Hour 1 - Are Gas Stations Gouging?

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (Hour 1)

Episode Theme: Are Gas Stations Gouging?
Air Date: July 10, 2026
Hosts: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton

Episode Overview

In this episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton dissect the persistent debate around gas prices, specifically addressing public perceptions that gas stations may be "gouging" customers amid ongoing global volatility—particularly with renewed tensions in Iran and shifting oil prices. The hosts blend their trademark humor with insightful analysis, sharing listener calls and personal anecdotes while exploring the wider economic and societal implications of energy pricing. The episode also touches on franchise economics, everyday financial advice, and cultural commentary, maintaining a conversational and engaging tone.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kicking Off: Summer Family Life and News Preview

• [02:27-06:01]
  • Clay and Buck open with light-hearted banter about summer with young kids and parental nerves around swimming safety.
  • Transition to headlines: Trump’s Iran ceasefire announcement, controversy over a child sex offender pardon in Minnesota, speculation on U.S. airport quality, and the re-naming of West Palm Beach airport after Trump.

"It is a doozy. I cannot believe it is the middle of summer already... We are going to give you all of the news, I promise."
— Clay Travis [02:27]

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2. Airport Grievances and Everyday Frustrations

• [06:01-08:50]
  • Critique of Miami International (MIA) as “the worst large city airport,” compared with positive changes at LaGuardia and Nashville’s easy-going experience.
  • Commentary on regional infrastructure, state taxes, and general travel headaches.

“I intentionally fly into Fort Lauderdale so that I don't have to go into the Miami airport.”
— Buck Sexton [06:01]

“You Nashville people, you don't even realize you're spoiled. That's your airport.”
— Clay Travis [06:36]

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3. Trump Accounts & Financial Planning for Kids

• [08:16-09:50]
  • Clay shares his positive experience opening a “Trump account” (a government investment/savings account for children); urges listeners and grandparents to adopt early investing habits for the next generation.

“For your kids, set up a Trump account... getting that start, you know... you need money actually for family formation and to get going in your 20s and 30s.”
— Clay Travis [09:03]

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4. Headline Focus: Why Do Gas Prices Spike Quickly and Drop Slowly?

• [11:08-17:10 and 21:10-24:25]
  • Buck cites national price averages ($3.80/gallon) and notes rapid price hikes following news events, e.g., the Iran ceasefire’s breakdown.
  • Questions arise about the mechanics of retail fuel pricing—do stations react too fast when prices rise, yet hedge as prices fall?
  • Clay probes whether gas stations collude or are simply following market realities.
  • Multiple analogies: dieting, business risk, and the competitiveness/local uniformity of pricing.

“It feels to me like gas stations are very responsive when gas prices go up at all, but they are not very responsive when they come down.”
— Buck Sexton [12:19]

“I believe gas prices got up to around $115... they're now $72. Yet gas prices are still $3.80, still about 80 cents higher. Trump has talked about this.”
— Buck Sexton [13:22]

“I think it's not coincidental that you have big, huge signs on every major intersection and every gas price is within 1 or 2 cents...”
— Buck Sexton [14:52]

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5. Listener Calls: The Realities Behind Gas Station Economics

• [25:32-27:33 and 31:03-32:56]
  • Jamie (Minnesota), a former gas station clerk, describes inventory turnover: stations must price current gas at what they paid—even if wholesale costs drop—until tanks are refilled at the lower price.
  • Jim (Tennessee) adds that price increases are pegged to future replacement costs, so stations raise prices quickly to anticipate upcoming losses.
  • Dan (Florida) argues the real profits are with oil companies, not individual station owners.

Jamie: "He couldn't lower the prices on his pumps until after his tank was empty and he bought the next tank..." [25:32]

Jim: "They actually charge you for what it will cost to refill it... And she is correct about how the price goes down slowly because until they've sold it for the price they bought it at, it's not going to go down any cheaper." [31:09]

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6. Are Gas Stations Actually Profitable? Franchise Anecdotes

• [27:43-30:29]
  • Clay and Buck discuss the economics of gas stations and franchises—comparing Subway, McDonald’s, and Chick-fil-A, with revelations on profit margins and operational realities.
  • The Wall Street Journal’s findings: everyday business ownership (e.g., HVAC, car dealerships) is a common path to wealth, demystifying the path to financial independence.

“You don't have to start Tesla to do very well financially. I mean, you can... do things that are much more run of the mill everyday America and do really well.”
— Buck Sexton [29:36]

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7. The Cost of Living: Everyday Pricing and Consumer Strategies

• [34:03-36:16]
  • Tangential but illuminating: the hosts compare branded convenience store products (Buc-ee’s, Costco’s Kirkland line), affordable clothing (Old Navy), and how value for quality has improved in American retail.

“You can get a really nice T shirt for like eight bucks.”
— Clay Travis [35:35]

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8. Lighter Fare: Men vs. Women—Shopping and Yard Sales

• [36:48-37:56]
  • Discussion on the gender divide in yard sale enthusiasm; commentary on shopping preferences and generational value of secondhand goods.

