Geopolitics

Dire Strait & The Home Front

Mar 12, 2026 5 min read paid

Stock and bond prices fell today as oil prices rose back to around $100 per barrel. The US and Israel continue to pound Iran from the air, but Iran's regime continues to launch missiles and drones at Gulf nations and vessels, and Israel too. The WSJ reported today that "Israeli officials assess Iran's ruling regime is unlikely to fall soon, as its rulers remain in

Ed Yardeni

FINANCIALS: Black & Blue Owl

Mar 11, 2026 3 min read paid

Today, the 32-member countries of the International Energy Agency unanimously approved a coordinated emergency oil release of 400 million barrels, the largest in its 52-year history. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has removed approximately 20mbd of oil from the global market. That implies the IEA is providing 20 days' worth of relief oil supplies and that the group expects a short war. The price

Ed Yardeni

Buying Time Till Iran Surrenders

Mar 10, 2026 4 min read paid

Tomorrow, the 32 countries that are members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) will vote on an IEA proposal to tap their strategic petroleum reserves to bring down oil prices, which have been boosted by the latest war in the Middle East. The release would exceed the oil that IEA countries released after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The IEA members hold 1.8 billion barrels in reserves, which include

Ed Yardeni

Policymakers Trying To Cap Gushing Oil Fears

Mar 9, 2026 3 min read

Oftentimes, when the financial markets are hit by bad news, policymakers scramble to calm them. That happened today in response to last night's soaring oil prices (chart). (1) G7 response. To address the market turmoil following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors held an emergency virtual meeting today. The group's primary strategy was to signal

Ed Yardeni

MARKET CALL: Oil Price Going Straight Up As Strait Of Hormuz Remains Closed

Mar 8, 2026 4 min read paid

This evening, the prices of a barrel of Brent and WTI crude oil are up about $15 to $107. The price of gold is falling because the dollar's foreign exchange value is rising. The 10-year bond yield is up to 4.195%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are down by more than 1.7%. The Nikkei is down 4.5%. This chaos in the

Ed Yardeni

Straitjacket: Iran's Chaos War Strategy

Mar 5, 2026 4 min read

On Tuesday, we warned: "We've been expecting a pullback due to excessive bullish sentiment, but now we expect a 10% correction from the high. It's hard to imagine that the IRGC won't use drones and speed boats to maintain their effective blockade of the Strait. If they are successful in doing so, the correction could be closer to 15%." When the war

Ed Yardeni

Dire Strait Versus Home On The Range

Mar 4, 2026 4 min read

Oil prices stabilized today, so stock prices rose. We expected a pullback in the S&P 500 in early 2026. The S&P 500 fell 2.3% from its record high of 6987.60 on January 27 through Wednesday's close. It was up 0.77% today. Is the pullback over? If so, that's quite remarkable, suggesting investors believe Iran has lost the war and

Ed Yardeni
Toby Hearst

On The Fog Of War & Having Second Thoughts

Mar 3, 2026 4 min read

Our initial reaction to the latest war in the Middle East was that it isn't likely to last long. However, wars are hard to predict. The fog of war can be very disorienting. The US and Israel killed the top leaders of Iran's regime during the first day of their attacks on the country. So we thought that might set the stage for a short war.

Ed Yardeni

SWEET & SOUR: Iran, China, M-PMI, & PPI

Mar 2, 2026 3 min read

I. Hot war with Iran and cold war with China We remain in the short-war camp on the outlook for the current conflict in the Middle East. The stock market seems to agree, since it barely budged today, though defense stocks rose significantly (chart). Geopolitical crises tend to create buying opportunities in the stock market (chart). The problem is that everyone knows that, which diminishes the magnitude of opportunities!

Ed Yardeni
Toby Hearst

DEEP DIVE: The Implications Of The War In The Middle East

Mar 1, 2026 8 min read

This is an excerpt from our latest Morning Briefing, which we are sharing with our QuickTakes community. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed on Saturday along with 40 other top Iranian leaders when the US and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran’s Mullah regime. In a February 28 post on The Free Press, historian Niall Ferguson observed that President Donald Trump’s approach to dealing

Ed Yardeni

GEOPOLITICS: The Clock Is Ticking In The Middle East

Feb 27, 2026 3 min read

The US has assembled its largest military presence in the Middle East since 2003, including two aircraft carriers and F-22 stealth fighters. Indirect talks in Geneva between US envoys (Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner) and Iranian officials ended Thursday without a breakthrough. The Trump administration has warned of "drastic consequences" if Iran does not make significant nuclear concessions. Israel has opened bomb shelters and warned Lebanon that

Ed Yardeni

Troubles In Tokyo & Nuuk Hit Stocks & Bonds

Jan 20, 2026 3 min read paid

What do Tokyo and Nuuk have in common? They are the capital cities of Japan and Greenland. They are the two epicenters of the shocks that hit stock and bond markets worldwide today. In Tokyo, bond yields are soaring, suggesting that a debt crisis may be underway. In Nuuk, the locals are siding with Denmark in their opposition to President Donald Trump's plan to acquire Greenland "one

Ed Yardeni

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