Tues., Sept. 22, 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
Tues., Sept. 22…regular $4.47…diesel $6.52 [record]
President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly in New York this morning that he had a decision to make on Iran: to strike a deal with Tehran or “annihilate the Islamic republic.” His threat, amid a defense of the war, came as allies have begun to openly question whether the United States remains a credible partner.
Trump also celebrated his military operation in Venezuela this year but saved his strongest words for Iran, declaring that its reign as “the bully of the Middle East” was over.
“I have a big decision to make,” he said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?’
He added, “Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”
It was rather jarring, given the setting.
Speaking of Venezuela, Trump said, “To the victor belong the spoils,” referring to its oil reserves, again, not exactly the kind of statement made at the United Nations.
Crude oil futures were trading down just before the speech and the bellicose remarks from the president led to a little rally, though oil (both West Texas Intermediate and Brent) are well off their highs of just last week.
But then around 2:00, oil dropped after President Trump said the U.S. and Iran held three hours of talks on the sidelines today, an Iranian delegation meeting with Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
These two are an embarrassment to the United States. They have been the ‘envoys’ for virtually every negotiation in Trump’s second term.
Kushner and Witkoff have been beyond useless in the Russia-Ukraine war, with Witkoff gushing over Putin in the Kremlin and how “memorable” it was for him just a few weeks ago.
And, of course, they were useless during the Iranian negotiations in Islamabad months ago, when they came up with the pathetic ‘memorandum of understanding.’
I only trust Secretary of State Marco Rubio to do the right thing in representing U.S. interests when it comes to members of this administration.
This will be part of my opening for my next ‘Week in Review’ posted Friday. I will not be kind to the administration, and it will have everything to do with Iran’s nuclear program.
For new readers, I am still a registered Republican; a Reagan, John McCain, Mitt Romney Republican. I agreed with President Trump’s first move in Iran summer of 2025. I disagreed with the move taken (with Israel) Feb. 28, unless we finished the job! We have not come close to doing so. And I already know we won’t.
You know what would be the ultimate October Surprise?
Iran detonating a crude nuclear device, via its activities at Pickaxe Mountain, and all the secret locations they had before. Remember just one thing. There have been no inspectors in Iran for years, and there can be no deal without inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the involvement of its director, Rafael Grossi…full stop.
Trump never talks about the IAEA. It’s a mistake.
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Dow Jones -185…-0.4% [51863]
S&P 500 -0.6…-0.00% [7764]
Nasdaq +122…+0.5% [27244… record]
Oil (WTI) $89.45*…Brent $98.20…the oil market is moving extremely quickly these last few hours. Closing prices could be vastly different.
*We are now trading the November futures contracts…so it looks like WTI fell a lot since yesterday…this is always confusing for a day or two because different sources have different numbers before everyone aligns correctly.
Gold $4365
Silver $67.40
Bitcoin: $86,188 [4:00 PM ET]
U.S. 2-yr. 4.74%
U.S. 10-yr. 4.95%
Japanese 10-yr. 2.95%
Back Wed.
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Brian Trumbore
