Mon., Aug. 3, 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., Aug. 3…regular $4.09…diesel $5.36
Going back to last Friday, during his cabinet meeting, President Trump told reporters that he planned to resume heavy military strikes on Iran to force the regime to come to the negotiating table. He predicted that if the U.S. hit Iran hard enough, the regime would eventually “peter out.”
“We will be hitting them very hard,” Trump said. “And you know at some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”
Nothing happened Friday night, and then the president called off a new attack Saturday night in a Truth Social post at 10:05 PM:
“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II. Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has (sic) been agreed to. This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat. Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL. The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE.”
Axios reported Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told President Trump in a call that he was concerned over the U.S.’s plans for more strikes, the call confirmed by the Crown Prince’s office. MBS also “asked for clarity about the plan of action,” a U.S. official told the outlet.
Trump then announced new talks with Tehran would begin Monday.
But Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei rejected the claim, saying no negotiations with the United States were taking place and no meetings were scheduled. Iran had no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days, he said.
The only talks under way, Baghaei said, were discussions with Oman over management of the Strait.
President Trump, Truth Social, Mon., 11:25 AM:
“Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’ They then go on to give their usual blather in saying, the Strait of Hormuz will be operated powerfully by them, when it is already completely controlled by the United States Navy and our ‘Blockade’ or, as some say, ‘The United States Wall of Steel!’ Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished. Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades. It is very simple, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”
Editorial / Wall Street Journal
“By now it’s clear that this up and down, back and forth, from war of annihilation to peace in our time is Mr. Trump’s chaotic way of war. He may think it keeps the enemy guessing, but it also keeps the American public unsure of what his war aims are or how he hopes to achieve them. No wonder the polls show voters have soured on the war. If Mr. Trump did restart the bombing, it isn’t even clear what his strategic purpose would be, other than hoping that it would cause the regime to sign what he calls a ‘DEAL.’”
After all of this, crude oil dropped more than 5% to below $80 per barrel Monday, after surging 20% in July. Gasoline futures fell to below $3.00.
[We are now quoting the September contract. The spread in this one has been $3.36 – $2.69. I have been quoting August, where the spread was $3.53 – $2.85. The change came early Friday evening, the end of the month. When it got down to $2.85, that was essentially when the nationwide price at the pump fell to $3.85, before spiking back up to current levels during the re-escalation.]
Importantly, Gulf producers continue seeking alternative export routes, with Turkey and Iraq extending a pipeline agreement. But in Russia, the government extended its diesel and gasoline export ban through Jan. 2027 as fuel shortages persisted amid continued Ukrainian strikes on major oil refineries.
Stocks rose, bond yields fell on Trump’s renewed calls for diplomacy, and as crude oil tumbled…kind of simple. As has been the case so many days this year since the war started.
Separately, the U.S. admitted over the weekend it has been working with Japan to arrest the slide in the yen, intervening to strengthen the currency for the first time since 1998, which back then was at the height of the Asian financial crisis
The yen has been steadily depreciating this year, under pressure as investors flocked to the dollar amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
—
In the movie “Shenandoah” with Jimmy Stewart, as the Civil War begins to unfold, his family becomes divided in their loyalties and at one point Stewart, the patriarch, says, “Ah, ah, ah, ah now it concerns us.”
Well, today, the cyclospora outbreak really grabbed our attention and now it concerns us, because Michigan reported its first two deaths related to the microscopic parasite, state health officials announced.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said both people had underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by the intestinal illness and dehydration. The department said it would provide further information when it’s available.
But this will be leading some national newscasts tonight, no doubt.
The parasite infects food that has come into contact with human feces, most commonly when produce is irrigated or washed with contaminated water.
Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations across five states as a source of the outbreak.
Dow Jones +693…+1.3% [53178]
S&P 500 +110…+1.5% [7600]
Nasdaq +540…+2.1% [25913]
Oil (WTI) $80.30…Brent $83.80
Gold $4050
Silver $58.10
Bitcoin $63,810 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.25%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.68%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.80%
Back Tues.
***Please support StocksandNews…there are big costs behind it. Click on the GoFundMe link or send a check to PO Box 990, New Providence, NJ 07974.
***For ZELLE: use Zelle recipient briannovak24@gmail.com.
Brian Trumbore
***Send some coin my way, if you are able to. It is stress city, these days.
