TOGETHER WITH

Hey there weekday warrior,

Today, we’re getting into the latest big tech firm to enter the smart glasses’ arena, the trade talks in London went surprisingly well, and Starbucks is getting its AI on. But first...

In the June 11, 2018 edition of The Water Coolest, we covered the Silicon Valley status symbol money can’t buy: a first-name only email address at a unicorn that just screams “I was an early employee.”

Welp, some things never change. Silicon Valley tech bros are still douchebags in 2025. But instead of pissing matches about email addresses, it’s d*ck measuring (shrinking?) contests about who can last longer in a cold plunge.

Enjoy the next 4 minutes and 8 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.

Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,

– tyler

Room for one more?

If you ain’t first, you’re last…

Or in Snap’s case, if you’re first, you’re also somehow, inexplicably last. You see, the social platform that was first to market with “smart” glasses has found itself playing catch-up in the smart glasses arms race.

On Tuesday, Snap $SNAP ( ▼ 4.34% )  unveiled its 6th-generation Spectacles. Evan Spiegel didn’t just show up to the party early, save the save-the-dates haven’t even been sent yet. Something tells me that this wasn’t the first time the dude married to Miranda Kerr was a bit premature…

"Drop the ‘tacles.’ Just Specs. It's cleaner."

Evan and Snap will pull the big tech equivalent of a kid named Johnny coming back from summer vacation and asking to be called John. Spectacles will be renamed Specs.

And get this, the glasses, which will drop in 2026, will feature Augmented Reality (AR) functionality. That means users can interact with digital images overlaid on the real world. Or, in Snap’s case, silly dog faces will be transposed on your friend’s face.

The Specs will also reportedly be lighter and smaller than previous Spectacles. And, presumably, they’ll be a little sexier than the current generation, which resembles a pair of those solar eclipse glasses that had an allergic reaction to peanuts…

To be fair, its most recent version of Spectacles was for developers’ eyes only.

The smart glasses wars…

Just me, or does this feel a lot like the arms race that erupted after the initial success of Amazon’s Alexa (technically the Echo)?

Meta is the current leader in the clubhouse by way of its popular smart glasses collab with Ray-Ban.

But Google and Apple are coming for the crown.

A few weeks back “sources familiar with the plans” started spreading rumors that Apple is developing smart glasses (not to be confused with the Vision Pro).

And even more recently, Google decided to give Google Glass another go. Although it probably won’t recycle the name of its biggest flop since Google+. They’re teaming up with Warby Parker to design smart glasses (see: Meta x Ray-Ban).

Most car factories, like Ford or Tesla, reportedly build one car per minute. Isn't it time we do that for houses?

BOXABL believes they have the potential to disrupt a massive and outdated trillion-dollar building construction market by bringing assembly line automation to the home industry.

BOXABL homes are built in their Las Vegas factory, folded, shipped on a truck, and then unfolded on site in one hour. They aim to transform home construction, much like how Henry Ford automated car manufacturing – bringing assembly line efficiency and mass production to an artisanal, slow industry.

And they're not just dreaming big; they're delivering:

• Initial prototype order delivered to SpaceX in 2020.

• Subsequent project order of 156 homes from the Department of Defense completed in 2021.

• Now, after implementing what was learned from those prior orders, actively delivering to developers and consumers.

• BOXABL reserved Nasdaq ticker symbol $BXBL*!

BOXABL has already raised over $200M from 50,000+ investors since 2020, and recently achieved a significant milestone: raising over 50% of their Reg A+ funding limit!

Like other game-changing companies, you have a chance to invest in BOXABL’s offering at just $0.80/share. All BOXABL crowdfunding will close on June 24th. This includes all accredited and non-accredited offerings.

Invest today before it's too late!

This is the LAST CHANCE to invest in the current BOXABL funding round and claim your bonus shares.

*Ad disclosures below

+ “Best I can do is a ‘trade framework’.” According to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, after two days of negotiations in London, the US and China “have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents.”

Both sides still need to get sign off from their bosses (think: the respective Presidents)… but this appears to be a step in the right direction towards trade war peace. I think?

+ “You sure about that?” - everyone in America to the World Bank (right before we stuff them in a locker)

The World Bank, which, for the record, is located in Washington, D.C., just took a big steaming dump on the world’s largest economy. The smartest guys in the room cut their growth expectations for the US economy by nearly half to just 1.4%. Why? Tariffs, of course.

