🌊 No More Farms for Xi

Plus: Maryland's bald eagle haven, Wall Street job offer drama, & 20 Questions!

July 11, 2025

Be careful celebrating 7-Eleven Day this year.

7-Eleven Day feels different this year. This morning I walked into my local 7-Eleven to get a free small cherry Slurpee. Suddenly, I heard a raspy voice from behind me say, “Put down the red 40.” I turned around and it was RFK Jr. He slapped the Slurpee out of my hand and gave me a stick of elk jerky instead.

I’m still shaken from the experience and am reconsidering my plans to attend Moderna’s “buy one booster get one booster” day next week.

🐄 Chinese farmland crackdown in the US

🤬 Wall Street job offer drama

🦅 Maryland's bald eagle haven

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

US Farm Purchase Crackdown

The Trump Administration announced a plan to limit Chinese purchases of American farmland

  • In 2023, foreigners owned nearly 45M acres of US cropland and forests – just 3.5% of all agricultural land but a 70% increase from a decade earlier. Canadians owned the largest portion at 15.3M acres; China held more than 270,000

  • This week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a seven-point plan intended to enhance public disclosures, impose steeper penalties for false filings, and work with Congress to ban purchases from foreign adversaries, citing risks from "criminals, political adversaries and hostile regimes”

Dig Deeper 

  • Rollins also said the administration is exploring ways to "claw back" existing foreign farmland purchases

  • The plan includes identifying domestic production of critical farming inputs like fertilizers, cracking down on nutrition assistance fraud, enhancing agricultural research security, and re-evaluating programs supporting foreign nations

KEY STORY

Andreessen Horowitz Leaves for Nevada

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced it is reincorporating from Delaware to Nevada and encouraging its portfolio companies to make the same move

  • Most large US companies are incorporated in Delaware, largely because of its traditionally stable, pro-business Chancery Court

  • This week, though, a16z announced it would reincorporate in Nevada, citing an “unprecedented level of subjectivity” into judicial decisions, and urged other startups to do the same

  • It comes as Texas, Nevada, and other states compete for a slice of Delaware’s incorporation business by offering increasingly favorable terms to corporate directors

Dig Deeper

  • In announcing the move, the firm said some startups hesitate to leave Delaware “based in part on concerns for how investors will react…As the largest VC firm in the country, we hope our decision signals to our portfolio companies, as well as to prospective portfolio companies, that such concerns may be overblown”

  • Andreessen’s decision reflects mounting frustration among Silicon Valley figures with Delaware and its Chancery Court

  • Elon Musk led that criticism after a judge blocked his approximately $56B Tesla pay package, the largest ever awarded to a US executive. Musk responded by reincorporating Tesla in Texas and other businesses in Nevada

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Choose what is right, not what is easy

Craig Titley

KEY STORY

Big Finance Battle

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have demanded that junior bankers refuse to accept job offers elsewhere

  • Private equity (PE) companies typically recruit promising candidates from investment banks at the time they join the bank. For example, a PE firm looking to hire someone at age 24 may get a commitment from them at age 22, when they begin training at a bank fresh out of college

  • Last month, though, JPMorgan Chase told incoming grads that they would be fired if found to have accepted a job elsewhere before completing 18 months of training

  • This week, Goldman Sachs issued a similar warning and said it would require junior bankers to confirm every three months that they had not accepted jobs elsewhere

Dig Deeper

  • So far, PE companies appear to be complying, with no large firm conducting recruitment during the traditional June window

  • Apollo Global Management, one of the PE firms, recently told soon-to-be investment bankers that it wouldn’t extend offers so early in the process

  • The company’s CEO said that “asking students to make career decisions before they truly understand their options doesn’t serve them or our industry”

KEY STORY

Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Bolsonaro

President Trump announced a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods starting August 1, citing Brazil's legal proceedings against former President Jair Bolsonaro and restrictions on US tech firms

  • Bolsonaro, Brazil's former right-wing leader and a Trump ally, is on trial for allegedly attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election and has been barred from running in an election until 2030

