Thursday, May 14, 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., May 14…reg. $4.53…diesel $5.66
President Trump and Chinese President Xi held their first day of talks today in Beijing (overnight, Eastern time) and immediately Xi delivered a warning on Taiwan to Trump, saying that the issue, if handled poorly, could lead to conflict and “an extremely dangerous situation.”
Xi’s warning was a stark reminder that Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China, is a red line.
Inside the Great Hall, Xi called for the two countries to work together to confront an increasingly “complex and turbulent world.”
“We should be partners, not adversaries,” he said.
Trump emphasized his personal relationship with Xi and said the two leaders speak to each other on the phone to work out problems. “You’re a great leader,” he told Xi. [Hardly, I mused.]
But Xi made clear that Taiwan had the potential to spoil the relationship. “If handled poorly, the two countries will collide or even clash, putting the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation,” he said while referring to Taiwan, according to a readout from Xinhua, China’s official news agency.
One of China’s related priorities is persuading the United States to curtail its arms sales to Taiwan.
In his opening remarks, Xi invoked one of his most popular themes when he said the world was undergoing a “once-in-a-century transformation.”
Xi has turned a phrase uttered by Li Hongzhang, a Qing dynasty general and official from 1872, into a battle cry – a call for China to once again seize the opportunity to build up technological superiority and edge out the United States as the world’s superpower while Trump is retreating from global leadership.
Xi was saying as the talks began that the United States can no longer push China around, and the two leaders need to come to an agreement as to how the world’s two most powerful countries can coexist.
But in an interview after with NBC News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said U.S. policy toward Taiwan was “unchanged” and warned that it would be “a terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force.
“They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics,” Rubio said.
Meanwhile, no developments in the Persian Gulf of note and oil, as measured by West Texas Intermediate, is still hangin’ out at the $100.00 level, which ain’t good, boys and girls…gasoline futures at $3.60, and seeming to settle into a range of $3.50 to $3.70, which translates to $4.50 as a national retail average at the pump.
China is not going to help the United States when it comes to Iran and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
But Iran said today, through state media, that about 30 vessels had crossed the Strait in recent hours, while the semi-official Fars news agency cited a source saying Iran had begun allowing transit for some Chinese vessels.
Before the Fars report, a Chinese supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude sailed through the Strait on Wednesday after being stranded in the Gulf for more than two months.
We’ll see what the story is by the end of the weekend.
Stocks continued to soar…more records, the Dow Jones back over 50,000…but shy of its record close.
Cerebras, an AI chipmaker, saw shares in its IPO soar. Priced at $185 per share, the first trade was $350, and it consistently traded well over $300 on its first day. Wow.
And tomorrow, Friday, Chair Jerome Powell hands over the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve to Kevin Warsh, Powell remaining a governor until a time of his choosing (or 2028).
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Dow Jones +370…+0.8% [50063]
S&P 500 +56…+0.8% [7501…record]
Nasdaq +232…+0.9% [26635…record]
Oil (WTI) $101.90…Brent $106.50
Gold $4660
Silver $83.65
Bitcoin $81,405 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.01%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.47%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.61%…highest since 1997…and it keeps rising….
Check out my Week in Review, posted Fridays around 4:30 PM ET.
Brian Trumbore
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