Tuesday, June 2, 2026
[4:10 PM ET…closing prices for stocks; 3:50ish for commodities and bonds]
Tale of the Tape at the gas pump, nationwide averages, courtesy of AAA.
Fri., Feb. 27…regular $2.98…diesel $3.75
Tues., June 2…reg. $4.29…diesel $5.43
Despite the optimism (most of the time) from President Trump on the status of U.S.-Iran negotiations, there have been no face-to-face talks in about two months, since the meeting in Pakistan with Vice President JD Vance, and it’s been nothing more than an exchange of notes.
Going back to the phone call Monday between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, the two offered differing accounts of the exchange concerning the fighting in Lebanon.
The mismatched statements were the latest example of confusing signals on progress to end a war, now in its fourth month, that has killed thousands across the region and triggered a global energy crisis.
I told you yesterday about Trump’s first post on the call, and then in the evening, the president wrote that he had asked the prime minister “not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi! I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts – Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”
Netanyahu, however, didn’t describe the arrangement in such sweeping terms. While he confirmed that Israel wouldn’t strike targets in Beirut so long as Hezbollah ceased its own attacks, he also said Israel’s campaign in southern Lebanon would continue.
“I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop firing at our cities and citizens – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut,” Netanyahu said in a social media post. “This position of ours remains unchanged. Concurrently, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.”
Israel then killed 8 in southern Lebanon Tuesday, including two children. [Hezbollah has not fired into Israel in the last 15 hours…but this is as of a while ago…]
WTI crude oil futures were hovering around $92 per barrel until about noon today, before climbing above $93, as traders weighed conflicting signals over the prospects for a U.S.-Iran peace agreement. Iranian news agencies raised doubts about progress in negotiations, despite Trump stating a day earlier that talks were continuing.
Meanwhile, yesterday, I noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned over the weekend that he was expecting Russia to carry out a major attack on his country soon based on intelligence shared by the U.S. and European allies, and hours later, sadly, this came to fruition.
Russia fired 73 missiles and more than 650 drones, largely on Kyiv and Dnipro, killing at least 22 (16 in Dnipro) and wounding more than 100. It was the third heavy assault on Kyiv in under a month.
President Zelensky posted on Telegram: “This was a large-scale attack and an absolutely clear statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue.”
The Kremlin said on Tuesday the war had entered “a new paradigm” after what it called “inhumane acts of terror” by Ukraine’s military against civilians.
Zelensky sent a letter last week to President Trump and Congress, asking for air defense systems. As of Monday, officials said he had not received a response.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged partners to take “concrete steps” to help Ukraine and put pressure on Russia.
“Peace efforts will only succeed when they are backed with real pressure on Moscow,” he said in a post on X, appealing for tougher sanctions and more military support.
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Dow Jones +228…+0.5% [51307…record]
S&P 500 +9…+0.1% [7609…record]
Nasdaq +7…+0.03 [27093…record]
Oil (WTI) $93.65…Brent $96.05
Gold $4485
Silver $75.10
Bitcoin $67,180 [4:00 PM ET…Strategy Inc. (MSTR), the ultimate bitcoin play, is at $136, down from high of $457 last July 16…]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.04%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.45%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.56%…yield down bigly on successful auction, but rally may not last given fundamentals…
Back Wed.
Brian Trumbore
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