco stuffed peppers as reckless spending.

Fix & Fogg has made its way onto the shelves of the third biggest retailer, by revenue, in the world. The company's "Everything Butter" can now be found in Costco stores across the Southeastern United States. Chief growth officer Thom Brooks spoke to John Campbell about the expansion.

TONIGHT-CONTENTS-8-26-2026California Swells Weather And Nevada CasinosJeff Bliss discusses a massive southern ocean swell creating rare surfing conditions at Newport Harbor's channel. Driven by an intense tropical storm off Mexico, California is experiencing unprecedented humidity and a nearly five-degree Fahrenheit rise in ocean temperatures, prompting a surge in marine life including hammerhead and great white sharks. Turning to Nevada, Bliss describes the K-shaped economy, where Las Vegas strip casinos profit from wealthy international tourists, while local traffic declines. He details In-N-Out's slow, quality-controlled eastward expansion and concludes with Berkeley's controversial, permissive approach toward housing campus homeless encampments, noting they receive government-funded clean needles and glass pipes. (1)Separation Of Powers And Election FraudRichard Epstein discusses a federal ruling by Judge Indira Talwani blocking the Trump administration's postal mail-in voting regulations for the 2026 midterms. Epstein asserts the administration overstepped, as the Constitution explicitly delegates election regulation to Congress, not the executive. He criticizes Chief Justice John Roberts's defense of the unitary executive, calling his opinions a disgrace that allows executive power to swamp both the legislature and the judiciary. Lastly, Epstein references Paul Krugman's views on Trump's destructive physical and institutional teardown of Washington and laments how flawed standing doctrines prevent ordinary citizens from legally challenging executive overreach in federal court. (2)Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center details the alarming surge of the United States gross national debt to record heights, exceeding forty trillion dollars. She argues that the country suffers from an out-of-control spending problem rather than a lack of tax revenue, citing massive unpaid pandemic spending. De Rugy blames both political parties for avoiding structural reforms and warns of the critical 2032 deadline when Social Security and Medicare funding will face automatic, severe cuts. She predicts that Congress will resort to further debt and inflation, which will heavily penalize the public, while indebted European nations face similar struggles. (3)Economic Boom In Idyllic Lancaster CountyJim McTague details the thriving post-pandemic economy of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Tourism remains robust, with attractions like the Renaissance Faire drawing two hundred thousand visitors annually. The local real estate market is red-hot, with retirees purchasing existing homes with cash and bid-ups creating million-dollar McMansions. McTague notes that rising inflation has packed Costco aisles with middle-class shoppers seeking the famous five-dollar loss-leader rotisserie chickens. He also discusses local commercial resistance to data centers, explaining how the impoverished borough of Columbia rejected a lucrative data center deal that would have solved its fiscal deficits, while baby boomers power local restaurants. (4)Small Business Growth And AI IntegrationGene Marks reports on his travels, conversing with host John Batchelor about a Quebec credit union conference where executives discussed loans, competitiveness, and adopting AI in front and back offices. Due to high mortgage rates, credit unions are shifting focus toward commercial loans. In Atlanta's thriving steel industry, tariffs have boosted competitiveness, and companies are deploying AI-powered robotic arms, gloves, and dogs to improve safety. Finally, a recent Pew Research survey indicates that Gen X is leading AI adoption because older, established professionals feel more secure than younger generations, though Marks calls the fear of job loss an urban legend. (5)French Resistance And World War ExileJane Rogoyska, author of Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War, Part Two: Rogoyska details how German anti-fascists and French Jews fled Paris for Marseilles and Spain in 1941. While Heinrich Mann escaped successfully, philosopher Walter Benjamin tragically committed suicide at the Spanish border. Rogoyska notes that Samuel Beckettjoined the resistance after Paul Léon's arrest. The Abwehr, aided by the treacherous priest Robert Alesch, infiltrated resistance networks, but was sidelined as the Gestapo's brutality worsened. Post-war, the Lutetia hotel became a repatriation center processing concentration camp survivors. Beckett survived and wrote literary masterpieces, while Alesch was executed. (6)Nuclear Politics And Precision Guided WarfareHenry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, discusses the unpublicized nuclear cooperative agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia. He warns host John Batchelor that keeping side agreements secret from the American public prevents Congressional oversight. Saudi Arabia refuses to sign the additional protocol for inspections, claiming it violates sovereignty. Sokolski also highlights Poland's conflicting stances on hosting nuclear weapons, Germany's interest in funding the United Kingdom's Trident submarine program, and how Russia uses precision-guided munitions to target civilians and demoralize Ukraine, moving nuclear weapons further into the background, concluding that this is the new reality. (7)Debating Environmental Politics Of Data CentersKevin Frazier leads a roundtable with Jim McTague and Simon Constable discussing the political and environmental backlash against data centers. Frazier details how Lancaster City welcomed data centers to erase its school district's deficit, while the poorer borough of Columbia rejected a lucrative deal due to local protests. Frazier argues that data centers are vital national infrastructure, defending the construction jobs they create and noting that blocking them harms the digital economy. Finally, Constable shares trivia from his Wall Street Journal quiz, revealing that Virginia leads the United States in data centers, followed globally by the United Kingdom. (8)V

Jim McTague details the thriving post-pandemic economy of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Tourism remains robust, with attractions like the Renaissance Faire drawing two hundred thousand visitors annually. The local real estate market is red-hot, with retirees purchasing existing homes with cash and bid-ups creating million-dollar McMansions. McTague notes that rising inflation has packed Costco aisles with middle-class shoppers seeking the famous five-dollar loss-leader rotisserie chickens. He also discusses local commercial resistance to data centers, explaining how the impoverished borough of Columbia rejected a lucrative data center deal that would have solved its fiscal deficits, while baby boomers power local restaurants. (4)

Can insulin have a place in a fat loss diet? Scott McNally, Skip Hill and Andrew Berry talk about insulin use while dieting, whether bioidentical hormones can limit bodybuilding progress, PED use in natural shows, Anavar vs. Anadrol pre-workout, cardio vs. daily step count, knowing when body fat is too high, and the coaches who influenced them most. Support the podcast! Check out our advertisers and research partners at: http://www.thinkbigbodybuilding.com 0:00 Insulin During a Fat Loss Diet 0:30 Support the Podcast 1:20 Do Bioidentical Hormones Limit Your Progress? 9:00 PED Use in Natural Bodybuilding Shows 14:40 Should You Use Insulin While Dieting? 26:00 Anavar vs. Anadrol Pre-Workout 30:30 Pre-Workout Rituals & Getting Ready to Train 36:30 Do You Need Cardio With a High Daily Step Count? 40:00 Cheap Chicken at Costco 44:30 How Do You Know When Body Fat Is Too High? 49:45 Who Taught Us the Most About Coaching? 58:45 Listener Physique Critique 1:05:00 Skip's Word of the Day 1:08:45 Behind the Scenes

