Baltic Dry Index. 2014 +13 Brent Crude 107.40
Spot Gold 4469 Spot Silver 70.03
US 2 Year Yield 3.96 +0.12
US Federal Debt. 39.040 trillion
US GDP 31.272 trillion.
Gold is money. Everything else is credit.
J. P. Morgan
In the global stock casinos, a bad unnecessary Persian Gulf war goes from bad to badder.
President Trump performs another TACO.
Will an ever more desperate President Trump try to seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal over the weekend?
How high will the price of crude oil
surge if he does?
Nasdaq moves into correction
territory as Iran war weighs on markets
The broad S&P 500 Index had its
worst single day since the war began, falling 1.7%. The Nasdaq closed down
nearly 2.4%.
March 26, 2026, 12:49 PM
GMT / Updated March 26, 2026, 8:50 PM GMT
U.S. stocks and bonds sold off
Thursday and oil continued its weekslong upward trajectory, as optimism faded
about possible peace talks or a U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
The price of U.S. crude oil rose
near $95 per barrel, up more than 4%. International Brent crude rose 5%, to
more than $109 per barrel. Since the war started, the cost of U.S. crude oil is
up more than 40%. Since the start of the year, it has risen more than 60%.
The S&P 500 closed down by 1.7%,
the Dow tumbled 470 points and the Russell 2000 ended the day down 1.7%. For
the S&P 500, Thursday was its worst single day since the war began.
The Nasdaq Composite fared the worst
though, and dropped nearly 2.4%, pushing the index into correction territory. A
correction is when an index falls 10% or more from its most recent all-time
high. As of Thursday's close, the index is now down 10.9% from its October
high.
Heating oil, a proxy for jet fuel
prices, also spiked 8% on Thursday afternoon. The nationwide average price of
unleaded gas was $3.98 a gallon.
Nonetheless, Trump downplayed the
severity of the oil and gas price spikes.
Energy prices “have not gone up as
much as I thought,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting in Washington.
The military campaign is "not
over, so maybe it’ll go up a little bit more,” Trump said. “It’s all going to
come back down to where it was and probably lower.”
Trump also cast doubt on a deal with
Iran. "They are begging to work out a deal," he said. "I don’t
know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do
that."
But analysts widely believe that oil
prices will continue to remain elevated over the long run, factoring in the
risk that shippers will now have to assume for oil tankers that transit through
the Strait of Hormuz.
Also impacting market sentiment was
a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which
predicted that as a result of the war with Iran, the average inflation rate for
G20 countries this year would rise to 4%, up from its December prediction of
2.8%. The United States is a member of the OECD.
Bonds also sold off, driving yields
higher. The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield rose to 4.42%. The yield on
20-year bond hit 4.97% and the 30-year yield hit 4.93%.
More
Stocks fall, oil prices rise
amid doubts over U.S.-Iran talks
Asia markets fall with South Korea’s
Kospi leading losses despite extended peace talks
Published Thu, Mar 26 2026 7:52 PM
EDT
Asia-Pacific markets fell Friday
following a volatile session on Wall Street overnight, as the prospect of a
peace deal in the Middle East remained murky amid contradictory messaging from
the U.S. and Iran.
President Donald Trump extended
his Friday deadline to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure by 10 days
to April 6 to allow more time for negotiations.
The extension was at the request of
the government of the Islamic Republic, Trump said, and it was granted in
exchange for 10 oil tankers that passed through the Strait of Hormuz as a
“present” from Tehran.
“As per Iranian Government request,
please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of
Energy Plant destruction,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“Talks are ongoing and, despite
erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they
are going very well,” Trump added.
Washington has in recent days
signaled it wants a negotiated end to the conflict and insisted that peace
talks with the Islamic Republic had been ongoing. Tehran has denied that it is
in direct talks with the U.S.
Iran reportedly rejected the 15-point proposal compiled by
the U.S. and offered their own conditions, including a guarantee that the U.S.
and Israel won’t resume their attacks on the country and recognition of its
authority over the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices fell amid easing tensions
in the almost month-long conflict. The West Texas Intermediate for
May delivery dropped 1.8% to $92.82 per barrel as of 8:30 p.m. ET, while
international benchmark Brent
crude oil futures fell 1.92% to $105.9 a barrel.
