In Buc-ee’s We Trust
5-20-26
Opening Comments
My last note was about the barter transaction between Cartier and an industrialist for a mansion with pearls. The most opened links were the rape at UC Santa Barbara and the 103-year-old doctor’s rules for a long, happy life. Although there was good feedback on my video on the Cartier story, I did not see enough participation to do it regularly.
There was a mistake in my last note. A spell check changed the headline on the Hantavirus situation. This is the correct headline and link-CDC says there are no U.S. hantavirus cases currently, 41 people being monitored.
Julia graduates from high school tomorrow and leaves for NYC on Friday morning. Jack is off to Nashville with friends for the weekend, and I will be heading to the northeast for a few days before I am off to Park City, UT, on June 1st. I have a new client and need to find a house in Southampton, and I will be checking out some properties. If you will be out in Park City in June/July let me know at rosenreport@gmail.com.
Markets
Musk/Twitter
Ken Griffin on the Power of AI-CONCERNING
Musk Loses Court Case
High School NIL
Eye-Opening Bill Maher Video Outlining Jew Hate
Trump TACO…AGAIN
College Indoctrination
Miami Shrinking but Wealth Growing
Hamptons Cooling for Tuxedo Park?
Greenwich Update-Shrinking Inventory
Video of the Day-Eric Church’s UNC Commencement Speech
Eric Church ABSOLUTELY crushes this commencement speech at UNC. The few minute video is one of the better excerpts from a commencement speech I have ever heard. Using his guitar, he gives life lessons. What amazing advice. Eric, I have a feeling others will be asking you to speak based on this fantastic message. Here is his full speech and performance.
In Buc-ee’s We Trust
For those of you who have never been to a Buc-ee’s, you are in for a treat. I had never been to one before my recent trip to Texas. Buc-ee’s is described as a chain of 55 gas stations/convenience stores. However, it is so much more. These places are HUGE and sell a massive array of products. The two I visited (Temple and Hillsboro, Texas) were 70k and 74k feet respectively. Temple has 112 gas pumps, and Hillsboro has 120. Think about that for a second. For perspective, the average Wawa is about 5,500 square feet and 16 pumps.
The founder, Arch “Beaver” Aplin III was frustrated with how disgusting bathrooms were in rest stops and gas stations and vowed to have a consistent and clean experience. The stores are stunning, and the bathrooms are spectacular. At the Temple location, there were three attendants making sure the men’s room was spotless. There were sanitizer dispensers next to every urinal and bathroom stall. These were the nicest bathrooms on a highway stop that I have ever seen.
The offering in the stores is overwhelming. I could have stayed for 30 minutes. They have a ton of different food and snack choices and literally hundreds of drink options. In terms of merchandise, they have more clothes and tchotchkes than humanly imaginable. The prices are shockingly reasonable, and I bought my daughter a great hoodie for $25. She asked me if I could get her another one, as it is so soft and “cushy.” They have so many of their own products, including jerky, ice cream, fudge, clothing, nuggets, spiced saltines, chips, dips, jams, sauces, rubs, and more.
Buc-ee’s has a cult following for a reason. This link outlines the 16 Buc-ee’s products that are hilariously southern and include buckets of bacon grease, deer feeders, a jerky wall, and more. The company is private, but estimates are revenues approaching $3bn with stores in the $50-100mm in annual sales. The business is a gold mine for good reason and is growing at a rapid rate with new stores popping up constantly. The largest Buc-ee’s is scheduled to open in Fort Piece, Florida late next year and is expected to be over 76k feet and have 120 gas pumps, 17 EV charging stations, and almost 800 parking spaces.
You had me at clean bathrooms. How many times have you gone to a gas station bathroom and were disgusted by the conditions? That will never happen at Buc-ee’s. I now feel morally obligated to attempt to visit all the Buc-ee’s locations possible and am considering a tattoo. Too much?
