🌊 10K Steps a Day Is a Myth?

Happy National Chicken Wing Day!

Did you know that Buffalo wings were invented by mistake? In 1964, a bar owner in Buffalo, NY, ordered a shipment of chicken necks but received chicken wings instead. According to the story, the bar owner, Teressa Bellissimo, decided to make the most of the batch and converted them into what we know today as Buffalo wings.

Guess you could say she was just… winging it.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Meme Stock Bubble

A new meme stock surge has led to fears of a stock bubble

• In 2021, online investors used Reddit forums like WallStreetBets to coordinate purchases of struggling companies like GameStop and AMC, driving a meme stock rally

• A new meme stock surge has been ongoing since last week, with online speculation on forums like WallStreetBets driving up various retailers’ stocks. Kohl's is up 51% in the last month, GoPro 86%, and Krispy Kreme 41%

• Each company had been facing financial challenges before the spikes. Kohl's, a struggling department store chain, became a target after professional investors bet against it by shorting nearly half its outstanding shares

Dig Deeper

• Goldman Sachs identified the current rally as part of "one of the sharpest short squeezes on record," with their Speculative Trading Indicator reaching its highest level since 2021

• The bank noted that baskets of retail-favored stocks and heavily shorted companies have gained 50% and 60% respectively since April, compared to 28% for the broader S&P 500

• Goldman suggested this could signal near-term market upside, although many analysts have speculated that such “frothy” trading implies excess valuations and an eventual downturn

KEY STORY

Health Myth Busted

New research suggests that 7,000 daily steps may provide nearly the same health benefits as the widely promoted 10,000-step target

• The 10,000 steps per day goal originated as a marketing slogan from Japanese company Yamasa to sell pedometers

• Last week, University of Sydney researchers published a study in The Lancet that examined data from 160,000+ adults to understand how daily step counts affect health outcomes

• Using 2,000 steps as a baseline, they found that people walking 7,000 steps daily had 47% lower overall mortality, while those reaching 10,000 steps had a marginally better 48% reduction

Dig Deeper

• The research revealed diminishing returns beyond 7,000 steps, with smaller additional health gains for each extra 1,000 steps

• Walking 7,000 steps daily reduced risks for cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and dementia

• However, 10,000 steps did provide some additional benefits, including a 14% further reduction in depressive symptoms risk compared to 7,000 steps

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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KEY STORY

Thailand and Cambodia Reach Ceasefire

Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an immediate ceasefire after five days of border conflict

• The two countries have disputed their shared border for over a century. The situation deteriorated last week, after a landmine explosion wounded a Thai soldier. The sides proceeded to exchange heavy artillery fire, rockets, and airstrikes

• On Monday, the two countries reached a ceasefire agreement that went into effect at midnight local time

• The brief conflict killed at least 36 people and displaced 300,000 civilians

Dig Deeper 

• The Malaysian prime minister organized emergency peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, where Cambodian and Thai leaders met for the first time since hostilities began. US and Chinese representatives served as observers to the talks

• For his part, President Trump intervened by threatening to terminate trade negotiations with both countries unless they immediately stopped fighting

• “We happen to be, by coincidence, currently dealing on Trade with both Countries, but do not want to make any Deal, with either Country, if they are fighting – And I have told them so!” Trump wrote on Truth Social

KEY STORY

Democrat Approval Hits Record Low

A new Wall Street Journal poll found that Americans have a historically bad view of the Democratic Party

• The Democrats have struggled to align on a new message and leadership since the Republican victories in November

• Last week’s survey revealed that 63% of voters hold an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, marking the highest unfavorability rating in 35 years

• Just 8% of respondents view the Democratic Party "very favorably," compared to 19% for the Republican Party

• The poll found that while many voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of key issues, they have more faith in Republicans to handle them than Democrats

Dig Deeper 

• The poll found widespread voter disapproval of Trump's handling of major policy areas – including the economy, inflation, and foreign policy – however, voters still trusted Republicans more than Democrats on these same issues

• While voters disapproved of Trump's inflation management by 11 points, they trust Republicans over Democrats to handle inflation by 10 points. Similarly, while Trump's tariff policies face 17-point disapproval, Republicans hold a 7-point trust advantage on the issue

• Democratic pollster John Anzalone told the WSJ, "The Democratic brand is so bad that they don't have the credibility to be a critic of Trump or the Republican Party…Until they reconnect with real voters and working people on who they're for and what their economic message is, they're going to have problems"

KEY STORY

NYC Shooting

A gunman shot and killed four people at the Manhattan skyscraper that houses the NFL and Blackstone

• Images captured the attacker entered the building holding an M4 rifle around 6:30 PM

• Witnesses said he then began shooting in the lobby before traveling to the building’s 33rd floor

