Wed., July 8, 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
Wed., July 8…regular $3.79…diesel $4.77
As I noted Monday, unless gasoline futures fall to the $2.80 level, and then lower, we aren’t going to see much further progress in the price at the pump, which has now stalled out the last two days, with gas futures today back above $3.00. [Actually above $3.10!]
And the price of oil surged today. Iran’s armed forces announced early Wednesday that they had attacked U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, after the United States carried out airstrikes against several targets in Iran and reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil sales, as I noted in yesterday’s ‘Update.’
The Pentagon said its strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, part of the Iranian military, called the U.S. strikes in Iran’s south an “overt act of aggression” and warned that Iran would “deliver a crushing response.” In remarks carried on Iranian state media today, it also warned the United States against interfering in Tehran’s management of the Strait.
Hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that it had targeted 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. There were no reports on damage or casualties.
But then at about 4:00 AM ET Wednesday morning, I watched as President Trump took questions from reporters while sitting alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. When asked about the ceasefire and the renewed military action, the president said; “For me, I think it’s over. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time.”
“I don’t want to deal with them, but they’re scum,” Trump said. “You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people, they’re led by sick people, and they’re vicious, violent people, and if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it.”
Anwar Gargash, a top United Arab Emirates presidential adviser, said in a post on the social platform X that the strikes were a “clear indicator that Tehran remains incapable of committing to the requirements of de-escalation and turning the page on war.”
The Iran MOU (memorandum of understanding) was officially signed on June 17, starting a 60-day clock for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.
President Trump then took questions during a sit down with Ukrainian President Zelensky and floated a return to a U.S. blockade of the Strait, the U.S. taking over the crucial Kharg Island oil hub, and new attacks.
“We’ll probably hit them hard again, tonight,” Trump said, “because they deserve it.”
“We may put it back,” the president said of the U.S. blockade of the Strait,
“We attacked Kharg Island last night,” Trump confirmed. “I said don’t touch the oil because maybe we’ll take over Kharg Island.”
But then at his final press conference before heading home, which was held around Noon, ET, Trump adopted a more moderate tone, clearly having been told of the rather negative market reaction…both with stocks and bonds, as well as oil.
He had very kind words for Sec. Gen. Rute and NATO leaders and said they had had productive meetings. The tone totally changed from eight hours earlier.
Back to Trump’s meeting with Zelensky, in a potentially significant move, Trump offered to give Ukraine the right to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, which could help Kyiv defend against Russia’s ballistic missile attacks.
“We are gonna give you a license to make Patriots,” Trump told Zelensky. “I think they can produce them very quickly once we explain it.”
He said he had not yet informed defense manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon of his decision, “but that’ll work out alright.”
It will take time for Ukraine to produce them, but assuming Trump follows through on his word, and acts quickly, it’s a big confidence booster for Kyiv.
On the economic front, the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday that the global economy is set to slow sharply in 2026 after the war with Iran disrupted energy supply chains and triggered a fresh bout of inflation.
Global output is poised to fall to 3 percent in 2026 from 3.5 percent last year, according to an update for the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, though this is just a tick below its April outlook for 3.1%.
The IMF expects global inflation will rise to 4.7% in 2026 from 4.1% in 2025 because of elevated commodity prices.
But the IMF also said the global economy was proving to be relatively resilient.
“The global economy as a whole has, so far, weathered the shock from the war better than feared,” the IMF economists wrote in the report.
The outlook for growth in the United States was unchanged at 2.3%, as oil exports and technology investments buttress growth.
—
The World Cup Quarterfinals are set….
Thurs.
France vs. Morocco, 4:00 PM ET
Fri.
Spain vs. Belgium, 3:00 PM ET
Sat.
Norway vs. England, 5:00 PM ET
Argentina vs. Switzerland, 9:00 PM ET
Personally, I’m all in on England and Harry Kane, but Saturday’s match vs. Erling Haaland and Co. could be delicious.
—
And this just in…from meteorologists at Colorado State University, who put together a key hurricane forecast each year.
Because of the strengthening El Nino, CSU said they now expect four fewer storms than initially forecast for the Atlantic hurricane season.
This doesn’t mean we can’t have a severe storm or two, but the change means the new forecast calls for a “well below-normal season.”
While a typical season sees 14 named storms in the Atlantic, only nine are now forecast for this year. CSU earlier had 13 as its forecast.
It’s all about wind shear, boys and girls. El Nino’s most prominent mark on the hurricane season is to ratchet up vertical wind shear – “the scissor-like wind pattern that lops off the tops of organizing storm seedlings before they can develop into strong hurricanes,” said WPLG-TV hurricane specialist Michael Lowry, in a note to USA TODAY.
As for hurricane/typhoon activity in the Pacific, well, the super warm waters are already churning out devastating storms.
—
Dow Jones -576…-1.1% [52348]
S&P 500 -21…-0.3% [7482]
Nasdaq +51…+0.2% [25870]
Oil (WTI) $74.10.…Brent $78.55
Gold $4082
Silver $58.42
Bitcoin $62,241 [4:00 PM ET…a little rebound]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.20%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.57%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.85%
The yield on the German 10-year is 3.09%, up from 2.85% last Friday.
Back Thurs.
***Please support StocksandNews…there are big costs behind it. Click on the GoFundMe link or send a check to PO Box 990, New Providence, NJ 07974.
For ZELLE: use Zelle recipient briannovak24@gmail.com.