“Women love yard sales more than... This would be a great fun topic. What do women love more than men?... Yard sales has to be near the top of the list.”
— Buck Sexton [36:48]

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9. Gas Prices and the Economy: The Biggest Everyday Issue

• [24:25-25:23; 32:56-33:41]
  • Buck underscores how media in NYC/DC doesn’t grasp how deeply gas prices affect ordinary Americans.
  • Reaffirms: consumers acutely feel swings at the pump, and this metric likely informs broader economic sentiment.

“Number one thing I think will matter the most... how will people judge the state of the economy? People feel gas prices because they change constantly.”
— Buck Sexton [24:41]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Gas Pricing:
  “It seems like it's a lot easier to put on weight than it is to take off weight. Everybody out there who has tried to diet compared to putting on weight is nodding along. It feels to me like gas stations are very responsive when gas prices go up at all, but they are not very responsive when they come down.”
  — Buck Sexton [12:19]

• On Franchise Myths:
  “Most millionaires own car dealerships. Most millionaires own a, you know, like a, a good H Vac company that has maybe a couple of locations... owning and operating businesses... Do really well.”
  — Buck Sexton [29:36]

• On NYC vs. The Rest of America:
  “Most people in New York City don't ever go to a gas station, don't have a car. Clay. Yeah, don't, don't, don't drive.”
  — Buck Sexton [24:38]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:27] – Light banter; family anecdotes; summer updates
• [11:08] – Discussion of current gas prices; question about gouging
• [12:11] – Why do prices rise fast, drop slow?
• [25:32] – Jamie (former clerk) explains gas station pricing from the inside
• [31:09] – Jim (caller) details how future replacement costs drive quick price hikes
• [34:03] – Branded store products & retail value discussion
• [36:48] – Gendered humor: yard sales and shopping
• [24:41] – Why gas prices influence economic sentiment

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Overall Tone

The hour is characterized by accessible, good-natured debate and practical explanations. The hosts invite listeners into the conversation, bridging the gap between national headlines and day-to-day consumer experiences. Personal stories, humor, and audience engagement drive the episode, making economic and social commentary approachable and relevant for the average American.

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Topics Teased for Next Hour

• Breaking down the real impacts of Iran tensions and ceasefire status
• Childhood obesity & the impact of GLP1 drugs
• “Failure to launch” phenomenon: why so many 30-year-olds live with their parents

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Summary prepared for those seeking a clear, comprehensive understanding of the episode’s content and flow, without having to listen in full.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human life gets busy and it's easy to feel a little worn down spiritually. That's why intouch.org is such a helpful place to stop and breathe for a moment. You can watch messages from Dr. Charles Stanley, read a quick devotional, or find resources that speak to what you're dealing with right now. It's simple, it's encouraging, and it's always there when you need it. Take a minute today and check out intouch.org the first ever X Games League

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

welcome everybody to the Friday edition of Klay and Buck. And it is a doozy. I cannot believe it is the middle of summer. Already, Clay. Crazy town. We are entering population, all of us. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by.

[Buck Sexton]

Old man Buck starting off the show here.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, you know, I was, I was in the pool. We're teaching speed how to swim.

[Buck Sexton]

It's important.

[Clay Travis]

He's doing pretty well.

[Buck Sexton]

Doing.

[Clay Travis]

He's 14 months. Doing pretty well actually 15 months tomorrow.

[Caller or Guest]

So.

[Clay Travis]

Gosh, he's gonna be driving before I know it.

[Buck Sexton]

You are learning. He won't be driving. Cause self driving cars by the time he's that age. Nobody drives. But I was telling my 11 year old that the other day in the car. I do think one of the things you're going to learn as you. As he gets older. Summer is actually particularly scary when you have young kids because you're often near bodies of water, pools, beaches, lakes, all those things getting in the water as, as one does and they move so quick. And if they're not very good at swimming, like, it's probably for really young kids, one of the most important things that you need to get them trained for. So glad that's going well. But yeah, I remember those days like you're sitting by the pool, you got to be like a. My wife had to save two different ones of our kids who just ended up in the deep end. Right. Really get him. Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Wow.

[Caller or Guest]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I can tell you one of my favorite things in the world right now. I'll share a little. It's funny. Clay is like. Clay is like, he's like a senior in college dad, where it's like graduation is looming and I'm like freshman in college dad, you know, just sort of figuring out where the, where the dining hall is still. But my little guy, when he, when he swims from the instructor. We've got great instructor here, swims from instructor to me and he makes it. He stopped for a moment, makes sure the water's out of his eyes and then he claps for himself, which I think is the greatest. I'm like, that's a kid with some confidence right there. It's like, that's right, little man. You did great. You did great. But he stops to give himself a little round of applause each time, which I love. I love. Some people are saying it's the best. So yeah, really enjoying that. All right, News. It is a news program. We are going to give you all of the news, I promise. The ceasefire. Here's the short version of this. It's not a ceasefire if everyone's still firing at each other. So Trump talked about this and did in fact, say, yeah, no, the ceasefire is over. I think we've known that because, like I said, a lot of stuff has been going boom the last few days. We will discuss the Iran situation. Yeah. This case, Clay, out of Minnesota, where Tim Walls pardoned a child sex offender. You know, child sexual assault, criminal. Uh, and. And Rubio has revoked this guy's legal status. We should talk about that a little bit. And we've got update from Mitch Mc. I'm sorry. Scott Jennings on Mitch McConnell. Gavin Newsom's chatting about some things. Donald J. Trump International Airport, officially now the West Palm beach airport, which is a first world airport, unlike Miami International, which is a third world airport. Uh, it's a shame. I don't know why Miami has to have the worst. Some people say Clay o', Hare. I'm like you o' Hare people are spoiled, okay? Spoiled. Compared to mia, I think Miami is the worst large city airport. Will you co sign this or do you have a worse one? I think it's the worst large city airport in America, especially given it's like the lifeblood of South Florida is visitors and travel and everything else. It's absolute madness that the. The MIA airport is.

