Mon., July 20, 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
Mon., July 20…regular $4.00…diesel $5.10 …awful for farmers and truckers….
It was a bad weekend for the U.S. Military. We learned Saturday that two U.S. soldiers were killed in an Iranian strike on a base in Jordan that houses U.S. soldiers Friday night, with another soldier missing (remains later found).
And then Sunday we learned an American service member was killed in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of an “unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.”
“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the, probably, three, it’s probably three great patriots,” President Trump told reporters on Sunday at Joint Base Andrews. [Ed. it’s probably ‘four.’]
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said early on Monday that a vessel was on fire off the Omani coast in the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic through the Strait has trickled to just a few vessels a day.
But while the ceasefire is decidedly over, both sides have signaled that diplomacy is not off the table. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said regional mediators had drafted proposals seeking to prevent further escalations. On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. remains willing to negotiate.
President Trump on Truth Social, Mon., 12:41 PM:
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military. President Donald J. Trump”
As for the action in the futures markets, when trading resumed Sunday evening after being closed for 48 hours, West Texas Intermediate climbed to $84, Brent $90, after a weekend of escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Gasoline futures surged to $3.45.
But by the time the markets opened Monday, WTI had backed off a bit, getting below $81 before rallying back to $83. It didn’t help that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced a ban on maritime traffic from Saudi Arabia, raising concerns over Red Sea energy shipments*, while recent attacks on oil tankers and facilities in Kuwait kept supply risks elevated.
*With a pipeline completed that crosses Saudi Arabia from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, the Saudis have been shifting much of their production ‘west.’ Now that’s in jeopardy.
The issue of potentially returning to talks, however, kept gains on crude and gasoline down some. But shipping is broadly disrupted, and supply concerns have intensified after more Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries have halted loading of the black stuff at many of Russia’s ports.
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If you weren’t watching The Open Championship or the World Cup this weekend, there’s a good chance you were at the movies, specifically Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” which is an instant blockbuster, taking in $264 million globally ($124.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, and another $139.6 million overseas). It’s easily the biggest domestic opening of the year for a live-action film. Among all 2026 movies, it will rank third, behind “Toy Story 5” ($160 million) and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($132 million).
A majority of ticket buyers cited Mr. Nolan as the primary reason they bought tickets, according to PostTrak, a film industry research service. The film’s ensemble cast, led by Matt Damon, ranked second.
The film was shot in IMAX and IMAX locations delivered about 24 percent of the opening total.
“When we look at our presales for the next five weeks, we’ve sold out shows in IMAX film in week five for a lot of theaters, so this thing is going to play,” said Rich Gelfond, IMAX’s chief executive.
AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest theater operator, scheduled 70-millimeter IMAX screenings at 2 a.m., 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. in some cities to meet demand. Almost all sold out.
I have yet to see it, but I have never seen a better set of reviews.
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Meanwhile, speaking of The Open Championship and the World Cup, congratulations to 39-year-old New Zealander Ryan Fox for his spectacular finish in yesterday’s final round at Royal Birkdale, birdieing 4 of the last 6 holes (with a bogey on No. 15, where he smartly took his medicine) to beat Wake Forest’s Cameron Young by one stroke, after Young had finished about 2 ½ hours earlier with a 64 that for much of the time suddenly had him on top.
For those of us who like to play golf fast (the quicker to get to the 19th hole), Fox is our patron saint. He said he plays fast because he doesn’t want to think too much.
The Open also featured the boorish behavior of Bryson DeChambeau. Nothing more needs to be said. Glad we don’t see him again until The Masters.
Speaking of boorish, classy Spain and their terrific coach. Luis de la Fuente, dominated boorish, chippy, classless Argentina, though it took an extra time goal by Ferran Torres for Spain to secure the incredibly tacky World Cup gold trophy.
I loved the entire tournament. It far exceeded my expectations. Can’t wait for the next one.
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Light week for market-moving economic data, as in none. Treasuries got hit (yields rose) on Iran escalation, clearly sticky inflation, and lots of future Fed issuance, thanks to our ever-soaring debt. Stocks were mixed until right before the close…make that stocks were down.
But there are some earnings reports this week that could move markets…like Alphabet (Google) on Wednesday, and Intel Thursday.
Dow Jones -307…-0.6% [51839]
S&P 500 -14…-0.2% [7443]
Nasdaq -12…-0.1% [25508]
Oil (WTI) $82.95…Brent $88.90
Gold $4010
Silver $56.45
Bitcoin $65,090 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.21%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.59%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.68%
Back Tues.
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Brian Trumbore
