Baltic
Dry Index. 2140 +23 Brent Crude 77.70
Spot Gold 5372 Spot Silver 94.47
US 2 Year Yield 3.38 -0.04
US Federal Debt. 38.830 trillion
US GDP 31.199 trillion.
The first panacea for a
mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both
bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the
refuge of political and economic opportunists
Ernest Hemingway
By starting a new Middle East war, President
Trump blew away any chance of getting an Obama Nobel Peace Prize, but
did he also blow away any chance of holding on to the House and Senate come
November?
Iran may never get nuclear weapons, but Israel and the USA just sent the Rest of the World the clearest signal about why they need them as a Mutual Assured Destruction insurance policy against attack! A dangerous decade now lies ahead.
In the stock casinos, a troubled nervous week ahead. With war in the Persian Gulf underway, few shipowners will be willing to enter the Gulf, even assuming they could get insurance coverage at any price.
A short oil disruption is priced in, but a longer oil disruption isn’t.
Asia airline stocks drop while energy shares rise
as Iran conflict escalates
Published Sun, Mar 1 2026 6:58 PM EST
Airline stocks led losses in Asia on
Monday as Middle East airspace disruptions and airport closures unsettled
travel markets, while higher oil prices lifted energy shares amid escalating
conflict in Iran.
Singapore Airlines fell more
than 6%, pacing sector declines. Japan’s ANA and JAL each dropped over
4%, while Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific slipped 3.63% lower. Australia’s Qantas and Taiwan’s Eva Air also declined more
than 4% as investors weighed higher fuel costs and operational disruptions.
Oil futures also surged as the U.S.-Israel
conflict with Iran escalated following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday
that combat
operations in Iran will continue after three U.S. servicepersons were
killed.
Oil futures initially jumped 8% before
trimming gains to about 4%. West
Texas Intermediate futures last traded at $69.68, while Brent crude was at $76.13
per barrel. Gold futures jumped 2.3% as investors piled into the global safe
haven.
Energy stocks in Asia advanced on higher
crude prices. Woodside
Energy in Australia, Inpex in Japan gained as
much as 5%, while China National
Offshore Oil Corporation in Hong Kong rose more than 3%.
Defense stocks in the region also rose,
though more modestly. Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and IHI rose 0.47% and over
2%, respectively. Singapore’s ST Engineering climbed 3%.
Other major Asian defense stocks were not trading Monday because markets in
South Korea were closed for a public holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.25%,
paring earlier losses, while the Topix fell 1.24%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index was 1.58%
down, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was down 0.1%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.22%,
with losses partially offset by gains in its oil and gold mining sectors.
Stock futures tumbled in overnight trading
after the weekend strikes in Iran. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
dropped 517 points, or 1%. S&P 500 futures lost 1% and Nasdaq 100 futures
declined a little more than 1%.
Asia
airline stocks drop while energy shares rise as Iran conflict escalates
Dow futures drop over 300 points as oil prices
spike following U.S. attack on Iran: Live updates
Updated Mon, Mar 2 2026 11:29 PM EST
Stock futures tumbled on Monday morning
after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran over the weekend, causing oil prices to
surge and adding an unstable Middle East to a list of growing worries for
equity investors.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial
Average dropped 375 points, or 0.77%. S&P 500 futures lost 0.74% and Nasdaq
100 futures declined 0.85%. Gold futures jumped 1.6% as investors piled into
the global safe haven.
The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes killed
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, marking a watershed moment for the
Islamic Republic and one of its most consequential episodes since 1979.
President Donald Trump told
CNBC’s Joe Kernen that U.S. military operations in Iran are “ahead of
schedule,” but investors are worried about a prolonged conflict despite those
comments.
The large-scale assault was launched
overnight Saturday after Iran refused American demands to curb its nuclear
program. Iranian officials have vowed a forceful retaliation, raising fears the
conflict could spread across the region.
“The tail risk of a sustained conflict is
higher than in 2024 or 2025, though we don’t see this war escalating to a point
where it drastically changes the US outlook,” said Barclays’ Ajay Rajadhyaksha
in a note. But early this week “is too early to buy any dip, especially with
investors used to a pattern of quick de-escalation.”
U.S. crude prices jumped 8% in early
trading, as investors worry the confrontation could spiral into a broader war
that disrupts supplies. Iran is the fourth-largest oil producer in OPEC, and
uncertainty remains over who will ultimately govern the country amid the
leadership vacuum.
