Heads of Desk: Top of Mind – Episode 56
- Listen to what's going on in Dubai, Fuel, Distillates, Propane, Gasoline, and Options this week
- This episode was recorded on Tuesday, 14th July 2026.
Energy prices spiked again. More missile strikes overnight between US-Iran, Donald Trump reinstating the blockade of the Straits and demanding a 20% fee on all cargoes shipped through the waterway, plus missile strikes between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia restart after 4 years ‘peace’.
Markets Overnight After another night of U.S. and Iranian bombing, equities rallied on comments from Trump, who claimed "Iran called a little while ago, they want to make a deal" (which Iran denied).
So 17 minutes after the NYSE closes the U.S. strikes 80 targets in Iran, strikes were 4 to 5 times larger than the round 10 days ago, per a U.S. official.
GOOD EARNINGS. BAD REACTION. THE MARKET IS CHANGING.
AI CapEx from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle is set to hit ~2.5% of US GDP in 2026 (up from 1.5% in 2025), nearing defense spending (~2.7%).
The USD continues to weaken from recent highs, as rate hike expectations are tempered.
THE FED PIVOT IS CLOSER THAN THE MARKET THINKS - AND THE DOLLAR'S RALLY IS ABOUT TO CRACK
Precious metals continue their bear market with gold -29%, silver -53% and Bitcoin also down 54% from their respective highs.
Chinese PMIs bounce, manufacturing to 50.3 from 50, and services to 50.2 from 50.1.
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