[Buck Sexton]

Is I intentionally fly into Fort Lauderdale so that I don't have to go into the Miami airport. I mean, that gives you some semblance. LaGuardia used to be like a Greyhound bus station. It was awful. It's now very, very nice.

[Clay Travis]

It's beautiful. Now, LaGuardia, you can say what you will about New York, folks. You fly into LaGuardia, the Delta terminal. You know, you can get a shiatsu while they're cooking your Kobe beef right next to you. I mean, it's really nice.

[Buck Sexton]

I think I would go. I think I would go Miami as the worst major airport in the country. I mean, I haven't been to. I've been to a them over the years. It's pretty awful.

[Caller or Guest]

It's.

[Buck Sexton]

It's pretty.

[Clay Travis]

Your Nashville airport is like a private aviation terminal. You people, you Nashville people, you don't even realize you're spoiled. That's your airport.

[Buck Sexton]

Sometimes traffic gets really bad getting into Nashville. Because we're such a popular tourist destination now, we really haven't built the infrastructure for the airport all the way yet. That's a small, relatively complaint. I love the Nashville airport.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Just.

[Clay Travis]

I just want to let you people in Nashville know you guys don't have state income tax, and you have a. I would say at least an A minus, if not an A airport, whereas Miami's an F. You can go watch Scarface. Same airport. And that movie was made in like 1984.

[Buck Sexton]

1984. You know what, I'm going to give it a running here. Dulles. Dulles airport is truly awful, especially if you compare it to national, which is maybe the best airport in America. When you land in national, you can be in D.C. anywhere you need to go in 15 minutes. It's amazing. You land in Dulles like you're in the middle of Virginia where you don't want to be. You might be out there for like four, four hours in traffic trying to get it out. And you remember they designed it in like 1965 to be super high tech, which is bad. It's like Epcot is not very high tech now because it was high tech in 1965. You have to get on those people movers to go around from one terminal to another and you're like, what is. It's like you're on the surface of the moon.

[Caller or Guest]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

They look like the first things that would get blown up in a Star wars battle. You know what I'm saying?

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

They look like the things that the, the walkers would crush anyway. Yes. So. But Trump has a very nice, very nice, very beautiful airport named after him. We'll discuss that. And, and yeah, basically, this is, this is where we're. I'm trying to make sure I didn't. Oh, I also. I know I'm talking about my son a bunch today, but I. This matters for all of us.

[Caller or Guest]

The.

[Clay Travis]

I set up a Trump account for him. Speaking of Trump yesterday.

[Buck Sexton]

How long did that take? We had a big discussion about that yesterday. For people out there who haven't done it, you had to commit. How much time? How complicated was it?

[Clay Travis]

Five minutes.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, wow.

[Clay Travis]

Five minutes there, guys. I'm. I made sure my sister has done it because she's got a little one who. Now remember, even if you have a kid who doesn't technically qualify for the thousand dollars starter from the treasury, you can still set up the Trump account, which is a great. It's just another tax advantage account that you have. The, the interface is very good. The app is very user friendly. It's. They did this.

[Buck Sexton]

Right?

[Clay Travis]

Is why. This isn't like the Obamacare website which crashed and nobody could. You know, the whole thing was a disaster and they spent like a billion dollars to use 1987 technology in, in 2010 or whatever.

[Caller or Guest]

The.

[Clay Travis]

