00:00We're going to go to Lisa and she's going to catch us up on some of the stories from the
00:02terminal we may have missed and some fun ones.
00:05All right. So I want to start with the Masters, OK, because everybody's talking about the Masters, right?
00:08Picks up again today for the next round. But there's a certain little guy that's really been kind of the
00:14focus here.
00:15OK, so this is from The Washington Post. Let's get to the headline.
00:17It's he's cute, he's rare and he's the biggest star of this year's Masters.
00:22And it is, yes, the little garden gnome. OK, he has a coffee in one hand.
00:26He's got the umbrella in the other hand. All right. He's about 13 inches tall, about $60.
00:31But people line up for hours. A $60 garden gnome? I mean, it's cute, but I don't know if it's
00:36$60.
00:37Ahead of time, because this is the only place you can get it. Like you can't go online and just
00:41order one.
00:42Oh, he does have a little umbrella. Yes, he does.
00:44Unless you kind of do it through like eBay or something like, you know, the second market.
00:48Do you have to have a lawn to get him? No, that's a good question.
00:51In the hallway of your apartment building? Yes, totally. How long would he last in the hallway?
00:55I don't know. There's also a lot of dogs in our apartment building.
00:57Well, we'd probably just like pick him up and take him away. Or do something worse.
01:00OK, well, that's that could happen. It's a gnome. Who knows?
01:03It's a gnome. And the reason why it's so big now is because there's rumors that he's going to be
01:07disappearing.
01:08So this might be the last time that you can get your hand.
01:11Like magically or like manufacturing? They won't make him anymore.
01:15It's a rumor. But that's because and now people are selling them online on eBay for like $800.
01:21A package deal for like $40,000.
01:23Tim, do you need a gnome? Well, I don't need one.
01:26But Michael McKee, who covers the National Economics and Policy for Bloomberg News, he is in Augusta right now.
01:34He could get us a gnome. He could get us a gnome.
01:35And maybe he'll come back with a gnome. So Mike, if you're watching.
01:37Mike, we need gnomes. Call me.
01:39We need a gnome.
01:40Here we go.
01:41OK, what else you got?
01:42OK, this next one. OK, this one's history. This is from The New York Times.
01:45OK, here's a headline. The high alcohol drink taking over Gen Z.
01:49All right. We are talking about this drink called Buzz Balls.
01:53OK, it is this pre-mixed cocktail. It's in this colorful packaging.
01:56It's like in the shape of a billiard ball. That's kind of how it looks.
01:59It's founded by a former high school teacher in Texas.
02:02It's actually owned now by spirits company Sazerac.
02:06It's cheap. They're about four dollars a piece.
02:08They pack a punch. Listen to this, guys.
02:10That's what that headline was. I didn't understand it.
02:12I saw it at the terminal.
02:13Guess that 15% alcohol in that tiny little ball there.
02:18I'm confused because I thought the kids, the youngs, weren't drinking anymore.
02:22But here's the thing. The youngs like the cheap drinks because they can't afford,
02:26they're saying, the low-cal, you know, fancy seltzers.
02:29OK, there's some...
02:30They just drink trashy vodka like we have for their buck.
02:34My son gets these. I know.
02:35I was going to say, you have some Gen Zs in the house.
02:38Yes, my legal Gen Z loves these.
02:41The not-legal one better not like these.
02:43There we go.
02:44But that's the problem they're saying is that because they, like, like these things.
02:49And then there's bigger ones.
02:50They have, like, you know, the boulder, which is, like, a huge one that, you know,
02:55kids take to parties.
02:56But they like it because they say it's cheap.
02:58They get a quick buzz, real fast.
03:00And, I mean, it takes you back to, like, college days when it was, like,
03:03Mad Dog 2020.
03:05Now you're speaking my language.
03:07It's, like, fancier trash can punch.
03:09It's, like, portable trash can punch.
03:10Whatever just happened to natural light.