South Korea led the broader declines
in the region with blue-chip Kospi pulling back 3.6% and the small-cap
Kosdaq down 2%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.42%
in early Asia trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.6%, and the broad-based
Topix slid 0.8%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.2%
while mainland China’s CSI 300 tumbled 0.4%.
China’s industrial profits jumped
15.2% from a year earlier in the January-February period, the National Bureau
of Statistics data showed Friday, extending a sharp rebound from a 5.3% jump in
December.
The U.S. futures climbed as worries
over soaring oil prices eased. Dow
Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 175 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed
almost 0.4%, each.
The major indexes ended lower, with
the benchmark S&P 500 index
down 1.7%, its biggest daily drop since the beginning of 2026. The Nasdaq Composite dropped
2.4%, ending in correction territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid
1.01%.
Asia-Pacific
markets: Trump extended deadline for attacks, peace deal
Iran war is a ‘catastrophe,’ G7
ministers warn — but there’s little they can do to stop it
Published Thu, Mar 26 2026 4:45 AM
EDT
The U.S. and Israeli war on Iran is
having a catastrophic impact on the global economy, European members of the G7
have warned ahead of a key summit on Thursday.
Foreign ministers from the group of
leading industrialized nations — whose core members are the U.S., U.K., Canada,
France, Germany, Italy and Japan — are set to meet in France for a two-day
summit, with the wars in Iran and Ukraine top of the agenda.
European leaders and ministers
issued warnings about the impact of the war on the eve of the gathering, at
which they’re expected to encourage the U.S. to pursue an off-ramp with Iran.
U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio is only due to arrive at the summit on
Friday, however.
It comes amid an apparent impasse over
a possible ceasefire, as well as potential escalation with the threat of ground troops.
“To make it crystal clear, this war
is a catastrophe for the world’s economies,” Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense
minister warned early Thursday.
“European partners and Germany
highlighted from the beginning that we have not been consulted before. Nobody
asked us before. It’s not our war,” he told reporters during a visit to Australia.
International energy prices have
rocketed since the conflict was initiated by the U.S. and Israel in late
February, with energy infrastructure in Iran and neighboring Gulf states
destroyed or damaged as a result of U.S.-Israeli airstrikes and Iran’s retaliatory
attacks.
Tehran’s almost total closure of the
Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime passage through which a fifth of global oil
and gas supplies normally flow, has severely restricted global energy supplies,
with the EU’s leader warning that the situation was “critical.”
French Finance Minister Roland
Lescure said Wednesday the world is now facing a conflict “that has changed in
nature, and therefore the economic consequences have also changed.”
“Today, 30 to 40% of the refining
capacity in the Gulf is damaged or destroyed. I spoke with the Qatari Minister
of Energy [Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, who said] 17% of gas production capacity is
destroyed following attacks on these facilities, which will take years — we’re
talking about three years — to restore.”
Even so-called ’Trump whisperer,′
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, on Wednesday described the crisis in the
Middle East as one which “involves everyone and that, if it were to continue
over time, could clearly cause economic and social consequences that would end
up affecting more nations, the most vulnerable nations, starting with the
African continent.”
More
G7 leaders say Iran war is a 'catastrophe' but the US isn't
listening
In other news, the US Postal Service
takes a hit from the Iran war, or rather their customers do.
Postal Service to impose its
first-ever fuel surcharge on packages
March 25, 2026
The U.S. Postal Service plans to
impose its first-ever surcharge on packages to cover the rising cost of fuel
and transportation, as the agency looks for ways to stabilize its finances.
The 8% surcharge will begin on April
26, and the current plan is to phase it out on Jan. 17, 2027, the Postal
Service said in a statement Wednesday that confirmed earlier reporting by The
Wall Street Journal. The fee will apply to packages but not letter mail.
Other parcel carriers, including
FedEx and United Parcel Service, have imposed fuel surcharges for
years—alongside a basket of other surcharges and fees. Both FedEx and UPS
have dramatically raised their fuel
surcharges in recent weeks as the price
of oil has increased amid the turmoil in the Middle East.
Diesel prices reached $5.38 a gallon this week, up 51% from a year
earlier.
The Postal Service said that the
price increase “is consistent with industry practices” and will “better align
its costs of transportation with the market.” The surcharge covers higher
vehicle maintenance and insurance expenses, in addition to increased fuel
costs, a Postal Service spokesman said.