The oil
market’s trajectory may hinge on whether fighting disrupts traffic
through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for crude
flows. A sustained interruption there could reverberate through global energy
markets and reignite inflation pressures.
“Broader uncertainty suppresses investor
sentiment, which can broadly weigh on risk-assets globally,” said Adam Hetts,
global head of multi-asset at Janus Henderson. “In a prolonged period of
uncertainty, increases in oil prices could generate a global inflationary
scare.”
Nore
Stock
market today: Live updates
Oil and gas majors and traders suspend shipments
via Hormuz as US attacks Iran, sources say
LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Several tanker
owners, oil majors and trading houses have suspended crude oil, fuel and
liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and
Israel attacked Iran and Tehran said it had closed navigation, trading sources
said on Saturday.
"Our ships will stay put for several
days," one top executive at a major trading desk said. Satellite images
from tanker trackers showed vessels piling up next to big ports, such as
Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, and not moving through Hormuz.
Multiple vessels in the area have received
VHF transmission from Iran's Revolutionary Guards that "no ship is allowed
to pass the Strait of Hormuz", an official with the EU naval mission
Aspides told Reuters.
The UK Navy said Iran's orders were not
legally binding and advised vessels to transit with caution.
The tanker association INTERTANKO said the
U.S. Navy had warned against navigation in the area - the whole of the Gulf,
Gulf of Oman, North Arabian Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz - saying it could not
guarantee the safety of shipping.
Greece's shipping ministry advised vessels
on Saturday to avoid the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of
Hormuz, according to an advisory seen by Reuters.
Some 20% of global oil from producers such
as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait and Iran pass through Hormuz as well as
large volumes of LNG from Qatar.
Fourteen LNG tankers have shown signs of
slowing down, U-turning or stopping in or around the Strait, said Laura Page
from consultancy Kpler, who added the number will likely rise, posing risks to
Qatari LNG exports.
Oil and gas majors
and traders suspend shipments via Hormuz as US attacks Iran, sources say
Hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded by
flight disruptions after attack on Iran
By CARA RUBINSKY, MARC LEVY and JOSH FUNK
Updated 12:14 AM GMT, March 1, 2026
Hundreds of thousands of travelers were
either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace. There also was no flight
activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24
said, after the government there announced a “temporary and partial closure” of
its airspace.
That led to the closure of key hub
airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and the cancellation of more than 1,800
flights by major Middle Eastern airlines. The three major airlines that operate
at those airports — Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad — typically have about
90,000 passengers per day crossing through those hubs and even more travelers
headed to destinations in the Middle East, according to aviation analytics firm
Cirium.
Two airports in the United Arab Emirates
reported incidents as the government there condemned what it called a “blatant
attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles” on Saturday.
Officials at Dubai International Airport —
the largest in the United Arab Emirates and one of the busiest in the
world —
said four people were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi
said that one person was killed and seven others were injured in a drone
strike. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport.
Though Iran did not publicly claim
responsibility, the scope of retaliatory strikes that Gulf nations attributed
to Iran extended beyond the American bases that it previously said it would
target.
“For travelers, there’s no way to
sugarcoat this,” said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and
president of Atmosphere Research Group. “You should prepare for delays or
cancellations for the next few days as these attacks evolve and hopefully end.”
Airlines that are crossing the Middle East
will have to reroute flights around the conflict with many flights headed south
over Saudi Arabia. That will add hours to those flights and consume additional
fuel, adding to the costs airlines will have to absorb. So ticket prices could
quickly start to increase if the conflict lingers.
The added flights will also put pressure
on air traffic controllers in Saudi Arabia who might have to slow traffic to
make sure they can handle it safely. And the countries that closed their
airspace will miss out on the overflight fees airlines pay for crossing
overhead.
But Mike McCormick, who used to oversee
air traffic control for the Federal Aviation Administration before he retired
and is now a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said over the
next few days these countries might be able to reopen parts of their airspace
once American and Israeli officials share with the airlines where military
flights are operating and how capable Iran remains at firing missiles.
“Those countries then will be able to go
through and say, okay, we can reopen this portion of our space but we’ll keep
this portion of our airspace closed,” McCormick said. “So I think what we’ll
see in the next 24 to 36 hours how the use of airspace evolves as the kinetic
activity gets more well defined and as the capability of Iran to actually shoot
missiles and create additional risk is diminished due to the attacks.”
But it is unclear how long the disruption
to flight operations could last. For comparison, the Israeli and U.S. attack on
Iran in June 2025 lasted 12 days.
More
Military strikes
on Iran disrupt airline flights | AP News
In other news, it may not be legal, but might
makes right.