欢迎收听雪球出品的财经有深度，雪球，国内领先的集投资交流交易一体的综合财富管理平台，聪明的投资者都在这里。今天分享的内容叫不聊 A I ，我们还能聊什么？来自躺平指数。最近一个关注很多年的朋友来找我说：“你们这个内容，现在已经变成一个 A I 号了。”他的意思倒不是说，借助A I功能有什么不好。只是以前在这里还能看到的很多东西，现在慢慢看不到了。过去很长一段时间，变化够快的选题逻辑不断把我带向A I，这里市场分歧也够大，值得写的公司和问题自然很多。大家都觉得A I好，我也觉得A I好。只是写到今天，包括我自己在内，也开始觉得，这个话题好像已经有一点无孔不入了。这一篇，我想把A I的含量大幅降下来。倒不是为了唱反调，更不是为了看空A I。只是想暂时把镜头挪开一点，把过去半年里我看到的、想到的那些非A I部分，一件一件写下来。不聊A I，我们当然还有很多东西可聊。1、暴利，我想聊聊消费。在美国住了小半年回国之后，我真的很想看一看，中国的消费究竟发生了哪些变化，但北京没有给我惊喜。家附近的盒马撤店了，也没有新的超市开进来；江浙沪的网友半年前就给我推荐过的餐厅，最近才刚刚开到北京。刷抖音的时候，这种落差会更明显。上海、广州、成都不断有新店、新品牌和新的消费场景冒出来，等类似的东西出现在北京，往往已经是几个月以后。北京当然不缺消费能力，但在跟上最流行的消费节奏这件事上，好像确实慢了半拍。即便如此，即便回来以后没有感受到太多新意，我依然觉得，中国消费大有可为。东方甄选刚刚公布的财报，或许可以说明我为什么还会这么想。二零二六财年，东方甄选 GMV 达到 102 亿元，同比增长 17.6%；剔除与辉同行之后，可比口径下的 GMV 增长了 36.4%。其中，自营产品 GMV 达到 54 亿元，同比增长 42.1%；收入为 57.01 亿元，同比增长 29.8%。净利润则达到 5.44 亿元，同比增长 8684.8%。消费者为一件商品付出的成本，不只有商品本身的售价，还包括为了买到合适的东西投入的时间成本，以及一旦选错需要承担的风险成本。东方甄选替消费者完成筛选、比较和判断，节省的正是后面这两部分成本。只要这种选择足够可信，消费者就愿意为这份确定性多付一点钱。东方甄选这一财年的经营利润率大约是 11.6%，净利率约为 9.5%；经调整净利润达到 6.29 亿元，同比增长 262.2%，经调整净利润率约为 11%。这样的利润率，基本印证了前面的判断。至少在现阶段，东方甄选提供的这种确定性，以及它提前建立起来的消费者信任，都是稀缺的。但如果尽可能放在相近的口径下比较，Costco 的经营利润率约为 3.8%，净利率约为 2.9%；山姆美国业务的经营利润率约为 2.6%，没有单独披露净利润率。三家公司的业务结构和收入确认方式都不完全一样，但至少从数量级上看，东方甄选目前的利润空间，明显比它希望对标的山姆，以及与山姆模式相近的 Costco 更厚。利润率高不好吗？在我看来，还不够好，最起码，不太可能持续。替消费者选东西这件事，在中国很多人都可以做。没有哪个国家的消费者，钱是大风刮来的。把视角放得更长一些，东方甄选在如今消费大环境之下的高利润率，会吸引越来越多的公司复刻它的模式，确定性本身也会逐渐变得不再稀缺。到了那个时候，竞争就会从谁能替消费者选出好东西，进一步走向谁能把好东西卖得更便宜。东方甄选这一次的业绩暴增，证明了它替消费者节省选择成本的模式确实成立；接下来更重要的问题，是它能不能把已经建立起来的选品能力、信任和规模，继续转化成更低的价格。只要能做到这一点，我相信，东方甄选会得到更多大资金的认可。2、沉闷我也想聊聊文化娱乐，聊聊大众流行文化行业。直到今年8月，能让我印象深刻、觉得值得拿出来写的东西并不多。没有什么特别亮眼的游戏。完美世界的《异环》开头挺惊艳，很少有游戏公司真的能把一座城市做出来。海特洛的日式二次元味道有点重，我原本还是期待它把这座城市一点一点打开，再去做一些完全不同的城市风格。可到了 1.2 版本，更新又走回了奇幻原野的路子，这个方向确实没有特别吸引到我。它的商业表现倒不差，截至 8 月 18 日，全球累计流水已经超过 20 亿元，手游端也曾在海内外主要市场多次进入 iOS 游戏畅销榜前五，后面我还会继续观察。另外，世纪华通旗下盛趣游戏的《冒险岛》怀旧服，也值得说一说。从长期来看，怀旧服最终拼的还是内容储备和更新。《魔兽世界》怀旧服之所以获得成功，是因为从经典 60 到《熊猫人之谜》，本来就有五个版本可以一段一段重新释放。那是原版八年内容积累留下来的家底，再加上足够大的群众基础，才有了长期商业运营的空间。《冒险岛》现在的热度当然很高，开服几分钟，四组预注册服务器就全部爆满，排队的情况也很出圈。不过，这次爆火至少没有带来股价的估值重估。对我来说，更值得观察的，是这份热度最终能否转化为长期收入。快手自研的《诡秘之主》刚刚公测，我没有玩太多；不过我挺想顺着这个话题，聊一聊阅文。起点最近加强了对“非真人自动化创作”的治理，那些利用A I或其他自动化手段替代真人完成核心内容的作品，会视违规程度被暂停推荐、撤下榜单，甚至遭到屏蔽和下架。最近一批被处理的作品被移出了月票榜和畅销榜，也失去了官方重点推荐。对网文作者来说，这会显著压缩作品继续获得新读者的机会，后续收入也会直接受到影响。我想不明白的是，起点面对番茄的免费攻势，A I辅助创作真的让平台处于不利竞争地位了吗？对读者来说，到底是不认可A I辅助写网文，还是就不认可这篇网文真的很烂呢？再说了，A I介入到什么程度才算替代真人完成核心内容，平台至今也没有公开一个清楚的标准。在这种情况下，有必要先把这些作品赶出核心榜单吗？网文动不动就是两三百万字，甚至五六百万字，光靠一个人长期维护人物、剧情和伏笔，本来就很困难。我有时会想，如果《诡秘之主》当时有A I辅助，克莱恩在晋升序列三古代学者之后的剧情可能就不会那么崩。再想到《秦吏》作者七月新番的英年早逝，想到更新停在半途的《诛仙二》，让我更希望A I能替优秀作者分担一些机械而耗神的工作，让他们少操一点心，写得更久，也活得轻松一点。更何况，网文之外的文艺创作领域，从漫画、短剧、视频和电视剧，到电影、游戏，几乎所有门类都在思考怎么更好地与 A I 融合。这个时候，阅文反而收紧 A I 创作的空间，究竟是在开历史倒车，还是在给创作中的“人味儿”保留最后一块自留地？最后，再来聊一聊泡泡玛特。它最新一份财报确实不好看。二零二六年上半年，公司收入同比增长 23.8%，归母净利润同比增长 10.1%，两项数据都低于市场预期。王宁也说，二零二六年是一个“调整年”，年初定下的全年营收增长 20%目标“也许完不成”。与此同时，多个明星IP的表现也在转弱。你可以说这次财报不好，也可以说 LABUBU 正在离流行的顶峰越来越远。综合来看，这些不利因素确实构成了市场阶段性看空泡泡玛特、重新评估其估值的理由。单个角色退潮，是这类以玩偶为载体、以角色为核心资产的 IP 公司迟早要面对的常态。它的长期价值，取决于能否持续发现角色、把角色做成产品，再通过渠道放大。因此，市场可以收回 LABUBU 给泡泡玛特带来的估值溢价，但还不能断言，下一个爆款一定不会从这里出来。3、耐心我原本想从光伏写起。我过去也能算是能源行业的从业者，对光伏、对风电和油气行业一直都有感情。这几年，几乎每到年中和年末，我都会回头看看这个行业又走到了哪里。可过去半年，我几次把隆基、通威的名字写进文档，想来想去，最后还是把文档关掉了。也许正因为熟悉，才更难写。光伏今天的问题，当然是行业参与者过去几年的选择共同推到这里的。可走到今天，一家公司可以减产，可以压缩资本开支，也可以调整技术路线。面对隆基、通威持续承压的业绩和长期低迷的市场表现，我很难再站在一边苛责它们。更何况，我也给不出什么有意义的解决方案。让它们别卷、别扩产、把产品卖贵一点，谁都会说；甚至还能看到有人劝企业别当“卖国贼”，别把设备卖给美国、卖给印度，更是站着说话不腰疼。一篇文章写到最后，如果只剩下这些正确而无用的话，多少还是有一点何不食肉糜的傲慢。这个行业目前遇到的问题，已经不是靠行业企业自身的力量可以解决的了。把光伏放下以后，我又想到另一个很想写、却也拖了很久的题目——黄金。它们看起来没有什么关系。光伏让我反复面对一种无力感，问题明明摆在眼前，我却拿不出一个自己相信的答案。到了黄金这里，难处又换了一种。支撑它的逻辑一直都在，可真要把黄金股拿住，远比想象中难。绕来绕去，最后剩下的还是两个字，耐心。无论是在公开发表的文章里，还是在其他半公开的场合，我从来没有掩饰过对黄金的看好，态度也一直很坚定。我自己也一直持有黄金股，其中相当一部分是矿业股。回头来看，从两三年前我开始覆盖黄金到现在，支撑它的那些逻辑几乎没有发生变化。美元周期、全球储备结构、地缘政治的动荡，以及央行对黄金的持续配置，今天仍然都在。可持有的过程，比我想象中更难，也更深刻：因为方向正确，不代表你不会付出代价。我原本以为，黄金股即使有波动，大体也会随着金价慢慢往上走；可真正持有起来才发现，它的波动远比预想的更剧烈。紫金黄金国际今年的走势，就是一个很直接的例子。1月底，它的收盘价一度达到253港元；到6月底，只剩88.5港元，五个月回撤接近65%；随后不到两个月，股价又从低点反弹超过80%。而在这场大起大落里，公司的业绩并没有坏。二零二六年上半年，紫金黄金国际的矿产金产量同比增长 44%，收入翻倍，归母净利润增长 179%，经营现金流增长 331%。企业的产量、收入、利润和现金流都在增长，账户却仍然可以在几个月里缩水一半。这种时候，旁边总有别的股票涨得更快。过去半年，存储等 A I 链上的公司一轮接一轮地上涨，我当然也动过把黄金股仓位挪过去的念头。只是来来回回琢磨了很长时间，也费了很大力气，最后还是没有砍掉这部分仓位，去追那些短期看起来更诱人的机会。即便如此，站在现在往后看，我仍然没有看到足以推翻黄金中长期逻辑的变量。央行购金、储备多元化、美元周期和地缘风险都还在。我对黄金和黄金矿业股的长期方向依然偏正面，也愿意继续持有。可在这个过程里，坚定看多黄金只是其中一小部分，剩下的，是逻辑没有改变的时候，还能不能承受回撤，能不能忍住不去追逐旁边那些看起来更快、更容易的机会。4、结语写到这里，我想我大概可以回答那位朋友了：不聊A I，当然还有很多东西可聊。只是过去半年留在我脑子里的东西其实很杂。有些是看完一份财报以后冒出来的念头，有些只是玩过一款游戏、逛过一家店以后留下的印象；还有一些，我来来回回琢磨了很久，到现在仍然没有想明白。它们很难被拢进一条清楚的主线，但这大概就是我在过去半年里看到的市场。这些零散的东西未必不重要。投研是在寻找答案，却也经常只是把一个问题看得更清楚，然后承认自己暂时还给不出答案。能够说清楚的，就把判断留下；一时说不清楚的，也没必要为了让文章显得完整，硬给它安上一个漂亮结论。先把犹豫原样放在这里，等过一段时间，再回来看看。市场永远会有下一个热点，追没追上当然重要；可一个阶段过去以后，我更希望自己没有因为一个地方太热闹，就忘了看看别处。那一点愿意多停一会儿、再多看一眼的好奇，大概就是我不想丢掉的东西。

