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Mon., Nov. 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
Mon., Nov. 9…regular $4.00…diesel $6.17
Yes, regular is at $4.00 nationwide, and will be dropping below that level when AAA calculates Tuesday’s figure, a little late for President Trump, while diesel remains above $6.00, but should be falling below that level shortly. However, $5.00+ diesel is in the cards for a long time to come it would seem, and that remains a killer for many industries.
Crude continued to fall sharply today, WTI below $87, Brent below $93, after President Trump said Sunday that it is “highly unlikely” that the U.S. will resume the war in Iran as talks over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program continue to make progress.
“It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement,” Trump said in an interview. “The answer is highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary. They’re a failing nation. It just came out, you saw this year, 301% inflation. Highly unlikely it will be necessary… They’re withering away financially. We’ve hit them militarily. We could finish them off.”
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio played down expectations for progress in negotiations. I’ve argued for a long time that there is no nuclear agreement, at least one that we should be consenting to.
And over the weekend, a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, while Houthi rebels fired at Saudi Aramco’s offices in Riyadh, as Saudi airstrikes killed at least 50 in Yemen.
In addition to the above, Ukraine struck Russia’s second-largest refinery, disrupting its gasoline and diesel production and raising questions over the agreement between Presidents Putin and Trump on supplying Russia diesel to global markets.
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Saturday night, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that he was giving candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a governing coalition following elections on Oct. 27.
Eisenkot has six weeks to form a government. At a ceremony in Jerusalem, he said he wanted to build a leadership that people can trust, that will act in the interests of the public and that represents all parts of society.
Eisenkot has three options: a power-sharing agreement with Netanyahu, support from Arab-led parties – something several members of his bloc do not support – or an agreement with the ultra-Orthodox parties, which demand military exemptions for their community.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s bloc was 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament, Eisenkot’s 48, and the Arab-led parties 19. This is not going to be easy.
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And we had this bombshell announcement unfold over the weekend. Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, whose company produces the world’s most cutting-edge AI chips, admitted to having an affair – amid reports that Secretary of State Rubio warned months ago that his lover was a Chinese spy.
Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, which purchased AI chips from Nvidia, was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security, Beijing’s spy agency, the memo overseen by Rubio concluded, according to a New York Times report.
The Biden administration had limited the sales of high-end Nvidia chips to China amid the AI race, but the Nvidia CEO pushed the Trump administration to ease up on those constraints.
Nvidia’s board announced Sunday it launched a probe into whether Jensen was a “target of a foreign intelligence effort,” but stressed that it still has “confidence in Jensen and his leadership team.”
Jensen Huang issued a memo to employees: “I owe my family and all of you an apology. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry. …I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it.”
Nvidia’s board in its own statement said it prioritizes U.S. national and economic security, which is “paramount to the interests of Nvidia and its shareholders.” Although it has said it has “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information.”
As for the classified Rubio memo from this past spring, the New York Times reported it warned top Trump administration officials that Jensen Huang was in a close relationship with a Chinese spy.
The document was based on classified intelligence from electronic surveillance of Alice Huang, who was investigated for illegally smuggling them into China. U.S. officials had concluded that Ms. Huang was in a close relationship with the Nvidia CEO, and that she had been recruited to spy by China’s top intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security.
The Rubio memo, and his involvement, has not been previously reported. It highlights how concerns about the relationship and the spying were known to senior officials even as Mr. Huang, a pivotal figure in the growth of AI, remained an influential voice with President Trump over policy on the issue.
Jensen Huang has opposed calls for more tightly regulating the export of the most advanced AI chips and has pushed to be able to sell all but the most recently developed technology to China, the main competitor to the United States in the global rush for AI supremacy.
A Chinese spokesperson on Monday denied it engaged in an attempt to ensnare Huang. In a routine news briefing, Guo Jiakun said, “The so-called Chinese spy allegation is unsubstantiated. It is nothing but smears against China.”
President Trump told reporters Sunday night, “I have not spoken to him about it. I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what is going on.”
Asked whether he should stay on, Trump said, “I think so. Oh yeah, sure.”
Asked if he plans to take Huang on his trip to Asia later this month, Trump said that he doesn’t know but would take him along.
“I haven’t heard he’s done anything wrong,” Trump said.
I can virtually guarantee that Jensen Huang is not going to be on that plane.
Nvidia’s shares fell sharply today, to below $180, and have been falling since hitting $243 on Oct. 6.
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After a bad week, and four straight down weeks for Nasdaq, the market surged today, investors buying the dip, shrugging off the Nvidia news, at least for now, but also benefiting from falling oil prices.
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Dow Jones +1104…+2.2% [52389]
S&P 500 +172…+2.3% [7549]
Nasdaq +673…+2.7% [25253]
Oil (WTI) $86.90…Brent $92.65
Gold $4140
Silver $53.35
Bitcoin: $74,802 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.55%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.87%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.64%…down from 3.11%.
Back Tues.
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Brian Trumbore