US Markets are Neither Free Nor Fair; Oil Prices Rise; Images of Destruction in Israel and on U.S. Military Bases Being Censored; CPI Tame

Perusing the various indices Tuesday, it was apparent that markets were acting rather, shall we say, "well-coordinated" as can be seen by the screen captures on the right.

Bear in mind that these three separate indices do overlap, but, the Dow is only 30 stocks, the S&P is 500, the NASDAQ is literally thousands (around 3,700), and NYSE Composite is thousands more. Anybody who thinks U.S. markets are not widely controlled by large shareholders such as BlackRock and Vanguard, and the government, might want to reconsider. Some estimates say that 90% of U.S. stock trades are performed by algorithms and computers with limited or no human involvement, which is why a few well-timed tweets or even one government sound bite - such as President Trump mentioning on Monday that the war might end soon - can move all indices in the exact same direction.

Obviously, the press releases, tweets, and statements are usually designed for a positive response. After all, the government and Wall Street operate the largest skimming operation in the world. They make money off of unsuspecting citizens and companies via price movement, fees, interst, and taxes, and they've been doing it for a very long time. It is naive to think that actual market forces - Adam Smith's "invisible hand" - controls price movements when the market forces are greatly influenced by oligarchs acting in concert. The hand has become quite visible as it grips markets.

The operations of the Mafia and other organizations that engaged in protection rackets, gambling, and extortion have been nearly perfected, though the big money is made by wars and military "excursions".

Nobody is allowed to see images from Israel, where cities like Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem have been bombarded by Iran for nearly two weeks straight. Anyone caught transmitting images of destruction from Israel faces up to five years in jail.

Planet Labs PBC, one of the world’s leading commercial satellite imaging companies, has announced a mandatory 96-hour delay on the public release of newly captured imagery covering the Gulf States and adjacent conflict zones.

Planet had previously imposed a 30-day delay on imagery from Gaza. Vantor, formerly Maxar, has long withheld imagery of US and allied military bases entirely.

The OSINT-focused account The STRATCOM Bureau characterized the restriction as unprecedented, noting it followed consultations between Planet Labs and the US government. Planet indicated the scope may change as the conflict evolves.

People around the world are just supposed to accept - without proof - that the U.S. and Israel are "winning." The levels of censorship ove this conflict are off the charts. Those who remember Desert Storm will recall that images of Iraq being blasted to smithereens were broadcast on a daily basis. Reporters were embedded within some military units.

This is different. It's obvious that the U.S. and Israeli governments don't want anybody to know what's actually happening. Pretty sad.

At 8:30 am ET, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released February CPI, stating:

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in February, after rising 0.2 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.4 percent before seasonal adjustment.

Core CPI rose 0.2% in February and 2.5% on an annual basis. Despite the numbers being fairly dovish, stock futures reacted negatively.

With U.S. markets opening in half an hour, Dow futures are off 228 points, NASDAQ futures are down 68, and S&P futures are down 21 points.

Gold and silver are slumping with gold at $5171 and silver at $85.40 per ounce on the spot market. When precious metals retreat, it's lately been a signal that stocks are headed lower, so, at least for the morning session, look for things to head south.

WTI crude oil is rising from overnight lows, up about $4.00 to $86.25 despite calls for various countries to release their strategic oil reserves. The problem there is that, like the United States, many major countries have depleted their supplies (U.S. at 40% of capacity), so the artificial boost will be small and temporary. Iran is said to be dropping mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Whether that is true or not, it's having an effect on oil prices.

Seems a world of hurt.

At the Close, Tuesday, March 10, 2026:
Dow: 47,706.51, -34.29 (-0.07%)
NASDAQ: 22,697.10, +1.16 (+0.01%)
S&P 500: 6,781.48, -14.51 (-0.21%)
NYSE Composite: 6,781.48, -14.51 (-0.21%)

Stocks Rally, Oil Price Loses Punch as Trump Signals Early end to War with Iran; Israel Battered; Gold, Silver Rise; Casino is Open

Just as the reality of war was beginning to be felt around the world as oil prices spiked on Monday, the realization of just how utterly broken markets have become manifested itself in a wild trading session.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by the Iranians just a few days into the Middle East turmoil, futures price for Brent and WTI crude oil had been steadily rising and went vertical Sunday night. WTI crude was quoted at $91.27 on Friday, March 6, but gapped up above $115 per barrel when futures markets opened Monday, March 9. Stock futures were as slammed Monday morning prior to the cash open.

As the trading session commenced, stocks initially dropped to fresh lows while oil remained elevated. By mid-afternoon, stocks had recovered some of their lost ground and WTI crude was trading just above $100. At 3:00 pm ET President Trump made a statement to CBS news, suggesting that the U.S./Israel war against Iran might end soon, telling Weijia Jiang, the network's White House correspondent, "I think the war is very complete, pretty much."

The president's one-liner was all that was needed for the algorithms to leap into action, sending stocks into overdrive and a positive close and WTI crude down as low as $85/barrel, below the level it had closed on Friday. This typical knee-jerk response in over-hyped, over-leveraged markets is what makes trading so difficult for individuals while at the same time immensely profitable for experienced professionals and insiders.

For what it's worth, the U.S. and Israel have been battered by Iranian missiles over the 10 days of the conflict and have been seeking a ceasefire, but Iran has refused to even address their concerns and continues to carry on their campaigns against U.S. bases in the region and the occupied territory that is Israel.

