Global stock markets are facing their worst crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic as the Iran-US war triggers massive sell-offs worldwide. S&P 500 futures indicate a potential 3-5% drop at Monday's open. Asian markets that opened Saturday saw immediate crashes: Japan's Nikkei fell 4.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 5.1%, and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 3.8%.
Defense and energy stocks are the notable exceptions, surging in after-hours trading. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics all gained 8-15%. Oil majors ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell are up 5-10%. Meanwhile, airline stocks have been devastated, with Emirates Group, IAG (British Airways), and Lufthansa all down 15-25%.
The VIX volatility index — Wall Street's fear gauge — has spiked to levels not seen since March 2020. Bond yields are crashing as investors flee to Treasuries. The combination of potential oil shock, Middle East destabilization, and supply chain disruption creates a perfect storm for equity markets.
The once peaceful South American nation of Ecuador is being rocked by cocaine related violence. Since the 2020 pandemic, the tiny country’s murder rate has spiraled higher, hitting an all-time high of nearly 51 murders per 100,000 people during 2025.
Shortly before the war with Iran began, I wrote that the seeming complacency among government officials and financial market participants was based on two assumptions which I argued were unlikely to turn out to be true: 1) President Donald Trump would make a last-minute deal with the Iranians and de
Rerouting and diversification cannot help when a significant chunk of oil and gas have been taken off the market.
With events in the Middle East once again disrupting global energy markets, we need to revisit one of our favorite energy policy concepts, the energy trilemma, a simple variant of the trolley problem with an added variable. The three variables are 1) affordability, 2) security of energy supply (can
Worldwide LNG exports have plunged in the past week to a six-month low as Middle Eastern supply collapsed with the de facto closed Strait of Hormuz and the outage at the world’s biggest LNG complex in Qatar. Global LNG shipments have plunged to about 1.
The oil-driven inflation shock rippling through global markets is now forcing a sharp rethink of U. S.
The Strait of Hormuz, a 33-kilometer-wide chokepoint through which roughly a third of the world's seaborne oil passes, is effectively closed to normal commercial traffic. Iran has not blockaded the strait with a chain or a fleet.
Brent crude is down more than 8% in the minutes following a statement by U. S.
The supersonic fighter jet is designed to avoid detection by radar and other technologies.
Brent crude is seen averaging $85 per barrel this year, and West Texas Intermediate could see an average price of $79, Goldman Sachs commodity analysts said in a note released Sunday. They added that the supply loss from the crisis is going to peak at 17 million barrels daily.
The International Energy Agency could release additional volumes of crude from storage should the need arise, the head of the agency, Fatih Birol, said today. “If it is necessary, of course, we will do it.
Oil prices opened the week elevated but stable in early Asian trading on Monday, holding near multi-year highs after another weekend of escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. At the time of writing, WTI crude was trading at $98.
Trump faces a simple but difficult choice: Iran’s enriched uranium still needs to be secured, and airstrikes haven’t accomplished that. The only clear way to control it would likely require U.
Shutdown standoff forces US President Trump's hand as airport queues spiral and security staff go unpaid.
Under the guise of preserving secularism, this law allows the exclusion of people based on their religious identity.
Amid war and supply restrictions, Gaza’s toy markets face shortages and high prices, leaving children without Eid gifts.
The US president called on immigration agents to place 'heavy emphasis' on the arrest of Somali immigrants.
The dominant narrative over the last two years in global gas markets has been one of impending abundance; everyone was warning of an upcoming LNG tsunami. Market analysts kept pointing to a wave of new LNG supply, mainly driven by expansions in Qatar, the United States, Canada, and parts of Africa.
The stock market spent the first week of the Iran war doing something strange: mostly shrugging. Oil spiked.
Arend Kapteyn, the global head of economics and strategy research and chief economist at UBS, told clients that one key reason the current Middle East conflict-driven energy shock "is not like 2011-2014" will be the absence of a comparable response from the shale patch, suggesting consumers are more
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 552 this week, down 41 from this same time last year. The number of active oil rigs rose by 2 to 414 d
Oil prices pulled back Friday, but not because the market suddenly feels safe. This is more of a tactical breather than a trend change.
As the world braces for a potential “Battle of Hormuz” to reopen the world’s most important energy chokepoint, governments and energy markets are scrambling to answer a daunting question: What happens if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed for weeks or even months? The narrow waterway between Iran an
Oil is heading for a fifth straight weekly gain, with Brent near $109, as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut for a third week, keeping supply tight despite policy efforts to ease the market. Friday, March 20, 2026 Oil markets are set to post their fifth consecutive weekly gain (excepting WTI which w
From Sunday through late Thursday, oil swung sharply as traders moved between two competing forces: escalating war risk in the Middle East and a growing policy response aimed at easing supply shortages. As of late Thursday, nearby WTI crude oil traded at $94.
Everything is about leverage. Hormuz is no longer the only story as the White House loses control of its version of the narrative.
People gather with family and for congregational prayers to mark the end of the holy fasting month.
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