Will the Iran Deal Hold?
June 26, 2026
Doug Leyendecker
Welcome to This Week’s Leyendecker View
I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.
– Walt Disney
THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP
FAVORITE READS OF THE WEEK
Start-up says they can do AI much cheaper
Cheaper and faster is coming.
How New Orleans turned around its schools
Who knew NOLA had good schools?
Should public company reporting happen in real time?
AI and today’s tech make it possible.
THE RANDOMS
Will ranch dressing soon conquer Europe?
America’s most elite search teams are headed to Venezuela to aid in search and rescue efforts after yesterday’s two catastrophic earthquakes. This is not just good PR, it’s also good politics.
Oracle just shed 21,000 jobs as it goes all in on AI. For months, AI leaders were hollering about an AI jobs apocalypse. But now they’re saying they were wrong. And we’re to believe them?
Tucker Carlson is leaving the Republican party. While Tucker seemed quite prescient when at Fox News, he seems to have become a reactionary, conspiracy theorist. Some people need bosses to be good at what they do.
A federal judge just blocked a ban on using SNAP benefits to buy high-sugar drinks and candy.. Is logic or politics behind his decision?
The UK may soon have another “student council” election that is highly unlikely to curtail their rapid tumble into global oblivion. As Shakespeare said, “The sins of the father are to be laid upon their children.” The UK and Europe may be getting payback for their centuries of imperialism.
If you believe the Iranians are going to hold to their commitments and not reinvest in their military capabilities, then I’ve got some beautiful beachfront property in West Texas to sell you.
Donald Trump is not a traditional Republican, but nor is he a Democrat. He’s just a Trump.
If you are an Iranian mullah, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, 94-year-old Raul Castro, Venezuela’s Maduro, or some other despot who, for decades, has been living the life of splendor and ultimate power, why would you ever want to give that up? Who is going to convince you to change? And how are they going to do it?
Why do I dislike the idea of private equity buying into CPA and law firms?
ECONOMIC NEWS
Economy
Manufacturing employment is falling
Half of US cities are depopulating
Ranks of the ultra-wealthy jump
Dating has gotten too expensive
Middle-class entitlements dominate welfare
Labor
It takes $270K a year “to be successful”
Banks prepare for big AI-induced job cuts
Graduate degrees are losing value
The Lone Star
Austin start-up hits $12B+ valuation
Meta picks Houston for free job training program
Katy to get innovative battery manufacturer
BUSINESS
Finance
Is the “Greenspan put” history?
Jamie Dimon feels uncomfortable
PE taps hot credit market to pay themselves
Lenders tighten standards in private credit
Real Estate
How to get a mortgage below 6%
Everything about home ownership is more expensive
Investors shifting from private credit to real estate
Tech
Here comes the $25K EV truck
Meta wants in on the prediction markets
The robot I might want to own
You need a self-driving toilet
AI
AI makes online scams easier
AI is causing inflation
How AI giants use AI
An AI lawyer won a recent case
Energy
The dream of antimatter propulsion
Largest US wind farm begins operations
Trans-Saharan pipeline back under construction
THE NATION
Politics
Liberals are lost
The socialists are taking over
Democrats are fighting themselves
CA billionaire tax causes a fight
Policy
SCOTUS gives Trump an immigration win
Trump wants voter bill before considering others
Has Anthropic been forgiven?
US military tightens the border
How to tax the uber rich
Culture
Gray divorce is on the rise
A new college tuition price idea
Baseball’s new shirtless fan trend
Parents want schools to cut screen times
GEOPOLITICS
Global
Could the Venezuela quake have killed 10,000?
Latin America wants more Trump-like leaders
Trump ally elected president in Colombia
Mexican leaders target uncooperative journalists
Europe
Europeans are afraid to spend
Britain’s PM clown show continues
A Europe-China trade war is possible
Germany needs a pension restructure
Trump pisses off Italy’s prime minister
Ukraine
Ukraine’s drone armada is big Russian problem
Ukrainian soldiers stay committed
Putin hammers the Donbas
Russia halts gas sales to Crimean people
Ukraine hits strategic Russian assets
Middle East
Container ship hit in Hormuz
Israel has Hezbollah fighters trapped underground
Is Iran stalling to upgrade its drone tech?
Trump lets Iran sell oil for dollars
Iran hangs more dissidents to stoke fear, tighten control
Iran’s already trying to change the deal
Iran wants Hormuz transit fees
China
How China is helping Russia and Iran
More Chinese action in the South China Sea
China has the world’s fastest supercomputer
War Creep
South Korea to train all soldiers on drones
US Army bases to process critical minerals
Sea drones are on their way
Japan ramps up its military tech
MAKING A BETTER YOU
Mind
Digital fasting is a health risk
Is AI making us dumber?
The 24-hour micro-retreat
Body
Easing into weight lifting
6 good water workouts
Productive tweaks to the Western diet
FUN STUFF
The Extraordinary
The Scots drank all the beer in Boston
Psilocybin helps an Alzheimer’s patient speak again
Everything you need to know about shoelaces
Music That Found Us
A beautiful rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”
And another one
And here is Michael’s version
Worth a Watch
Jodie Foster struts her stuff in A Private Life.
The Last Viking, Beatlemania extreme.
The lovely Blue Heron.
The Yum Yums
Summer ceviche.
Easy ceviche
Scallop ceviche aguachile
Coconut lime ceviche
Peruvian ceviche
Chilean ceviche
Shrimp ceviche
PARTING THOUGHTS
There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.
– Indira Gandhi
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Elon Makes Buffett Look Small
June 19, 2026
The SpaceX IPO Black Hole
June 12, 2026
The Leyendecker View
June 5, 2026
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