David Lo-Pan

Global Head of Capital Markets @ Wing Kong Exchange

[David Lo-Pan @_Capitaltryst_]

So basically, the world is out of money to fund AI?

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

Things most Americans agree on:

Groceries cost too much.

Tariffs suck and make no sense.

Congress and Presidents shouldn’t trade stocks.

The debt is a mess.

The border should be secure, but legal immigration is good.

Endless wars are stupid, especially ones that nobody wants and have never been explained.

Americans are exhausted.

AI is like my new best friend that also might be trying to take my job, my ability to think for myself, and my humanity in the process. Yo like I love you, but WTF, but I still love you.

Diversity is actually awesome! The opposite is boring AF.

Canadians are super fucking cool.

Mexicans are chill.

Putin isn’t a good guy looking out for America’s best interest. Rocky IV and Miracle are great movies.

Good neighbors are a blessing.

Freedom of religion and coexistence without having to blow each other up is probably a good idea.

We all question, are we alone in the universe?

We all fuck up along the way.

Epstein didn’t hang himself.

The Trumps and Epstein were best friends for decades. It’s like Bert trying to tell us Ernie was just an acquaintance in the same social scene on Sesame Street back in the day.

The Cowboys suck. Go Birds!

Things we’re told to fight about:

Me.
Laptop.
Vaccines.
Transgenders in sports.
Pronouns.

That’s the joke.

[🏴‍☠️Maddox🏴‍☠️ @realmaddox]

This is an insane story. The DOGE whistleblower who said that login attempts were made to the NLRB from Russian IP addresses minutes after DOGE got access had his brake lines cut and photos of him walking his dog from a drone taped to his door after Musk attacked him on Twitter

[Nomadic Warriors for Pritzker⚔️ @Nomads4Pritzker]

So, I've worked in the beef industry. I have a fairly detailed knowledge of beef markets, the supply chain, parasites and parasiticides, etc. Suffice it to say, this is a nightmare scenario, but one we've known was coming since at least 2022.

New World Screwworm was eradicated from North and Central America in the mid-90's. The US gov't (APHIS) funded a program of screwworm drops, where they bred sterile males so that extant populations couldn't reproduce and move northwards. But in 2022 NWS jumped the Darien gap and started moving northwards once again. It's most likely that they came undetected on livestock brought alongside migrants fleeing political instability in South and Central America. Elon Musk/DOGE, of course, cut several monitoring programs that would have detected this exact scenario. The screwworm drops are still funded, but the monitoring programs are what have been cut - a stupid move if there ever was one.

A serious Central/South America policy would have worked hand-in-hand with CA/SA governments to help contain this, but we've never had a serious policy towards South America, not during the Biden years, and especially not under Trump. The USDA broke ground on a sterile screwworm facility in Texas... last month. I worry it's too little, too late.

Screwworm is so dangerous because, unlike other fly larvae, they lay eggs and feed on living flesh. So something like a small scratch (or even bug bite) can quickly becomes infested, and the larvae will burrow into the flesh, growing the wound and attracting more screwworm. They don't only parasitize cattle, but will also feed on wildlife, domestic pets, even humans. Since they have detected screwworms in domesticated cattle right now, it's likely that there is a wild reservoir as well. We can quarantine herds and pets, but we can't quarantine deer and armadillos. They will move, and so will the NWS.

Under normal circumstances, cattle are moved around - a lot. Calves will be sent to stockers through their adolescence, then shipped to feedlots for finishing. A lot of calving operations (like 70%) are small, and small-time producers don't always catch parasite infestations. Cattle moved in-state don't require a certificate of veterinary inspection, so it's easy for an infested animal to be moved without being noticed. Animals crossing state lines do need a CVI, but Texas has such an enormous cattle population (something like 13 million head) that as goes Texas, so goes the nation.

Fortunately, we have a lot of drugs that treat NWS. The FDA has issued several emergency use authorizations in the last year or so. But every input raises the price of beef, and treatment only makes a difference if producers catch an infestation early. If an infestation spreads unnoticed on a large feedlot, it can hit hard, both in terms of cattle that have to be killed, and treatments that then have to be deployed. Producers will spend days at a time running cattle through the chute, inspecting them and applying parasiticides. It costs a lot of money, which is then passed on to the consumer.

What does that mean for you? Beef is a commodity, and just because there's no NWS up here in Illinois doesn't mean that prices won't skyrocket - and they will skyrocket. US herd size is already at record lows, and this will result in culls. Consumer prices also run 18-24 months behind, which means that shocks to the supply chain now are still going to be felt by consumers in 2028.

It's hard to say if our government will be able to muster an effective response - though I don't trust our current administration, which can't even throw a 250th anniversary party, to be able to deal with an ecological issue of this magnitude. It doesn't help that our current USDA secretary is a lawyer and think-tank creature. I don't much trust the state government of Texas either. The industry has also taken the workforce of large animal veterinarians for granted - a monopoly/market power issue that I just can't get in to here.