They did a really good job on it. For your, for your kids, set up a Trump account and for any of the grandparents. Any of the grandparents out There. Yes. Knit them a nice sweater. Put 200 bucks for Christmas or their birthday in the Trump account this year. Try to get in that habit. Put a hundred bucks, put 200 bucks, whatever you can in that Trump account for your grandkid. Because getting that start, you know, there's been more and more conversation, Clay, as well online about what we discussed yesterday, which is you need money actually for family formation and to get going in your 20s and your 30s. You know, having, having retirement money is great, but you need, we need to actually get people money earlier in their life stage as well. I'm not saying someone's retired at 25. I'm just, we're talking with the Trump accounts. It's not about you're going to retire at 20. It's not making you a millionaire right when you get out of college. But 20 grand, 30 grand, 50 grand to get you going is just by investing in the American economy. It's, it's a very good plan. It makes a lot of sense. Okay. Oh, and Clay, there was also this, sorry, this is kind of a hard turn, but a Mexican national, ICE was involved in a shooting with a 52 year old Mexican national. We can give some of those, you know, some of those details of Mexican government's making a lot of noise about. It was a guy in the country illegally, Was it a legitimate enforcement operation? Did he resist arrest and pose a threat to officers? That's what really should matter in, in all of that. But yeah, Clay, I think that the, the decision, or rather the announcement by Trump that the ceasefire is over. You're watching the gas prices super closely. We're going to be drilling in on this day and pardon the expression, gas prices drilling. We're going to be drilling down into this. Every time we're. It's in the headlines because this will affect the midterms. Clearly the price of gas affects the price of a lot of things as well as what you pay at the pump. No, no big move on it right now. I'm assuming kind of staying steady state. Mr. Clay.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, it's $3. I was looking. I mean it. Obviously every time I say this, people have to tell me what the price of gas is in their local gas station. Price of gas is right around $3.80 a gallon on average nationwide, which is down about 70 cents from the peak in May. Tom should continue to come back down. All that I'll say is, and I do think that I would love to hear from gas station guy and gal out there who run gas stations on this the degree to which gas station prices go up rapidly and come down slowly, I think does deserve some form of investigation, by which I mean, we had a little bit of a spike in gas prices just in the last day and a half, with Trump saying, hey, the ceasefire's over, and they might have gone up 4 or 5 cents some places. How can they react immediately to a little bit of a spike in gas prices, 2 or $3, but they can't react instantly to a $30 decline in gas prices?

[Clay Travis]

Are you going full Bernie Sanders on this one? You think this is like a. Like a gas cartel operating in a shady fashion? You want government regulation?

[Buck Sexton]

The analogy I would make is it seems like it's a lot easier to put on weight than it is to take off weight. Everybody out there who has tried to diet compared to putting on weight is nodding along. It feels to me like gas stations are very responsive when gas prices go up at all, but they are not very responsive when they come down. So, I mean, my point on this is I believe gas prices got up to around $115 on average. This is futures gas, barrel of oil, and gas price under $15, they're now $72. Right? So they've come down massively. When we went to war with Iran, they were $68. We went to war with Iran, gas prices were around $3 a gallon. On average, we've gone up $4. Yet gas prices are still $3.80, still about 80 cents higher. Trump has talked about this a little bit. It feels to me like gas station prices are amazingly responsive when they go up, but amazingly slow when they come down. And I do think that that works to their benefit in both directions. But when they don't come down fast, they say, well, we can't adjust it that quickly. But it sure does seem like as soon as they go up at all, they manage to adjust it in a hurry, if that makes sense. I think a lot of you are probably nodding along. I suspect that is. And again, I'm not trying to take shot at gas station owners and people who run those companies, because the reality is they make almost no money off the price of gas. So they're probably just trying to be particularly protective of themselves. Most of the money that a gas station makes comes when you go inside and buy something in the gas station. Profit margin on a Coke inside of a gas station is super high coffee, whatever it is, profit margin on gas virtually nonexistent.

[Clay Travis]

So then how is the gas price being manipulated? Bernie, what's going on?

[Buck Sexton]

I Think that they are adjusting in real time. Whenever they see gas prices go up, they adjust them up because it's easier and more protective of the business to have them too high than it is to have them too low because their profit margin on gas is so small. This is my analysis. I've never run a gas station. Their profit margin on gas is so slow that if they're wrong on the downside, the cost is significant. If they're wrong on the upside, they don't have much of a cost. So it's protecting the business.

[Clay Travis]

Isn't that just what the market will bear? Then why would it be? Why look into this? I mean, if they want to overshoot their price, somebody can go to a different gas station.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, in theory. Except how often do you see different gas prices in close proximity?

[Clay Travis]

So you think there's collusion between the various states?

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, I think. I think it's not coincidental that you have big, huge signs on every major intersection and every gas price is within 1 or 2 cents. Somebody send me a picture of somebody that's 50 cents cheaper across the street from another gas station. They always are within a couple of cents of each other. Right now you're monitoring it easily. It's not like necessarily collusion because you can look out at your neighbor. Gas station's price I've never seen in my life, Buck. I mean this. I've never pulled up at a gas station at, you know, for a big intersection, right? There's gas stations like three of them. Most of the time I'm like, I got kids. I probably need to have one. Go to the bathroom. Which one looks like it's the nicest bathroom? The price is never very different. Right now the price.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, hold on a second. When you pull up to charge your Tesla, do you chat with the fellow Tesla owners about the best pilates classes in the area? Do you guys look around and I'm

[Buck Sexton]

like, can you imagine that these guys actually have to buy gas? Man, what are these. What are these barbarians doing? All I got to do is just pull into my car, into my garage and I plug it in like my cell phone and I can just drive anywhere.

[Clay Travis]

If I keep hearing this talk, I feel like you're going to show up with dyed white hair, a button down collar and start saying. Start saying things like the millionaires and the billionaires. I'm worried, Clay.

[Buck Sexton]

You know who has. My wife was very anti Tesla. She grew up in Michigan. Her family designed her. Her brother designed cars for Ford. Like car culture, Michigan. I don't know that much about car cultures. She now loves the Tesla and was talking the other day about how if they could have a SUV where you could fit like a real size SUV where you could fit all the kids and all their gear and everything else basically that we would only buy Teslas for the rest of our lives. I mean that's how awesome they are. I just wish they had. I don't really like the cybertruck personally. I wish they had a bigger SUV version. This thing's amazing, I'm telling you. And I was kind of joking, you were talking about your son. I was in the car with my 11 year old driving him to football practice and we were riding along in the Tesla and I said you're gonna have to learn how to drive a car because you need to know, have that asset. I said five years from now, by the time you're 16, the self driving is going to take off on a level that I don't think most people have even realized.