Quick Bites
Monday, stocks were slightly lower despite the fact that Trump delayed Iran attacks. On Tuesday, oil fell slightly with stocks, as chip companies under performed given higher rates. Bond yields ticked higher with the 10-year yield hitting 4.67% and the 30-year reaching 5.19%. The Fed does not control the long end of the curve. Check out the 2nd chart on mortgage rates which are at the highest levels in almost one year. The 30-year fixed is +76bps since February 23rd, 2026. Yes, inflation is part of the issue, but the US approaching $40 trillion of debt and running deficits of 5-6% in perpetuity is not helping matters. From Peter Boockvar: Fitch updated us with their April default figures yesterday for companies they follow in private credit. It rose to 6% which is the most since they started doing this in August 2024. On Wednesday, Trump said the war will end “very quickly,” something we have heard before. The comments sent oil -6% and rates sharply lower, with the 10-year yield -10bps. The Nasdaq and Russell outperformed and were +1.3% and 2.2%, respectively as of 3pm on Wednesday. Nvidia earnings after the bell, but I had to send early due to a meeting.
I was very critical of Musk’s purchase price for Twitter. I wrote extensively about how it was overvalued. I was shown the deal to participate and was a “hard pass” as a result of the $44bn price tag. At one point, investors marked down the equity by up to 75%. I looked brilliant. However, Musk did a transaction where SpaceX owns X and xAI resulting in Twitter shareholders owning 5% of SpaceX. On its own, I think the Twitter deal would have proven to be a questionable deal, but with SpaceX shares, this Inc. article suggests a nearly 200% return for shareholders. The SpaceX IPO would let X shareholders cash out their shares and see a return on those early investments. If I had to do it again, I would not have participated in the Twitter transaction given the valuation.
I have written regularly about AI disruptions and given numerous examples. I am of the belief that AI will displace millions of workers in the coming years. This short video of Ken Griffin outlines his concerns about job displacement. Ken Griffin went home on a Friday, "fairly depressed" after watching AI agents at Citadel do work that used to take teams of PhDs in finance months to complete. Done in days. "These are not mid-tier white collar jobs. These are extraordinarily high skilled jobs being automated by agentic AI." This is the head of one of the most successful hedge funds in history saying the people he pays seven figures to analyze markets and structure deals are being replaced by software that works in hours instead of months. I spoke with a partner in a private equity shop who used Claude to analyze a deal recently. He said, “The output took a couple hours and it would have taken two analysts 5 days. Why would I ever hire another analyst? Numerous major companies have announced AI related layoff (1st chart). Think about how many job losses will take place by 2030 as models improve and AI adoption is more prevalent. Meta’s layoffs started this week, as the harsh reality of AI’s impact is taking hold. The Coinbase CEO claimed 92k tech workers have been laid off in 2026, and other companies will be following in short order. Famed biologist Richard Dawkins is now convinced AI is conscious after spending 72 hours with Claude. However, I continue to find errors when I use AI tools to help me do research. Just the other day I asked for a simple chart of yields of foreign bonds over time and found inconsistencies with actual data. Also, a supercomputer “predicted” the outcome for the PGA event last weekend and below you can see actual relative to the model. Let’s just say, not very good. For more proof of AI’s impact, check out this story on computer science majors seeing the largest enrollment drop of any major. Google also announced a slew of AI advances and a personal AI assistant is on the way. How many jobs will it displace?
Musk lost the court case against Sam Altman and OpenAI, as the jury felt Musk’s claims were filed outside of the statute of limitations. I am not a lawyer, but putting the 3-year statute of limitations aside, I feel Musk was screwed here. Musk invested in a nonprofit, and I feel he should have been entitled to a big chunk of the company based on the fact that OpenAI changed to a for-profit venture. I wonder what the verdict would have been had the timing been different. Musk plans on appealing.
