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All of that will be inflationary, prompting bond markets to raise borrowing #costs worldwide. Forget about rate cuts. Of the five #CentralBanks meeting next week in the United States, Europe, Britain, Australia & Canada, traders bet none will be easing & one - Australia - will be hiking.
#Trump #US #Iran #war #ForeverWars #inflation #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #oil #energy #geopolitics #MiddleEast
When asked about the #war, #Trump said the #US was "going to look very strongly at the straits." [whatever that means]
Share markets did not take it well. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.6% to snap two days of consecutive gains. Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.7%.
Both S&P 500 futures & Nasdaq futures fell 1%. Over in Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures slipped 1.1%.
#Iran #oil #inflation #economy #geopolitics #MiddleEast
Two fuel tankers are burning in Iraqi waters after being attacked by Iran's explosive-laden boats, forcing the country's #oil ports to halt operations. Oman has reportedly cleared all vessels out of its main oil export terminal, taking no chances.
That was enough to send Brent crude futures back above $100, up nearly 9% at $100.07, having hit as high as $119.5 earlier this week. US crude also gained 8% to $94.25.
#Trump #US #Iran #war #inflation #economy #geopolitics #MiddleEast
#MojtabaKhamenei statement cont∶
“One point I must emphasize is that, in any case, we will obtain compensation from the enemy. If it refuses, we will take from its assets to the extent we deem appropriate, & if that is not possible, we will destroy its assets to the same extent.”
#TrumpsWar #US #Iran #Israel #war #ForeverWars #Trump #RulesOfWar #law #Congress #WarPowers #geopolitics #MiddleEast #inflation #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #oil #energy
Higher #MortgageRates could widen that gap even further, making it harder for many households; wealthier buyers & investors are more likely to pay in cash.
The geopolitical tensions driving #energy prices higher are also complicating the outlook for #InterestRates. Expectations that the #FederalReserve might begin cutting rates have faded as #markets worry #inflation could stay higher for longer than anticipated.
#WealthDivide #inequity #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #housing #Trump
“Investors” accounted for 30.2% of home purchases in 2025, nearly double their share at the start of the #pandemic, according to data from Cotality. A report from Realtor.com found the change wasn’t because of a surge of investor activity, but rather a pullback from traditional buyers who could no longer afford today’s prices.
#WealthDivide #inequity #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #housing #Trump #trumpcession #recession
…With borrowing costs elevated, the high prices are keeping middle- & low-income buyers on the sidelines while wealthier households & investors are playing a larger role in the market.
#WealthDivide #inequity #economy #CostOfLiving #housing #Trump
The strain in the #housing market has become a key political issue, & #Trump has raised a number of [impractical] ideas for how to address the costs — like introducing 50-year mortgages, barring Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes & directing Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed bonds. His admin has yet to follow through on most of them.
#economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #trumpcession #recession
“There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass & pressure Powell either to yield to the president or to resign & make way for a Fed Chair who will,” Judge #Boasberg wrote. “On the other side of the scale, the government has offered no evidence whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the president.”
#Trump #MafiaState #law #LegalEthics #JeromePowell #FederalReserve #economy #RevengePolitics #WeaponizationOfGovernment
In a blistering 27-page decision unsealed on Friday, the judge, James #Boasberg, derided the #USattorney’s office in Washington, led by the #Trump loyalist #JeaninePirro, for pursuing a case against #JeromePowell. It appeared that the only reason prosecutors had to do so, he added, was Trump’s desire to seek #vengeance against the #Fed chair. Powell has long resisted calls from the White House to adjust #InterestRates for political reasons.
But if the recent uptick continues, #MortgageRates will add to a list of concerns that could keep #home buyers on the sidelines, said Hannah Jones, a senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com.
“Spring feels very uncertain,” Jones said. “This definitely feels like we’re back where we were a year ago: #tariff uncertainty, #economic uncertainty, #geopolitical uncertainty. All of this is making the path ahead seem really unclear.”
#Home buyers have already been struggling with high #prices, as well as rising #insurance & #property #taxes. #MortgageRates were one source of relief, having fallen from much higher levels in recent years. Even at 6.11, rates are well below their recent peak of 7.8% in October 2023, which was the highest level in decades as the #economy was recovering from the #pandemic. Back then the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was approaching 5%.
When the #US & #Israel attacked #Iran, setting off an #energy crisis & raising new #inflation concerns in #FinancialMarkets. The result has been a jump in the yield on government bonds, & falling expectations for #InterestRate cuts later this year. The yield on the 10-year #Treasury note, which acts as a broad reference interest rate that underpins the US #mortgage market, climbed to 4.25% Thursday, up from below 4% before the war began.
#MortgageRates Rise as #Iran #War Ripples Through #FinancialMarkets
#Mortgage are climbing again as new #inflation concerns have roiled financial #markets.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate in the #US rose to 6.11%, the mortgage-financing giant Freddie Mac said Thursday, the second week in a row that rates have risen.
#economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #Trump #trumpcession #recession
nytimes.com/2026/03/12/busines…
And across the United States, Canada, Europe, Britain & Mexico, #farmers blanched at the surge in #fertilizer costs.
The widening #war in #Iran has delivered a stunning punch to a worldwide #economy that has already been walloped by a breakdown of the international trading order, war in Ukraine & Trump’s chaotic policymaking.
#TrumpsWar #US #Iran #war #Trump #RulesOfWar #law #WarPowers #geopolitics #MiddleEast #inflation #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #oil #energy #EnergyCrisis
“All the key measures are moving in the wrong direction.”
Economic growth was much slower at the end of 2025 than data first showed & inflationary pressures persisted at the start of this year, a troubling snapshot of an #economy on unsteady footing before #war with #Iran upended #oil & #FinancialMarkets.
#economy #Trump #inflation #affordability #CostOfLiving #recession
nytimes.com/2026/03/13/busines…
He noted that the price of Russian #oil had been rising since the #war in #Iran started, & that it was likely that the #sanctions relief could be extended indefinitely.
“I do worry that this is effectively the destruction of the oil sanctions on #Russia,” said Mr. Fishman….
#TrumpsWar #US #ForeverWars #Trump #Ukraine #law #Congress #WarPowers #geopolitics #MiddleEast #inflation #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #energy #EnergyCrisis
About 130 million barrels of Russian #oil is currently at sea….
The move by the #Trump admin could further divide the #US & #Europe, which has been skeptical of Trump’s attack on #Iran & has expressed a desire to continue to exert economic pressure on #Russia.
Fishman said he did not think that easing the Russia oil #sanctions would lower prices, noting that the move last week to let Russian oil be delivered to India did not have any impact.
The lifting of #oil #sanctions represents a sharp reversal from last summer, when the admin doubled #tariffs on #India as punishment for its purchases of oil from #Russia.
“In one fell swoop we’ve undone a huge amount of pressure on Russia,” said Edward Fishman, a senior fellow & director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
#TrumpsWar #US #Iran #war #Ukraine #Trump #law #Congress #WarPowers #geopolitics #inflation #economy #energy
…Top #Senate #Democrats assailed the #Trump admin for easing #sanctions on #Russia, saying that it was done to mitigate a #war of Trump’s own making.
“This war has resulted in huge spikes in gas prices for Americans, who are now paying more at the pump than at any point in either of President Trump’s two terms,” they wrote in a joint statement.
#TrumpsWar #US #Iran #law #Congress #WarPowers #geopolitics #Ukraine #inflation #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving #oil
banking.senate.gov/newsroom/mi…
Senate Democratic Leaders Release Joint Statement on Trump Administration's Weakening of Sanctions on Russian Oil in Attempt to Dampen Economic Impacts of Trump's Iran War | United States Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
The Official website of The United States Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairswww.banking.senate.gov
The exemptions, which were issued by the #Treasury Dept, will be in place until April 11. Treasury Secy Scott Bessent estimated that freeing Russian #oil could add hundreds of millions of barrels of crude to global markets [& enrich #Russia], curbing prices that have been hovering near $100 per barrel as a result of the #Iran #war.
The decision was a significant turning point in America’s effort to punish Russia for its war in #Ukraine.
The other option? Don’t attack #Iran. Idiots.
#Trump Removes #Sanctions on #Russia to Help #Oil Flow Amid Iran #War
The #US on Thursday temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil that is currently at sea, allowing it to be shipped to buyers around the world as the Trump admin scrambles to contain #energy #prices that have been soaring because of the war in Iran.
#TrumpsWar #law #WarPowers #geopolitics #Ukraine #inflation #economy #affordability #CostOfLiving
nytimes.com/2026/03/12/us/poli…
Judge Blocks Subpoenas Targeting #Fed Chair
A federal judge blocked an attempt by the #DOJ to issue subpoenas to the #FederalReserve in its investigation of the chair, #JeromePowell. The judge wrote that there was “abundant evidence” the government’s action was designed to “harass & pressure” Powell into yielding to Trump’s wishes to lower #InterestRates or resign.
#MafiaState #law #LegalEthics #judiciary #economy #Trump #RevengePolitics #WeaponizationOfGovernment
nytimes.com/live/2026/03/13/us…
“This is a nightmare of America’s own making. This is what happens when you put in charge people as incompetent, greedy, corrupt and quite frankly stupid as Donald Trump. Those who have never learned from history because they’ve never learned history…."
~ Mary Trump
#Trump #MAGA #Iran #war #madness #insanity #stupidity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/24
threads.com/@marco.foster/post…
Marco Foster (@marco.foster) on Threads
Mary Trump on Iran: “This is a nightmare of America’s own making. This is what happens when you put in charge people as incompetent, greedy, corrupt and quite frankly stupid as Donald Trump.Threads
"Whole regions in the Philippines—including the capital city of Manila—just forced employers to institute a four-day workweek instead of a five-day workweek specifically to try to save energy.