[Clay Travis]

I think it's going to be like driving stick. Something you want to know but that

[Buck Sexton]

actually very few people, very few shift. What?

[Clay Travis]

What's that?

[Buck Sexton]

When's the last time you even drove a stick shift?

[Clay Travis]

CIA training 20 years ago.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, I mean I, they made us

[Clay Travis]

learn how to drive stick. That was part of. Because we go to all these crappy countries where you're going to drive like cars from the 60s.

[Buck Sexton]

So yeah, I haven't even seen a stick shift. I don't remember the last time I got in like a modern day car. We'll take your calls by the way, Friday edition, we'll have some fun as well. To mark the 25th anniversary of 911 tunnel the Towers foundation undertaking the most comprehensive commemoration in its history. One that honors the past and educates generations of tomorrow. Tunnel the Towers foundation created a cross country exhibit bringing a piece of the World Trade center to as many cities as possible. The effort is called Steel Across America. The centerpiece is a 24 foot steel beam recovered from the World Trade center today. The exhibits in San Francisco open to the public as we speak. Steel Across America travels through September to various landmark locations, sporting events and town squares. This symbol of resilience creates moments of connection for those who live through 911 and educational opportunities for those too young to remember. The Steel Across America journey represents more than remembrance. It's a bridge between generations. A reminder that the spirit of service embodied by fdny, firefighter Stephen Siller and so many others continues to inspire Americans today. Go to t2t.org to learn more about steel across America and to donate $11 a month to tunnel the Towers. You can also amplify your impact with a car or land donation. That's t the number two T Laugh,

[Clay Travis]

learn and hang with the guys Clay

[Buck Sexton]

and Buck preset on the iHeart app.

[Clay Travis]

Life gets busy, and sometimes it feels like you're running on empty, especially spiritually. That's why intouch.org can be such a refreshing place to pause for a moment when you need a little encouragement. You can watch messages from Dr. Charles Stanley that speak right to what you might be facing. If you only have a minute, there are quick devotionals that help you refocus and reconnect with God's truth. And when you want to dig deeper, you'll find resources that meet you exactly where you are in your walk with Him. It's simple, it's uplifting, and it's available anytime you need a spiritual reset. So if you're feeling stretched thin or just want to stay grounded in your faith throughout the week, take a moment to explore everything waiting for [e-mail] it might just be the encouragement your day needs.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

The first ever X Games League championship is going down live, and New Orleans has the call. Three days of elite action sports, a season's worth of competition coming down to one final weekend. Watch July 24, 26 on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, or stream on the ESPN app, X Games, YouTube, Kick, Roku sports channel and Amazon. The championship starts July 24. Don't miss the moment. It becomes history.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

These days it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, Okta helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with Okta you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent. Secure any agent. Okta secures AI hey, it's Ryan Reynolds

[Buck Sexton]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes.

[Clay Travis]

Me slow when network is busy see terms.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay and Buck. I was looking up during the break the gas prices because I was curious exactly where they are. So as I speak to you at this exact moment, the price of gas, $71.24, it was $68 and change when we went into Iran in February and began to bomb. So we have seen frankly almost no change between the end of February and right now. I just think it's a fair question. We were at basically $3 a gallon on average nationwide in February of 28, February of 26. Right. At $68 a barrel they'd be up a little bit, but it should be like 32330 relative to where the price is now compared to where it was then. I think that's a interesting question as to why that is if you run an oil and gas station. Did I get it right? Did I get your analysis of pricing right? I would actually just be able interested to hear from you why prices can go up instantly based on what the market is doing and do not come down.

[Clay Travis]

It feels like the markets though are pricing in the volatility because everybody knows this Iran thing is going to be a little volatile but it's also not going to spiral out of control. That's what I'm starting to see.

[Buck Sexton]

No. And I think the easiest answer to me is they have way less risk when they're too high than when they're too low and they just don't make very much money on gas. And so that's the reason. But I would love to hear if I'm missing anything on that. Super sure can get you hooked up. You want to save some money. You're running a business and a lot of people out there are running businesses or you're involved in helping to run a business. And a lot of you out there are certainly involved in that too as well. You can make a tremendous difference in your community in your overall company if you check out. Super sure right now. Do you have too much insurance? Are you actually covered? Do you have everything that you need? If your company has more than 25 employees, you're the owner, CFO, HR manager. You want to know about.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in to Clay and Buck. It was a beautiful cease fire. A big, beautiful cease fire. But you know that better than anybody. But look, you ever thought about this before? It's not a cease fire when they're still firing. So Trump has said it has come to an. Guys, can you pull that for me, by the way? Where, where Trump is just officially coming out being like, yeah, it's not really ceasefire. I think we should, we should talk about that. And there's also a lot of. You want to weigh in on the gas situation. See, this is one of these things. It doesn't tend to get that much from the sort of New York, D.C. beltway Press in terms of attention. I mean, they cover it. But, but the, the rank and file American, the everyday American is absolutely. Every time we talk about this, people say, I'm so glad you're finally talking about us. It's been two days.