Sheil, Billy, and Tom get together to analyze and debate some of the biggest and most interesting topics currently swirling around the NFL media landscape.(00:00) Ten preseason stories that have our attention!(04:12) One-of-one Topps patches for rookies(06:57) Have we reached football broadcast saturation?(09:53) NFL scraps the Pro Bowl(16:55) New NFL rules for suspensions and violations(25:33) What are we hearing?(37:26) New NCAA rules for NFL players(54:53) Preseason revenge game for Tua Tagovailoa?(01:01:09) Browns name Deshaun Watson starter for Week 1(01:12:00) No more 'Hard Knocks' in-season series(01:19:15) NFL and Disney pairing teams with characters(01:21:45) Remembering Dolly Parton and Tim CurryUpgrade Your Performance with Orgain Creatine. Available at Amazon, Costco, Walmart & Whole Foods.The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines.Host: Sheil KapadiaGuests: Tom Pelissero and Billy GilProducer: Chris SuttonVideo Editor: Stefano SanchezProduction Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We welcome Marise May, co-founder and Co-CEO of Cha's Organics, maker of Canada's top-selling organic coconut milk, and the driving force behind the brand's elephant conservation work in Sri Lanka. With a deep focus on ethical sourcing, regenerative agriculture, and building purpose into profit, she helps founders and mission-driven brands break past buzzwords, stay financially disciplined, and build something that actually lasts.In this deep-dive conversation, Marise reveals what it really takes to keep a purpose-driven brand alive, sharing behind-the-scenes stories from twenty years building Cha's Organics into a fixture on shelves at Costco, Whole Foods, and Erewhon. She shares actionable strategies, from surviving a shipping crisis that sent container costs from $4,000 to $18,000, to the factoring deal that gets her paid by Costco in days instead of months, and explains why she believes profit isn't the enemy of purpose, it's what makes purpose possible.Topics DiscussedPurpose vs. Profit.Spotting Impact Washing: How to tell when a brand's values are real. The $18K Container: Staying profitable and keeping every fair trade promise.The Costco Factoring Trick: How import brands get paid in days instead of waiting on 90-day retail terms.Monkey Labor-Free Sourcing: The hidden coconut industry practice most shoppers have never heard of.Restoring an Ancient Elephant Habitat: Rebuilding a Sri Lankan reservoir to stop the human-elephant conflict at its root.Relationships Over Pitch Decks: Why knowing your buyer, your store manager, and your consumer matters more than the product itself.Trust Your Gut, Not the Trend: Reading past social engineering and corporate-funded science to make calls that actually hold up.Connect with Marise on LinkedInConnect with Cha's Organics on InstagramConnect with Sebastian on InstagramSebastianNaum.com

