WEBVTT - Ford Moves In Right Direction With Euro Job Cuts: Kudla 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:05.320 Welcome to the Bloomberg Penl podcast on Paul Swing You. 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:07.680 Along with my co host Lisa Brahma Waits, each day 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:10.240 we bring you the most noteworthy and useful interviews for 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.520 you and your money, whether at the grocery store or 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.480 the trading floor. Find a Bloomberg Penl podcast on Apple 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.960 podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:22.919 at Bloomberg dot com. Ford announced that it will eliminate 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:28.160 about twenty percent of its workforce across Europe, closing six factories, 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.960 with some in Germany. The shares of the company up 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:36.519 two point two percent. UH, sort of showing how markets 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.200 are viewing this cut jobs as you try to streamline 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.839 your business, and they've been dealing with a host of 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:45.519 issues in Europe in particular. Joining us now to get 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:49.360 a sense of the implications of this announcement. David Kudla, 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:53.479 chief executive officer and chief investment strategist at Mainstay Capital 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:57.240 Management with two and a half billion dollars under management, UH, 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:01.400 sailing from Michigan, where for is based. Thank you so 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.440 much for being with us. David. We love having you on. 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.119 So let's just start with what was your initial knee 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.440 jerk reaction to Ford's announcement this morning about the job cuts. 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.560 Good morning, Lisa, Well we expected this, we knew this 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:18.399 was coming. We've seen forward U continued to streamline, streamline 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:23.839 operations in Europe. The market there is weak overall, and 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:31.720 uh Ford, like GM, has UH the problem of working 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:35.480 in that middle market, selling in that middle market with 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.520 a lot of their products. There's a weak market overall. 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.440 UH they have strength in commercial vehicles, but they're not 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.320 in the luxury car market where the money is made 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:48.360 in Europe, and that's the problem they suffer from. And 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:52.920 so where General Motors decided finally to just exit by 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.559 selling their Opal unit, uh Ford is trying to stay there, 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:58.040 and the only way they can stay there is to 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.640 continue to restructure, restructure, structure, and we're seeing another big, 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.080 big step in that direction. It's interesting, Dave, that you 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:07.200 mentioned GM and OPAL and I look at the stock 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.919 today and I'm sure you know stock called does clearly 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.919 like this move here. Do you think Ford is considering 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.440 doing a GM and just kind of getting out of 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:18.880 the European market just seems so brutal to make a 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.359 profit there. It is brutal to make a profit there. 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:26.280 If you look, you know the the economic situation, the 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:31.960 political environment, regulatory environment in Europe, the the the current 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.400 economic environment in Europe, and you know the trouble that 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.360 American automakers have had competing there. It's a very different 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.839 market from the US. And the strength of American automakers 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:48.240 is um in in trucks UH and subs large trucks 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.280 which don't which don't sell there. They're not they're not made, 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:55.360 they're not popular in Europe, and so UH. You know, 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.080 the money that's made in Europe is in luxury cars 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:03.440 and in commercial vehicles. Now Ford has strength and commercial vehicles. 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:06.079 They have a partnership with BW that they're they're doing 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.600 quite well with, but not really in the luxury vehicle 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.200 segment that belongs to the luxury brands there in Europe, 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.320 and and some some others that are imported UH. In 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.239 that middle market that that's where you can struggle. But 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.560 they do in the suv market, the Kuga that's sold 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.720 over hundred fifty thou units last year at the Ecosport 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.200 over a hundred thousand units last year. They have some 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:33.280 strength there. So the way they're streamlining now with the 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:36.120 three divisions are going from there talking about maybe bringing 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.440 in some you know, an iconic brand with the Mustang. 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.120 There might be some opportunity there, small opportunity in niche market, 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:47.000 but the uh, this streamlining I think has some potential, 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.480 but it's it's just a difficult market, I think for 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.400 an American automaker, how do we sort of view the 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.000 difficulties in the European auto market and lou in light 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.600 of some of the trade tensions and the global slow 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:01.600 down in growth up more generally, I mean, is this 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:05.200 a part of that story or is this idiosyncratic having 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:08.120 to do with the models that are popular and regulations 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:12.040 and just the sort of entrenchment of local companies there. 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.440 Well that you know, that's the other part of it. Uh. 