[Buck Sexton]

I will also say this is one example, I think, of New York City media. New York City media is out of touch with a lot of what, quote, unquote, normal people's lives are. But most people in New York City don't ever go to a gas station,

[Clay Travis]

don't have a car. Clay. Yeah, don't, don't, don't drive.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes. So, like the whole concept, until I went to school on the east coast and actually spent any time in New York City at all, there are, I mean, look, there are lots of things that are uniquely New York that do not translate to the rest of the country. So the number one thing, this is why I've been saying it for some time. Number one thing I think will matter the most, if you ask me, how will people judge the state of the economy? People feel gas prices because they change constantly. You know what it used to cost to fill up your truck or your car, you know what it costs now. And when you're standing there and you're watching that pump keep going up, it is super frustrating. All right. So tons of people who, every line

[Clay Travis]

lit people want to talk about this, how it's affecting them, what they know about the industry, all of that. Jamie. And Minnesota used to work at a gas station. What's going on, Jamie?

[Caller Jamie]

Hi, guys. Well, yes, it's true. I used to work at a gas station and I kind of got to be friends with the franchise owner and he explained to me how this works. So at his particular gas station, I don't remember exactly how Many gallons his tank was. But he would buy for pretend 50,000 gallons of fuel for. To fill up his tanks for the gas pumps at, you know, roughly $100 a barrel. And he couldn't lower the prices even though, you know, the next day the cost of barrels of oil went down, you know, $30 or something like that. He couldn't lower the prices on his pumps until after his tank was empty and he bought the next tank. Meanwhile, the gas station across the street, they maybe had bigger tanks or smaller t and maybe they went through the gas faster than his, you know, tank, you know, maybe they had smaller tanks. And so the guy across the street went through gas faster and so he was able to go and buy 30.

[Buck Sexton]

I totally understand that, Jamie. When it comes to why you can't lower prices, my point would be it's interesting. That guy could raise prices, right? And I'm not speaking specifically for what you're employer did. What I'm saying is gas prices over the last three months have precipitously declined. I understand that people have to pay sometimes the higher price, right? You paid $90 and now it's 75. So you have to charge 90 to get back. What I am saying if. Is if you paid 68, which they were a couple of weeks ago, and now the gas prices have gone up to 75, you're raising even though you paid a lower rate. Right. The gas prices go up way faster and way more rapidly in coordination with what the price of oil and gas is.

[Clay Travis]

Jamie, can I ask you a question? I'm actually just curious about this because you said you knew the franchise owner. You know, they do these. They have these tiktoks and things they'll talk about like good business to own, bad business to own. I mean, that's become a very.

[Caller or Guest]

A lot.

[Clay Travis]

A lot has gone viral. Gas station is the. Most of them do. I assume most of them must do pretty well, right?

[Caller Jamie]

I guess. I don't really know. I was just a clerk.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, okay.

[Caller Jamie]

Well, fair enough.

[Clay Travis]

I'm curious. You have any. Thank you for calling in. I wonder. Like they'll say, for example, this is. This is pretty interesting. This is a little side note, but I'm, you know, I'm weaving like get starting. Like being a part of a chick fil. A franchise is apparently like to be the, you know, the owner. Not owner, you know what I mean? The guy running it. The. The franchise. Incredibly hard to get.

[Buck Sexton]

Like you can only get one and you can only get one and the owner has to work there, which is one reason why the Chick Fil a is so well run. You asked a good question. I looked into all this. What do you think a. Well, this is what I was told. Some of you out there may have gotten different information. What is a well run Subway franchise make in profit in a year? If revenue or profit? Profit.

[Clay Travis]

Profit. I mean, so I would guess that a subway could make $3 million a year and if it's well run, could do 10 to 20% of. Of profit. How am I close?

[Buck Sexton]

I was told a good subway would do 200k in profit a year.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, so if you're. So I'm right there. That's about. Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. Like the math is not far off

[Clay Travis]

because apparently a good. A well run McDonald's for the. Another one, by the way, where you have to have like previous restaurant experience to be the, you know, the, the franchisee. You have to have some. It's really, really competitive because they obviously want to keep it at a certain standard. But you can make like half a mil to a million dollars profit, I think from a well run McDonald's.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, the well run McDonald's then guys own a bunch, right? So you can own 10 McDonald's. I mean that Burger Kings like the Chick Fil A is unique. I believe in saying you only, you only get one franchise and they require the franchisee to actually work basically full time in his place.

[Clay Travis]

If any of you own any of these things as a franchise, will you please call and tell me how this works? I'm kind of curious like for, for my own purposes. But I'm also wondering how some of these businesses work. You know, the Wall Street Journal, Clay has done all these great pieces and you know a bit about this. In New York City, the perception is you work in finance, you work in law, maybe you're a doctor. Otherwise, like, how do you even pay bills? And the Journal has done in recent years. Wall Street Journal has done in recent years. Most millionaires own car dealerships. Most millionaires own a, you know, like a, a good H Vac company that has maybe a couple of locations and has like a good reputation. You know, this is what you find out is that owning and operating businesses, you don't have to start Tesla to do very well financially. I mean, you can, you can do these things that are, that are much more run of the mill everyday America and do. Do really well. So I find it interesting.