Catch Up With All Things Tony Katz! https://wibc.com/schedule/tony-katz-morning-news/ Costco shoppers can now have sheet cakes and party platters delivered. Indiana Commerce Secretary Chuck Goodrich joins Tony to discuss his new role in the Braun administration. Iranian Vice President said they would have stopped enrichment had they known that their supreme leader would be killed. After a long week... Take the long way homeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am Rolf Claessen and my co-host Ken Suzan and I are welcoming you to episode 178 of our podcast IP Fridays! Today's interview guest is Caitlin Byczko, who is partner with Marnes & Thornburg in their IP team. Ken is discussing dupe culture with her. Here is the profile of Caitlin Byczko https://btlaw.com/en/people/caitlin-byczko But before we launch into this very interesting interview, I have some news for you: On August 10th, 2026, Navitas Semiconductor filed suit against Renesas Electronics in the Eastern District of Texas, accusing Renesas of infringing four US patents on gallium nitride semiconductor technology through its SuperGaN product lines. The filing follows a countersuit Renesas brought on July 22nd, 2026, accusing Navitas and two of its employees of misappropriating trade secrets. It shows how patent disputes and trade secret claims between competitors are increasingly being fought on multiple fronts at once, and often as tit for tat. It also emerged on August 12th, 2026, that an EPO Board of Appeal had dismissed an appeal by Atlas Global Technologies and ruled that its WiFi patent, EP 3 353 901, case T 1230/25, could not be maintained in any form at all, even though the original opponents, TP-Link and Vantiva, had already withdrawn their oppositions. That knocked out the basis for several parallel infringement suits at the Unified Patent Court, which were then withdrawn. For suppliers and implementers, the takeaway is that fighting a patent held by a non-practising entity can still be worth it, even once the original opponent has thrown in the towel. On August 10th, 2026, the Unified Patent Court in The Hague fully revoked Maxell’s patent EP 2 061 230, covering technology for handing off content to a second device, and at the same time dismissed Maxell’s infringement claim against several Samsung entities, in cases UPC_CFI_251/2025 and UPC_CFI_769/2025. The judges found the patent to be nothing more than an obvious combination of routine adaptations, with no additional technical effect. And now – let's hear the interview with Ken and Caitlin! A dupe used to be a quiet, slow thing. You’d stand in the cereal aisle, notice the generic box next to the name brand, buy it, tell a friend. Word spread over months. That world is gone. On this episode of IP Fridays, Ken Suzan sat down with Caitlin Byczko, partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Indianapolis, to talk about what’s replaced it: a TikTok-driven economy where a single video can sell out a dupe product within hours, sometimes before the original brand’s own team even knows it exists. Byczko litigates and prosecutes trademarks across retail, fashion, luxury goods, technology, and pharmaceuticals, and she’s watched dupe culture evolve from a marketing footnote into one of the more active battlegrounds in trademark law. Here’s what she told us, and why it matters even if your brand has never heard the word “dupe” used about it. Counterfeit and Dupe Are Not the Same Thing, Legally Byczko opened with what she called the most important distinction in this entire conversation: the difference between a counterfeit and a dupe. A counterfeit uses someone else’s actual trademark. Think of a fake Chanel bag stamped with the interlocking C’s, or a fake Louis Vuitton logo. That’s straightforward infringement, and above certain thresholds, a federal crime. A dupe is different. It mimics the look, feel, or performance of a product without using the name or the logo at all. Elf Cosmetics, Zara, Costco’s Kirkland brand, and Quince have all built parts of their business on exactly this model. No one is pretending to be Chanel. They’re offering something that looks and performs similarly, at a fraction of the price, under their own name. Media and social media use “dupe” and “counterfeit” interchangeably. Legally, that’s sloppy, and it matters, because the two categories trigger completely different legal analyses. If There’s No Logo, What Are Brands Actually Suing Over? This is where trade dress comes in. Trade dress protects the overall look and feel of a product: packaging, color combinations, shape, label design. Byczko pointed out that most of us interact with trade-dress-protected products every day without realizing it. The test is likelihood of confusion. Courts look at how similar the products actually look, how sophisticated the shoppers are, and whether there’s real evidence that people were confused. Byczko flagged one case as a genuine roadmap for this area: Van Leeuwen v. Rebel Creamery, an ice cream trade dress dispute that came out of the Eastern District of New York. In her view, the strength of that case came down to how precisely the brand defined its trade dress for the packaging. That precision, she said, did a lot of the work toward the outcome. She’s also watching Lululemon v. Costco, which she expects to be significant partly because it doesn’t rely on trademark and trade dress alone. Byczko noted that brands are increasingly stacking causes of action together: trademark, patent, false advertising, all pointing at the same product. And she’s tracking Sol de Janeiro v. Macau Beauty, a case she finds notable because it pulls in influencer content and testimonials as evidence, not just packaging and trade dress claims. Macau Beauty, she noted, has already been sued multiple times across different jurisdictions. A note for readers outside the US: trade dress as a distinct doctrine doesn’t exist as such in Germany. The closest tools here are the three-dimensional trademark and, more practically, the wettbewerbsrechtlicher Nachahmungsschutz under Section 4 No. 3 of the German Act Against Unfair Competition (UWG). That provision protects product shape, packaging, and get-up against imitation when the original has wettbewerbliche Eigenart, competitive distinctiveness, and the copy creates avoidable confusion about origin, unfairly exploits the original’s reputation, or was built on dishonestly obtained know-how. It’s a narrower, more fact-specific tool than US trade dress, but the underlying logic Byczko describes, define your product’s distinctive features early and precisely, applies just as much on this side of the Atlantic. Why the Evidence Problem Changed Everything Ken asked what’s actually driving the current wave of disputes, and Byczko’s answer was simple: evidence. Ten or twenty years ago, if you sent a cease-and-desist letter or went to trial, you had almost nothing concrete to show about how consumers actually perceived two products. Now you have TikTok comment sections, influencer testimonials, and entire genres of “dupe content” documenting exactly what shoppers think, in their own words, in real time. In the Sol de Janeiro case, Byczko noted that part of the complaint isn’t just about packaging and trade dress. It’s about what influencers said, what claims they made, and what that content reveals about actual consumer confusion or the absence of it. That’s evidence litigators simply didn’t have access to a decade ago, and it cuts both ways: it can prove confusion, or it can just as easily prove there wasn’t any. Why Dupes Took Off: Economics, Status, and a Generational Shift Byczko was careful to frame this part as her personal read, not a sociologist’s conclusion, but it’s a read shaped by watching these disputes up close. Part of it is straightforward economics. Gen Z is shopping under real affordability pressure, and dupes let them participate in trend cycles without the price tag. Byczko cited a projected $12.6 trillion in Gen Z spending power by 2030, a generation too significant for brands to write off. The other part is cultural. A generation ago, owning a visible logo was the status symbol. Now, for a lot of younger shoppers, being the savvy one, the person who finds the dupe first and tells their followers about it, carries its own status. It’s less “I have the real thing” and more “I outsmarted the markup.” Byczko also pointed to growing public skepticism toward paying five or ten times more for a product purely because of the name on the packaging, particularly in beauty and fashion. The PR Trap: When Enforcement Backfires One of the sharpest points in the conversation was about what happens after a brand decides to enforce. Suing over a dupe can read very differently in public than it does in a courtroom. Byczko put it directly: going after a dupe can easily look, to the public, like a big corporation coming down on a small competitor, or worse, on its own customers, the same people who made the original brand aspirational in the first place. She’s seen this dynamic play out repeatedly in high-profile cases. Her advice: treat enforcement as a communication strategy, not just a legal one. Sometimes the smarter move isn’t a lawsuit at all. It’s a quieter cease-and-desist letter, a takedown request, or doubling down on marketing that explains what actually makes the original worth the price. Charlotte Tilbury has leaned hard into this approach, building campaigns around the idea that the original simply can’t be remade. Olaplex ran a similar play with its “OlaDupe” campaign. Legal and marketing, Byczko said, have to work together on this, not in sequence. What Brands Should Actually Do Byczko laid out three practical layers, all before litigation ever enters the picture. First: register your trademarks, and where a product design is genuinely distinctive, pursue trade dress or design patent protection early, before a dupe exists and before you know whether the product will even take off. That timing problem is real. Brands rarely know in advance which product will become the one worth copying. Her advice was to look at long-standing anchor products, the ones that have quietly carried a brand identity for years, and ask whether they’re actually protected. Second: monitor. A large share of dupe disputes start on social media, not in a courtroom. That means someone needs to be watching hashtags and influencer content, not just from direct competitors, but from adjacent or even unrelated brands that could end up duping a product without anyone noticing until it’s already trending. Third, and the one Byczko clearly considers most underused: consumer education and brand storytelling. “This is the original” is a weak pitch on its own in a market flooded with cheap alternatives. What works better is explaining, specifically, what makes a product different: its formulation, its sourcing, its performance, its longevity. Give people a real reason to pay more, not just a claim to authenticity. Where This Goes Next Byczko doesn’t think dupe culture is a passing trend. Her expectation is closer to “there will eventually be a dupe of everything,” and she’s watching an interesting generational pattern where teenage shoppers are teaching their mothers about dupes, who are in turn teaching their own mothers. On the legal side, she expects more clarity as cases like Van Leeuwen work their way through the system, giving brands a clearer formula for how to define and defend trade dress. On the brand side, she expects less reliance on litigation as the primary weapon and more investment in what’s genuinely hard to copy: real innovation, ingredient transparency, and storytelling that a dupe simply can’t replicate. One data point she raised stuck with us: search interest in the word “craftsmanship” is at its highest point in twenty years. After years of leaning into dupe culture, there are signs some consumers are swinging back toward wanting the original, the real ingredient, the real technique, the thing that can’t be copied to the same quality. For brands sitting on distinctive packaging, a signature shape, or a product identity they’ve never formally registered, that’s less a trend forecast than a to-do list. Here is the full transcript: Ken Suzan: Thank you, Ralf. Our guest today on the IP Friday’s podcast is Caitlin Byczko. Caitlin is a partner with Barnes and Thornburg LLP and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Caitlin crafts and defends global brand strategies, protecting intellectual property assets with creative solutions and highly tactical advocacy. She excels in trademark prosecution and litigation before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and federal district courts, safeguarding trademarks and digital properties for businesses of all sizes and at every stage of the business life cycle. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, Caitlin manages clients’ intellectual property needs across diverse industries. Her experience spans retail, fashion, luxury goods, sports, technology, agriculture, venture capital and pharmaceuticals. Beyond trademark law, Caitlin brings valuable insights from her law school experience with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, and her previous work serving in a technology company’s in-house legal department. Her tenacious nature and clever problem-solving skills shine through in complex matters, earning praise from clients and colleagues alike. Caitlin is co-author of “Dupe Culture Meets the Courtroom,” published in Global Cosmetic Industry on March 16, 2026. Welcome, Caitlin, to the IP Friday’s podcast. Caitlin Byczko: Hi, Ken. Thank you so much. I’m very honored to be here. Ken Suzan: Yeah, so Caitlin, today we’re talking about dupe culture, a topic that is rapidly becoming front for many brands around the world. What’s the actual difference between a dupe and a counterfeit? Caitlin Byczko: That is one of my favorite questions. This is the most important distinction to draw when we are talking legally about dupes because the difference, because media and social media often use the words interchangeably and legally they’re very different. A counterfeit is a product that uses someone else’s actual trademark. We often think of a fake Chanel bag with interlocking C’s or a fake Louis Vuitton. It’s relatively straightforward trademark infringement and generally above certain thresholds is a federal crime. A dupe, by contrast, is a product that mimics the look, feel, or performance product without actually using the name or logo. We often think of it in the beauty products, in the fashion space, some brands like Elf Cosmetics, which was in the article you just mentioned, Zara, Costco’s Kirkland brand, Quince, who are all very well known in the dupe space. Ken Suzan: What has led to the rise of dupe culture? I’m reading about it virtually every day. Caitlin Byczko: I feel very strongly about this and I’m always talking about it in my legal and non-legal worlds. It’s a very interesting societal change that I think we’ve seen over the past year. I am a lawyer, I am not a marketer, I am not a sociologist, but in my opinion, social media and influencer culture specifically has really created the kind of rise in dupes that we see today. I don’t think we can talk about modern dupe culture without talking about TikTok specifically. Dupe content is its own genre, essentially on TikTok and on Instagram. There’s a whole vocabulary that people are dupe influencers, where their whole product, everything that they’re doing and selling, all of the content they’re making is dupe related. What’s really changed is the speed, I think, around when other products or when a dupe product comes out, how it can be marketed and how people can find out about it. The speed of commerce itself has increased wildly as a result, in part because of social media. A product used to take months to build a reputation as a good alternative. When we think about things, generic cereal is one thing that I have been talking about with my parents with respect to dupe culture. It was one of the things that there used to be, you would go to the store and there would be the cereal, the name brand cereal, and then there would be the generic version of the cereal, which was usually less expensive. That in a way was a dupe. It took a long time. Your friends knew about the dupe cereal and then you knew about the dupe cereal. Then it all got around. Now a single video can send a dupe product sold out within days, within hours sometimes. Oftentimes, a brand’s own team doesn’t even know about the dupe until it’s already been wildly out. Part of it becomes this legal issue when there are claims coming around the dupe. In the Sol de Janeiro case against Macau Beauty, part of the complaint isn’t just about the trade dress and the packaging, which I think we’ll talk about. It’s about the influencer content and the testimonials and what people are saying about the dupes. There’s so much evidence now and there’s so much content and there’s so much out there regarding dupes on social media, on TikTok, and in other places. Ken Suzan: Yeah, and it’s an ever-evolving story. Every day there’s new social media content, more evidence for a potential gain, right? Caitlin Byczko: Absolutely. Ken Suzan: So if dupes aren’t using a particular brand name, how are companies suing over them at all? Caitlin Byczko: So this is really where trade dress comes in, and trade dress, as most of us know, has been around for a long time. There are a lot of very well-known things that you probably see or use every day that you don’t know are protected by trade dress, but they are. And the trade dress protects the overall kind of look and feel of a product. So if you think about things like packaging, color combinations, shape, label design, when that becomes distinctive enough, right? When consumers see that and kind of immediately understand it has the secondary meaning related to the brand owner, then it can become a protectable trademark. And so the test for trademark infringement is likelihood of confusion. And courts will look at the factors of how similar the products actually look, how sophisticated the shoppers are, whether there’s evidence that people were actually confused. I think one of the big cases in the trade dress space that came out since you and I discussed originally, Ken, is the Van Leeuwen versus Rebel Creamery ice cream case. And so for any of those interested, it’s a very interesting opinion. It just came out of the Eastern District of New York. I think that really helps people, brands specifically, kind of provide a roadmap with respect to how to define a trade dress. I think they did an excellent job there defining what the trade dress was for the packaging. And I think that that had a lot to do with the success. Ken Suzan: Yes. Ken Suzan: Why do you think younger consumers gravitate towards dupes so much more than past generations did? Caitlin Byczko: I think there are a few things that are kind of top of each other. The obvious one is economics. I think younger consumers, especially Gen Z, they’re shopping in an environment where there’s affordability pressure. And I think that dupes let them participate in certain trend cycles without the price tag. Gen Z is a significant demographic behind the growth of dupes. And they have a predicted spending power we saw recently, $12.6 trillion by 2030. Ken Suzan: Wow. That’s incredible. Caitlin Byczko: I think it is really also coupled with more of what I would say is a cultural shift. Again, I am a lawyer and this is just my opinion. But what feels aspirational is really changing, I think. And a generation ago, we saw in the fashion world, there was a really big, people really liked logos. Having a logo, owning a logo was the point. And now for a lot of younger shoppers or even more savvy shoppers, actually being a savvy shopper is the status symbol itself. So for a lot of creators, finding the dupe before anyone else or being the one who tells your followers about the dupe really has its own, and it’s less “I have this real thing” and more, “oh, I outsmarted the markup.” And I think it’s that kind of value. I think younger consumers are more publicly skeptical of the idea that something is worth five or ten times more just because of the name on the packaging. And I think that that becomes the case particularly in beauty and then clothing as well. And so I think it’s coupled with the question of craftsmanship and all of these different things. Like we can’t view anything in a vacuum, which is why I could talk for 500 years about this topic. Ken Suzan: Yeah, definitely. Now brands obviously want to protect themselves. That’s an important thing. But going after a dupe can backfire publicly, particularly on the internet. Can you comment on this possibility and what should brands do? Caitlin Byczko: Sure. I think the biggest thing is what you just said. So I think there’s the legal component. And when we’re assessing this for one of our brand clients, I think we cannot review one without the other. So I think you have to say, do we have this claim? Do we have a protectable trade dress or a look and feel claim? And what is the potential backlash in the public? I think it is also a joint PR concern, because what we see is suing over a dupe can very easily read to the public as, oh, this big brand or big corporation is coming down on a small competitor or on its own customers that made the original brand aspirational. I think that we see this in a lot of the big cases that are out right now. So brands, I think, can start to think about enforcement as a communication strategy first, because sometimes the smarter play isn’t necessarily filing a lawsuit. It’s kind of a quieter cease and desist, a takedown request, or separately, it might be really doubling down on the craftsmanship or on a marketing side of what makes the product worth the price. I think Charlotte Tilbury is a great example of this, who’s really leaned into this kind of “can’t be duped” or “you can’t remake the original” with respect to some of their really core products. And so I think people really need to, or brands really need to, assess: one, how can we define what it is that’s being duped? And again, that’s where I think that Van Leeuwen case, I think, will be really interesting over the next few years, with respect to kind of providing this roadmap to help people say, here is a way that we can try to really define what the trade dress is and then be able to protect it and be able to enforce it. Ken Suzan: Caitlin, are there cases right now, I know we just talked about the Van Leeuwen case, but are there cases right now that you think will actually set the tone for how this area of law develops? Caitlin Byczko: Absolutely. And I think some of the cases probably are even in the works, they’re not even filed yet, which is probably very exciting to us as trademark nerds. I do think the Lululemon versus Costco case will be a big one. It’s not just trademarks and trade dress, as many of them are not. I think a lot of times we see in these cases brands are very smartly using kind of all of the different types of causes of action that they bring: trademark, patent, false advertising, a lot of different things. And so I think that that one is definitely certainly one to watch kind of in the fashion space. And then the Sol de Janeiro versus Macau Beauty. Macau Beauty has been sued multiple times, I think, in various jurisdictions. And so I think part of that one is very interesting to me because I think it’s this, it loops not only trademark protection, but also it brings in false advertising, it brings in influencers, it brings in all of these different things. And so I think, like we had talked about previously, nothing is really viewed in a vacuum. And I think for all of these cases, one really important thing, maybe that we didn’t necessarily have access to 10 years ago, or certainly 20 years ago, is this like just ripe amount of evidence of potential confusion or potential non-confusion. When we go on social media and look at all of these things, and then read the comments and all of this different data that’s out there, it’s fascinating, because if you’re in trial, or if you’re going to trial, you’re sending a cease and desist letter, like there is evidence of what the consumers think right here in front of you, right? And the weight of that evidence obviously depends on what it is. But it’s fascinating the way that you can very quickly identify, you know, is there confusion? Is there not confusion, in a way that you likely could never have even thought to consider 10 to 20 years ago? Ken Suzan: Now beyond litigation, what should brands actually be doing to protect themselves in a dupe-driven market? Caitlin Byczko: I think one of the best things that we can do, right, is starting to register the trademarks. I think that’s an obvious one. And really start to consider where the product is genuinely distinctive. And so if it is genuinely distinctive, pursuing a trade dress or a design patent early, before a dupe exists, before anything happens. And I know that can be difficult, because oftentimes brands don’t know for sure what’s going to take off and what’s not. It can also be a surprise. But I think it’s really pushing brands that when you are innovating and when you are doing something that is truly unique and truly distinctive, or when you’re looking back on your brand assets and saying, this thing has been an anchor brand asset for 10 years, you know, have we sought trade dress protection? Is there a way that we can do that? The second layer really is monitoring, in my mind, because a lot of dupe disputes do start on social media. And I think it is important to have people within a company, if you have a product that you’re really keeping an eye on, or that you’re concerned about being duped or causing confusion, having someone who is keeping eyes on hashtags and influencer content and all of these various things. You know, we’re not watching just your direct competitors, we’re watching other completely different brands, or kind of made-up brands even, who could be duping the product. And then I think the third thing that I see as very important is this kind of consumer education and brand storytelling, which is when we kind of get outside of the purely legal side of it. And, you know, legal and marketing and brand and social kind of all need to work together, right? I think if the only pitch to consumers is “this is the original,” it kind of becomes a weak argument in a market where there are cheap alternatives everywhere. But I think the brands that really explain what actually makes their product different, in its formulation, its sourcing, its performance, its longevity, it really gives people a real reason to say, I want to pay more for this brand because of XYZ, you know, the technology or whatever that is. Charlotte Tilbury is one that I had mentioned. I know Olaplex kind of had a big campaign around “OlaDupe” is what they called it. So I think really unique and interesting marketing also assists with that. Ken Suzan: Caitlin, where do you see dupe culture heading? Is this a trend that plateaus or does it fundamentally change how brands operate? Caitlin Byczko: I think dupe culture itself is here to stay. I mean, I think we are only getting into a world where there is truly going to be a dupe of everything. And it’s not good or bad necessarily. I think it is just where we are in life. And I think, you know, things serve different purposes. And it all depends a lot on how the younger consumers shop. And it’s also changing how older consumers shop. You know, I’ve read a lot about teenage girls teaching their moms about dupes, who are then teaching their grandmothers about dupes, right? So on the legal side, I think we will get clarity eventually. I think right around, you know, all like all of these things, which seem so complex, and we’ll never know the answer. You know, five [years] from now, we will probably have certainly more clarity, because a lot of these cases will move forward. You know, the Van Leeuwen one, which I’ve now talked about multiple times, but I just obviously think it’s very fascinating. I think that that’s one where you have a roadmap, right? And it may be contested, or, you know, everything is very fact-specific in the trademark world. But I think it will open the door to allow people one more aggressive brand enforcement. But it will give people a roadmap proactively to kind of say, if we follow this formula for our trade dress, or, you know, defining our trade dress, then, you know, we have something we can potentially protect. And then I think on the brand side, we’ll likely see less reliance on litigation as the primary weapon and more investment in things that are actually, you know, difficult to dupe: innovation, ingredient transparency, marketing, genuinely interesting brand storytelling is something that we’ve seen. I read this past week that searches for craftsmanship, just like generally the word craftsmanship, and kind of products with craftsmanship, is at an all-time high, than it’s been in like the past 20 years. And so it’s interesting, right, that we have gone from this kind of luxury item or high craftsmanship to this dupe culture that we are in now. But there is some potential shift where people are saying, you know, now, I’ve seen all of this and I have all of these options, but now actually what I do care about is the original, right, the innovation or the ingredient transparency or all of those things that can’t necessarily be copied to the same quality. So it’s why it will just provide us with endless topic of discussion, because I think it will only just keep changing forever. Ken Suzan: That’s right. Caitlin, I want to thank you for spending time with us on the IP Friday’s podcast. This has been very insightful, and I’m sure we’ll be talking about this issue in the months and years to come. Caitlin Byczko: Thank you so much, Ken. I really appreciate it. Ken Suzan: Thank you.