Gas stations in Vietnam have started to run out of fuel. …
What was all this for?
'We’re doing this for the other parts of the world.'
I’m sure they’re delighted with that."
#Trump #Iran #war #madness #insanity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/23
"The nation of Bangladesh just closed its universities because they need to conserve energy—they need to conserve electricity used by the universities—and they need to reduce the need for people to drive anywhere."
#Trump #Iran #war #madness #insanity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/22
"A plastics plant north of Tokyo started to scale down production on Friday because they can’t get the raw materials they use in that production process—because they’re petroleum-based products.
It’s also aluminum and other commodities like that as facilities like smelters shut down for lack of fuel."
#Trump #Iran #war #madness #insanity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/21
"Huge amounts of fertilizer pass through the Strait of Hormuz—fertilizer bound for ports all over the world, for crops all over the world, for foodstuffs all over the world.
Raw materials related to the petroleum industry are also being choked off."
#Trump #Iran #war #madness #insanity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/20
"In Qatar and Kuwait and Bahrain, major energy companies have declared force majeure—which basically means they’re saying, hey, act of God, outside our control.
We can no longer be held to any contracts we previously signed.
As they all radically scale down their oil and gas production.
And it’s not only fuel—it’s also food."
#Trump #Iran #war #madness #insanity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/19
"The Wall Street Journal is now describing this as the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s.
CNBC calls it the biggest oil supply disruption in history.
Saudi Arabia has now cut its production of oil.
Iraq’s production of oil is down to less than one-third what it was before Trump started this war."
#Trump #Iran #war #madness #insanity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/18
"The president did unveil a new purported justification for the war today in his rambling press conference at his golf thing.
He said, quote:
'We’re doing this for the other parts of the world.”
We’re doing this for the other parts of the world.'
It’s actually hard to argue with that one. That one might actually be true."
~ Rachel Maddow
#Trump #Iran #war #madness #insanity #oil #gas #economy #EnergyCrisis #agriculture #fertilizer #food
/17
"According to Gas Buddy, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is now up to $3.59 a gallon. This is a 62-cent jump from February 28th.
Largest oil disruption ever in history.
Brent is up 12.5% right now. That is up to 104.30. Crude oil is up 12%."
~ David Shuster
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #economy #prices #affordability
/13
blueamp.co/p/shusters-weekly-w…
Shuster’s Weekly Wrap-Up: Trump’s Iran War Sends Oil Prices Soaring
Trump’s Iran strikes trigger soaring oil prices, job losses, and rising inflation fears. David Shuster breaks down the economic fallout and political chaos.Blue Amp Media
(continued from /19)
"his insistence that tuning the economy to the benefit of a few favored producers is a victory, even if it harms the vast majority of consumers."
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #prices #affordability #economy #MAGA #billionaires #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/20
The Bulwark today headlines its morning report: "Trump to America: Thank Me for Your Gas Bill." Andrew Egger writes:
"[Trump's statement about how *we* benefit from higher gas prices is] an illustration of the exact mindset that led Trump to do so much damage to the U.S. economy even before the war:"
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #prices #affordability #economy #MAGA #billionaires #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/19
thebulwark.com/p/trump-to-amer…
Trump to America: Thank Me for Your Gas Bill
Higher prices = more money, according to the president.William Kristol (The Bulwark)
"According to petroleum analyst, Patrick DeHaan, Americans today will spend roughly $250 million more on gasoline than they did 30 days ago. That’s over $1.5 billion per week."
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #prices #affordability #economy #MAGA #billionaires #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/18
"Trump isn’t even trying to hide it anymore. When he says 'we' make a lot of money, he means oil executives, and he means himself. Because that’s all Trump cares about. How he can put more money in his own pocket and deliver a payout for his billionaire cronies."
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #prices #affordability #economy #MAGA #billionaires #oligarchy #EconomicElites
/17
"Trump, in his latest spiral, just tried to rebrand soaring gas prices as a good thing.
'The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,' he wrote on Truth Social.
Who is 'we?' I’ll tell you who it’s not: the voters who put this guy in office."
~ Brian Tyler Cohen
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #prices #affordability #economy #MAGA
/16
plus.briantylercohen.com/p/tru…
Trump's Soaring Gas Prices are a "Good Thing" for Anyone but You
Trump claims “we” stand to make a ton of money off the war in Iran. But the “we” does not include you.Brian Tyler Cohen
"And so now nearly all tanker traffic there is at an indefinite standstill and there’s a line of about 3,000 boats with some 20,000 crew members stuck."
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #StraitofHormuz #prices #groceries #affordability #economy
/8
"Bad news, weirdos! The Gas prices have surged 20 percent over the past two weeks, after the Strait of Hormuz — which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and through which 30 percent of the world’s boat-shipped oil and 20 percent of its natural gas flows — was deemed by insurance companies to be too dangerous to allow tankers to go through after the US attack on Feb. 28."
#Trump #Iran #war #oil #gas #StraitofHormuz #prices #groceries #affordability #economy
/7