REAR VIEW: US/Iran talks end with no agreement as US begins own blockade of Strait of Hormuz; Mediators pursue Iran-US deal in back channel diplomacy; US/Iran negotiations ongoing with the aim of reaching an agreement; Progress on talks is being made; GS miss on FICC sales & trading rev.; US existing home sales disappoint.

S&P erases all Iran war losses as 'squeezey' action continues...

Iran's Ghalibaf appeals directly to Americans: "Soon you'll be nostalgic for $4–5 gas."

 

...energy is the master resource. It cannot be treated like other resources...

The ABA is pushing back on a White House stablecoin study, arguing it underestimates the risk that yield-paying stablecoins could drain deposits from community banks...

The ultimate signal to the outcome of the war is who has control of Strait of Hormuz – they are the winner... This is unfortunately asymmetric... 

...due to a misguided green initiative, instead of installing inherently energy-efficient steam-based laundries, the Ford-class carriers have standardized on more expensive, more complex, inherently fire-prone, ozone-based systems...

At least two tankers - one of which signaled China as its destination - reversed course near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after the start of the US blockade...

Bernstein says Bitcoin’s selloff already reflects quantum risk and that developers still have time to agree on a post-quantum upgrade path...

The average effective tax rate on single-family residences was 0.9 percent, the highest since 2020, according to ATTOM.

The location of US ships around Iran as of Monday...

"without a radical acceleration in domestic manufacturing and grid integration, the digital expansion of the late 2020s risks stalling into a series of unfulfilled promises."

...for all of the reasonable handwringing around geopolitical Plinko and AI disruption... US initial jobless claims sit near multi-year lows...

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on April 10 that a Reconstruction-era prohibition on home distilling exceeds Congress’s taxing power...

The rewiring of global energy flows toward the U.S. comes down to one thing. 

The Good, the Bad and the downright Ugly in Europe right now.

...the scramble for prompt barrels is worsening even as paper markets lean on eventual normalization. 

"we are not supporting the blockade"...

When it comes to the week ahead, clearly the Iran conflict will be the main focus, but there are a few other things to look out on the calendar.

They de-risked tech… now what?