Tuesday, March 17, 2026…4:10 PM ET
[4:00 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 gas $2.98…diesel $3.75
Tues., Mar. 17…reg. $3.79…diesel $5.04
The price of diesel hit $5.00 a gallon for the first time since December 2022 as the war in Iran continued to disrupt supplies, placing further pressure on broad swaths of the U.S. economy.
Diesel is the lifeblood of the U.S. freight, agriculture and construction industries, and this $1.25+ spike since the war started will soon be rippling through the broader economy. Prices have surged faster than most other petroleum-based products because Persian Gulf refineries are major suppliers of the fuel.
Crude oil futures rose nearly 3% today to $96 a barrel, recovering from yesterday’s slide, as Iran continued attacks on energy infrastructure across the Middle East. Operations at the Shah gas field in the UAE were suspended, and an Iraqi oil field was also struck by drones and missiles. Loadings from Fujairah (UAE) were again halted, further straining global supply as the war is well into its third week and the near-complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s stop security official, Ali Larijani, and the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia were both killed in overnight strikes in a further blow to the country’s leadership, Israel’s defense minister said Tuesday, while Tehran defiantly fired new salvos of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel.
The top U.S. counterterrorism official said Tuesday he had resigned over his concerns with the war in Iran, marking the first significant departure from the Trump administration due to the conflict.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in a social media post on X, in which he shared a screenshot of his resignation letter addressed to President Trump. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” he wrote.
In his letter, Kent said he supported the foreign policies that Trump campaigned on over the last three presidential cycles but that the president had veered away from his goals of avoiding “never-ending wars.”
Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.
Aside from his past ties to far-right figures, during his Senate confirmation hearing, Kent refused to distance himself from a conspiracy theory that federal agents instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol.
Still, Republicans praised Kent’s counterterrorism qualifications, pointing to his military and intelligence experience.
President Trump rejected Kent’s assessment: “I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak,” the president told reporters. “When I read his statement, I realized it’s a good thing that he’s out, because he said Iran is not a threat. …Every country realized what a threat Iran was.”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.): “There was clearly an imminent threat that Iran was very close to the enrichment of nuclear capability, and they were building missiles at a pace that no one in the region could keep up with,” Johnson told reporters.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said: “Good riddance. Iran has murdered more than a thousand Americans. Their EFP land mines were the deadliest in Iraq. Anti-Semitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don’t want it in our government,” Bacon posted online.
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The United States is taking on Venezuela in the final of the World Baseball Classic tonight.
Last night, following Venezuela’s semifinal win over Italy, President Trump posted on Truth Social:
“Wow! Venezuela defeated Italy tonight, 4-2, in the WBC (Baseball!) Semifinal. They are really looking great. Good things are happening to Venezuela lately! I wonder what this magic is all about? STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE? President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Quiet day in the equity markets….
Dow Jones +47…+0.1% [46993]
S&P 500 +16…+0.3% [6716]
Nasdaq +105…+0.5% [22374]
Oil (WTI) $96.10
Gold $5005
Silver $79.15
Bitcoin $74,520 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 3.67%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.20%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.26%
All about the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee statement after their meeting tomorrow and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference after.
The European Central Bank and Bank of England also have meetings this week.
Back Wed.
Brian Trumbore
