There are now some apparently credible rumors reported by some pod casters that Iran recently acquired nuclear weapons that traders should check out .
How will this affect markets if true ?
All political donations to all candidates and parties in the USA should be replaced with a single fund shared by all federal, state and local candidates that is funded with taxes on the wealthy. The rich would still pay for politics but completely lose their influence.
Probable Path Forward : Series of saw tooth highs and lows between now and late September or mid October with S&P 7000-7400 range, then WTF !
or not.
With everyone's attention on Iran, maybe attention should focus back on the possibility of attacks in the next weeks or months by Russia with Oreshniks on targets in Europe that are in NATO that end with Russia demonstrating nuclear weapons.
Has something changed in Russia ?
Help me out ... If I can download LM studio and LLMs to run all the AI I need on a PC for free, with all the security and privacy that provides, why the heck do they think they'll ever profit by building massive multi- billion dollar AI sites to serve "customers" ?
Likely Outcome: (1) Iran tolls & controls the strait, (2) USA beggars (and thus controls) its allies by forcing them to buy its oil and gas, (3) China and India gets full access to Gulf in return for trade concessions, purchasing USA debt, etc. while USA allies remain shut out.
Iran turns the USA blockage into a new business ... USA seizes a crappy, empty Iranian ship as part of its blockade and then Iran seizes a fully loaded 364 meter length container ship as reparations.
At this rate the Iranians should give up any minute now,
or not.
There is a potentially bigger problem out there than Iran ... the Russians appear to be seriously considering hitting economic targets and arms suppliers in 3 or 4 countries in Europe (probably in May) on the theory that NATO is finished and it won't escalate further,
or not.
If you are looking for a likely end date of the war, it will likely be when Trump meets the Chinese May 14 and reaches a deal on Chinese access to the Gulf oil,
or not.
Trump agrees to permanently open Strait to Chinese ships in return for Chinese not sending carrier killer missiles to Iran.
So much for a blockade of the blockade.
The USA blockade of the Strait is really a blockade of Chinese ships moving Iranian oil to China.
Outcome: Houthis shut down Red Sea and proxy war with China which then supplies Iran with mach 4/180 mile range carrier killer missiles,
or not.
If I were the Iranians I would be using Mar-A-Lago as target practice for my cruise missile loaded Kilo Class submarines right about now,
but since I am not Iranian, what do I know ?
On March 3 I declared that the Iranian strategy would be to take every hit and close the Strait of Hormuz until the USA came begging to end the war ... and that is exactly how it went.
Time to start getting used to paying aya TOLL yas at the "Strait of Iran"
The next shoe to drop ...
With USA bases all deserted and no ability to mass troupes, Iraq will now invade Kuwait again and take it over as its newest province,
or not.
I've been waiting for the light bulb to go off in Iranian heads ...
don't they know about the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai and a $500 million resort in Oman ?
Want $200.00 per barrel oil ? ... then land some Marines on Kharg Island .
Are they going to do it ?
Let's rephrase that question ... How stupid do you think they are ?
Is the USA farm economy going to collapse this year with many thousands of farmers going out of business because of tariffs and the Iran War closing the Strait ?
China market gone. Fuel prices climbing. Fertilizer prices climbing.
It is now reasonable to expect Price Controls by the end of the year.
It will take 10 years to return to the pre-war volumes of oil and gas exports from the Gulf.
Europe will be forced to end the Ukraine war by October and rebuild the Russian Gas Pipelines.
or not ?
So now Iran is going to hit major cities and sites in Ukraine in retaliation for Ukraine providing drones to Israel.
Apparently Iran has missiles that can hit Finland, so hitting the entirety of Ukraine is easy.