Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week.

Well.. usually. I took a week off to focus on some client work and see the Backstreet Boys in Vegas with my sister, but we’re back on a schedule over here! - KP

The Big Story: Why Diners Stay Open

Elon Musk is in the news this week, and not just because Tesla reported their quarterly earnings. Right before that, he announced that he’s opening a retro-style Tesla diner in LA. Yes, a diner. Complete with carhop service (manned by humanoid robots), food, and EV charging stations. It's not the first time he’s floated the idea, but now it’s finally happening.

The news got me thinking about why diners have such staying power. Why do we keep returning to them? Why are they a uniquely American phenomenon that so many of us feel personally connected to? How is it that the same guy who is obsessed with the idea of colonizing Mars is, at the same time, this passionate about diners?

It really doesn’t matter who you are. There’s something comforting about sliding into a vinyl booth, hearing eggs sizzle from across the room, and being handed a sticky, laminated menu that hasn’t changed much in decades. No matter what diner you’re at, it sort of feels like home, even if you’ve never been there before.

Diners represent more than just a place to eat. They show up symbolically in film, TV, and visual art as spaces where something important happens. There’s the famous final scene of The Sopranos where the family gathers in a New Jersey diner, a moment loaded with tension and ambiguity. 

There’s Dumb and Dumber, where Lloyd and Harry get into an argument in a truck stop diner that somehow captures both the absurdity and intimacy of friendship.

Happy Days centered much of its action at Arnold's, the quintessential 1950s diner, where community and teenage drama unfolded daily. 

And then there’s Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks, a haunting image of strangers sitting in a glowing corner diner late at night. To this day, it’s one of the most famous works of American art.

So what is it about diners that makes them so universally beloved? To understand that, you have to look back at where they came from.

The very first diner wasn’t even a building. In 1872, a man named Walter Scott in Providence, Rhode Island, started selling sandwiches and coffee from a horse-drawn wagon. He catered to night-shift workers who didn’t have many options after dark. It was a pretty simple concept: quick, hot food served at odd hours. Consistently.

Turns out, he was onto something, especially among a growing working class that took on extra labor in the off-hours. Over time, the wagons became stationary, and the idea of the American diner was born.

By the early 20th century, companies were manufacturing prefabricated diners in factories, then shipping them out to cities and towns across the country. These buildings weren’t just practical. They were stylish. Diners borrowed their aesthetic from train cars and car culture, featuring sleek lines, shiny metal, and a ton of chrome. 

The architectural style made popular by diners even has a name: Streamline Moderne, which is a derivative of Art Deco. It’s all about curves, efficiency, and the promise of the future. Neon signs and polished counters weren’t just for looks. They were signals. This place is open. This place is clean. This place has great eggs!

That look stuck. Even today, when you see a building with rounded edges and a glowing sign, your brain knows what it is before you even have to read the name. The Streamline Moderne style of architecture can be found in homes, office buildings, and even bus stops.

But diners aren’t just a design choice. They’re a business. And a very tough one at that.

These days, starting a diner costs around $375,000 on average, depending on the location. Many diners are family-owned and have been passed down through the generations, especially in immigrant communities. 

Operating a diner is extremely labor-intensive. The hours are long, unending by definition, and the margins are tight. A typical diner might only make a 2 to 6 percent profit on what they sell. That means you’ve got to move a lot of pancakes and pie just to keep the lights on.

So if it’s not a margin play, what keeps diners in business? Volume, or in other words, loyalty. Repeat customers. Many diners have regulars who come in every day. Some have employees who’ve been there for 30 years. It’s not uncommon to see the owner behind the counter, refilling mugs or flipping burgers.

Still, diners have taken a hit over time. The rise of fast food chains offered cheaper, faster meals with massive advertising budgets. Quick service restaurants like Denny’s, Bob Evans, and Friendly’s popped up to emulate the diner experience, albeit under corporate ownership. 

Then there’s the giant golden arches in the room: the first McDonald’s opened in 1940. By 1970, there were 1,500 restaurants. Today, that number is over 13,000 in the U.S. alone.

Increased competition, rising food costs, rent hikes, and staffing shortages made it tough to complete. Many owners struggled, some closed their doors, but here’s the thing: the American diner never fully disappeared. 