High school sports have become a big business with ramifications for NIL for college. High-school transfers have surged in Florida as players chase field time and winning teams in the age of big college paydays. Florida is different. School-choice laws mean athletes transfer easily, often without losing a moment on the playing field. In the age of Name, Image and Likeness compensation, the result is a first-of-its-kind high-school transfer portal that some insiders warn may be the future of scholastic sports in America. Teens in Florida, especially in the lucrative sports of football, basketball and baseball, jump from school to school chasing playing time, winning teams, talented teammates, connected coaches and anything else that might put them on the radar of colleges, boosters and corporate sponsors with millions to spend. In this academic year alone, interscholastic officials have recorded 7,028 athletic transfers, up from 5,688 last year. Elite football players commonly pass through two or three schools and some students transfer eight times, according to a top regulator.
Middle East
I am a fan of Bill Maher and feel he calls balls and strikes. Here is a great video of him talking about Jews and Israel. He is calling out the hypocrisy of how Jews are treated by the media and pushing back on Democrats. He gives examples and calls out professors and influencers who promote Jew hate. The examples of hate are so concerning, but what is even more depressing is that antisemitism has become mainstream. Please watch the short video. Jews are under siege, and it is happening globally. Maher talks about Jew hate being a cool thing right now.
I have written extensively about Trump’s lack of credibility on Iran, and he just postponed attacks yet again, just as I outlined he would in recent notes. He makes all these grand statements each week about destruction, ending civilization, bombing to the Stone Ages, and walks them back every time. I was critical of Obama’s “Red Line” with Syria and must be even more critical of Trump. He has made threats for weeks and backed down every time. The Jerusalem Post story on Tuesday after Trump backed down yet again, outlines the fact that Iran does not intend to surrender. Iran is threatening to take the conflict “beyond the region” if the US and Israel resume attacks. Iran’s parliament is also set to vote on a bill offering 50mm Euro reward for killing Trump, Netanyahu and Brad Cooper (CENCOM commander). However, Trump reiterated that a deal is in “final stages.”
UAE and Saudi Arabia report drone incidents as Iran war deadlock drags on
Iran captures vessel, sinks another as Hormuz conflict intensifies (Monday)
Israeli missile strike in eastern Lebanon kills Islamic Jihad commander, teen daughter
Netanyahu ‘blunder’ threatens US-backed Israel-UAE alliance at critical moment with Iran
Politics
I have written extensively about indoctrination at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities across America. I mentor over 100 kids a year, and they tend to be in college or young professionals. I have more data on this topic than most people. What I have learned is concerning, and I would say the same thing if it were indoctrination from the right. I literally have hundreds of examples of things that administrators and professors at top schools have said to students, vilifying White people, rich people, Jews, pushing the genocide story in Gaza, supporting pro-Palestine demonstrations, and more. There is a 3-minute audio in the link and you need to hear what is being taught in college. In a mandatory anti-racism class, Penn State told 1L law students they must “acknowledge the reality of systemic racism” and “dismantle systems that racialize, subordinate, and oppress.” Welcome to college in America. It is far worse at liberal arts schools, especially in the Northeast or in places like California. Musk re-posted the chart below:
President says he’s adding ‘over 600’ prescription drugs to TrumpRx site
Trump claims number of medications available via the discount program will increase nearly sevenfold
Acting AG Todd Blanche faces questions on $1.7 billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’
Dem Michigan congressional candidate Shelby Campbell roasted for posting unhinged twerking videos
You can find the video online. The language is VERY strong. Why would anyone post this video absent an OnlyFans model? A candidate for Congress? What is wrong with people?
New York City Unions Keep Winning Six-Figure Salaries
Hotel housekeepers, commuter rail workers and nurses are among the unionized workers who have notched big wage gains. Mamdani is screaming about massive deficits and the need to tax the wealthy while he is giving everyone raises, which will only make the deficit worse. The average commuter train worker already earned an average of $135k before the raises.
Another great ad from Spencer Pratt as a takeoff on the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”
LA woman illegally paid homeless people to register to vote — including at her own address
This took place over 20 years. She used her home address to get mail-in ballots for homeless people.