Hour 1 Segment 1 Tony starts another edition of the show talking about Meta pushing others to join them in new safety rules. Hour 1 Segment 2 Tony talks about Costco bakery items now available on Instacart. Hour 1 Segment 3 Tony plays President Donald Trump’s presentation of awarding the congressional space medal of honor. Tony later talks about Chris Murphy saying that illegal immigration is a fake problem and that you would be safer living in a community of illegal aliens than native born Americans. Hour 1 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the first hour of the show talking about needing a larger Navy force for Iran and challenges in China. Hour 2 Segment 1 Tony starts the second hour of the show joined with Steve Yates of The Heritage Foundation to talk about Russia threatening the U.K. over helping Ukraine. Hour 2 Segment 2 Tony talks about CNN’s tribute to Dolly Parton. Hour 2 Segment 3 Tony is joined with Dr. Matt Will, economist from the University of Indianapolis, to talk about Kevin Warsh’s speech in Jackson Hole. Hour 2 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the second hour of the show talking about a Delta pilot making an emergency landing after falling ill. Hour 3 Segment 1 Tony starts the final hour of the show joined with Andrew Langer of the Institute for Liberty and occasional fill-in host, to talk about Vice President J.D. Vance rejecting Milton Friedman’s principles for a much more Alexander Hamilton type. Hour 3 Segment 2 Tony talks about the cyclosporiasis outbreak expanding to three more states with over 11K illnesses. Hour 3 Segment 3 Tony continues his conversation with Andrew Langer talking about being in the post-Trump years and who the Republicans could nominate for the 2028 presidential election. Hour 3 Segment 4 Tony wraps up another edition of the show talking about Karoline Leavitt’s last day as the White House press secretary. Tony also talks about how the Trump administration has handled inflation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 Segment 1 Tony starts another edition of the show talking about Meta pushing others to join them in new safety rules. Hour 1 Segment 2 Tony talks about Costco bakery items now available on Instacart. Hour 1 Segment 3 Tony plays President Donald Trump’s presentation of awarding the congressional space medal of honor. Tony later talks about Chris Murphy saying that illegal immigration is a fake problem and that you would be safer living in a community of illegal aliens than native born Americans. Hour 1 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the first hour of the show talking about needing a larger Navy force for Iran and challenges in China. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Friday Five for August 28, 2026: Still time to register for Ritter Insurance Marketing Summits Medicare & ACA certification update for August 28, 2026 There's more to gastrointestinal distress recovery than BRAT Ritter & Integrity Solutions for Industry Disruption in 2027 IntegrityCONNECT Now Quotes Medicare Supplement   Ways to Connect:

