Tuesday, April 21, 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., Apr. 21…reg. $4.02…diesel $5.51
Despite gasoline prices at the pump edging down the past ten days, gasoline futures are up 23 cents the last two and oil has been recovering from its huge drop on Friday on ceasefire and Strait reopening talk, the latter proving elusive.
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Tuesday, the U.S. was still in the dark on whether Iran would take part in a second round of talks to end the war before a ceasefire expired on Wednesday evening EDT, with the sides deadlocked on issues including access to the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump said Tehran had “no choice” but to send a delegation to negotiations with Vice President Vance primed to fly to Islamabad Tuesday. Trump told CNBNC the U.S. was in a strong negotiating position, and is “ready to go” with resumption of bombing if a breakthrough isn’t reached.
Iran told regional mediators that it would send a negotiating team to Pakistan on Tuesday, but there was still confusion, according to reports, with Iranian Foreign Ministry representative Esmaeil Baqaei saying there was no plan for a second round of negotiations.
“As of now, we have no plans for the next round of negotiations,” Baqaei said. “We don’t believe in deadlines or ultimatums to secure Iran’s national interests.”
We then learned shortly after 1:00 PM today that Vice President Vance was still in Washington, not on his way to Islamabad. The Iranians also were not in Pakistan.
Stocks fell further on the news, oil rose, bonds fell (yields up).
There were reports Iran only wanted Vance, and that Tehran was ‘finished’ with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Meanwhile, Kevin Warsh had his confirmation hearing today before the Senate Banking Committee, and he will get confirmed at some point, once the Department of Justice drops its investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell and the cost of renovations at the Federal Reserve building.
President Trump did himself no favors this morning in an interview on CNBC where he ranted and raved about how he could done the project for far less, going into building details like ‘sheetrock’…I mean his argument was flat-out idiotic. His aides and supporters are telling him to drop the case, which would allow Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) to vote for Warsh’s nomination which would secure a final vote.
But Trump cannot get it through his head this is a losing cause. There is absolutely nothing criminal here.
Meanwhile, we had a strong reading, better than expected, on March retail sales, up 1.7%. The strong number was driven largely by a record 15.5% surge in gasoline station receipts as fuel prices spiked amid the Iran war. Ex-autos the figure handily beat consensus as well, 1.9%.
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The Knicks suffered a devastating loss at home to the Hawks Monday night in Game 2, series evened at 1-1, New York blowing a 12-point fourth-quarter lead.
Dow Jones -293…-0.6% [49149]
S&P 500 -45…-0.6% [7064]
Nasdaq -144…-0.6% [24259]
Oil (WTI) $91.80…Brent $100.80
Gold $4690
Silver $75.70…fell hard, late…
Bitcoin $75,032 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 3.80%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.31%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.38%
Back Wed.
Brian Trumbore
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