For me, it comes back to our federal government having an incoherent policy on Central and South America. We knew what was coming, we know what's going to happen, but we cut the program meant to prevent this scenario. Instead of taking those countries seriously as partners, the government has been stupid and domineering.

Here's the kicker: this is what the industry voted for. They might scream, they might get bailed out, but all that means is that you, the consumer, are going to be paying more for beef, plus whatever bailout gets shoveled their way. Until the industry accepts that they are part of a larger system; that they cannot eternally privatize the gains and publicize the losses of beef production; that they need to consider sustainability and stewardship in the management of their operations, this is only going to keep happening. Eventually, they may find that there is very little goodwill for them among the public, and people will decide that a Brazilian ribeye tastes just as good as one from Texas.

[Meriwether Farms @MeriwetherFarms]

We have been warning the public on New World Screwworm for over a year now (some much longer than us)

We even had our account on X suspended for a month when we showed a picture of what an infection looks like in a human, shortly before there was a human case confirmed in the US last August

The Secretary of Agriculture continued to assure the public that the Screwworm situation was “under control” and continued to ignore concerns and requests from producers and elected officials from her home state of Texas

This is not something to no longer downplay or brush off

The Agricultural industry is already entering into hellish conditions this summer because of drought and rising fuel and input prices, compounded now with an outbreak of flesh eating maggots

We need serious and dedicated leadership on this

We need a whole of government approach

We need states next to Texas and Mexico to be able access the resources and funding to combat this pest as they will be caught completely off guard when it reaches their states

We have asked before months ago but are asking again for President Trump to declare a National Emergency Declaration TODAY!

Thank you for your attention to this matter

[Meriwether Farms @MeriwetherFarms]

IF YOU THINK BEEF PRICES ARE HIGH NOW, IMAGINE WHAT THEY WILL BE AFTER FLESH EATING MAGGOTS WIPE OUT A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE REMAINING US CATTLE SUPPLY

WE NEED A NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION ON NEW WORLD SCREWWORM NOW, WE ARE TIRED OF WAITING FOR COMPETENT ACTION

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

The New World Screwworm, a grave parasitic threat, has just been detected in US cattle for the first time since it was eradicated in 1966.

The parasite's revival comes after Trump and DOGE slashed funding for Screwworm monitoring programs.

[Leah Libresco Sargeant @LeahLibresco]

This is a huge, devastating loss

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

A new study links GLP-1 drugs and 30-35% reduced incidence of breast cancer, using matched-pair propensity analysis
https://t.co/AjNYlDM3A3
Confirms other association studies but still no proof

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

Yes I sold paintings. About $225,000 a year over four years. The whole of my business while my father was President. Congress investigated it.

If you’re outraged about that, where is all your outrage now?

Kushner's Affinity Partners holds roughly $5 to $6 billion. Close to 99% of it comes from foreign sovereign wealth funds. Saudi Arabia. The UAE. Qatar. Over $90M in fees annually.

[David Lo-Pan @_Capitaltryst_]

@calvinfroedge Ozempic effect?

[David Lo-Pan @_Capitaltryst_]

@TicTocTick 1 million “inhabitants” on Mars is the benchmark. Not humans, inhabitants. The robots are coming (and going to Mars, apparently).

[Ro Khanna @RoKhanna]

Appointing Pulte, who has criminally targeted Trump's opponents and has zero experience, to be Director of National Intelligence, shows we have a mafia government.

The naked corruption is crazy and frightening.

[Harry Sisson @harryjsisson]

You will never hear about this from Republicans because it completely shatters their narrative.

[David Lo-Pan @_Capitaltryst_]

@AuclairsDad Notable that Musk’s bonus did not specify “human” inhabitants on Mars, eh?

[David Lo-Pan @_Capitaltryst_]

Has anyone considered that the bonus language does not specify “human” inhabitants? Seems an obvious legal point to gloss over.

[Fiscal.ai @fiscal_ai]

Elon Musk's compensation at SpaceX is based on market cap hurdles, and...

"The Company's establishment of a permanent human colony on Mars with at least 1 million inhabitants"

$SPCX

[David Lo-Pan @_Capitaltryst_]

@ces921 Well done, Claude.

[Slater Santer @slatersanter]

Hyperliquid is 7% of Anthropic's valuation.

Hyperliquid is 42% of Anthropic's annualized profit.

Are you bullish enough?

[David Lo-Pan @_Capitaltryst_]

@ag76_biotech Any idea what might get $NVO moving in the right direction?

[GOP Ls @GOP__Ls]

🚨 Republican Ken Paxton has been reported to the FBI eight times.

Each time by his own senior staff.