My initial call that Russia would crush Ukraine within three weeks proved to be AWFUL. Numbers vary, but approximately 400k Russians have been killed (some estimates are higher) and Ukraine has done serious damage to Russia. Including killed and wounded, the estimate is over 1.2mm. I am in complete shock.
I escaped Vladimir Putin in the belly of a dead cow
Former Russian agent Dmitry Senin says he was framed as a defector and, for the first time, explains how he used his skills to evade capture.
Other Headlines
Mohamed El-Erian says the Iran war will aggravate ‘virtually every challenge’ the economy is facing
Leopold Aschenbrenner’s ‘Situational Awareness’ Files 13F Quarterly Investment Disclosure
At the end of the first quarter, Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness held an astonishing $8.46B worth of notional put exposure against a wide array of chipmaker stocks, including $2B of notional put exposure against the VanEck Semiconductor ETF and $1.6B of notional put exposure against AI mega cap Nvidia. California-based biofuel company Bloom Energy remained Aschenbrenner's largest bull bet, with Situational Awareness holding 6.5M shares worth $879M and call options to 409k shares with a notional value of $55M. The fund opened calls in memory darling Sandisk to complement its existing 1M+ common stock position. Sounds like some out of the money hedges that are being overstated due shares controlled, not premiums paid.
One of the market’s hottest stock themes is buying everything AI can’t replace
Many HALO stocks are outperforming this year, such as FedEx, ExxonMobil, and Coca-Cola, as enterprise software names like Adobe, ServiceNow, and Salesforce test 52-week lows.
Home Depot says core shopper is resilient in the face of higher gas prices, sales rise 5%
Target beats Wall Street estimates, hikes sales outlook as shoppers start to return
SpaceX picks Goldman Sachs for lead left position on record-breaking IPO
Morgan Stanley comes next, followed by Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. $50bn+ is expected to be raised, and underwriting fees may approach $1bn. GS stock was +3%.
NextEra Energy to buy Dominion in deal that unites two key players in race to power AI data centers
Teen prodigy Jimmy Chilimigras becomes one of youngest to graduate from law school
NYC teachers say phone ban in classrooms has caused ‘jaw dropping’ change in students’ attention
Career criminal creep with 166 arrests, 55 convictions since 1999 sentenced to life in prison
The system failed us for too long. This is yet another embarrassing example of our broken system. Finally, he goes away for life. A little late.
Judge blocks evidence from Luigi Mangione backpack in UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case
San Diego mosque shooter Cain Clark identified as former high school wrestler
The state with the biggest drug problems revealed — and its teens are most addicted
New Mexico, Arkansas, and Alaska were the worst states for teen addiction.
The Newhouse collection brought in $631mm and, coupled with the prior sale, brought in over $1bn. The 1913 Brancusi sold for $108mm, the Jackson Pollack sold for $181mm, a Joan Miro sold for $54mm, and others can be found in the link with pictures of the art.
The real reason Aaron Rai uses iron covers is incredibly heartwarming
Rai has a great reputation as a nice young man and uses iron covers (unheard of in pro golf) to protect his irons as a reminder of his childhood. His dad bought him clubs with money they did not have and to protect them, he used club covers. Listen to this quote from Rai, “And I’ve pretty much had iron covers on all my sets ever since, just to kind of appreciate the value of what I have.” With all these entitled and rich athletes, Rai brings an amazing perspective to the table. Thank you.
World Cup ticket prices continue to plummet as tournament approaches
Prices are offensive.
Idaho air show horror after 2 jets crash in front of frightened spectators
Scary video.
Retired Navy admiral makes bombshell claim about UFOs and ‘non-human intelligence’ controlling them
Gallaudet’s military background brings extra gravity to claims about unexplained sightings in the sky and ocean. In another story, an ex-government researcher claims 4 alien species have been pulled from crashed UFOs. The link shares the names of the type of aliens. I keep telling my readers we are not alone, and I have never been more convinced of it. The US Government needs to go public with the full data and let the world know the truth. Remember, I am anxiously awaiting to be abducted by friendly aliens to take me to a planet with amazing Michelin Star quality restaurants, padel courts, and good waves for surfing. Over 1bn people have gone on the government site on UFOs and more files will be released soon.
