Thursday, March 19, 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
Thurs., Mar. 19…reg. $3.88…diesel $5.09
West Texas Intermediate overnight Wednesday was up to $100 a barrel, with Brent crude, the global benchmark at $119, before both fell back, partly on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s positive comments on the war…even as fresh attacks on key energy infrastructure in the Middle East heightened concerns over disruptions to global oil and gas flows.
Iran launched missile strikes on a Qatari industrial zone, Ras Laffan, housing the world’s largest LNG export plant, causing “extensive” damage*; one of several energy assets Tehran vowed to target following an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field.
Iran drones caused fires at two state-owned refineries in Kuwait, and a drone fell at a key energy export terminal in Saudi Arabia. In the UAE, officials said that the authorities had responded to incidents at gas facilities and an oil field caused by debris from missile interceptions.
*LNG from Qatar could be offline for months and, in the worst case, for years, said experts, such as Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management, who added: “For the gas market, the crisis does not end simply because the war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens.” The Ras Laffan LNG plant accounted for about a fifth of global supply prior to the war.
In a joint statement after a meeting in Riyadh, foreign ministers for Arab and Muslim countries in the region condemned “deliberate” Iranian attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including “oil facilities, desalination plants, airports, residential buildings, and diplomatic premises.”
President Trump said he had no prior knowledge of the Israeli attack and urged against further strikes on Iranian energy sites. [Israel begged to differ with Trump’s narrative.]
The president temporarily waived the Jones Act for the next 60 days to help reduce the cost of transporting oil, gas, and other commodities across the U.S., allowing foreign-flagged vessels to operate between U.S. ports, but this will have a minimal impact.
With Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington today for meetings with President Trump, and a state dinner this evening, she faces record gasoline prices back home.
European natural gas (and oil) prices have been soaring, much of their needs coming from the Strait.
Euro stock indexes all fell 2% today, Tokyo’s Nikkei down 3%.
Governments throughout Europe and Asia are grappling with how to shield citizens from surging costs if the war is prolonged, but doing so would risk the ire of global debt investors, and Euro bond markets continued to take it on the chin…the British 10-year yield at 4.84%, up from 4.23%, the Friday before the war started hours later. [Italy’s 10-year rising from 4.27% to 4.77% over the same time period.]
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March Madness is underway. Miami (OH) was nearly dissed, despite a 31-1 record, and had to play an 11-11 play-in last night, prevailing against SMU 89-79.
And just now…the 12-seed High Point Panthers upset 5 Wisconsin 83-82.
Separately, Southern California is in the midst of its worst-ever March heatwave…which is quite a statement.
Yesterday, it hit 98 in downtown Los Angeles when the March record was 94 set back in 1914. Palm Springs hit 103, per one report I saw, 105 in another, when the all-time record for the month was 100 in 2007.
Dow Jones -203…-0.4% [46021]
S&P 500 -18…-0.3% [6606]
Nasdaq -61…-0.3% [22090]
Oil (WTI) $94.70
Gold $4640…down from its $5600 intraday record high….
Silver $72.30…had been down to near $65 this morning….
Bitcoin $70,272 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 3.80%…the most inflation/Fed sensitive hit 3.92% early today….
U.S. 10-yr. 4.25%…had hit 4.32%….
Japanese 10-yr. 2.26%…the Bank of Japan followed the Fed in holding rates unchanged, expressing concern about the impact of the U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran. “Risks to the outlook include the future course of the situation in the Middle East as well as developments in crude oil prices,” it said.
Check out my Week in Review tomorrow, Friday, posted around 4:30 PM ET.
Have a good weekend.
Brian Trumbore