Get a shoutout on Congratulations: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠holler.baby/chrisdelia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

#1,001: Join us as we sit down with Theresa Caputo – also known as the Long Island Medium. After more than 20 years as a practicing medium, doing readings and communicating with Spirit, Theresa has learned far more than how to deliver a message from someone who has passed. In this episode, Theresa shares how to recognize signs from loved ones in the afterlife, what grief can teach us about love and loss, and how to find healing, hope, and peace after losing someone. Theresa shares her perspective on soul bonds, faith, and why our connection to the people we love may continue long after they're gone. Plus, she gives readings throughout the conversation, offering powerful reminders about letting go of guilt, staying open to signs, and finding comfort in the unknown.   For Detailed Show Notes visit TheBossticks.com   To connect with Theresa Caputo click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   Head to our ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of the products mentioned in each episode.   To learn more about Theresa Caputo and her upcoming live shows visit https://theresacaputo.com.    Visit http://istandwithmypack.org to support I Stand With My Pack's (ISWMP) mission by donating or adopting. Every contribution helps!   This episode is sponsored by Just Thrive Go to https://get.justthrivehealth.com/pages/skinny and start your gut health journey today.   This episode is sponsored by Paleovalley Head to http://paleovalley.com/skinny for 20% off your first purchase.   This episode is sponsored by SoFi Visit http://Sofi.com/skinny to learn more and see if a SoFi Small Business Loan is right for your business.   This episode is sponsored by Primal Kitchen Find Primal Kitchen dressings, sauces, and condiments at your local grocery store or on http://Primalkitchen.com.    This episode is sponsored by Unreal Snacks You can also find Unreal products anywhere cravings hit, including at Whole Foods, Target, Costco, and other grocery stores. Visit http://Unrealsnacks.com/SKINNY to get $4 off a bag of Unreal.   This episode is sponsored by WACOAL Visit http://WACOAL.com and use code SKINNY at checkout for 10% off your first purchase. Offer valid for new customers only. Limit one code per customer.   This episode is sponsored by Nutrafol Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you visit http://Nutrafol.com and enter promo code SKINNYHAIR. Produced by Dear Media

On today's 8.27.26 show we talked about the Yerba Buena Tunnel lights, CPAP baddies, new research on CTE, Doja Cat shaded Nicki Minaj, changes to the NFL, the amount of money Justin Baldoni will have to pay to Blake Lively, a new Costco record and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Between a fishing vessel out on the water and a can of tuna in your grocery cart, there is a whole hidden system deciding whether you should trust what is on the label. In this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast, host Andrew Lewin breaks down how that system actually works, and why the blue check mark on your seafood means something real. Andrew starts with the RFMO, a regional fisheries management organization: a treaty-based body where countries with a stake in a fishery legally bind themselves to cooperate on how it is managed. He walks through where these bodies actually meet, how governance decisions travel from those rooms to your dinner table through the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation's transparency and accountability model (audited companies, public compliance reports, vessels scored on public lists), and how the Marine Stewardship Council's certification functions as an eco-label with real financial weight behind it, including why MSC pulled its certification of the Maine lobster fishery twice, in August 2020 and again in December 2022. The throughline is that no single piece of this system works alone. ISSF does the unglamorous, ongoing work of auditing companies and tracking vessels. MSC turns that evidence into the single label a shopper actually sees in the seafood aisle. This episode sets up tomorrow's interview with an ISSF representative who has spent decades inside these negotiations and will walk through what that cooperation actually looks like in the room. Takeaways: A regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) is a treaty-based body that turns "we should manage this fishery responsibly" into an enforceable, multi-country agreement. Eco-labels like MSC certification carry real financial weight. Losing one can force a fishery to change its practices, even when the science on the underlying risk is still ambiguous. The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) does not certify fisheries. It builds the audited evidence trail, including annual compliance reports and the ProActive Vessel Register, that the Marine Stewardship Council draws on to certify them. As of ISSF's November 2024 compliance report, participating companies scored 99.1% compliance across 33 conservation measures, while PVR-registered vessels scored 76% compliance across 12 vessel-specific measures as of December 31, 2023, a gap worth naming. Transparency at the vessel level is what lets retailers like Costco and Walmart hold to their own sustainability commitments, and what lets consumers trust a label instead of just a company's own claim.  

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by R&S Logistics, Duvo and Mirakl.In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:Kohl's Q2 sales inch closer to stable, but its Sephora shop-in-shop falls for a second straight quarter, raising questions about the durability of its turnaround.Target unveils Target Beauty Studio, a 600+ store beauty overhaul featuring 90 brands, two-thirds of them new to the retailer.Costco's custom cakes and party platters land on Instacart for nationwide delivery for the first time, deepening the retailers' 2017 partnership.The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail insights.

