It was another week under the thumb of the Iran war. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq each finished Friday at record closing highs after whipsawing on Middle East developments throughout the week. Oil prices also swung sharply as Iran and the U.S. imposed blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping…
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will head to Pakistan on Saturday morning to engage in “direct talks” with their Iranian counterparts, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday. “The Iranians reached out” and asked for an in-person conversation, as President Donald Trump had asked them to do, Leavitt said on Fox…
Two boys paddle-board in the sea as ships are anchored near the shoreline on April 22, 2026 in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Stringer | Getty Images Baker Hughes is working under the assumption that the Strait of Hormuz may not fully reopen for months, a senior executive at the influential oilfield services firm said Friday. Baker…
The Indian flag flies in front of billboards featuring images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump in Ahmedabad, India, on Feb. 23, 2020. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The India-U.S. trade deal remains unsigned after months of negotiations, with the Iran war and a U.S. court ruling against tariffs…
A bear statue stands outside the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on April 7, 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. Florian Wiegand | Getty Images Futures data pointed to a broadly negative open in Europe on Friday, as uncertainty over U.S.-Iran peace talks weighed on investor sentiment. Pan-European Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.6% shortly before 7 a.m. in…
Outgoing Dow CEO Jim Fitterling said clearing the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could take far longer than investors expect. “Some scenario planning that we did said that even if the straits were to reopen today, just to clear the logistics logjam… is going to take 275 days, maybe more now,” he told Jim…
Spirit Airlines’ accessible cash to keep operating won’t last long and a government rescue package is on the table, a lawyer for the struggling budget carrier said at a hearing Thursday. President Donald Trump later Thursday at the White House told reporters: “We’re thinking about doing it, helping them out, meaning bailing them out, or…
The Greek-flagged crude oil tanker “Asahi Princess” is made ready off the coast of the Syrian Baniyas port refinery, along the Mediterranean Sea on on April 15, 2026. Iraq has begun exporting crude using tanker trucks through Syria, its oil ministry said, as an official said oil revenue last month dropped more than 70 percent…
Customers check out vegetables and other groceries at a supermarket in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images Core inflation in Japan accelerated for the first time in five months, rising to 1.8% in March as Iran war-fueled higher energy prices stoke consumer inflation. Government data showed the inflation figure…
An Iranian salesperson sits beside a portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at his fruit shop in the Shahid Boroujerdi residential complex in southern Tehran, Iran, on April 14, 2026. Morteza Nikoubazl | Nurphoto | Getty Images The war in the Middle East is plunging Iran’s already fragile economy into freefall. Tehran’s…
