Rube Goldberg -- Remove One Element And The Whole Thing Stops -- August 6, 2026

Locator: 51349RUBE.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. This post is for my extended family. This is not for the general readership. See disclaimer down below. 

With regard to the 4th Industrial Revolution, one can't pick and choose.  Don't take this out of context.

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Disclaimer

Briefly: 

I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.

I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.

I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.

If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them. 

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken, US economy, and the US market.

I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 

And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution. 

I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom. Now, I've added Amazon. And QCOM.

Longer version here.  

 

Morning Market -- August 6, 2026

Locator: 51348VACAMUERTA.

Updates

WTI: spiking late morning; up over 3%; trading at $77.73. Iran says US-flagged and Israeli-flagged ships will not be allowed to transit the strait. Will we back to $80+ by Monday? If Trump accepts the fact that the strait is closed to America and Israel (this will also be other-flagged cargo with Israel or US destinations), Iran can declare victory, a Pyrrhic victory. 

All indices are now red: midday. 

S&P: to get from 7,700 to 8,000, it only needs to go up 4%.

Original Post 

Vaca Muerta: turns out to be surprisingly good. Link here. 

I track the Vaca Muerta at the sidebar at the right, but haven't updated it in ages. Link here. XOM sold its Vaca Muerta holdings back in 2024. So, this company went out of its way to sue CVX over Hess holdings (and lost) and willingly sold their position in Argentina. Talk about no skating to where the puck will be. Vaca Muerta is now producing 625,000 bopd. 

SPACEX: will build chips in Texas. 

TSLA says Terafab will be built in Grimes County Texas as both it and SPCX prepare for chip demand beyond global supply. The company plans to build “the largest chip manufacturing facility ever” with a goal of producing more than 1 terawatt of compute annually.

Markets:

• Dow: down 330 points:
• NASDAQ: flat
• WTI: up $1.73; trading at $77

Musk:

• SPCX: doing just fine, thank you. Up a couple of bucks after the "unlock."

Natura gas: 

• LNG: up $8 after earnings report.

TECH:

• AAPL: up earlier, now down, less than a $1 
• AVGO: up $6
• TSM: up $8
• AMD: up $9
• AMZN: up $1 

Oil:

• CVX: up $2
• PSX: up $2 
• COP: up $1 -- completed its asset sale ahead of schedule; $1.7 billion non-core lower 48.

New mRNA Flu Vaccine Approved By FDA -- August 6, 2026

Locator: 51347FLUVACCINE. 

Hell must have frozen over. RFK, Jr.,'s agency, the FDA, has approved the first mRNA flu vaccine. From TNYT:

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first mRNA flu vaccine, enabling use of a technology that will make it easier to rapidly target a widely prevalent or particularly virulent strain of the virus. 

Why is this important?

Intergenerational Wealth Transfer -- Update -- August 6, 2026

Locator: 51346WEALTHTRANSFER. 

Tag: wealth transfer intergenerational 

Intergenerational wealth transfer: has now reached $120 trillion over the next 20 years.  Gemini suggests taking an annual "salary" of $70,000, a one-million-dollar inheritance will last fourteen to eighteen years.  

More:

Economy -- The Consumer Is Doing Just Fine, Thank You -- August 6, 2026

Locator: 51345MARKET. 

Futures: futures suggest it's a great time for stock picking traders. 

The consumer is doing just fine, thank you. I consider Burger King and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen as focused on those consumers in the lower to lower-middle class demographics. 

Intergenerational wealth transfer: has now reached $120 trillion over the next 20 years.  Gemini suggests taking an annual "salary" of $70,000, a one-million-dollar inheritance will last fourteen to eighteen years.  

Dow at record high.

Dow is on pace for best week since June, 2025.

AAPL: right now, three hours from market opening, AAPL is up almost $3/share. 

*********************************
Disclaimer

Briefly: 

I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.

I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.

I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.

If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them. 

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken, US economy, and the US market.

I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 

And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution. 

I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom. Now, I've added Amazon. And QCOM.

Longer version here.