[Buck Sexton]

Calls we were getting yesterday from people who said, hey, I had a normal job. I just balanced what I spent and I saved a lot and I ended up a millionaire. If you can become a millionaire in the United States, even if you are not making $250,000 a year, just by being a good financial steward of the choices that you, that you make. And as we said earlier yesterday, which I thought was really important, just by making good financial choices, starting when you're young and learning habits that make a lot of sense.

[Clay Travis]

JIM Tennessee want to take us.

[Buck Sexton]

We still have Jim far away.

[Clay Travis]

Jim, let's go.

[Caller or Guest]

JIM yes, I've got the other half of the answer as to why prices go up so quickly. And the reason is they don't set the prices based on what they paid for it all in the tank already. They actually charge you for what it will cost to refill it. So if it's $100 a barrel, it jumps to 120, they're going to have to pay that to refill it. And so they're allowed to charge you for what it costs to refill that tank. And she is correct about how the price goes down slowly because until they've sold it for the price they bought it at, it's not going to go down any cheaper. But that's why it goes up so quickly.

[Buck Sexton]

But that, that is a, I think probably the number one complaint you hear is thank you for that explanation. Gas prices can respond instantaneously. When things go in a negative way, it takes a very long time for them to respond. And I'm saying positive, meaning prices coming down because the average person would consider lower gas prices to be positive. Thank you for the call. We got a bunch of other guys that have a variety of. Dan in Florida, what you got? Dan?

[Caller or Guest]

Hey, how you guys doing today?

[Buck Sexton]

We're great.

[Caller or Guest]

I, I just wanted to put my two cents in. If you have an unlimited amount of customers and you can charge a little bit more, what the, you know what the, what they'll pay. You're going to, I'm a painter. If I had an unlimited amount of people wanting their house painted, you would naturally go on the upper end of that. Not the lower end. I'm just saying. And I'm not blaming the people that own the gas stations. I'm blaming the oil companies.

[Buck Sexton]

Thank you for the call. Again, what I would say about gas stations is if you're angry, and I know that gas station owners and gas station employees have to deal with this, people take out their frustration on gas prices with them. They have very little control over it. And I appreciate trying to explain why the prices move faster up than they do down. Again, gas stations make their money off of what they sell in the gas station. Make a penny or two off of the actual gas. What I find to be intriguing is this is where I circle back around. I said earlier this week, Buck, I think that I would put every dollar, spare dollar I have into Buc EE's if. If I had the choice. And if you haven't been to a Buc EE's, it's an amazing experience.

[Clay Travis]

I still haven't been to a Buc EE's.

[Buck Sexton]

You got to go to one.

[Clay Travis]

I got to go to a Bucky. I mean, look at my name.

[Buck Sexton]

Their business. Their business, which is actually becoming super impressive, even more so to me is they now produce much of what they sell inside of the BUC EE's. In other words, they have their own branded popcorn, they have their own branded potato chips, they have their own branded sodas.

[Clay Travis]

So isn't that Costco's best profit center, right? Is the Kirkland brand stuff. Yeah, and the Kirkland brand stuff is very now. Now is where we get the emails like Costco, such a left wing company. Guys, tell my wife, okay, she, she loves that place. I can't get her, I can't get her to quit Costco.

[Buck Sexton]

It's not even gonna happen right now. I love Costco and the Kirkland brand everything, Buck. Golf balls, pants, you know, like they make everything Kirkland brand. I wear a lot of the Kirkland brand products.

[Clay Travis]

They're very. I know we had a, we had a. We had a Lutheran missionary who like weaves his own clothing, who wrote in, who was very mad that you don't understand the amount of care and time that goes into him knitting himself a. A kerchief. But it is actually true. People often look at television prices. It's not just television price. It's television price, price and quality. Over the last, call it 30 years, you can now not only get a television for a fraction of the price used to pay for TVs, but also they're like 70 inches and they're flat screen and they're super high def. And there's all this amazing stuff. You were talking about clothing and clothing as being a sort of more disposable good, if you will. And it actually turns out that's also true. Clothing prices relative to, like clothing price relative to quality. You can get now a really nice, you know, go into a Kirkland or go into any, any number of stores. You can get a really nice T shirt for like eight bucks. Yeah, you know, it's soft and you

[Buck Sexton]

know, that's my point. Old Navy for the price of checking a bag. 50. It's 50 or $75 to check a bag to fly on an airline now, which is highway robbery, I think, but you can go into an Old Navy. This was my argument. If you're traveling somewhere, go into an Old Navy, and for 50 bucks for a guy or kid, certain, you can get four outfits. I mean, it's crazy. Like, I went on their website to make sure t shirts are $4 at Old Navy now buck $4 for a T shirt. I mean, that's unbelievable. And then they got all the shorts and everything else. I'm not an Old Navy shareholder that I know of. I mean, they may be also.

