Oil Spikes, Stocks Drop: Thanks, Trump!

 

The Malignant Fascist and his team of rivals clowns continue to be on top of things:

Oil prices touched $100 a barrel and U.S. stocks skidded amid worries of a protracted disruption to oil markets.

Brent crude futures jumped 9.2% after President Trump said stopping the Iranian regime from getting nuclear weapons was a higher priority than oil prices. It was the largest one-day jump for Brent since May 2020 and the first time it has closed above $100 since 2022.

The Dow industrials slid 739 points, or 1.6%, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.5% and the Nasdaq composite falling 1.8%.

Hopes of quickly restoring the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz are dimming, with Iran's new leader vowing to keep the key oil route closed and seven ships struck over the past day. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the U.S. Navy wasn’t yet ready to escort tankers through the waterway, but that he expected this to happen by the end of March.

Also adding to concerns: A report from Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency that Iran-backed groups could shut a crossing that controls traffic for vessels accessing the Suez Canal via the Red Sea.

Also Thursday, the International Energy Agency slashed its forecast for oil-supply growth this year, and said the war in the Middle East was fueling the biggest disruption of global energy markets ever... (our emphasis)

And we're only 12 days into Operation Epic Epstein Fury.  "A billionaire's war," indeed.