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:19.080 You know, one of the the announcements with this is 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.920 that they that that four expects to more than triple 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:30.000 their passenger vehicle imports into Europe annually by And if 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.160 you're going to triple your passenger vehicle imports into Europe annually, 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:37.680 you need a favorable trade environment to do that, and 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:43.120 the current administration is made at quite difficult. So, uh, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.920 you know, you have entrenched brands there that are are 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.640 there is a lot of brand loyalty on that continent. UH, 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.120 and I think that's where there's been difficulty with you know, 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.159 some of the brands that import there. But now you 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.880 have these artificial barriers or let's call them real barriers, 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:03.240 barriers with uh, the the trade wars that are coming 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.320 up in the tariffs that that keep popping their head up, 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.240 or threats of terrorists that keep popping their head up. So, David, 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.240 I know in the States there's a growing discussion about 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:15.360 whether we have reached a peak auto in the US 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:19.719 art there's similar discussions in Europe like that. There's similar 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:24.000 discussions like that. But the concern in in in Europe 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.479 is is that is that auto sales have just been 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.719 stagnant really for for quite some time because of the 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:35.440 economic conditions. And for you know, GM before this and 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.480 Ford for years have just been operating at a loss. 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.600 They've had very few years over many years where they've 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:45.800 had a profit. Ford had a four million dollar loss 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:50.520 last year. And in Europe and we'll probably again this year, 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.680 UH with this restructuring. UH. As we get you know, 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.120 down the road, that may help, but it is just 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:59.760 a market where there have been more years in recent 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:03.160 year years many more years have lost than profit, and 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.279 you know, how many do you sustain that? And I 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.680 think that's why GM finally decided to cut the cord 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.840 with their Oval unit. David Couldla, thank you so much. 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.240 David is the chief executive officer and chief investment strategist 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.400 at main Stake Capital Management based in Michigan, and we 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:20.600 love to have him on talking about the auto industry. 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:22.839 He's really plugged in there and it's just a big, 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:38.240 big issue for the US automakers. In Europe, we have 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:42.039 the Democratic debates underway. Tonight is the second night of 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:46.320 a to night extravaganza with twenty candidates at meeting, joining 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:47.960 us down to talk about what we heard last night. 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:51.360 Chris Leu, former Deputy Secretary of Labor under President Obama 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:55.120 and senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Chris, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.640 thank you so much for being with us. First of all, 0:06:57.680 --> 0:06:59.919 i'd love to get your impression of last night's debate. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.720 What was your thought? Well, you know, it's pretty much 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.400 what I expected. And it is one of the challenges 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:07.839 with the format of having ten people on stage trying 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.200 to share two hours. You know, if you look at 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.440 the recent path of debates, they really don't have a 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.600 big effect. We'll talk about them for about twenty four hours, 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.840 but short of somebody making a major gaff and I 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.280 didn't see that last night. Um you know, it's some 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:25.480 candidates will move up, some will move down a little bit, 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.160 but I think it's sort of status quo. Obviously. I 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.080 think Julian Castor did have a very nice night last night, 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.760 and I think it will cause people to look at 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:36.360 him a little differently. I was also frankly surprised by 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.160 mare de Blasio, who came out very strong, and you know, 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:41.520 he hasn't really had much traction in his race as well. 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:46.400 I also thought, um uh, Centator Warned did well as also. 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.000 The challenge, however, is that you know, in this twenty 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.960 four hour period, from less than twenty four before the 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.360 end of one debate to the start of another debate, 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.000 there's not much time and then by tomorrow we'll be 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:00.520 talking about date debate number two. So, Chris, were you 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:04.240 surprised at all that the candidates generally last night did 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:07.800 not go after Senator Elizabeth Warren, who, at least on 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.400 that stage, was the front runner. You know, I am 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.040 a little surprised by that, and you saw and there 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:17.120 was a place I think certainly to do that. Um, 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.440 that moment when the moderators asked them to to raise 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:24.160 their hands whether they would eliminate private insurance of health insurance, 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:27.320 you saw, Um, you saw Congressman Delaney a little bit 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.360 kind of go after that. But I think by and large, 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.640 you know, the unfortunate thing about the format, um, you know, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.560 at at about halfway through the people start cutting in 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.640 on each other. But by and large, for that first 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:40.840 period of time when she was doing most of the speaking, 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.440 the contenders are really just kind of waiting to be 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.640 asked questions, So it didn't really lend itself to kind 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.199 of a lot of back and forth. So you're a 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:53.080 d n C Democratic National Committee super delegate, so you're 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:57.840 intimately connected with the Democratic Party. And there is sort 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:01.680 of a very big question here embedded in these debates, 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.559 and that is can any of these candidates beat President Trump? 