Health
Walking Slower? Why Your Ears, Not Your Knees, Might Be the Problem
A study of more than 57,000 iPhone users confirms a correlation between hearing loss and slower walking speeds.
Is the Secret to Men’s Longevity a Great Butt?
Famous and powerful men have discovered that the key to a long, healthy life may be rock-solid glutes.
Dick Van Dyke, 99, names the two things to avoid to live a long life
No feelings of hate and his brighter outlook are his keys.
Doctors may have found an easier way to treat prostate cancer — could become new ‘standard of care’
Real Estate
I have frequently written about the boom in South Florida and the outrageous price increases in homes and the challenges of private school availability. Yes, wealthy people continue to come to Miami according to this WSJ article, but the population is shrinking. The new economic order is squeezing out the middle. The growing ranks of the affluent fuel the area’s economy with avid consumption and fuller tax coffers. At the lower end are the retail, hospitality and construction workers who service them but are finding it increasingly difficult to stay. While the city of Miami itself continues to grow slowly, the broader county population is declining. “Miami is becoming very different,” said Richard Florida, an urbanist and author who lives part of the year in Miami Beach. “We have never witnessed this kind of relocation of wealth,” he said, but “it’s getting harder and harder for the young professional to enter.” People moving to Miami-Dade County from other states had on average $178,000 in adjusted gross income, more than double that of people who left the county for other states.
My first Hamptons trip was in 1994, and I was impressed with the beauty and serenity of the area so close to the hustle and bustle of NYC. After over 30 years, I am not going to be spending my summer there in 2026. I rented in Park City, as I feel the Hamptons experience has been diminished by crowds, cost, traffic, lack of cell service, and overall reduction of the quality of experience. This article suggests many are ditching the Hamptons for a new hotspot, Tuxedo Park. The allure of the Hamptons has all but fizzled out for New York’s wealthy elite, who are now looking to the Hudson Valley to get more bang for their buck.
A realtor in the upscale Tuxedo Park area of the Hudson Valley told the Daily Mail the region is increasingly seen as an alternative to the Hamptons for wealthy New York City buyers, with some even choosing to make it their primary residence. The region includes destinations such as Amenia, Pine Plains and Tuxedo Park, where sprawling estates, rolling farmland and historic mansions offer an old-world atmosphere while remaining within commuting distance of New York City. Tuxedo Park has increasingly become a magnet for affluent buyers seeking privacy, historic charm and a close-knit community without the soaring prices seen in Westchester County or parts of Connecticut. Although Tuxedo Park is not for me, I am happy to be taking a break from the Hamptons and might be out there for a total of a couple week this summer.
Mark Pruner is a friend and reader who is a big agent in Greenwich, CT. I asked him for a market update which can be found below.
2026 Greenwich inventory still dropping-In April 2026, Greenwich inventory is down 33% from what was already a record low in 2025.
Inventory down 86% from 2019-Go back to May 15, 2019 (pre-COVID) and we had 714 single-family home listings. Our 101 listings as of this May is down 86% from that 2019.
Stocks and Mamdani led to record $10M sales in 2025-For the over $10 million market, a combination of investors with major stock appreciation and the fear of the Mamdani effect drove $10M plus sales in Greenwich to a record high that was double our previous record.
In 2026, sales from $6.5 - 10mm are up 89%-Post NYC election, the over $10M market has returned to more normal sales in Greenwich, as buyers at the very high-end wait to see what will happen. At the same time, the $6.5 - 10mm market in Greenwich has seen sales jump 89% in 2026. This trend will continue as contracts waiting to close are up 80%.
© 2026 The Rosen Report LLC. All rights reserved. Does not constitute investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Consult with your lawyers and professional financial advisers. Rosen Report™ #890 ©Copyright 2026 Written By Eric Rosen.