“We have steadfastly avoided
surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors
charge for fuel alone, so even with this change, the Postal Service continues
to offer great value in shipping with some of the lowest rates in the industrialized
world,” the agency said.
Currently, the price for shipping an
item in a medium Priority Mail flat-rate box is $22.95. The price will rise to
$24.80 starting April 26. Regular mail under one ounce that uses a first-class
mail stamp remains unchanged at $0.78.
The price change on packages will go
into effect pending favorable review by the Postal Regulatory Commission, the
federal agency that oversees the Postal Service’s postal rates, fee structures
and service quality.
The Postal Service said that the
temporary surcharge will “provide a necessary bridge to a permanent mechanism
to reflect market conditions.”
The agency has been struggling
financially for years, and new Postmaster General David Steiner recently said
that the agency will run out of money in a year. Last week, Steiner asked
lawmakers to consider lifting regulatory restrictions on the Postal Service’s
ability to raise prices.
More
Postal Service to impose its first-ever fuel surcharge on packages
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero.
Voltaire
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession
Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians.
Fed
official issues stark warning on inflation, rate-cut outlook
Rising
oil prices could keep inflation elevated and delay interest-rate cuts.
Mar
25, 2026 6:52 PM EDT
Federal
Reserve Governor Michael Barr said that although he was “hopeful” inflation falls this year,
that might not happen with higher oil prices spiking gasoline and other
consumer costs.
Barr’s
take mirrors increasing concerns from Main Street to Wall Street about the
Fed’s interest-rate outlook due to recessionary and inflationary
uncertainty.
“While
I am hopeful that inflation will fall as the effects of tariffs on prices wane
later this year, I would like to see evidence that goods and services price
inflation is sustainably retreating before considering reducing the
policy rate further, provided labor market conditions remain stable,’’ Barr
said in
prepared remarks March
24.
“Moreover,
the conflict in the Middle East raises additional risks. Higher
oil prices tend to pass through pretty quickly to gasoline prices, and higher
gasoline prices can be particularly painful for low- and
moderate-income families,’’ Barr said.
Even
before the outbreak of the Iran war, the Fed faced a dilemma from worrisome
risks to both sides of its congressional mandate: unemployment rates
and sticky inflation from
tariffs.
Several
Wall Street firms say inflation will now be closer to 3% this year than the
Fed’s 2% target, Bloomberg
reported March 25,
eating into disposable
incomes and
keeping a lid on hiring.
That’s
a shift from what was supposed to be a strong year in 2026 as the inflationary
shock of President Donald Trump’s tariffs faded and stimulus
from tax cuts kicked in, according to Bloomberg.
Even
if the Iran war ends soon, economists say the damage already done will
keep the U.S. economy on a narrow footing, with job seekers and lower-income
consumers alike continuing to struggle as its ripple effects
upend prices and jobs.
“Lots
of elements of the economy are going to be weaker because of
this war,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, the lead U.S. economist at Oxford
Economics .
More
Fed official
issues stark warning on inflation, rate-cut outlook - TheStreet
Soaring fertilizer prices could pressure a US agricultural industry that
supports 50 million jobs and over $10 trillion in output
March 25, 2026
The war in Iran could hit
a heavy blow to one of the country’s largest industries, one that supports
millions of livelihoods.
Now in its fourth week,
the conflict has sparked the largest oil supply shock in history and sent
gasoline prices soaring worldwide. But fuel products are not the only item to
normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that has essentially
been blockaded for almost a month.
How the Strait of Hormuz blockade is cutting
fertilizer supply
Before the war, around
one-third of the global fertilizer supply chain passed through the strait,
including half of the world’s urea, a nitrogen-based fertilizer vital to many modern
farming operations, including in the U.S. The gaping hole in fertilizer supply
is, in some ways, a more intractable challenge than the energy crunch, and
comes at one of the worst possible times for American farmers.
The U.S. food and
agriculture industry does a lot more than putting food on the table: It is a
booming business that employs millions and accounts for a huge chunk of the
country’s economic output. That value was recently quantified in a
sweeping report authored by 35
industry groups and published Monday, shedding light on just how widespread an
impact a sustained fertilizer shortage would have on the U.S. economy.
The $10 trillion sector on the line
The sector generates
$10.4 trillion in value, around 20% of the U.S. economy’s overall value, the
report found. It also supports more than 48 million jobs, including positions
in government, tourism, and retail. The jobs story is actually one of growth, as
the report also found direct employment in the food and agriculture sector has
risen 6.5% over the past decade.