Diners might be the closest thing we have to time capsules. Up until very recently, most only accepted cash. Nobody asks you to scan a QR code to see the menu. You can’t make a reservation. Want to eat? Cram yourself in the vestibule with everyone else and wait it out. You’re not that special.

There’s a reason diners show up so often in movies and TV shows. They’re democratic spaces. Everyone is welcome. You might see a construction worker, a college kid, and a retiree all at the counter, eating the same $9 breakfast special. It’s one of the few places left where that still happens.

So what’s next for diners? Some are modernizing with new menus or Instagram-friendly interiors. Others are doubling down on tradition. But across the board, they’re still serving up what people crave: a place to be, a decent meal, and a brief escape from modernity.

I hope they never go away. When everything else around us is being reinvented, maybe it's okay if some things stay exactly the same.

Daily Rip Live Recap: Meme Stocks Back in the Spotlight, Big Tech Earnings Begin, and Robots are Proliferating

Every weekday, my co-host Shay Boloor and I cover the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. On Wednesdays, we get a special treat because Stocktwits’ Editor in Chief Tom Bruni swings by to give us the lowdown on what investors in the community are up to.

Here’s what we covered on yesterday’s show:

⇢ 1:20 It feels like 2021 again. Welcome to the 'meme-mentum' era! The percentage of trading volume in stocks trading under $5 is higher than it was during post-pandemic highs. 🫠 $OPEN ( ▼ 0.93% )  $KSS ( ▲ 0.11% )  $WEN ( ▼ 0.33% )  $GPRO ( ▼ 9.86% )  

⇢ 7:20 Is Google’s AI weakness overblown? Search ads are their most profitable business yet, but they are growing revenue in cloud computing, YouTube is cooking, and they own 75% of Waymo. $GOOG ( ▼ 1.01% )  

⇢ 14:55 Is Apple a stock that’s been 'left for dead,' or is this just a temporary setback? They’re great at selling extra chargers and AirPods, but investors wonder if they still represent a culture of innovation. $AAPL ( ▼ 0.3% )  

⇢ 25:30 Microsoft’s SharePoint suffers a major cyberattack, with the US Nuclear Agency compromised, according to reports. $MSFT ( ▼ 1.24% )  $CRWD ( ▼ 2.03% )  $PANW ( ▲ 3.13% )  $NET ( ▼ 3.42% )  

⇢ 38:20 Trump floats the idea of removing capital gains tax on real estate profits. A serious idea to encourage turnover across generations, or a distraction from some of the other headlines swirling at the moment?

⇢ 44:30 A humanoid robot was roaming the streets of New York! Some people and (mostly kids) were amused, but others were not. Physical AI is inevitable, though, and Elon Musk has a goal of manufacturing 10,000 humanoid robots this year alone. $TSLA ( ▼ 1.69% )  

We’re live every weekday, Monday-Thursday, at 9 AM ET. Tune in!

Now Here’s a Chart

Retail investors are on a tear. In April, when tariff headlines sent the markets into a spiral, institutional investors sat on the sidelines. Retail investors piled in. Now, they’re riding confidently into a second meme stock era where names like Opendoor, Kohl’s, and Wendy’s are seeing huge spikes in trading activity.

Individual investors put a record-breaking $155 billion into stocks and ETFs in the first half of 2025 — the most ever for a six-month period, according to Vanda Research.

Reading List

• Tesla reports sales miss as auto revenue drops for second straight quarter (CNBC) $TSLA ( ▼ 1.69% )  

• Google beats on Q2 earnings, raises capex expeditures (Yahoo! Finance) $GOOG ( ▼ 1.01% )  

• AI-Powered Chatbots Capture 5.6% of Desktop Browser-Based Search Traffic (PYMNTS)

• Chipotle Stock Falls After Earnings. Comparable Store Sales Are the Worry. (Barron’s) $CMG ( ▼ 0.67% )  

• Alexander Hamilton's bank, Goldman Sachs embrace digital tokens to trade money markets 24/7 (Yahoo! Finance) $GS ( ▼ 1.42% )  

• How China came to rule the world of rare earth elements (NPR) $MP ( ▼ 4.9% )  

• Mortgage Apps Eke Out Small Gain Thanks to Purchase Activity (Mortgage News Daily)

• What the Coldplay concert saga tells us about our privacy (Fast Company)

• UNC Sells Out All Football Tickets for Belichick Debut Season (Front Office Sports)

Now Playing: “Moral of the Story” - Ashe

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

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Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.