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:06.560 And from what you heard last night, did you feel 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:10.680 more confident or less confident of that? I'm not sure 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:12.960 I felt more or less confident, As I said, you know, 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.000 I think look, um, I was with President or Senator 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.240 about my back at two thousand and seven, we went 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.960 through an endless series of debates and uh, you know, 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:23.000 if you go back and read the press accounts of 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:26.720 that first debate, Senator Obama was pretty underwhelming at the time. 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:30.319 And so look, it's early in the process. Um, candidates, 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:32.199 you get better, and I frankly what I think is 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:34.520 going to be more interesting for many of these candidates. 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.120 They're gonna have to post their second courter of fundraising 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.800 numbers at the end of June. It'll be interesting to 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:42.600 see because that you know, it is not cheap to 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:45.800 run some of these campaigns, and uh, some of them 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.120 have had a challenge raising money in this crowded field. 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.880 So you know, look, I think last night we heard 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:55.120 a lot of substantive debates. It was largely free of insults. Uh, 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:56.959 it was completely free of insults. And that's kind of 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:58.480 a mark change from I think what we saw in 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:03.640 the Republican bates with than candidate Trump. So, Chris, I 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:07.360 also noticed last night that the candidates didn't really attack 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:11.320 Trump's character or maybe some of those questionable policies and 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.920 actions and tweets. Do you think the sticking to the 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:18.559 policies strategy will work against Trump? You know, look, I 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:22.120 think I think I think they need to do both. Um. 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:26.920 I think it's highlighting um what UM Trump's policies, his 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.800 his demeanor in office. But I think it's also UM 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:33.360 putting forward an affirmative, positive agenda of what they're going 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:37.800 to do on things like healthcare, education, or immigration. Largely 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.080 the kind of anti Trump message I don't think really 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.720 needs to be made. It's being made here in Washington 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.280 every day, is being made on the cable news networks. UM. 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:46.520 You know, I just got back from I was in 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.240 Iowa yesterday meeting with some voters, and they really want 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.920 to hear about the issues that are affecting in their lives, 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:55.360 and so, UM, I don't know that they necessarily the 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.760 candidates nests that I need to draw that distinction, because 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.360 it really is being made for them. You know, you 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.160 started out talking about the limitations of this debate format. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.200 Is there a way that it could have been done 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.800 that would have been more effective? Uh, it's sort of 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.240 lesson learned for next time, not to have two nights 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.760 of ten different candidates on the stage, each having about 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.200 thirty seconds to talk. Yeah, you know, it's unfortunate because 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:20.160 the Democratic National Committee I think was trying to address 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.200 the concerns that came out of sixteen that they may have, 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:25.560 you know, put their thumb on the scale, and so 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.040 what they wanted to do very early on is create 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.760 these objective criterias that everyone knew what they were, and 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.640 to try to meet them. In hindsight, they probably set 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:35.680 the criteria a little bit too low, this idea that 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.960 sixty five thousand donations could get you in UH. In 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.440 this day and age, it's relatively easy to do that, 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.439 and you can game it in a bunch of different ways. 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:45.640 I think the real interesting challenge will be when they 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:49.439 get this September, because then the donation threshold goes to 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.240 a hundred and thirty thousand UH. It's also a two 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.720 percent polling threshold, so I think you may likely see 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:59.079 only you know, a dozen candidates on the debate stage 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.720 up come September. So, Chris, tonight, we have the second 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.360 night of debates, and of course um uh from a 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.160 vice president Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders as well the 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.079 front runners. What do you expect tonight? Well, I think 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.040 tonight is gonna be a fascinating contrast. I'm gonna be 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:18.040 looking at whether um uh, Senator Sanders and Vice President 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.560 Biden go after each other. I suspect they won't, but 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:22.160 I think what you will see is this kind of 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:28.280 interesting um gender and generational contrast with Kamala Harrison stage 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.560 along with Pete Boutigge, who, even if they're not directly 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:35.560 going after either Sanders or Biden, provide sort of an 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:39.240 interesting contrast for voters who want either a more diverse 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.760 candidate or a younger candidate. And who do you think 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.200 is winning right now for the quote soul of the 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.199 Democratic Party, the more liberal wing, the sort of further 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:52.080 left or this interest Well, it's it's interesting that there's 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:54.480 the contradiction between what we all see on social media 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.480 and Twitter, which is clearly a much more progressive audience 0:12:57.520 --> 0:12:59.680 then and what you certainly see when you're out talking 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.560 to vote and what you see in public opinion polls. UM. 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:04.440 But I do think which is I think more moderate? 