The Iran war-driven spike in oil prices crushed stocks last week, culminating in the S & P 500 ‘s first three-week losing streak in roughly a year. There was little place to hide, with nine of the 11 S & P 500 sector indexes lower for the week. Not surprisingly, energy and utilities were winners. Brent…
Dividend-paying companies are rapidly closing the earnings growth gap with technology stocks and contributing more earnings momentum to the S&P 500. After a significant increase over the past year on this key earnings metric, the trend suggests that dividend stocks may present an even stronger case to investors seeking income and safety in a volatile…
President Donald Trump promised to “drill, baby, drill” on the presidential campaign trail. It’s not going to bail him out of this oil crisis spurred by the war he started in Iran, lawmakers and analysts say. Trump and Republicans last year aggressively ramped up policies favorable to fossil fuels after romping to an electoral victory…
A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs Pbc | Via Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he directed the U.S. Central Command to carry out a bombing raid, hitting military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island. “Moments ago, at my direction, the United…
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. The S & P 500’s oversold bounce could not hold on Friday, and the early gains were erased. The reason was oil, which was lower for…
The Trump administration has rolled out a series of measures to attempt to blunt the blow of the Iran-driven oil-price hike, and yet prices remain stubbornly high. As the war rolls on, it is becoming clear there isn’t much the U.S. or any other government can do to provide relief from higher oil prices short…
Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025 while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced across the sprawling U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of just 0.7% in…
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 2, 2026. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday brushed aside concerns that the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the Iran war, which has spiked…
The Callisto tanker sits anchored in Port Sultan Qaboos as the traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 12, 2026. Benoit Tessier | Reuters Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, held above $100 on Friday morning as the U.S.-Iran war heads toward its third…
A US Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial-refuelling aircraft flies over Tel Aviv on March 4, 2026. Jack Guez | Afp | Getty Images The U.S. military said Thursday that a KC-135 military refueling plane was lost while flying over Iraq in an incident that was “not due to hostile or enemy fire.” The U.S….
