🌊 Wendy's Stock Soars
Plus: Roundup gets lucky in ruling, Giraffe escapes in Texas, & earthquakes in Venezuela
Elvis goes out with a bang.
On this day in 1977, Elvis Presley did his final performance in Indianapolis, Indiana. His performance of “Unchained Melody” gives us the chills. You can also see a few clues on the piano and his face as to why he didn’t last much longer on Earth.
Or so they say! We’ve talked to several different groups over the last few years who say he’s still alive. Sadly, one of those groups was at my family reunion.
Earthquakes in Venezuela
Wendy’s stock soars
Giraffe escapes in Texas
-Max and Max
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Earthquakes Rock Venezuela
Two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on Wednesday evening, killing at least 589 people, injuring over 3,000, and leaving thousands more missing. The back-to-back quakes (magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and striking 39 seconds apart) were among the strongest to hit the country in over a century. The epicenter was near the town of Yumare, about 105 miles west of Caracas.
The coastal state of La Guaira bore the worst damage, with over 100 buildings collapsed, according to the UN. Venezuela’s main international airport sustained severe damage and closed. Parts of Caracas also saw collapsed buildings, power outages, and suspended subway services. Tremors were felt as far away as northern Brazil, triggering evacuations in parts of the country.
Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez – the Trump-backed leader who took power following the US’ capture of President Nicolás Maduro in January – declared a state of emergency and designated La Guaira a “disaster zone.” She said rescue teams were being redirected to the coast and appealed to private companies to provide heavy machinery for recovery operations. The government announced a $200M reconstruction fund, drawing on International Monetary Fund resources, to repair hospitals, infrastructure, and housing. But current rescue efforts remain strained.
Survivors described digging through rubble by hand, with government machinery slow to arrive. Families posted missing-person flyers and crowdsourced lists online, with one website already logging over 30,000 names of missing persons. Hospitals in Caracas were overwhelmed with patients.
The international community has begun mobilizing aid, with the US deploying search-and-rescue teams and the Department of Defense using military assets to deliver assistance. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the response would be “big, fast, and effective,” and dozens of countries, including Colombia, Brazil, China, Qatar, and Chile, have pledged support.
The disaster is compounded by more than a decade of economic decline, widespread poverty, and crumbling infrastructure in Venezuela. The US Geological Survey warned the death toll could reach into the tens of thousands — with other estimates as high as 100,000, and the UN said nearly 8M Venezuelans were already in need of humanitarian support before the quakes.
DPRK Soldier Defects
A North Korean soldier crossed into South Korea through the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone on Tuesday night, making it the first military defection across the border since last October.
Annual defections have fallen sharply – from over 1,000 before the pandemic to just 223 last year – as North Korea has tightened border controls.
Heat Wave Hits Europe
A record-breaking heatwave swept across Europe, with the UK logging its highest June temperature ever (97F or 36C) and France setting a new all-time daily heat index record for the second consecutive day.
Over 94M people across France and Spain faced temperatures above 95F (35C), and over 50 French regional districts recorded highs of 104F (40C) or more. In Spain, one in eight weather stations also topped 104F.
Iran Strikes Cargo Ship
Iran attacked a Singaporean-flagged cargo ship on Thursday as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz along a newly established shipping corridor, damaging the vessel’s bridge but injuring no one.
The strike came as traffic through the strait was recovering: Nearly 50 cargo ships had passed through the day prior, the highest single-day count since the conflict began.
Are Trillionaires Immoral?
Two weeks ago, Elon Musk became a trillionaire.
For many people, the word “trillionaire” seems somewhere between frightening and dystopian. After all, Elon’s wealth demonstrates inequality, and a fraction of it could potentially solve some of the planet’s most intractable problems.
But there’s another group, too, arguing that it’s not just not bad that Elon is a trillionaire, but that it’s great.
Thanks to social media’s echo-chamber tendencies, most of you are probably seeing one side of this debate. But our mission is to provide you with the facts and let you think for yourself.
So in today’s WeThe66, we break down both sides’ best arguments and let you decide if you should be worried about Elon’s $1T net worth.