But that’s not even the worst part. The World Bank lowered its growth forecast for the entire world… but not by as much as the US…

+ If you thought Starbucks $SBUX ( ▼ 1.12% ) baristas were butthurt about new uniform requirements, just wait until they figure out that they’re training their replacement. SBUX is rolling out an AI assistant called “Green Dot Assist” with a little help from OpenAI and Microsoft. The assistant will help blue-haired baristas across the world quickly find recipes for the kinda drinks that just scream “I’m insufferable,” troubleshoot issues with the espresso machine, and more.

+ Ok, but can it beat Ken Jennings in Jeopardy (I see you, Watson)?

IBM $IBM ( ▼ 1.36% ) said it’s building the world’s most powerful “error-free” quantum computer. Starling is expected to go online in upstate NY in 2029. When it does, it should be able to solve the world’s biggest problems (… like “what is KFC’s secret blend of 11 herbs and spices”) that would take traditional computers billions of years to solve. The announcement comes just a day after IBM’s stonk hit an all-time high.

+ RIP SEO. The WSJ just wrote their own obituary: ‘News Sites Are Getting Crushed by Google’s New AI Tools.’ The article shed light on the AI-induced media bloodbath. Online pubs that rely on Google search for traffic are getting rekt:

“Business Insider cut about 21% of its staff last month, a move CEO Barbara Peng said was aimed at helping the publication “endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control.” Organic search traffic to its websites declined by 55% between April 2022 and April 2025, according to data from Similarweb.”

+ Dave Ramsey would like a word. There's a much easier way to pay down crippling debt faster, you guys. Spoiler: it's using a no-interest credit card. Some of the top credit card experts identified one of their favorites that puts interest on ice until nearly 2027 AND offers up to 5% cash back on qualifying purchases. Start paying down debt faster with this top pick. [FYI, this is a partner post]

+ You’re never going to believe this, but the Apple haters (… who probably send green texts) are out in full force. And they’ve got a bone to pick with Tim Cook’s “Liquid Glass” iOS update, which makes your iPhone look “translucent and behaves like glass in the real world.”

+ US stocks “edged higher on Tuesday as renewed US-China trade talks entered their second day after an upbeat initial meeting.” (Yahoo! Finance)

+ The 10-year yield “slipped on Tuesday as U.S. and Chinese officials continued trade negotiations in London for a second day.” (CNBC)

+ Oil “prices held near a seven-week high on Tuesday as the market awaited direction from trade talks between the U.S. and China.” (Reuters)

+ Bitcoin “has jumped back to touching distance of its all-time of $112,000 per bitcoin set in May (with U.S. president Donald Trump teasing an imminent Federal Reserve bombshell).” (Forbes)

⏪ Yesterday…

+ J. M. Smucker reported before the bell

+ GameStop and GitLab reported after the bell

+ O'Reilly Auto began trading on a post-split basis following the 15-for-1 stock split

+ Datadog held its flagship two-day Dash 2025 event

⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…

+ Chewy reports this AM

+ Oracle reports after hours

+ Target will hold its annual shareholder meeting

+ Consumer Price Index data for May will be released

Yesterday, I asked, “Hard ice cream or soft serve?”

58.0% of you said “Hard.”

Here’s what some of you guys had to say…

• Hard: “Soft ice cream is a milkshake that called in sick.”

• Soft: “Liking hard ice cream over soft serve is like preferring hard candy over a candy bar.”

• Hard: “Farm-fresh ice cream that's borderline soft is top notch”

• Mix (I’m pretty sure this violates the Geneva convention): “I would NEVER turn down any form”

• Hard: “I’m sure someday I’ll switch over to soft, but I don’t have dentures yet, so I can man-up for hard ice cream.”

Here’s today’s question…

There are some adult beverages I exclusively consume between Memorial Day and Labor Day…

Oh, and one more thing…

Sent from my BlackBerry Storm 2. Please excuse any mistakes and typos.

Does this look like the face of a guy you should take financial advice from?

No, it’s the face of an individual who is financially irresponsible/dumb enough to be talked into spending money on a family photo shoot that he could have just done with his iPhone. So, act accordingly...

This is not financial advice. Nothing in this newsletter is an investment recommendation. All content is created for entertainment, educational, or informational purposes only. Do your own research, or do yourself a favor and hire a professional.

Advertiser Disclosures

This is a paid advertisement for BOXABL’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular here. This is a message from BOXABL.

*Reserving a Nasdaq ticker does not guarantee a future listing on Nasdaq or indicate that BOXABL meets any of Nasdaq's listing criteria to do so.