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:06.920 I do think it's a challenge. I think ultimately when 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.120 you look at these candidates, there are some extremes, but 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.520 by and large they're united in the idea that we 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.600 need to do more to make the economy work for everyone. 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.719 We need to do more to expand healthcare and make 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.800 it um less expensive. We need to do more in 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.640 terms of building up our relationships with allies. I think 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.959 it's gradations on the spectrum at this point. Chris lou 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:29.520 thank you so much for taking the time today. Uh 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:31.920 was she the best of luck. Chris lewis Senior Fellow 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.880 at the University of Virginia Miller Center, former Deputy Secretary 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:39.400 of Labor under President Obama. Also he is a d 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.000 n C super Delegate. Has just been in Iowa talking 0:13:43.160 --> 0:14:04.680 to perspective voters. As Paul Sweeney was talking just minutes ago. 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:06.440 You might have heard some beeping in the background, and 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:08.680 that's because I was up against the wall holding a 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.240 smartphone in various places to try to get a size 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.280 of what clothes I should be buying. And that is 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.000 because Ronan Luzon is here with us. He is founder 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:21.080 and chief executive officer of My Size, based in Israel, 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.560 but joining us here in our Bloomberg Intta Active Broker Studios. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.160 Ronan my Size, from what I could tell, is an 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.920 app on your phone that allows you to buy sensors 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.000 by just holding the phone in various places while I'm 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:37.360 wearing some clothes I'm still wearing clothes to uh just 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.200 tell you exactly what size you'd be in different brands 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:44.000 to facilitate online shopping. Is that correct? Yeah? That's right? Right? Yeah, 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:48.160 So how much has this been adopted so far? So? Um, 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.120 the company started two thousand fourteen, and we started as 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:53.440 a publicly traded company, but we just launched the product 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:55.920 last September in Fashion Week in New York. So we 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.320 took us about four years to make this thing happen. 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.160 He started as a dream as as a pro when 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.440 that each and everyone of us suffer when we're buying 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.800 things online. We get always the wrong size, well not always, 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.400 but we get sometimes the wrong size. And it took 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.800 four years and we just launched it in last September 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.280 in Fashion Week and was great. Like, retailers are looking 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.960 for a solution because they're suffering for much from the 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.200 online returns in the US alone, as between thirty and 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.480 fifty percent returns almost every second item is being sent back. 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.320 It's an abslute situation for the retailers and for us 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.440 to consumers. So we just now start kicking off. We 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.160 began romping up the the adoption of the technology both 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:37.520 on retailers and consumers alike, even though our business model 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.800 is B two B. So who's paying for that technology 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.640 is the retailers the consumers completely free for use and 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.320 uh and and try so that everybody can download it. 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.040 But who's paying for that is the retailers. So they're 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:53.680 paying for every what we call a fit recommendation. Us 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:56.640 as the users as consumers when we're going online for 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.480 our favorite retailer or a new retailer that we don't 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:01.960 know ourselves, eyes before we click on the button to 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.720 get our recommended size, and then when we as a 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:08.000 my size charge to retailer for alright, So talking about 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.200 the technology here again, I was working over here and 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.320 you guys are over there in the corner of the studio. 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.640 He raises his eyebrows. I wasn't working and I heard 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:18.920 a lot of buzzing and peeping and phones being way 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:23.000 waved around. How does the technology work? So when I 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:26.320 started that it's it was because of my my kid, 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:30.040 now today's fifteen, but he back then was ordering things online, 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.880 especially NBA suits, and it came wrong size, and I 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:37.480 was thinking something must change here. So there was some 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.760 different technologies out there, and one of them was image processing. 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.640 So you need to take a picture of yourself and 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.280 then by the image it does the calculation off off 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.720 of the sizing. The thing is that you need to 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:51.000 take your clothes off. Now I would never get my 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:54.080 kid taking a picture with naked or half naked and 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.960 send it to doesn't matter how secure the server is, 0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:59.920 it will never happen, especially for women, even even for 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.080 us as men, we will never do that. So I 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.400 was thinking what other possibilities can be to do that. 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.240 So we took the mobile phone sensors, the same sensors 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:12.080 that are almost every mobile phone for kids when they're 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:14.200 playing with the phone, they moved from one place to another, 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:17.639 it's the same sensors. It's accelerometer and the gyro that 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.520 result in the mobile phone and algorithm that we've developed. 