Roca Is Running the NYC Marathon!
Roca videographer Gus is running the NYC Marathon this November, raising money for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.
The Brain Aneurysm Foundation is the top organization supporting education, research, and policy for the treatment of brain aneurysms. In the US, it’s estimated that 6.8 million people have an unruptured aneurysm. Roughly 30,000 suffer a rupture each year, half of whom do not survive.
Our cameraman Gus will be making a video to document his experience and the marathon’s impact on this cause. He’ll be interviewing people as he runs, and we’ll be sure to share his updates and final videos with you here.
If you’d like to support Roca’s campaign, you can donate at this link. Thanks for helping the Brain Aneurysm Foundation with their mission and for supporting Gus as he runs 26.2 miles!
SCOTUS Rules on Roundup & More
The Supreme Court handed down four major rulings on Thursday, each splitting mostly along ideological lines.
In a 6-3 decision, the conservative majority upheld the Trump Administration’s move to end Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitian immigrants and 6,000 Syrians. The ruling will likely open the door to ending protections for immigrants from more than a dozen other countries.
In a second 6-3 immigration ruling, the court said federal law permits the administration to turn away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border without allowing them to physically enter the US and formally file a claim.
The court again voted 6-3 to strike down a Hawaii law requiring gun owners to get property owners’ permission before carrying a firearm onto private business premises, ruling the restriction violated the Second Amendment.
Lastly, in a 7-2 decision along mixed lines, the court’s ruling blocks thousands of state-court lawsuits against Monsanto – now owned by Bayer – over cancer claims linked to its herbicide Roundup. The majority ruled that Monsanto cannot be held liable in state courts for failing to include a cancer warning label that the EPA never required or approved. The ruling, from which Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Neil Gorsuch dissented, could ultimately lead to the dismissal of thousands of claims against the weedkiller manufacturer.
Wendy’s Stock Soars
Wendy’s stock surged as much as 42% on Wednesday after a post on Reddit’s WallStreetBets called on members to “save Wendy’s before it’s too late,” though the post was later removed.
Shares closed up 26% on Wednesday, the biggest single-day gain since June 2021, and nearly wiped out the stock’s roughly 25% year-to-date losses. By the close of business on Thursday, though, stocks were down 11% from Wednesday but still higher than before the craze.
The fast-food chain fits a familiar “meme-stock” profile: A well-known brand whose stock has fallen by over 70% since mid-2023, with around a quarter of investors expecting it to decline further. That high short position can backfire when the price rises, forcing those investors to buy shares to cut their losses and pushing the price even higher.
The spike comes in the midst of Wendy’s turnaround effort. The fast-food chain recently hired a new CEO and named a new CFO this week. Still, meme-stocks are highly volatile and driven by social media hype rather than company performance.
Apple Raises Prices
Apple raised prices on its Mac and iPad product lines on Thursday, citing surging costs for memory and storage chips driven by demand for AI data centers.
Price hikes ranged from 15% to 25% across devices. The MacBook Air rose $200 to $1,299, the MacBook Pro rose $300 to $1,999, and the MacBook Neo – Apple’s entry-level laptop that launched just months ago – rose $100 to $699. iPhone prices were not affected, though Apple hinted that more increases are coming.
The company blamed the price hikes on an “unprecedented” surge in memory and storage chip prices, which have roughly quadrupled over the past year as AI companies lock up the supply. Chipmaker Micron reported record gross profit margins above 80% the day before Apple’s announcement.
Apple shares fell 6.15% on the news, but rival device makers may face steeper increases given Apple’s stronger supplier leverage. Research firm IDC projects the costs will significantly impact sales, expecting the smartphone market to see a nearly 14% annual decline this year, and the PC market to fall 11.3%.
What Does Roca Nation Think?
💰 Yesterday’s Question: Why are young people more likely to support socialism today?
Young people are more likely to support socialism for a few things:
They don’t know what socialism is
They think populism is socialism
They spent their entire childhood being taught about the holocaust and the Nazis and not the Holodomor, the Cambodian genocide, the Bolshevik revolution, Great Purge, or Gulags.
