Tues., July 21, 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., July 21…regular $4.01…diesel $5.14 …awful for farmers and truckers….
Diesel’s rise has been swift. This is highly inflationary, sports fans.
Gasoline futures hung out at about $3.40 today, also not good. Recall, just a little while ago, gas futures were below $3.00, and the nationwide average at the pump got down to about $3.85. Feb. 27, the day before the war started, they were $2.26, so you can give your kids all the data above as a quiz.
‘Bobby, if gasoline futures were $2.26 and that translated to $2.98 for regular, and I tell you they are about $3.40 today, what will that translate to at the pump if we stay at this level for a little while?’
Tips for keeping your kids’ brains alive over the summer…another free feature of StocksandNews.
Anyway, crude oil climbed to more than around $84.50 a barrel (WTI), extending gains for a third straight session as supply concerns intensified across several key export routes.
Washington carried out a 10th consecutive day of strikes and President Trump vowed Tehran “will pay” for attacks that killed American soldiers. Another tanker carrying oil products was reportedly struck near the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting ongoing risks to shipping.
The Kaifan, an oil products tanker owned by Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., was the vessel attacked, according to security consultancy EOS Risk Group. The ship was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Limah, UK Maritime Trade Operations said early Tuesday.
Hormuz was deserted on Tuesday, with no ships observed transiting, data showed.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi militants threatened to block Saudi maritime traffic in the Red Sea, prompting at least one Saudi crude tanker to reverse course.
A message from the Houthis warned all vessels against calling at Saudi ports. [Reminder: Iran backs the Houthis. The Saudis back the internationally accepted government in Yemen and recently attacked the Houthis’ airport at Sanaa, thus breaking a ceasefire, according to the Houthis.]
A disruption to supplies through the Red Sea, the route currently used by Saudi Arabia for the bulk of its crude exports, would exacerbate the war’s impact on global oil trade.
And Ukraine’s attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast disrupted exports from Kazakhstan, which has become a large supplier of oil.
For its part, Iran once again attacked sites in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, with Kuwait saying power and desalination plants were hit for a second or third (or fourth) time. Kuwait is taking the brunt of the punishment in recent days, though the missile that got through, killing American soldiers last Friday night, hit Jordan. It just takes one.
President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this morning that the U.S. would be hitting Iran very hard, including Natanz’s Pickaxe Mountain, which the Wall Street Journal reported Monday is the site where Iran has transferred thousands of uranium enrichment centrifuges to underground facilities deep inside the mountain.
The centrifuges were transferred following the 12-day war in June 2025.
During the war, which the U.S. called Operation “Midnight Hammer,” American and Israeli strikes pummeled three of Iran’s main nuclear sites.
Pickaxe Mountain is located south of the Natanz nuclear complex, the site of two of Iran’s uranium enrichment plants bombed last summer.
The tunnel facility under construction at Pickaxe Mountain wasn’t targeted in either of the war, according to the Institute for Science and International Security, a U.S.-based think-tank.
The complex was carved to a depth of more than 100 meters below bedrock, making it deeper and more fortified than the Fordow enrichment facility, a highly fortified, underground uranium enrichment facility.
Iranian authorities have prevented International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from entering the site.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has demanded that Iran provide answers regarding its activities at the site. Iran refused to do so.
—
Just a note on Tropical Storm Bertha, which seems destined to eventually hit Texas, and hopefully the remnants don’t move into the southern Hill Country that suffered so much new damage recently (after last summer’s tragic loss of life in the region).
All of it is related in way or another to El Nino, which continues to strengthen and could become record strong by fall.
As you know, a strong El Nino suppresses hurricane activity through increased wind shear and sinking, dry air over the Caribbean and Atlantic basins.
The Weather Channel reported that Caribbean wind shear is already running at the second highest level on record for early July. Models suggest those conditions are likely to only intensify through the peak of hurricane season.
So that’s good…but it still only takes one storm. And we have record war Gulf sea surface temperatures, so Gulf coast residents know to stay prepared and Bertha is another reminder that we are a couple months away from the peak of the hurricane season.
—
A rebound in chip stocks led to a decent rally today for equities, while Dow component 3M’s positive earnings report helped as well.
But bond yields keep rising, the 10-year over 4.60%, which isn’t good for mortgage rates, boys and girls.
Dow Jones +385…+0.7% [52224]
S&P 500 +65…+0.9% [7509]
Nasdaq +329…+1.3% [25837]
Oil (WTI) $84.65…Brent $91.50
Gold $4080
Silver $58.75
Bitcoin $66,404 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.26%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.62%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.71%
Back Wed.
***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.
Brian Trumbore