Feet will be put to fire to start the show (3:00). We remember Dolly Parton and wonder if there will ever be another like her...or if there even can be (9:52). Memphis AD Ed Scott was at Costco yesterday promoting football season tickets + Penny Hardaway spoke to the team (18:51). SEC aligns with the Big 10 and says their schools cannot have players who were drafted to the NFL and then cut by their team (27:24). Mississippi State cancelled some games against Memphis in football (37:00). UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen joins the show to talk about Saturday night's opener against Memphis, coaching in Las Vegas, what he expects from his team, his favorite restaurants and shows out there and more (49:33).Host: Chris Vernon Contributors: Devin Walker, Jon RoserGuest: Dan MullenTechnical Director: Jaylon Wallace Associate Producer: Jena Broyles 

Why are we so obsessed with watching other people fail? This week, Shane dives into the bizarre arrest of 49ers CEO Jed York, Deshaun Watson getting booed by Cleveland fans, Katey Sagal celebrating 40 years of sobriety, Trump's IndyCar spectacle in Washington, D.C., and the latest U.S.-Canada political beef. It's sports, celebrity culture, politics, sobriety and a whole lot of absurdity, with a sober-minded perspective on why we're so drawn to the chaos. Because apparently, good news doesn't get clicks. But somebody fist-fighting at Costco over 6 Kirkland towels and an umbrella? Now THAT'S content. Join “The Victory Circle”, our FREE Sober Guy Mens Community at https://www.thatsoberguy.com/offers/SvjjuEQ2/checkout Want to go 30 Days Alcohol Free? Try our 30-Day Sober Performance Challenge — https://www.thatsoberguy.com/quit-drinking-alcohol-for-30-days Sober Executive Performance Reset: A 12 Week Private Coaching Experience - APPLY HERE https://www.thatsoberguy.com/coaching Shanes New Book, Sober Guy How Do I - https://a.co/d/81ZIgtE Invite Shane to Speak - https://www.thatsoberguy.com/speaking For More Resources go to http://www.ThatSoberGuy.com Follow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-ramer-7534bb257/ Follow us on Instagram @ThatSoberGuyPodcast Follow us on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/thatsoberguypodcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Allyson has a crazy fact about Costco!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when creativity, community engagement, and data-driven strategy come together in economic development? In this episode of Develop This!, Dennis Fraise speaks with Jeanine Jerkovic, Economic Development Director for Surprise, Arizona, about the city's rapid growth and the innovative approaches helping shape its future. Jeanine shares how Surprise has successfully attracted major retail investments, including projects like Costco and The Village at Prasada, while maintaining a strong focus on community needs and quality of life. A major theme throughout the conversation is the importance of listening. Jeanine explains how engaging residents, understanding local priorities, and incorporating community feedback have helped guide development decisions and build public trust. The discussion also highlights the role of creativity in economic development. From unique marketing efforts to unconventional outreach strategies, Jeanine demonstrates how personality and innovation can help communities stand out in a competitive landscape. Entrepreneurship is another key focus, with insights into how business incubation, small business support, and ecosystem development are contributing to long-term economic growth. Key Takeaways Community engagement is essential for sustainable growth Data and analytics help guide better development decisions Creativity can be a powerful economic development tool Retail attraction requires long-term strategy and persistence Entrepreneurship strengthens local economic resilience Balancing growth with community priorities builds trust and support A people-first approach creates stronger outcomes for residents and businesses Key Topics Covered Retail attraction and major development wins Creative marketing and economic development strategies Community engagement and public input Data-driven decision-making Entrepreneurship and business incubation Managing growth while preserving community priorities Leadership and professional development Sound Bites "Surprise, Arizona—the name says it all." "Adding thousands of homes every year." "17 retailers opened over 10 years."

This time Healthcare Now has a guest live in-studio! Doctor Mark and Larry Jones are joined by the returning Ken Peach with Mobile Medics! What are the advantages of home care? How do we address big controversial issues like vaccines? What role does government oversight play for good or for ill? And what's this about changes at Costco? Better not be a price hike on those hot dogs!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This time Healthcare Now has a guest live in-studio! Doctor Mark and Larry Jones are joined by the returning Ken Peach with Mobile Medics! What are the advantages of home care? How do we address big controversial issues like vaccines? What role does government oversight play for good or for ill? And what's this about changes at Costco? Better not be a price hike on those hot dogs!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Market Mondays is back with a breakdown of the biggest stories moving markets. We cover the bond market, what history says about stocks around midterm elections, warning signs from the VIX, and the biggest investing mistakes people are making right now.We dive into NVIDIA ahead of earnings, Jensen Huang's AI strategy, changing valuations, memory pricing, Micron, CrowdStrike, and the future of the AI trade. We also look at McDonald's as an economic signal, CAVA vs. Chipotle, and why time in the market can beat constantly trading.Plus, we close with audience questions and a rapid-fire This or That featuring Costco vs. McDonald's, Tesla vs. BYD, Robinhood vs. Meta, Bloom Energy vs. JPMorgan, Google vs. Stryker, and more. #MarketMondays #Investing #StockMarket #NVIDIA #NVDA #AI #Bitcoin #Trading #Finance #Wealth #EarnYourLeisureAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What Would You Do With a Refund You Never Planned to Return? From Costco Schemes to Game-Changing Tech and a Four-Year-Old Golf MiracleHow long would it take you to notice someone sneaking a refund into their own pocket? On this hilarious and fast-moving episode of The JB and Sandy Show, JB, Sandy, and Tricia cover everything from clever refund loopholes and college parking disasters to breakthrough technology that's changing lives and a four-year-old golfer who may have already peaked before kindergarten.The show kicks off with a fascinating conversation about smart glasses and how emerging technology is helping people navigate everyday life in ways that once seemed impossible. Sandy shares a heartfelt story about his mom using advanced eyewear to read menus, identify obstacles, and gain more independence, leading to one memorable realization: "Technology... I think it's here to stay, guys."Entertainment contributor Stephen Presley joins the show to reveal the five country artists you absolutely have to see live, sparking debate over the ultimate concert experiences and which legendary performers deserve a spot on everyone's bucket list. Plus, his pitch for a Jackie Chan action-comedy has the entire crew ready to buy a movie ticket before the script is even written. Then things get wonderfully chaotic when Tricia becomes the center of a financial controversy involving Costco returns. What starts as a simple refund quickly turns into a courtroom-worthy debate over ownership of returned money, with Tricia openly admitting she has no intention of handing it back.One of the funniest moments arrives when Sandy accuses her of creating a secret spending fund, while Tricia happily embraces the strategy. The gang also dives into:Two Austin-area schools earning national recognition among America's best high schoolsThe bizarre tale of "Bongholio," a costumed activist making headlines at public meetingsA four-year-old who scored a hole-in-one on his very first golf swingCollege traffic returning in full force as students flood back to campusHilarious memories of parking tickets, booted cars, and creative attempts to outsmart parking enforcementJB's newest obsession: air conditioning in the garage, which he calls one of the best upgrades he's ever madeYou'll laugh at stories of broke college students, nod along to memories of campus life, and maybe even start pricing out your own garage makeover by the end of the episode. Don't miss this fun mix of laughs, surprising insights, memorable stories, and the everyday moments that make The JB and Sandy Show such a favorite. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who always finds a way to keep the refund money.  

Skippy & Doogles go from Costco-fueled gambling and Darth Vader at city council to questionable sports-team valuations, Nike's multiple compression, and whether elite colleges have decided failing is simply too impolite. The episode wraps with a meaty discussion of David Sinra's recent interview with Travis Kalanick.Join the premium Skippy and Doogles fan club. You can also get more details about the show at skippydoogles.com, show notes on our Substack, and send comments or questions to skippydoogles@gmail.com.

Hour 2 of A&G features... Iran's "Economic D-Day" Saunas at the airport & the Costco cat fight Enes Canter Freedom & the WNBA China's humanoid robots & texts from listeners See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Somebody's daughter tried me at Costco. We start with that. This episode has a recipe for a creamy chipotle pasta with cilantro-parmesan croutons. I'm cooking from the Familia cookbook by Marcela Valladolid and you should join me! There's also a recipe for homemade buffalo wings and the most delicious ranch dressing.Of course there's no way we'd miss the opportunity to discuss all of our latest brides. Jordyn Woods and CoCo Jones were both stunning. Project Runway, Love Is Blind UK, a haul from my Grandma and why I'm ready for Fall all on this episode.That's a lot, lol.Got something you want to say about this episode? Send me a text!Support the showAre you getting our newsletter? Join the TVF Sisterhood by subscribing to our monthly newsletter. You'll get the same positive vibes, recipes and workout tips you love from the podcast delivered right into your inbox. You can subscribe here.IG: @TiaVFitnesswww.tiavfitness.comSalad Fund - $TiaVFitness (CashApp/PayPal)

Jim McTague reports Lancaster County's diverse economy—spanning tourism, agriculture, light manufacturing, and healthcare—is showing signs of notable resilience. While heavy July rains and high fuel costs temporarily slowed business, economic activity stabilized in August. Local tourist destinations like Kitchen Kettle Village report strong traffic, attracting over a million visitors annually with unique local goods and food. Lower gasoline prices have also arrived just in time to boost back-to-school shopping. Meanwhile, high inflation is driving steady consumer traffic to Costco for essentials, and local hotels remain heavily booked on weekends through October. (4)