When a President does it, that means that it is not illegal."
President Richard Nixon.
Democratic Lawmakers Decry Iran Attacks as Illegal
Congressional Democrats are pushing for a
vote to curb President Trump’s war powers
Feb. 28, 2026 1:00 pm ET
WASHINGTON—Congressional Democrats are
moving to force votes to curb President Trump’s military action against
Iran, denouncing the administration’s strikes on Saturday as illegal and saying
the White House acted without obtaining Congress’s authorization.
Lawmakers in both chambers said they would
seek war-powers resolutions to block Trump from using military force against
Iran in the future. They also urged the Trump administration to justify the
reason for the strikes, calling them unconstitutional.
“Every single Senator needs to go on the
record about this dangerous, unnecessary, and idiotic action,” said Sen. Tim
Kaine (D., Va.), co-sponsor of the Senate resolution. Sen. Ed
Markey (D., Mass.) called the actions “illegal and unconstitutional.”
Even if it passed, such a measure would be
largely symbolic as any resolution would have to be signed by Trump.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D., N.Y.) called on the Trump administration to immediately give
a classified briefing for all senators on the strikes in Iran, as well as
public testimony from administration officials.
The Democratic leader said he had spoken
with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and pressed him to be “straight
with Congress and the American people” about the objectives of the strike and
what comes next, he said Saturday morning.
In an eight-minute video posted on Truth
Social, Trump said
he launched the
joint U.S. and Israel attack—which he called “Operation Epic Fury”—after
repeated attempts to strike a deal. The aim of the operation, he said, was to
ensure Americans “will never be threatened by a nuclear armed Iran.”
The Trump administration notified members
of Congress’s bipartisan “Gang of Eight” of the coming American and Israeli
strikes Friday night, the White House said. That group includes Republican and
Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, as well as the top members on their
intelligence committees.
Some Republicans have signaled they will
support Democratic efforts. Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) said he
would work with Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), who is sponsoring the
House measure to force the vote when the House reconvenes.
Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), who voted with
Democrats in January to advance a war-powers resolution to block Trump from
taking further military action in Venezuela, said Saturday: “My oath of office
is to the Constitution, so with studied care, I must oppose another
Presidential war.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) said
lawmakers should be fully briefed before determining whether further military
action requires an authorization by Congress.
Not all Democrats are aligned.
Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) posted on X that he was a “hard no” on
efforts to block the operation. “My vote is Operation Epic Fury,” he said.
In recent months, lawmakers have also
pushed similar votes on U.S. military action in the Caribbean and against
hostilities in Venezuela, but the measures didn’t become law.
Likewise, last June when the U.S. also
conducted strikes in Iran, Congress also failed to advance a similar war-powers
resolution to prevent the use of military force against Iran.
Democratic
Lawmakers Decry Iran Attacks as Illegal - WSJ
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession
Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians,
inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
Inflation data sends markets reeling
February 28, 2026
The cost of doing
business in the United States took an unexpected jump in January, casting a
shadow over the digital asset market.
On February 27, new
government data revealed that producers are facing higher price tags, sparking
fears that the Federal Reserve might delay its highly anticipated interest rate
cuts.
Bitcoin faces sudden pressure
The cryptocurrency market
felt the impact of the news almost immediately. Bitcoin, which had been showing
signs of strength by climbing toward $70,000 on February 26 for the first time
since mid-February, saw those gains evaporate.
BTC, the world’s largest
digital currency, saw its price slide by 2.14%, quickly slipping below the
$66,000 mark following the data release. The downward trend didn’t stop there,
as Ethereum and several other major altcoins suffered similar losses on
Friday as the appetite for "risky" investments faded.
This latest drop adds to
a period of high volatility for the digital asset. Back in October, Bitcoin
surged to a record high of more than $126,000, fueled by hopes of a
crypto-friendly second Trump administration. However, a major selloff followed
that peak, and the market has been under pressure ever since.
Now, the primary concern
for crypto traders is the Federal Reserve. With inflation remaining a
persistent issue, the central bank may choose to keep interest rates steady for
longer than investors had hoped. For now, Bitcoin remains vulnerable to further
price drops as the market digests the reality of these stubborn economic
figures.
A surprise in the wholesale numbers
The Producer Price Index
(PPI), which tracks what businesses pay one another for goods and services,
climbed 0.5% last month. This was a notable increase from the 0.4% seen in
December. While the annual inflation rate slowed slightly to 2.9% from 3%, it still
landed well above the 2.6% that economists had predicted.