  • In threatening a 50% tariff on Brazil, Trump called Brazil's treatment of Bolsonaro “a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY”

  • Trump also criticized Brazil’s regulation of social media networks, calling policies to monitor alleged hate speech "insidious attacks on Free Elections"

Dig Deeper 

  • The 50% tariff represents the highest level announced in Trump's recent flurry of letters to world leaders, after he pushed back his "reciprocal tariffs" deadline to August 1

  • While Trump has been targeting countries with which the US has large trade deficits, the US ran a $7.4B trade surplus with Brazil in 2024

  • Lula responded to Trump by saying that Brazil would consider suspending trade agreements with the US. He said, “Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being taken for granted by anyone”

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

☢️ France and the UK – Western Europe’s only two nuclear powers – announced that they will coordinate their nuclear weapons use and jointly respond to major threats to Europe

🚢he US accused the Houthis of conducting their deadliest attack yet on Red Sea shipping, alleging that the group killed sailors on a Liberian ship and took crew members hostage

🌽 Italian confectionery giant Ferrero agreed to acquire US cereal maker WK Kellogg – maker of  Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies and Froot Loops – for $3.1B

🇺🇸 A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a new order blocking President Trump's attempt to limit birthright citizenship, the first legal challenge since the Supreme Court allowed the policy to proceed last month

🏦 JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon – perhaps the world’s most powerful banker – told European leaders, “You’re losing”

What does Roca Nation think?

😯 Yesterday’s Question: What’s a state that surprised you in terms of how much you liked visiting it?

I went on a work trip to Mobile, Alabama and to this day tell anyone about how great of a state Alabama is. I live in California and it is easy to view the US through costal elitist lenses but my week in Mobile was incredible. Friendly people at every corner, food was amazing and the pace of life seemed to be so relaxing. My brown Mexican skin also made LOTS of heads turn which was funny but nothing uncomfortable or unwelcoming. Hopefully I can one day return!

Ivan from California

Iowa. My wife and road tripped to a family wedding in Iowa City, Iowa and I did not expect much other than corn and windmills. It is actually a beautiful state and I enjoyed meeting all the locals. We had just driven through all of Nebraska though so that may have had something to do with my impression of it.

Carlos from Colorado

Florida.

I had been to Florida’s main tourist attractions at a younger age (Disney, Space Camp, Alligator anything, etc), and the Miami scene at a college age. Later as an adult, I was doing a yearlong road trip throughout the entire USA and one of the planned destinations was the southern most point of the continental USA, which is Cape Sable in Florida. Scheduling dictated that I’d spend roughly 3 weeks in the state and, as an adult, I kind of dreaded it… I had no more interest in overpriced and over-crowded theme parks or the materialistic Miami scenes.

I ended up staying at an awesome treehouse permaculture farm in Little Haiti, whose owner’s goal was to save animals and educate the underserved community and youth about the benefits of growing their own food.

I stayed in Islamorada with a local family that showed me around the less tourist spots of the Florida keys and introduced me to bully netting (hunting lobsters at night from a boat).

I stayed in Crystal River where I scubaed among manatees in appropriately named crystal clear waters.

I stayed in the Everglades campground where crocodiles meet alligators, where you can understand the interest in bird watching, and where you should take advantage of the free park ranger guided canoe tours (they are soooo worth it).

I stayed in Pensacola in a lovely wooded property that oddly reminded me of the Pacific Northwest albeit with some completely white sand beaches.

All-in-all, I visited 34 states and 5 Canadian provinces on this road trip, all incredible places in their unique ways, but Florida was the most surprising and I had a wonderful time there.

Guillaume from Portland

20 Questions!

In honor of the Fourth of July last weekend and the fact that your answers to yesterday’s question made us feel even more patriotic, we have no choice but to give you a patriotic-themed “This or That?” edition of 20 Questions. We can't wait to see which cylindrical-shaped meat wins.

Have an amazing weekend. See you Monday.

Last Week’s Responses

Results from the this or that mascot edition of 20 Questions.