TABLE OF CONTENTS THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 8-21-2026Jeff Bliss reports Las Vegas is planning major upgrades to Allegiant Stadium, with the Raiders seeking $75 million in taxpayer funding to resolve pedestrian choke points and add retail opportunities. In Los Angeles, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass faced criticism after a poor debate performance against challenger Nithya Raman, highlighting her perceived disconnect from critical city problems like expanding homeless encampments. Meanwhile, CaliforniaGovernor Gavin Newsom faces backlash over a state commission's decision to phase out standard car tires, raising costs by hundreds of dollars. Lastly, former Representative Swalwell was detained by the FBI, who seized his electronics over alleged sexual improprieties. (1)Richard Epstein examines the suit by Disney and ABC against the FCC, claiming that threats to review their local television station licenses constitute unconstitutional retaliation for their political late-night and morning show commentary. Epstein agrees ABC's case is strong, arguing that FCC Chair Brendan Carr is abusing regulatory power by treating public airwave licensing as a private property right to suppress critics. Additionally, Epstein asserts that Trump Media's paid service offering fast-access Truth Social posts is, by definition, insider trading, criticizing the president for using inside government knowledge for personal profit. (2)James M. Scott, Part Two: The Potsdam Declaration offered Japan a choice between rebuilding or "utter destruction." President Harry Truman greenlit the atomic bomb on the back of a pink telegram sheet, leading to historic missions piloted by Paul Tibbets, who trained his crew using concrete-filled "pumpkin" bombs. Following the devastating atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—where little was initially understood about radiation's long-term effects—Japan's military leaders still resisted surrendering. Junior officers launched a failed palace coup to destroy Emperor Hirohito's recorded surrender broadcast, but the rapid succession of the two bombings ultimately proved that total annihilation was imminent. (3)Jim McTague reports Lancaster County's diverse economy—spanning tourism, agriculture, light manufacturing, and healthcare—is showing signs of notable resilience. While heavy July rains and high fuel costs temporarily slowed business, economic activity stabilized in August. Local tourist destinations like Kitchen Kettle Village report strong traffic, attracting over a million visitors annually with unique local goods and food. Lower gasoline prices have also arrived just in time to boost back-to-school shopping. Meanwhile, high inflation is driving steady consumer traffic to Costco for essentials, and local hotels remain heavily booked on weekends through October. (4)Lorenzo Fiori reports Europe's severe heatwave is finally breaking as heavy rain and storms across Switzerland and Northern Italy drop temperatures by up to 20 degrees. This rainfall offers critical, long-awaited relief for the dry Po River, which has reached record lows. To escape over-tourism, Fiori recommends Chieti, a historic hilltop town in the Abruzzo region boasting Roman ruins, scenic views of the Adriatic Sea, and nearby mountain peaks. Visitors can explore the medieval fortress of Rocca Calascio and enjoy local culinary traditions, including macaroni with fresh pesto, paired with local white Trebbiano or full-bodied red Montepulciano wine. (5)Bob Zimmerman reports SpaceX is rumored to be expanding to Louisiana with a massive 130,000-acre launch and data center site, while aerospace startup Castelion is successfully building low-cost hypersonic missiles for the Pentagon. Internationally, China achieved a vertical soft landing of its Zhuque-3 rocket first stage, and Ukraine damaged a key Russian rocket factory. In space science, NASA and Catalyst canceled their telescope rescue mission, while Marsexploration continues to reveal delicate rock formations and "taffy terrain." Finally, the James Webb Space Telescopehas discovered unexpected low-mass stars in the early universe, challenging previous cosmological models. (6)Henry Sokolski warns that while nuclear negotiations focus heavily on Iran's uranium, Iran has a neglected second path to weapons: hundreds of bombs' worth of plutonium stored at the Bushehr plant. Sokolski also criticizes the geopolitical reliance on Elon Musk's Starlink, arguing that a private company should not make critical military decisions, such as approving Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia. In Asia, Sokolski addresses North Korea's estimated arsenal of 57 nuclear weapons. Finally, he discusses gray-zone warfare with Russia and the debated trillion-dollar cost of the proposed "Golden Dome" U.S. missile defense system. (7)Jonathan Marcus reports American universities are suffering from declining public trust, soaring tuition costs, and a looming demographic drop in enrollment tracing back to the 2008 recession. Schools that became financially dependent on high-paying international students face severe budget cuts and program closures as foreign enrollment drops. This financial squeeze has forced a shift, prompting the rapid rise of three-year "applied bachelor's degrees" designed to save students time and money. Additionally, domestic universities face a STEM crisis fueled by weak K-12 math performance, leaving advanced research programs vulnerable as China's PhD output rapidly outpaces the United States. (8)Jonathan Marcus applied at (8) as directed. Other fixes: Nithya Raman (transcribed as "Nitia Ramen," segment 1 — the LA councilmember), Castelion (transcribed as "Castellion," segment 6 — the hypersonics startup, one l), and segment 3 marked Part Two of the James M. Scott Empire of Ashes series, continuing from yesterday's Part One. Flag any of these if the audio differs.

Scott-Free August continues, and Kara sits down with Mark Cuban — entrepreneur and co-founder of Cost Plus Drugs. They dig into why prescription drug prices are finally falling, Cuban's war with the healthcare industry, and Costco's surprising Medicare play. Then: why Cuban thinks chips are the new crypto, and California's controversial billionaire tax. Plus — will Cuban actually run for president? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New co-host Tom Pelissero joins the Ringer NFL Show with Sheil and Billy to take a big-picture look at some of the most important questions buzzing around the league as we head toward a brand new NFL season.(00:00) Answering 5 Big Questions for the 2026 NFL Season(02:49) Which QB will we be looking at differently after the '26 season?(23:19) Are the Chiefs going to be back to being the Chiefs?(33:15) Which teams will get the first-year bump from their new coaches?(48:26) Will Rams' blockbuster offseason pay off?(56:46) Which head coaches are under the most pressure?Upgrade Your Performance with Orgain Creatine. Available at Amazon, Costco, Walmart & Whole Foods.The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines.Host: Sheil KapadiaGuests: Tom Pelissero and Billy GilProducer: Chris SuttonVideo Editor: Stefano SanchezProduction Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dale Jr. and Amy are back with another episode of Bless Your ‘Hardt, and this one takes plenty of unexpected turns. The two talk about Dale Sr.'s intimidating presence at home, including a story from one of Dale Jr.'s childhood hunting trips that proves you couldn't get much past his dad. They also recap a wild Costco trip that somehow ends with a new water cooler, talk about questionable grocery-store samples and debate the proper way to eat at a restaurant bar. Then Dale shares the embarrassing story of running out of gas while picking up the girls, Amy reveals what happened when she had to pump gas on the farm, and the crew discusses whether guys actually know when they're being hit on. Plus, Halloween planning begins as Dale and Amy try to settle on a superhero costume, with Batman, Robin, Cat Woman, He-Man and the Incredible Hulk all entering the conversation. It's another round of random stories, family chaos and plenty of laughs. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

INTRO (00:24): Kathleen opens the show drinking a Busch Light Lime, which she feels is a perfect summer beer.    TOUR NEWS: See Kathleen live on her “Flying Cats & Marching Armadillos Tour.”   TASTING MENU (2:24): Kathleen samples Nashville Hot Cheddar Lance Crackers, Ritz Caramel Drizzled Minis, and Dinosaur Sweet & Savory BBQ Sauce.    QUEEN NEWS (28:39): Kathleen shares that Dolly Parton wasn't able to attend the opening of Dollywood's NightFlight Expedition, and Taylor Swift debuted a new short haircut at a friend's wedding in London.    HOLLYWOOD HAPPENINGS (13:56): HollyBobby provides the latest news in Hollywood.   FABULOUS LIVING BY AMY (38:51): Kathleen and her sister-in-law Amy review the 2 most important details needed for a successful Labor day gathering: buffet tables which can be easily found at Target and Costco, and either a Yeti or RTIC cooler.    WHAT ARE WE WATCHING (1:33:25): Kathleen recommends watching “The Billionaire Murders” on Prime Video.    HOLY SHIT THEY FOUND IT (55:49): Kathleen reports on the discovery of a tiny golden “Pikachu” looking brushtail possum in Melbourne, and a 20-metre long Viking ship in the Avaldsnes area of Norway.    NEWS (59:39): Kathleen reports that “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” has a release date, Wendy's is closing 289 stores, Josh Kushner and Bob Iger buy the Lakers, a luxury $9.1M yacht sings days after being delivered, Moya, one of the rarest lions on Earth is photographed in South Africa, Oprah is closing her school in South Africa, Home Depot launches “Christmas In July,” Anna Wintour stirs controversy over the MET Gala, and Seattle's “Jimothy” the raccoon takes the internet by storm.    SPANISH PHRASE OF THE WEEK (1:22:52): The Spanish phrase to learn this week is “qué religión eres” or “what religion are you?” in English.    PATRON SAINT OF THE WEEK (1:28:56): Kathleen reads about feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, the patron saint of AIDS caregivers and young men.    FEEL GOOD STORY (1:26:55): Kathleen shares that Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin finally ends dog breeding for research, releasing the final 155 beagles into freedom.     

Costco pays its hourly wage workers more than most retailers. The company says that this keeps turnover low and ultimately, is good for its business. WSJ's Sarah Nassauer explains how this approach helps the company's bottom line, and speaks to one Costco cashier who's been working there for 40 years and now has more than a million dollars saved for his retirement. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: - Jersey Mike's Journey From the Shore to Wall Street  - How IKEA Is Keeping Its Furniture Affordable Sign up for WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices