US-Iran talks could restart Thursday — WTI crude -6.86% to $92, S&P 500 +1.18% to 6,967. March PPI +0.5% vs +1.1% feared; core +0.1% — no second-wave inflation yet. IEA: 2026 oil demand to contract for first time since COVID. Gold hit new record $4,866/oz (+2.08%) even on a risk-on day. JPMorgan record $16.5B profit but NII cut (JPM -3%); WFC -5.70% on revenue miss. Oracle surged +4.74% on history’s largest AI fuel cell deal with Bloom Energy.
MIB: Iran Blinks — WTI Craters 7%, S&P Rallies, But Gold at $4,866 Says the Market Doesn’t Believe It
MIB: Blockade Economics — Hormuz Chokes Oil Markets, Traps the Fed, and Markets Bet on Diplomacy
S&P 500 +1% as investors bet on Iran diplomacy despite Hormuz blockade and oil near $98. Oracle soared 12.7% on AI utilities platform launch (ORCL). Goldman Sachs beat Q1 estimates but fell 2% on FICC miss (GS). Trump threatened 50% tariffs on China over Iran arms shipment reports. Cleveland Fed inflation nowcasting hit 3.56% — rate cuts now a 2027 story. Meta set to overtake Google in global digital ad revenue for first time ever.
MIB: Ceasefire Without Peace — Iran’s Crypto Tolls Keep Hormuz Blocked as Amazon’s AI Billions Power a Fractured Rally
Hormuz stays blocked — Iran demands crypto tolls from tankers; WTI +4.5% to $98.65, briefly clearing $100 intraday. Amazon (AMZN +5.6%) CEO Jassy disclosed AWS AI revenue hit $15B+ annualized. Meta signed a $21B AI cloud deal with CoreWeave through 2032. Anthropic’s Managed Agents launch hammered enterprise AI peers — PLTR -7.3%, ORCL -4%. IMF cut US 2026 growth forecast to 1.6%. S&P 500 +0.62% to 6,824 in post-ceasefire consolidation.
MIB: $4 Gas, $113 Oil, and a Tuesday Deadline — Iran War Tax Hits Main Street as CPI Bomb Looms
Iran ceasefire talks collapse; Trump’s Tuesday 8pm deadline threatens escalation (WTI $112.87/bbl). March CPI due Friday: +1% MoM forecast, sharpest spike since 2022. Tesla Q1 delivers 358K vs. 365K expected, 50K vehicles unsold (TSLA -2.15%); JPMorgan’s $145 target stands. Trump signs 100% pharma tariffs on branded drug imports. S&P 500 +0.45% on ceasefire hope; VIX elevated at 24.17. Gas $4.11/gallon — up 38% since war began.
MIB: $111 Oil, Drug Tariffs, and a Tesla Gut-Punch — Markets Stare Down the Iran Abyss
WTI surges +11.6% to $111.69 as Trump vows 2-3 more weeks of Iran war with no Hormuz off-ramp; gasoline $4.08 nationally. S&P 500 recovered from -1.5% to close +0.11% after Iran/Oman signaled a Hormuz monitoring protocol. Trump unveiled 100% tariffs on patented drugs (120-day phase-in). Tesla deliveries 358K missed by 12K (TSLA -5.42%). Oracle confirms 30,000 layoffs to fund AI expansion. March NFP tomorrow — markets react Monday.