Fertilizer plays an
important role in the agricultural economy. In a statement, Corey Rosenbusch,
CEO of the Fertilizer Institute, an industry group that participated in the
report, called the impact of fertilizers “essential” to the economy.
“Each year, fertilizer
delivers $37 billion in wages, supports half a million jobs, and has an
economic impact of $140 billion,” he said.
But curtailed exports
from the Middle East threaten to undermine that trade, with ripple effects
likely to go far beyond the fertilizer industry alone. While the U.S. produces
much of its fertilizer at home, it relies on imports for 25% of its stock, including 18% of its nitrogen use. Qatar and Saudi
Arabia were important nitrogen suppliers to the U.S., but supply now remains
stranded in the Persian Gulf. And much like oil, fertilizer is a globally
traded product, so regional supply disruption can lead to price shifts in the
U.S.
Why spring planting season makes the timing
especially painful
Those swings are already
painfully evident for U.S. farmers, with benchmark nitrogen costs at U.S. ports
rising nearly 30% since the war began. For many producers, fertilizer can be
the single largest variable cost in growing major row crops, and the new spike
comes at one of the worst possible times in the sector. This is around the time most
farmers finalize their fertilizer purchases ahead of their spring planting
season, for crops like corn in the Midwest and cotton in the South.
The extent to which the
war in Iran might deal long-term damage to U.S. agriculture remains unclear.
There are few alternatives to Middle Eastern fertilizer exports. Unlike oil,
which continues to trickle out of the region in small quantities through Saudi pipelines,
the Gulf, and the currently blocked strait, is the only way for any significant
fertilizer quantities to reach global markets.
Alternative suppliers
exist, including Morocco and several Latin American countries, but high prices
for U.S. farmers will likely remain until the strait reopens, with the list of
possible economic consequences growing longer by the day. Prices could go higher
still if more countries follow the lead of China, which last week restricted its own fertilizer exports in a bid to stockpile its reserves.
Technology
Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this
section Updates as they get reported.
watt next? How do plug in solar panels work?
See
how much these handy devices could reduce your household bills by each year
Jimmy Grant
Published: 14:24, 25 Mar 2026
BRIT households are set to be able to buy a bargain gadget within
months – and it could slash your yearly energy bills.
Here’s everything you need to know about plug-in solar
panels and how they work.
How do plug-in solar panels work?
Also known as balcony solar or
plug-and-play solar, these compact solar panels can be placed in a garden, on a
balcony, or in any outdoor space that gets good sunlight.
The big selling point is simplicity –
there is no need for a professional electrician or rooftop installation.
Once positioned, the panel is connected
to a micro-inverter that converts energy from direct current to alternating
current, with electricity fed into the home through a standard mains socket.
So after buying one and placing it
somewhere with good sunlight, you can just plug them straight into your wall
like any other electronic
device.
The power generated feeds directly into
the home’s electrical system, reducing the amount of electricity drawn from the
grid – and cutting the bill.
They do not store electricity, so any
energy produced is used in real time by whatever appliances happen to be
running.
Traditional solar panels cost between
£5,000 and £8,000 to install, but can help households cut their bills by supplying free solar energy.
Plug-in panels are far cheaper because
no professional installation is required.
They are currently available from around
£400, though it is hoped that retailers will bring that price down further.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) estimates a typical UK home could save
£70 to £110 a year using plug-in solar panels, and that they will be available
in shops “within months”.
Manufacturer EcoFlow said it hopes
people will be using the panels by summer.
Until now, plug-in solar panels have been banned in the UK due to
electrical safety regulations and grid connection standards.
The technology has been widely used
across Europe for years, with Germany alone seeing more than 426,000 new
devices registered in 2025.
Retailers including Lidl and Amazon are working with the government to
bring the panels to market.
More
How do plug in solar panels work?
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
Another war weekend and time to seize Kharg
Island by US Marines and US airborne troops?
Just think of the global energy chaos if they do. Have a great weekend
everyone. It might be the last great weekend before they all start turning into
grate weekends.
Gold, unlike all other commodities, is a currency...and the
major thrust in the demand for gold is not for jewelry. It's not for anything
other than an escape from what is perceived to be a fiat money system, paper
money, that seems to be deteriorating.
Alan Greenspan
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