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:23.960 So we know to take the information from the sensors 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.280 when you move the phone over your body from one 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:29.040 place to another, we know to measure the distance the 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.720 phone is moving between two points. And that's how we 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:36.360 actually make this technology work for the apparel. So what 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.480 types of companies are you working with to sort of 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:44.000 get more online traction and and understand how to sort 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.960 of limit some of these returns. So it's amazing that 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:52.440 we've started actually demonstrating technology back in cs in two 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.800 thousand seventeen, and back then the technology didn't actually work. 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.520 It was more like a proof of concept. Even that 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:02.359 was not the best scenario. But the CSWO thousand eighteen 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:06.240 we actually launched the the beta one, and when we 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.199 watched the beta, we understood that so many retailers followed 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.320 us because they have this issue of sizing and faith 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.719 and they need to accommodate the problem. And starting two 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:19.760 thousand eighteen, when we start demonstrating the actual body measurement 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:23.919 technology that we're doing today, UM retailers start to sign 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.520 up for air lies and pilots and try it out. 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:32.520 And today we have to to one customers that sign 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.919 up with our solution. It stakes it takes time for 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.800 the till one customers to start the integration. It takes 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.760 it takes longer than we actually anticipated because what we 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.720 see is that the retailer is not that much of 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:50.120 a computer oriented of an I T company that can 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:53.320 have a technology like that and start working with it 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.720 as like as as we can see for the small 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.960 and medium size retailer that's doing it in in a 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.520 couple of days or we they actually integrated. So it's 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:05.800 it's takes it takes the time to integrate it, but 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.920 we as well done the integration on Shopify platforms platform 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.800 and light Speed platform. It's the same like Shopify, but Europe, 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.480 on Europe, Netherlands, and we can see these these small 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:19.840 ones are taking this technology and integrated within a couple 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:23.320 of hours and they stopped working with it, and it's amazing. 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:26.640 It's amazing product. You see how they can save returns, 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:29.600 which kills their business if they don't. Right, absolutely running, 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:31.800 Thanks so much for coming on and measuring my co 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.760 host here. Thank you for not measuring. As I said, 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:36.359 I'm a forty two regular right off the rack down. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:38.760 Don't have to worry about me running. Lucan founder and 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:42.120 CEO of my size. Just a really cool technology. Keep 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.520 us in the loop as this thing continues to develop. 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:46.399 It really like to kind of see how this places 0:19:46.400 --> 0:20:02.240 are very interesting technology as more and more clothing goes online. 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.879 We've talked a lot about Libra, which is the cryptocurrency, 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:12.159 or at least it's been called a cryptocurrency. It's an 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:15.680 idea that Facebook is putting out there, and I really 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:18.159 am excited to bring in Aaron Brown. I always love 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.400 speaking with him. He's the former managing director and head 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:23.200 of financial market research at a q R Capital Management. 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:26.000 But I'm especially excited today because he wrote a column 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:30.359 as a Bloomberg opinion columnist that I found incredibly compelling. Aaron, 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.000 thank you so much for being with us. Uh. It 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:37.120 was talking about how, in general, the bitcoin and cryptocurrency 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:41.320 community is moving outside of the financial system that is 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:44.360 sort of entrenched, and that Facebook was doing the exact 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.160 opposite and from the top down trying to come up 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:51.600 with some kind of monetary unit that could rival the dollar, 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:56.000 the euro, the yend. Can you explain how that's the case. Yeah, 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.480 thanks for having me. The best term for what libra 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:03.959 is something called digital cash. Now cash is something that 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:05.320 it can be a dollar bill, it could be a 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:08.639 gold coin. It can be anything that you can pass 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:11.600 from one person to another without leaving a transaction record, 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:15.960 and that the individual can identify, I can can validate. 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:20.480 It's hard to counterfeit um. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:24.600 much broader ideas, you know, trying to re engineer both 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.919 technology of exchange and financial system or whatever. Uh. Libre 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:30.760 is an old idea. It's a you know, it's it's 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.359 a gold coin, it's a dollar bill. It just happens 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.000 to be digital, meaning that it's a number. It's not 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:40.320 a physical piece of paper. It's not a piece of metal. Um. 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:43.160 So in one sense, it's very conservative idea. It's just saying, Okay, 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:46.080 let's take cash and let's let's make it digital, something 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:49.520 that bitcoin does. But bitcoin does tons of other stuff too. 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:53.240 I think Libra is a competitor to other forms of cash. 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:55.280 When I say it's a competitor to the US dollar, 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.480 I don't mean the US dollar financial system, you know, 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:01.160 with a central bank and the fat banking. I mean 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.760 those physical pieces of paper that people use, whether you know, 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.680 buying a cup of coffee or putting a whole bunch 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.959 in a suitcase to buy a boatload of drugs. Whatever. Uh, 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.240