03:12Yeah, it's just.
03:13Natty light.
03:13Oh, no.
03:14You should have to suffer to drink.
03:16Like, it should not be fun.
03:17It should not be enjoyable.
03:18All right.
03:19All right.
03:19This next one is for the adult homeowners, okay?
03:22Everyone trying to get a home.
03:23We're talking about affordability, okay?
03:24So this one's from the Wall Street Journal.
03:26The headline is, surging HOA fees are pushing homeowners to the brink.
03:30Um, so rising HOA condo fees, too.
03:34Um, insurance, maintenance for common spaces, amenities like swimming pools, golf courses.
03:38Like, this is what all the HOA fees, um, cover.
03:41But they've been getting a lot higher.
03:43Exactly how much?
03:44Okay, so the medium monthly condo fee up 29% from 2019 to $420 in 2025.
03:52Some people are paying as much as $1,500 a month for HOA fees to get all the good things.
03:58That's insane because you own your house.
03:59But condo fees are also really, really high.
04:01They're like a whole other rent payment.
04:03Yeah, so I think the challenge when people think about affordability, uh, is, okay, so
04:07what's my insurance going to cost?
04:09My homeowner's insurance, what's my mortgage going to cost?
04:12And now, what's my HOA going to cost?
04:14And the thing is, is that HOA fee can be variable.
04:16So if you plan for it, it could go up so much, and that makes things unaffordable.
04:20Right, and if these places have a big, you know, project that they have to do, it's
04:23going to spike significantly, you know, if they have to make a big deal.
04:26Yes, the place I lived in D.C., they needed to redo the roof, and everyone was going to
04:29get, like, a $20,000, I forget what it's called, like, on their, on their bill.
04:32They had to split the cost.
04:34That's why you moved here.
04:36That's the reason.
04:37I rented.
04:37A nice, much more affordable place in D.C.
04:39I'm still renting.
04:39I'm still renting.
04:41All right, this last one, um, it is from Bloomberg the Weekend, okay?
04:45And the headline, Christina, you're going to like this.
04:47I know you're part of a book club, okay?
04:48So, people are paying $1,000 to read among strangers, okay?
04:53So, think of it as, like, this, this traveling book club, okay?
04:56So, they're gathering at, you know, a country house, a hotel, you know, they're working through
05:01their personal reading lists.
05:03It's U.S., big in the U.S., big in the U.K.
05:06So, you read in silence, right?
05:08But you also do different things, like, you can hike, and you can go to yoga class, and
05:11and you can, you know, have a field trip to a bookstore.
05:14It's just in this place.
05:16You're kind of looking at me like, no, I like it.
05:18No, I'm like, you're going over.
05:19I like it.
05:20I read in silence every day on my commute.
05:23Yes.
05:24But you don't want to, like, go to a French country house and, like, sit out with people
05:27and read?
05:27With other people, random people?
05:28That sounds pretty great.
05:28Doesn't that sound great?
05:29I think we could all use that.
05:30But $1,000, that's usually kind of the cost of some of these trips, and some of them
05:35are a little bit more, but people say, you know, get back to socializing, because so many
05:38people are on their phones nowadays.
05:40Like, you said you read on the train, and a lot of people I just see are on their phone
05:43on the train.
05:43Or you have people on the train with their books, but then the phone is right there.
05:47Yeah.
05:47And it's like, I'm guilty of it, too.
05:49No page is read on the way home, just looking at the phone.
05:52There's this quote that, like, New York has lost something magical.
05:54We can no longer see what a pretty girl is reading on the subway anymore, because people
05:58don't have, like, physical books anymore.
05:59I think they're back.
06:01I think they are back.
06:02I'll go back to the Gen Z folks who love buzz balls.
06:04I think they're reading.
06:05I'll let them have buzz balls if they read actual books.
06:08They're reading actual books.
06:09Gen Z, I will let you have it.
06:10They are reading actual books.
06:10All right.
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