Monday, April 13, 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
Mon., Apr. 13…reg. $4.12…diesel $5.65
After talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, broke down after 21 hours of negotiations, a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz was to have gone into effect at 10:00 a.m. ET, today, President Trump having declared the blockade on Sunday.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking to reporters Saturday night following the lengthy discussions with Tehran, described negotiations as “substantive,” but there was no headway toward a deal.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” he said.
The U.S. military said that it would block ships “entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas” starting at 10:00 a.m., while allowing other vessels to transit the Strait on their way to or from non-Iranian ports.
Earlier on Monday, Iran warned of repercussions. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesman, said Monday that if Iranian ports were threatened, “no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe.”
Some of us were then waiting to see how the futures for both stocks and oil reacted Sunday night, the first time for the market to react since Friday, and oil futures on WTI climbed to $105 per barrel after finishing last week around $96.
And they stayed well above $100 heading into this afternoon when they fell to below $100 on remarks President Trump made to reporters that Iran had communicated with the U.S. this morning and that “they want to make a deal.”
Who the heck knows if this was the truth, Trump also posting on Truth Social at 12:33 PM today that “34 Ships went through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, which is by far the highest number since this foolish closure began.”
The 34 figure isn’t anywhere remotely close to anyone’s reporting, including a Bloomberg report that a dozen vessels may have entered the waterway on Sunday – the most since the war began in late February, but only a single liquefied natural gas carrier was sighted entering the Gulf Monday morning, and three small fuel tankers were making their exit just hours before the blockade took effect.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. has more than 15 warships in place to support the blockade of the Strait, including an aircraft carrier, multiple guided-missile destroyers and an amphibious assault ship.
These ships can launch helicopters to support boarding operations, and some are capable of marshalling commercial vessels to specific areas to hold them in place.
Retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis told CNN on Sunday, “Bottom line, this is a big task, and it’s a big gamble.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s war in Lebanon against Hezbollah has claimed over 2,000 lives, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, including 357 in a wave of Israeli strikes last Wednesday. In attacks attributed to Iran, at least 32 people have been killed in Gulf nations. At least 22 people had been killed in Israel as of Sunday, as well as 12 Israeli soldiers fighting in Lebanon.
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Congratulations to Rory McIlroy for going back-to-back at The Masters…a tradition unlike any other…on CBS….
Boy, CBS’ camera crew could not have botched the 18th hole coverage any worse. No Emmy for this broadcast, as much as I like Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman.
Major win No. 6 for Rory, joining Lee Trevino, Sir Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson. And PGA Tour career win No. 30!
Dow Jones +301…+0.6% [48218]
S&P 500 +69…+1.0% [6886]
Nasdaq +280…+1.2% [23183]
Oil (WTI) $97.90…Brent $98.30
Gold $4764
Silver $75.55
Bitcoin $73,357 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 3.77%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.29%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.44%
Back Tues.
Brian Trumbore
