Theme updated Aug 26
Equities
The equity tape — indices, earnings and the risk appetite they price.
37 mornings covered equities this year
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Brent fell 3.89% to $88.58 and WTI 3.12% to $82.36 on the session Washington declared the Strait of Hormuz cleared of mines — Brent's largest…
The mines came out of Hormuz and the flow did not come back — and while crude sold the geopolitics, gold and bitcoin priced the Treasury buying its own long bond.
Read the briefTuesday, August 25, 2026
Monday settled split
The equities read — Old-economy shares led; technology was sold.
Read the briefMonday, August 24, 2026
Friday reversed the week without redeeming it
The negotiated exit from Hormuz was priced out. The tolled exit was bid.
Read the briefFriday, August 21, 2026
Washington said its buybacks would get bigger and the long bond got sold anyway: the 30-year settled at 5.24% and the 10-year at 4.70%, both…
Settled session 2026-08-20 · the curve rose against an enlarged buyback · silver led the metals
Read the briefThursday, August 20, 2026
The 30-year fell to 5.20% and the dollar fell with it — EUR/USD +0.86%, USD/JPY -0.80%
Settled session 2026-08-19 · duration, havens and risk all bid · the dollar paid
Read the briefWednesday, August 19, 2026
Equities fell a third straight session and the selling was concentrated where the discount rate bites hardest: the Nasdaq -1.33%, the S&P 500…
The equities read — Third straight fall, now a funding-cost question
Read the briefMonday, August 17, 2026
No cash session has printed since Friday
Peace made a new high and passage a new low over a weekend with no cash session — and the storage band reversed
Read the briefSaturday, August 15, 2026
Friday gave the week to oil and took it back from everything else
The ceasefire is strengthening and the waterway is not reopening — and only one of those is priced
Read the briefFriday, August 14, 2026
Thursday settled firm and settled narrow
The strait left the calendar year while the S&P made a record
Read the briefThursday, August 13, 2026
July inflation landed exactly where it was supposed to: consumer prices up 0.1% on the month, the annual rate 3.4%, core 0.2% and 2.5% — every…
A ceasefire at ninety-nine and a reopening at four, on deadlines two days apart — and a market that sold volatility to a six-week low into them
Read the briefWednesday, August 12, 2026
Crude took the week: WTI settled $83.20, +1.30% on the day and +6.4% from Friday's close, with Brent at $88.91 — a third straight gain, and more…
Peace odds hit a record while the machinery of a deal was priced out — and both governments started arguing over the bill
Read the briefTuesday, August 11, 2026
Monday was the first full session since Friday and it moved one thing violently: WTI settled $82.13, +5.05% on the day, Brent $87.72, +4.99%,…
The equities read — The long end took the energy move; the stock index did not.
Read the briefMonday, August 10, 2026
Friday's settled close still stands as the last full session: the S&P 500 at a record 7,757.64, its best week since April, with the 30-year at…
The equities read — A record week, and a wider set of shares joined in.
Read the briefSunday, August 9, 2026
The week ended with the S&P 500 at a record 7,757.64 and the VIX at 14.90, its lowest of the year, on the heaviest week for options volume on record
De-escalation in price, blockade in practice — the energy complex splits in two
Read the briefSaturday, August 8, 2026
A soft July payroll drained the September hike out of the market: the dollar closed at its lowest since May and short Treasuries capped their best…
A soft payroll eased the path for rates — onto a sector that has just changed how it funds itself
Read the briefFriday, August 7, 2026
Gold closed at $4,396.20, up 2.25% on the day and its strongest week since January, with silver up 3.02% to $63.47
Friday 2026-08-07 - the Fed talked about hiking and gold had its best week since January
Read the briefThursday, August 6, 2026
Iran confirmed it is finalising an accord with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz and the President said a deal could come within days - after weeks…
Thursday 2026-08-06 - a Hormuz deal moved into final drafting and the metals had their best day of the week anyway
Read the briefTuesday, August 4, 2026
Crude had its worst two sessions of the war: WTI fell 5.5% on Tuesday to $75.92, taking the two-day fall to 12.5%, after the President called off…
Tuesday 2026-08-04 - the oil market priced the war ending on a statement Tehran denies, and almost nothing else took the trade
Read the briefSaturday, August 1, 2026
One market changed its mind twice this week; the other never changed it at all
Saturday 2026-08-01 - the week one market repriced a level in every session while the other sold the press conference and then bought the earnings
Read the briefFriday, July 31, 2026
Equities ripped and vol broke - the Nasdaq ~+2.0%, the VIX ~-23% to ~16 - while investors sorted AI winners violently: Amazon ~+14%, Apple ~-9% on…