[Clay Travis]

I. I give. I mean, I know you say that like you've told us that sometimes Laura likes to sell your clothing, which is that it just. People just want Essence of Clay that badly. But we give. We give, you know, wearable stuff that we don't want anymore. You know, there's a lot of church drives and things like that. Well, they're happy to take it. And people, you know, there are guys walking around in suits that I'm too fat for or too skinny for that. You know, there's. There's a lot of use you can get out of this stuff now.

[Buck Sexton]

So, yeah, Laura, Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Would do

[Buck Sexton]

yard sales. And I just, you know, the amount of time that gets spent on a yard sale. Women love yard sales more than. This would be a great. This would be a great fun topic. What do women love more than men? What is the yield difference between, like, something that women love that men are, like, just not interested in at all? Yard sales has to be near the top of the list.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, I think shopping for anything in person, by the way, I want to shop. Whatever shopping I do is done on my phone, in my hand. Like, I don't want to go anywhere. Women still like to go and have that tactile experience of whether it's the clothing or the fruit or the whatever. They want to actually experience it. So.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, no, that's good. I would love to see that. That yield. What. What do. And by the way, men. Sports would be one that I think. And I know women like sports too, but sports would way over index for men compared to women. Shopping certainly would way over index yard sales. I never heard a guy be like, you know what? I can't wait to do yard sales. Women wake up at like 4am to go to yard sales. I don't understand it.

[Clay Travis]

Speaking of things of sentimental value, which you might see at a yard sale. But you probably aren't selling those old VHS tapes at a yard sale because nobody wants them because how are they going to watch them? But you've got these incredible sentimental pieces of media that have old birthdays and holidays and sporting events that your kids were in or your grandkids or whatever. What do you do with them? Legacy Box My friends, we've got the answer, and you've been hearing us talk about Legacy Box for a while, and so many of you have experienced this and you love it. But there are some of you out there who are like, I don't know, I got that old box of tapes in the in the attic or wherever. Legacy Box will digitally transfer up to 19 different types of old media so you can enjoy them again. They make it digital, so now it exists in the cloud or on a thumb drive. They send them back to you, by the way, in a special box. First they send you the box, then you send the box to them, and they'll send everything back to you along with the digitized files. It's really a fun and easy process. Your family's story is important to you and future generations. Don't let those memories fade away. Shop Legacy Boxes sale [e-mail] buck that's legacybox.com buck preset your pals playing buck on the iHeart app life gets busy, and sometimes it feels like you're running on empty, especially spiritually. That's why intouch.org can be such a refreshing place to pause for a moment when you need a little encouragement. You can watch messages from Dr. Charles Stanley that speak right to what you might be facing. If you only have a minute, there are quick devotionals that help you refocus and reconnect with God's truth. And when you want to dig deeper, you'll find resources that meet you exactly where you are in your walk with him. It's simple, it's uplifting, and it's available anytime you need a spiritual reset. So if you're feeling stretched thin or just want to stay grounded in your faith throughout the week, take a moment to explore everything waiting for [e-mail] it might just be the encouragement your day needs.

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

No surprise here. Coverage, a perfect five stars. Customer support, five stars again. Value another five stars. Data, five stars. There's no reason to still overpay big wireless when you can get superior service from Pure Talk.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

I got a couple that I filed away that I think would be interesting to talk about as it's a Friday edition of the program. We'll get into a little bit more on Iran. Trump says cease fires.

[Caller Jamie]

Over.

[Buck Sexton]

But even. Even I'm watching msnbc, cnn, Fox News. It feels to me like many people have turned the page on Iran and it is. There's not a lot of expected outcome that is going to be significant. And it kind of feels like Groundhog Day. We'll talk about that a little bit. The Tyler Robinson evidence. The Charlie Kirk assassin. It was 10 months ago today that Charlie Kirk was assassinated. The evidence that has come out has been overwhelming. Overwhelming in terms of its. Its impact and just how dead to rights this guy is. Uh, we'll get into that a bit. Two other things that I flagged. Buck. Glp. Ones I wanted to have. I was even thinking I might bring up the. This at the top of the next hour. We want a positive story out there. American Obesity has gone down for the first time in decades directly related to the prevalence of GLP1s and just wait

[Clay Travis]

until Eli Lilly comes out with Retta True Tide Reda as it is known in communities where people are already getting this on the black market or on the gray market. Clay, these are guys, these drugs are incredible. You know, talk to your doctor. But this stuff really is, it's incredibly effective, Incredibly effective.

[Buck Sexton]

I want to get into that with you because I think it's super interesting. I've got some data on it and then this one kind of jumped out at me and I thought, oh man, this feels like a major cultural swing. We used to make fun of people in Europe because a lot of the, like Italy in particular, guys would be living with their moms until they're 35 years old. There was a failure to launch syndrome. This is wild to me. If you are 30 or under, nearly half of people in that age group, adults now still live with their parents. What is that impact going to be? Obviously, housing cost is a big part of why that is. Delayed marriages, all of that. But a lot of 30 year olds now living at home with mom and dad, according to the data. We'll talk about some of that stuff. Friday edition.

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Go to PureTalk.com buck to make the switch to PureTalk again. PureTalk.com buck to start saving the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast.

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[Buck Sexton]

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