Capitalism has now been replaced with Crony Capitalism, and the two differences have never been taught/learned/or explained to anyone
If they do know about how socialism has worked in the past, they are convinced that it just wasn’t enough socialism
Andrew from Undisclosed
They view the world as unfair, and don’t believe they can ever get ahead. They’re inundated with evidence that some ‘rich’ people live fabulous lives without lifting a finger. Their reality is skewed. The media is an echo chamber that continues to reinforce the narrative.
To some degree they are correct. The system is tilted against them.
Hence, they want to force a correction.
Socialism might correct the curve.
Also they’ve never experienced a totalrian regime, which is what socialism morphs into invariably.
Kevin from South Carolina
As someone who is now 35 I’m not sure if I qualify under young people anymore I think it has to do with the fact that the system as it currently stands is just broken and career politicians on both sides of the aisle aren’t interested in fixing anything as much as they are with keeping their position and status quo. With Trump in 2016 however you may feel about the man and his policies, one thing almost everyone can agree on is that he was DIFFERENT. This was not some career politician this was something new and unpredictable and a real feeling of hey it may not work but it can’t be worse than what’s currently in place. Now I won’t go into how that turned out (and 2020 and 2024 were a VERY different story) but I think we are now seeing the same thing on the left with young people wanting something DIFFERENT and hey this socialism thing might not work but it can’t be worse than what’s currently in place. Seeing some of the reactions to the New York primaries from the establishment Democrats only makes me thing this is even more the case.
(Another) Andrew from Undisclosed
20 Questions!
Ladies and gentlemen, the Weeknd.
Last week we tested your Disney ball knowledge. Now it’s time to see who really knows ball with a Pixar trivia quiz. This was the only way forward.
Hope you have fun with this. Good luck. Answer key next week!
Here are the results from last week’s Disney edition of “This or That.”
Timon 17.0% / Genie 83.0%
Scar 66.1% / Ursula 33.9%
Kronk 22.8% / Remy 77.2%
Pumbaa 50.7% / Mushu 49.3%
Belle 79.1% / Jasmine 20.9%
Li Shang 73.6% / Phoebus 26.4%
Ariel 54.1% / Pocahontas 45.9%
Quasimodo 81.4% / Tarzan 18.6%
Pain and Panic 63.2% / Flotsam and Jetsam 36.8%
Chef Skinner 25.2% / Lumière 74.8%
Mufasa 89.8% / King Triton 10.2%
Maleficent 66.2% / Jafar 33.8%
Megara 43.3% / Esmeralda 56.7%
Hercules’ strength 43.7% / Aladdin’s luck & street smarts 56.3%
Rajah 55.9% / Pascal 44.1%
Cinderella 73.4% / Tiana 26.6%
Cogsworth 64.7% / Phil 35.3%
Fairy Godmother 70.3% / Grandmother Willow 29.7%
Peter Pan 59.0% / Alice 41.0%
Jiminy Cricket 72.4% / Zazu 27.6%
Hex Appeal
A Ghanaian witch doctor who claimed to have cursed England captain Harry Kane announced he was lifting the hex after England’s scoreless draw against Ghana at the World Cup.
Canned Exec
A New York woman lost her job as a JPMorgan Chase executive director after a video of her dumping trash onto the street and stealing a commemorative Knicks championship parade trash can went viral.
The New York Post identified Angie Baez as the woman seen emptying and taking one of the city’s special-edition blue-and-orange bins.
Hard to Miss
A Texas ranch is offering a $5,000 reward for the safe return of Gracie, a 3-to-4-year-old giraffe who wandered off Cedar Hollow Ranch near Leakey after slipping through an unfenced area past an 8-foot gate.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
Algeria and Kansas? A love affair?
New Roca correspondent Stefano and video lead Amalia went to Lawrence, KS, for a new sports video on the unlikely love affair between Algeria and Kansas. This country is a massive place, and while stories like this don’t surprise us, they probably do surprise anyone who still imbibes legacy media content.
Hope you have a great weekend and don’t forget 20 Questions!
–Max and Max