Friday 2026-07-31 - equities melted up and sorted AI winners violently while the curve steepened and the dollar cracked: the credibility discount widened through the rally
Read the briefThursday, July 30, 2026
THE BOND MARKET CALLED THE FED'S BLUFF
Thursday 2026-07-30 - a divided Fed held and the bond market pushed borrowing costs to a 19-year high while the dollar cracked and gold hit a record: a credibility discount, not a hawkish repricing; and the AI-capex reckoning split Microsoft from Meta
Read the briefThursday, July 23, 2026
THE OIL SHOCK WON'T QUIT, AND BIG TECH'S AI BILL CAME DUE
Thursday 2026-07-23 - a Red Sea tanker attack opened a second front and took Brent to $96, and Alphabet beat but fell >4% on a $195-205bn capex plan (the AI-bill reckoning); gold held its record, and the chip bounce is the fade
Read the briefWednesday, July 22, 2026
THE RE-SPIKE - OIL TO $94, GOLD TO A RECORD, THE WAR ENTRENCHES
Wednesday 2026-07-22 - the diplomatic flicker died and the Iran war entrenched (a 10th night, a widening front to Saudi Arabia, a nuclear-site threat), sending Brent to $94 (Goldman eyes $120) and gold to a record above $4,100; a chip-led equity bounce runs against it
Read the briefTuesday, July 21, 2026
AN UNEASY BOUNCE ON A DIPLOMATIC FLICKER
Tuesday 2026-07-21 - after two brutal down days the market bounces on a flicker of possible Iran-US talks that eased oil off $90, but the war-and-AI twin shock is unresolved and the haven bid is entrenched (gold ~+1.1%, silver ~+2.5%)
Read the briefSaturday, July 18, 2026
THE WEEK THE AI TRADE CRACKED - AND THE OIL SHOCK CAME BACK
Saturday 2026-07-18 - the week's midweek relief (a benign CPI, a walked-back Hormuz toll) broke Friday on its two ignored risks: a cheap Chinese AI model sent chips into a bear market, and the discounted oil shock returned with Brent at $88
Read the briefThursday, July 16, 2026
TACO TUESDAY - THE TOLL'S GONE, THE WAR ISN'T
Thursday 2026-07-16 - Trump walks back the 20% Hormuz toll and, with a benign CPI and upbeat bank earnings, stocks bid and the war premium unwinds - but a fourth night of strikes keeps the Strait shut and oil near $80: the headline tax is gone, the supply shock isn't
Read the briefWednesday, July 15, 2026
THE CAPPED RELIEF. June CPI came in benign - headline -0.4% m/m (the first outright drop since the 2020 pandemic), annual 3.5% from 4.2% - which…
Wednesday 2026-07-15 - a benign June CPI takes a July hike off the table and gives stocks a modest relief bid, but gold refuses to rally and Trump's 20% Hormuz toll keeps oil near $80 - a forward oil shock the print can't see
Read the briefMonday, July 13, 2026
The verdict week opens RISK-OFF: the US and Iran are fighting for control of the Strait of Hormuz, so oil SPIKED ~4% (WTI ~$74, Brent ~$79) and…
The equities read — Crude spiked ~4% and stock futures slipped into the open.
Read the briefSaturday, July 11, 2026
A week of narrative whiplash ended at S&P highs - but read what the index hides
The equities read — The S&P hit highs, but small-caps gave back the pop.
Read the briefFriday, July 10, 2026
The oil shock is round-tripping
Friday 2026-07-10 - the oil premium drains on de-escalation and the relief rally broadens into small-caps, but a split Fed keeps the anchor
Read the briefWednesday, July 8, 2026
The regime flipped: Trump declared the US-Iran ceasefire OVER and the US resumed 'powerful strikes' after Hormuz tanker attacks (threat 'severe')
Wednesday 2026-07-08 - the ceasefire ends, oil spikes, and an oil-led risk-off slams the rate ceiling back through 5%
Read the briefTuesday, July 7, 2026
A soft US jobs report last week dialed back Fed rate-HIKE bets - and the tone tilted dovish into Tuesday
Tuesday 2026-07-07 - a soft jobs print eases the rate ceiling; watch the undercurrent beneath an AI-led tape
Read the briefMonday, July 6, 2026
Monday's reopen answered the weekend - and it wasn't holiday liquidity: the hard-asset bid HELD
Monday 2026-07-06 - the reopen after the July 4th weekend
Read the briefFriday, July 3, 2026
Wall Street's profit forecasts are rising at the fastest pace since the Covid rebound - enough for the FT to warn of an 'earnings bubble' - and…
The equities read — Record-fast forecast upgrades drew an earnings-bubble warning.
Read the briefMonday, June 29, 2026
Another Iran escalation, another shrug - and the AI-capex story went vertical: Samsung + SK Hynix committing ~$1.3 TRILLION sent semis +4.1% and…
Monday 2026-06-29 - markets as of the 29 June session
Read the briefFriday, June 19, 2026
Emerging markets surged +3.3% and the S&P 500 advanced as credit spreads tightened, but the US–Iran sanctions standoff and Japan's intervention…
Cyclicals and emerging markets outperform while US–Iran asset-freeze dispute keeps energy risk premia elevated.
Read the briefTuesday, June 16, 2026
Global risk assets are broadly bid — the S&P 500 up +1.8% and MSCI Emerging Markets up +2.8% — yet simultaneous gold strength and rising Treasury…
Equities surge as healthcare newsflow lifts sentiment, even as gold and bonds signal residual caution.
Read the brief