I’ve read a few articles talking about some Texas ranches where the solar farms are built so that cattle (not just sheep) can graze under them. This is such a great development.
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I paid $2.95 at Walmart with discount near Lake Charles this weekend. Prices have definitely come down a lot last few weeks.
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Saw some $2.83 on Hwy 290 west of Houston.
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With the 7/11 app, .50 off per gallon on the 7th and the 11th of this month, extra .10 off for veterans. They’ll be paying me to gas up tomorrow.
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Houston Job Growth — First Five Months of 2026
https://x.com/houstonomics/status/2074549094911991978
Looks like the gains and loses roughly balance each other out.
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Not good use of our resources for an optional, half fought, war. SPR at lowest levels since 1983 - 43 years.
Iran War — Here’s a 100% guess on my part on what happened:
Tr_mp decided to take a high risk-high return gamble on overthrowing the Iranian regime.
But it failed and now he’s stuck with a mess where the goal is just getting back to the prior status quo.
I think the war and high oil prices drag on into this fall’s elections and that helps Democrats take at least one chamber.
Again, 100% speculation on my part.
I think that’s probably pretty close to right.
I had a lot of windshield time today, and I stopped at the same gas station twice - once at about 7 am, and again later at about 5 pm. The price went up $0.40 during that time. 
Keep an eye on diesel prices. Ukraine’s strikes on Russia have impacted their refining to the point where they have completely banned exports.
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Some temporary good news as crude prices have since gone back up.
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Wow !
Grok Fact Check—
- Multiple market reports and ZeroHedge’s own article cite Goldman Sachs’ trading desk data confirming over 1.2 million Korean leveraged retail accounts faced margin calls as of July 13, 2026, with 320,000–360,000 fully liquidated.
- South Korea’s working-age population (15-64) stood near 35 million in mid-2026 per OECD and population data, validating the post’s “1 in 30 adults” (roughly 3.4%) calculation based on the margin call total.
- The figures stem from a sharp Kospi drop and forced sales in leveraged ETFs tied to chips like Samsung and SK Hynix, as tracked by Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service.
Gemini summary…
The Numbers Behind the Margin Call Wave
Data from the Korea Financial Investment Association and the Korea Financial Supervisory Service revealed staggering impacts on local retail investors: [1, 2, 3]
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Accounts Affected: Over 1.2 million retail leveraged accounts received margin calls as outstanding margin debt approached a record high of 38 trillion won (~$25.2 billion). [1]
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Forced Liquidations: Between 320,000 and 360,000 accounts were fully liquidated by brokers after failing to meet the calls, destroying investors’ equity. [1]
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The “One-in-Thirty” Rule: With South Korea’s working-age adult population sitting around 35.7 million, approximately one in every 30 working-age adults in the country was hit with a margin call. [1, 2]
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Financial Impact: Retail investors suffered over $1.45 billion in losses, with forced selling reaching over 450 billion won during the peak in early July. [1]
Who Was Hit the Hardest?
Younger and newer investors bore the brunt of this retail unwind. Investors in their 20s and 30s accounted for a disproportionate 62% of the total forced liquidations. In many severe cases, brokers were forced to sell off assets at a steep loss, leaving some investors in debt to their brokerages even after their positions were completely wiped out. [1, 2, 3]
The Underlying Causes
The cascading margin calls were fueled by several compounding factors: [1, 2]
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Concentrated Tech Trade: More than 54% of the KOSPI is tied to memory stocks, and simultaneous drops in Samsung and SK Hynix decimated account values. [1]
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Record Margin Debt: Margin debt had doubled since early 2025 as retail investors piled onto the AI and semiconductor boom. [1, 2]
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Global Headwinds: The tech sell-off was exacerbated by foreign fund outflows, global tensions (including U.S.-Iran conflicts), and semiconductor cycle fears. [1]
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