Wednesday, June 24, 2026
[4:10 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 $2.98…diesel $3.75
Wed., June 24…reg. $3.92…diesel $4.98 [Big, back below $5.00!]
Crude oil fell below $70 a barrel on Wednesday, reaching its lowest level since late February, as increasing tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and progress in U.S.-Iran peace talks eased supply fears. Shipowners are confidently transiting the chokepoint with active satellite signals following safety guarantees from the International Maritime Organization.
The International Energy Agency estimates the United Arab Emirates is exporting oil at nearly 85% of pre-war levels, selling roughly 60 million barrels from the Persian Gulf recently. Consequently, oil prices have dropped about 40% from their wartime peak. This resumed global flow overshadowed U.S. data from the Energy Information Administration showing U.S. crude inventories plunged to their lowest since 1984, with Cushing stockpiles dipping below operational minimums.
President Trump on Truth Social, Wed. 12:12 AM:
“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.’ I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”
Every president does this, not understanding how the oil market works. It will take a while before the cheap oil reaches the refineries, and your local gas pump isn’t owned by Exxon, they’re owned by local proprietors, for the most part.
President Trump on Truth Social, Wed., 7:37 AM:
“Iran has informed the U.S. that, despite troublemaking Fake News reporting to the contrary, there are ‘NO TOLLS, NO INSURANCE COSTS, & NO OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND BEING SOUGHT OR RECEIVED BY IRAN ON SHIPS TRAVELING THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ. If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately! Additionally, no money has been given to Iran, or released from their money to them, by the U.S. We will be releasing some of their money, that is totally controlled by us, to our Farmers and Ranchers, for the purchase of Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, and more. Food is desperately needed in Iran, and we will be purchasing it for them exclusively from the United States.”
Iran said the U.S. doesn’t control the money.
Meanwhile, President Trump also posted the following this morning, 10:26 AM:
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”
This Housing legislation was a huge, bipartisan effort; the most significant housing bill in decades, designed to begin to address the issue of affordability. And Trump keeps being told by Senate Majority Leader John Thune that it is impossible to get the Save America Act passed.
And the president posted:
“MY REAL POLL NUMBERS ARE THE HIGHEST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN. THANK YOU!!!”
Me thinks not.
On the equity side, Strategy (MSTR) has long been seen as the best pure play for bitcoin. But Michael Saylor’s company, whose stock hit a high of $457 last July 16, was at $94 this afternoon with the decline in bitcoin to below $60,000. Yikes.
After the close, it’s about Micron Technology’s earnings.
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As for the extreme, record-breaking heat in Europe that is killing scores (at least 48 drownings in France, people heading into rivers to escape the heat and not knowing the dangers…or not knowing how to swim), the fact is, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, roughly 90% of American homes have air-conditioning, compared with just 19% across Europe. And the homes ,and buildings, are generally designed to trap heat to survive cold, damp winters, like in England, and then some designs turn into ovens during a heat wave.
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Dow Jones +183…+0.4% [51850]
S&P 500 -7…-0.1% [7358]
Nasdaq -110…-0.4% [25476]
Oil (WTI) $70.05…Brent $73.25
Gold $3990…lowest since Nov. 2025
Silver $57.05…lowest since Dec. 2025
Bitcoin $59,895 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.14%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.40%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.65%
Back Thurs.
Brian Trumbore
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