Thurs., July 9, 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
Thurs., July 9…regular $3.84…diesel $4.81
Regular up 5 cents from Wed. Gasoline futures above $3.00, though down from a high of $3.15 late yesterday.
West Texas Intermediate, after hitting $75 yesterday amidst President Trump’s renewed threats, fell below $72 this afternoon, despite a second round of tit-for-tat strikes between the U.S. and Iran last night.
The last two days, the U.S. has continued to focus its strikes on Iran’s coast, with Iran responding with strikes on U.S. military targets in the Gulf.
Kenneth Medlock, a fellow in energy and resource economics at Rice University’s Baker Institute, told The Hill the strikes are “very targeted” and not currently attacking civilian or energy infrastructure.
“Now, if the Iranian response is to radically escalate, and then the U.S. also radically escalates by expanding strikes beyond just that type of infrastructure, that’s when traffic (in the Strait) could shut down and price go way up,” he said.
Traffic through the Strait did come to a near standstill early Thursday, after the U.S. struck Iran a second straight day.
But by day’s end, there was evidence some tankers were still getting through, though not on the U.S. controlled Omani side.
The renewal of military activity in the Gulf also further depletes already dwindling U.S. weapons stockpiles, while putting a target on America’s Gulf allies.
More importantly, to some of us, China is taking note of the latest developments, as it’s all part of its calculus regarding Taiwan.
Democrats have been politically riding high thanks to the unpopular war. The latest Decision Desk HQ polling average has Democrats leading the generic congressional ballot by 8 points. If I recall correctly, it had been down to 4, which is essentially nothing. But 8 is meaningful when you think about the 20 or so close congressional races come November, like my own district in New Jersey. [Republican Tom Kean Jr. vs. Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a Mikie Sherrill clone.]
In terms of the stock market today, we had a resurgence in giant chipmakers like Micron Technology, while South Korea’s SK Hynix’s highly anticipated U.S. listing was said to be more than seven times oversubscribed, underscoring strong appetite for this chip giant.
SK Hynix is slated to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq.
Many investors are simply more focused on the upcoming earnings season, which starts in earnest next week with the Big Banks, rather than on the geopolitical front.
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We have the first World Cup quarterfinal today, starting at 4:00 PM ET, France vs. Morocco.
At Wimbledon, the women’s final is set…an all-Czech affair…10 Karolina Muchova vs. 9 Linda Noskova.
Muchova ended 7 Coco Gauff’s run in one semifinal, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10), while Noskova beat 12 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4.
[Gauff muffed a key late point.]
This is Muchova’s second Grand Slam final, having lost to Iga Swiatek in the 2023 French Open championship match, while Noskova had never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
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Dow Jones +139…+0.3% [52487]
S&P 500 +60…+0.8% [7543]
Nasdaq +336…+1.3% [26206]
Oil (WTI) $71.85.…Brent $76.05
Gold $4120
Silver $59.92
Bitcoin $63,185 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.16%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.54%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.85%…highest since Sept. 1996
Check out my ‘Week in Review,’ posted Fridays at 4:30 PM ET.
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