The Markets
A pause in the Iran conflict has resulted in a dramatic decline in the price of oil (after three weeks of an upturn).
In turn, stock futures are spiritedly higher (S&P futures +75 handles and Nasdaq futures +465 handles).
My intention is not to be political in quoting from an acquaintance who is relatively close to the situation (and has been a supporter of President Trump):
It is impossible to determine what Trump is really intending. Now he suspends attacks and says they are talking but he already had called the Iranians scum, liars, etc. and everyone knows even if they signed a deal they will break it in days, so why is he talking to them. He looks ridiculous and is just angering his base. Everyone but Trump seems to know talking is just an Iranian strategy. Meantime the supposed supreme leader today called for Jihad exactly like in 632 and the wiping out of Israel and the infidels-us- and he wants a nuke weapon. There is nothing to talk about now. They are the exact same people as they were 1400 years ago, determined to wipe out the Christians and Jews. Jihad is the overriding tenet of Islam and has never changed and the IRGC is devoted to carry it out. We will see what happens by Thursday, but if Trump still is talking about doing a deal then he is a hopeless fool driven by his ego thinking he can force them to do a real deal. The military is now ready to go and until we and Israel go all in we are wasting time, looking weak and stupid and just encouraging the Iranians to hold out more…
Position: None