Tony the Tiger - 82.9%
Michelin Man - 17.1%

Flo from Progressive - 50.6%
Jake from State Farm - 49.4%

Pillsbury Dough Boy - 52.6%
Energizer Bunny - 47.4%

Pop - 37.2%
Crackle - 35.9%
Snap - 26.9%

Cap’n Crunch - 59.2%
Captain Morgan - 40.8%

Smokey Bear - 53.5%
Mickey Mouse - 46.5%

Uga the Bulldog (UGA) - 58.9%
Mike the Tiger (LSU) - 41.1%

Sparty (Michigan State) - 59.0%
Brutus Muckeye (OSU) - 41.0%

Kool-Aid Man - 64.1%
Mr. Peanut - 35.9%

Mr. Clean - 52.8%
Rich Uncle Pennybags (Monopoly) - 47.2%

Chester Cheetah - 83.4%
Julio Pringles - 16.6%

Colonel Snaders - 53.7%
Eat Mor Chikin Cow - 46.3%

Ronald McDonald - 73.9%
The Burger King - 26.1%

Allstate Mayhem guy - 60.9%
Dos Equis guy - 39.1%

Colonel Mustard - 52.9%
Miss Peacock - 47.1%

Jersey Mike - 59.9%
Jimmy John - 40.1%

Barbie - 91.3%
Bratz - 8.7%

Smokey Bear - 51.5%
Uncle Sam - 48.5%

Phillie Phanatic - 60.3%
Mr. Met - 39.7%

Fred Flintstone - 72.2%
Lucky the Leprechaun - 27.8%

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🍋 Friendly Fundraisers in Texas: In the wake of devastating Guadalupe River flooding in Texas, children have stepped up with lemonade stands to raise funds for affected families

🦅 Soaring Success: Maryland, after years of conservation efforts, is now home to the largest bald eagle population in the contiguous US

🎸 Good 4 Therapy: Olivia Rodrigo paid for her band and crew to see therapists for free throughout her entire Guts World Tour

🦌 Florida Man Rescues Deer: Lifeguards at Flagler Beach, Florida, performed an unforgettable rescue when they spotted a white‑tailed deer struggling about 300 yards offshore

🧏 Sounds Like a Miracle: A groundbreaking gene therapy trial targeting the OTOF gene restored hearing in all 10 patients born deaf – ranging from toddlers to young adults

ROCA WRAP
Power Grab

Mali

The head of this country's military junta granted himself five more years in power without elections.

Once home to the legendary city of Timbuktu and ancient empires that controlled trans-Saharan commerce, Mali today struggles with jihadist insurgencies, political instability, and the challenge of governing a territory larger than Texas with limited resources.

The country’s current government has been under the control of a military junta since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. On Thursday, junta leader General Assimi Goita signed a bill into law that granted himself a five-year presidential mandate that can be renewed "as many times as necessary" without elections.

The legislation allows him to lead the West African nation until at least 2030, abandoning the military government's initial pledge to return to civilian rule in March 2024. The new law represents the latest consolidation of the Malian military’s power.

In May, Goita signed a decree dissolving all political parties, coinciding with a surge in kidnappings of pro-democracy activists in the capital Bamako. The crackdown followed demonstrations by several hundred activists calling for democratic reforms.

Mali's political instability reflects a broader wave of military takeovers that has swept across West and Central Africa over the past decade, as the region has faced rampant violence, corruption, and poverty. Goita promised to be different, improving politics and ending the violence.

Will he follow through in the next five-year term? Or the one after that?

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

What a week, Roca Nation. Happy Hour came and went like like the Epstein Files on Pam Bondi’s desk. We appreciate your feedback and hope you all have great weekends. Here’s a link to 20 Questions!

Also, a special shoutout to the Roca Readers helping us out in the Bay Area, especially Mike Cerre! A Vietnam veteran himself and former war correspondent for ABC News, he’s now a PBS NewsHour special correspondent and a Roca reader. He’s set us up with some great folks in the Bay Area.

–Max and Max