• He shot and killed at least four people – one police officer and three civilians – before being “neutralized,” per authorities. Police sources told media that he shot himself as police approached

• The victims, situated on both the lobby and upper floor, include a Bangladeshi immigrant police officer whose wife was pregnant with their third child, and a Blackstone executive

Dig Deeper 

• The shooter was identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas

• One of the few pieces of information about Tamura that could be immediately found online was an interview from his teens, in which he talked about scoring touchdowns for his California high school team

• It was not immediately clear which company was situated on the 33rd floor. The building’s tenants include KPMG, the Consulate of Ireland, Deutsche Bank, and other financial and law firms

• The NFL and Blackstone – the nation’s second-largest private equity firm and one of the largest owners of single-family homes in the US – are the major tenants

• One user posted on the NYC subreddit, “As someone who works in that building (but stayed home today), you only need to badge in for the turnstiles which you can hop easily and then access the elevators freely”

• Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the shooter had intended to target the NFL, but ended up on the wrong floor by mistake

• On Tuesday, authorities also released a note from the shooter. In it, he said, “Football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze.” CTE is a brain condition, often suffered by football players, linked to repeated head trauma

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇷🇺 President Trump shortened his deadline for President Vladimir Putin to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire, expressing frustration after the Russian leader failed to make progress within the original 50-day window

🇮🇱 Israel began allowing more humanitarian trucks into Gaza and restored power to a water treatment facility, reversing months of tight aid restrictions aimed at pressuring Hamas

🇺🇸 Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced he will run for the US Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Thom Tillis

🇨🇳 US and Chinese officials met in Stockholm on Monday, seeking to extend their trade truce by three months before an August 12 deadline

🇫🇷 Some European politicians blasted the EU-US trade deal, with France’s prime minister calling it “submission” to the US

What does Roca Nation think?

🇮🇱 Yesterday’s Question: Do you think your friends are more or less pro-Israel than they were a month ago? Why? Feel free to answer for yourself instead.

🤔 Today’s Question: What kind of stories get too much news coverage?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

💋 Raider’s Controversial Kiss: Christian Wilkins, defensive tackle for the Las Vegas Raiders, was cut from the team after offending a teammate by kissing him on the forehead

🎤 Destiny’s Child Returns: Beyoncé surprised the crowd at the final Cowboy Carter show by reuniting Destiny’s Child onstage for the first time in seven years

🌠 Meteor Mayhem: Three meteor showers will overlap this week to create one of the most dazzling displays of the year

🏆 Break a Leg: Star English women’s football defender Lucy Bronze competed in the Euro 2025 with a broken leg

🏃 The FitnessGram PACER Test…: Over 200 Gen Zers gathered in Central Park to attempt a world‑record‑sized FitnessGram PACER test

ROCA WRAP
Mayfly Mayhem

Budapest

This European capital is experiencing massive swarms of mayflies.

Budapest straddles the Danube River in Central Europe, with the mighty waterway serving as both the city's lifeblood and the natural boundary between its historic districts. The river has defined the Hungarian capital's character for centuries, flowing past iconic landmarks like the Parliament building and thermal baths. The Danube’s health directly impacts local ecosystems, including the fragile mayfly, whose swarms have arrived early this year.

This month, swarms of mayflies – aquatic insects known for their often single-day lifespans – arrived ahead of their August schedule. The premature emergence has caught both scientists and city dwellers off guard, with hundreds of thousands – sometimes millions – of the delicate creatures filling the air along riverbanks as they engage in their frantic mating ritual before dying within hours.

Hungarian researchers point to unusually low water levels and an exceptionally hot summer as the primary drivers behind the early and intense swarming. The reduced water depth allows more sunlight to penetrate to the riverbed, spurring algae growth that feeds mayfly larvae and accelerates their development cycle.

For roughly four decades, these insects disappeared entirely from the Danube due to pollution. They made their comeback in 2012 following major investments in wastewater treatment infrastructure that restored water quality. Today, they are a protected species in Hungary.

Another problem for the mayflies are city lights and bridge shadows: The structures can confuse the swarming insects, which rely on natural light reflection from water surfaces for navigation. Instead of laying eggs in the river, confused insects often crash onto concrete riverbanks, breaking their reproductive cycle. Hungarian scientists have responded by installing specialized blue lights on two Budapest bridges that guide the mayflies back toward the water.

A mayfly may only live for a few hours, but in that period, the problems keep coming.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Here is the final video from Max F’s trip to Pakistan.

In the next couple of weeks, you can expect videos from Kentucky, San Francisco, Ohio, and Indiana. We are going to rely on the Roca community more and more to point us in the right direction in each spot. Thank you to all of you who’ve helped us so far. Have a great day!

–Max and Max