The stock market reacted
with a similar wave of caution. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 728
points, representing a 1.47% loss. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the
tech-focused Nasdaq fell by 0.8% and 0.92%, respectively, as investors moved
away from riskier assets.
Inside the inflation ripple effect
The Bureau of Labor
Statistics noted a curious divide in the data. While the prices for essentials
like food and gas actually moved lower during the month, those savings were
cancelled out by a spike in "trade services."
This category measures
the profit margins for wholesalers and retailers and is often a sign of whether
businesses are passing the costs of import tariffs down the line.
Several industries saw
significant price hikes in this area, including:
·
Apparel and footwear
·
Health, beauty, and optical products
·
Wired telecommunications and
chemicals
·
Certain food and alcohol categories
Core inflation hits a milestone
When the volatile
categories of food and energy are removed, the "core" PPI—which
provides a clearer look at long-term inflation trends—showed an even sharper
rise. This underlying measure jumped 0.8% in January, compared to 0.6% in
December. This pushed the annual core rate to 3.6%, marking the highest level
seen in 10 months.
As the PPI is often
viewed as a "look-ahead" indicator for what consumers will eventually
pay at the register, these figures suggest that the road to lower inflation may
be bumpier than expected.
More
Inflation data sends markets reeling
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.
Today, modern auto manufacturing.
HIT THE BRAKES Full list of 56,000 cars recalled in UK this
February due to wheels ‘falling off’ and battery fire risks
Michael Golson , Senior Motors Reporter Published: 11:00,
28 Feb 2026
TENS of thousands of motors have been recalled in February over
separate safety issues – involving two giants of the car world.
Just last week, it was revealed
that Honda was recalling up to 46,152 Civic 5‑door models –
built between 2017 and 2021.
A fault was identified with certain optional accessory wheels, where one or more wheel nuts may not have been
tightened to the required torque.
The Japanese brand’s concern is that, if
the nuts were not tightened sufficiently, they could gradually loosen as the
car is driven – increasing the risk of wheel instability and, in a worst-case
scenario, the wheel detaching.
The issue has been flagged in a number
of other European countries and not just in the UK market, with Honda planning
to contact affected customers directly with notification letters scheduled for
early 2026.
Those letters are expected to include a
QR code so owners can submit images of their wheel sets, allowing Honda to
confirm whether an individual vehicle is within the recall scope, after which
owners can arrange an appointment at a dealer for inspection and any necessary
corrective work.
But despite the seriousness of the
potential outcome, Honda has sought to reassure drivers that they do not need
to stop using their Civic and can continue driving while they await the recall
process.
Separately, Volvo has launched a worldwide recall for 40,323 EX30 electric cars because of a potential overheating risk in the
battery when charged to high levels.
The recall covers the EX30 Single Motor
Extended Range and Twin Motor Performance models built between 2024
and 2026, with around a quarter of the affected vehicles – roughly 10,500 –
estimated to be in the UK.
The problem first drew wider attention
when some owners received an in-car warning message stating that, in rare
cases, the battery could overheat when charged to a high state.
It added that, in the worst case, this
could lead to a battery fire.
Volvo says it aims to begin inspecting
the compact EVs and replacing battery modules as soon as possible – but has
cautioned that parts availability may be limited initially because new
components are still being produced and shipped.
In the meantime, owners of the affected
EX30 variants are advised not to charge beyond 70% until their motor has been
inspected and any required work completed.
Retailers will contact customers once
parts are available for fitting.
Other EX30 versions can continue to be
used as normal, and while the EX30 shares elements with the Smart #1 and #3,
the affected versions use a 69kWh battery pack that is not used across the
other variants.
And finally, right towards the end of
the month, Nissan issued
a worldwide recall for certain X-Trail models due to a potential rise in
engine oil temperature which lead to engine
damage or, in some cases, complete engine failure.
The recall applies to X-Trails fitted
with the 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine – built between 2023 and 2026.
Sun Motors contacted Nissan to ask how
many cars are affected, but this has yet to
be confirmed.
However, more than 320,000 vehicles are
thought to be affected globally.
Nissan plans to contact owners from
March to arrange a free software update at authorised dealers, while the
e-Power hybrid version is not included in the recall.
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
We in America should see that no man is ever given, no matter
how gradually or how noble and excellent the man, the power to put this country
into a war which is now being prepared and brought closer each day
with all the pre-meditation of a long planned murder. For when you give power
to an executive you do not know who will be filling that position when the time
of crisis comes.
Ernest Hemingway
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