Iran has managed to destroy more tha $5 billion worth of Patriot and THAAD defense capabilities, has pushed the U.S. "armada" of ships and aircraft carriers to regions well out of range for either aerial assaults by the U.S. or missile attacks by Iran, and has decimated at least 15 U.S. bases in the region, rendering them useless as either defensive or offensive hubs.

While Trump gaslights the general public with his "war is very complete, pretty much" rhetoric, the fact of the matter is that the U.S. and Israel have lost the war and are seeking a way out. Iran is having none of it and is in a position to dictate terms of any ceasefire or end to hostilities. The likelihood of the U.S. leaving the region permanently and Israel being dismantled and disarmed grows daily.

As Tuesday comes into focus, stock futures are lower across the board, but not excessively so, European stocks are higher. Gold has recovered to $5,200 and silver to $89.

Gamble in these casinos at your own peril.

At the Close, Monday, March 9, 2026:
Dow: 47,740.80, +239.25 (+0.50%)
NASDAQ: 22,695.95, +308.27 (+1.38%)
S&P 500: 6,795.99, +55.97 (+0.83%)
NYSE Composite: 22,620.77, -168.78 (-0.74%)

WEEKEND WRAP: Oil, Gas Skyrocket After Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz; Stocks Sink; Treasury Yields Rise on War Fear; Gold, Silver Fail to Respond

"All wars are banker's wars."

So said General Smedley Butler in speeches and his 1935 book, "War is a Racket."

War Is a Racket is the title of two works, a speech and a booklet, by retired United States Marine Corps Major General and two time Medal of Honor recipient Smedley D. Butler. In them, Butler frankly discusses from his experience as a career military officer how business interests commercially benefit (including war profiteering) from warfare.

After his retirement from the Marine Corps, Butler made a nationwide tour in the early 1930s giving his speech “War is a Racket”. The speech was so well received that he wrote a longer version as a small book with the same title that was published in 1935.

Money Daily has secured a copy of the book, in PDF form, available for free download at the IdleGuy.com library.

Estimates of how much the conflict with Iran is costing the United States are centering around $1 billion a day. If the war lasts 30 days, that's $30 billion. 3 months, $90 billion. These figures are likely to be on the conservative side. It's more likely that the eventual cost to the government, including the cost of rebuilding the 22 military bases in the region that have already been struck and continue to be assaulted by Iranian missiles and drones, will be considerably higher, if the U.S. is even allowed a presence in the region when all is said and done, will be between $1.5 and $3 TRILLION.

To get an idea of what $1 billion can buy, how about 5000 new homes at $200,000 each, PER DAY. If the war lasts 30 days, that 150,000 new homes; 90 days, 450,000. It's an incredible waste of treasure and lives. The cabal in Washington doesn't seem to care.

In the end, who profits from all this waste and abuse? Certainly the U.S. arms manufacturers who will be tasked with rebuilding our depleted supplies of offensive and defensive materiel. And those firms are financed by the major banking interests in the United States, chief among them JP Morgan Chase, CitiGroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Stanley Morgan. A host of smaller banks will also benefit from the squandering and rebuilding efforts, so, in a sense, the cost of waging and losing (The U.S. has already lost this war. It was lost when they killed Khomenei, the one person who forbade Iran from having a nuclear weapon, via his fatwa.) this war can be seen as a benefit. Surely it will be sold the gullible Americans new jobs, an engine of growth, and similarly facetious sloganeering.

Adding the cost of this particularly stupid escapade (among others) will send the 2027 budget deficit well beyond $3 trillion, and probably the same for the 2028 fiscal year. By the end of 2029, total federal (unpayable) debt is likely to exceed $50 trillion.

There is a simmering thought among global analysts that the U.S. isn't planning on "winning" (whatever that means) this war. The general idea is that by losing a war against Iran, the U.S. can free itself from the entanglement with Israel and the Gulf States, bow out from the region somewhat gracefully and probably focus on plundering the wealth and resources of South America and Canada. The countries in South America don't possess much in terms of military power, and what they do have, they likely bought from the U.S., making them easy targets for exploitation without resistance. The U.S. wouldn't have to worry about China or Russia interfering. After all, it's "our" sphere of influence.

After just a week of senseless folly, the situation for the United States and Israel isn't looking very good and investors of all stripes and levels of exposure to U.S. markets should be aware that this condition is likely to worsen. A couple of entries related to the ongoing strife follow...

From an X post by Alon Mizrahi, an Israeli journalist, one of the most worthy Jews in the world:

"We are witnessing history. Iran, to everyone's surprise, is destroying American bases so thoroughly, on such a large scale, and so decisively that the world is not ready for this.

In 4 days, Iran has managed to expand its sphere of military dominance in the region. Iran has destroyed the most valuable and expensive military bases, property, and equipment in the entire world.

The American bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are among the largest military facilities in the entire world. These facilities have cost trillions of dollars over several decades to build. We are talking about the fact that the bulk of the military spending that has been made over more than 30 years has gone up in smoke.

We see radars costing hundreds of millions of dollars each being destroyed in an instant. We see entire military bases being abandoned and burned, looted, and destroyed. And I'm telling you, as far as I know, the U.S. has never suffered such destruction in its entire history, except perhaps for Pearl Harbor, but that was just one attack.

No enemy in a conventional war has ever done this to American military forces as Iran is doing right now. It's hard to believe. The military situation is so serious that censorship is blocking almost all new information about this war. If you've noticed, we're getting less and less information every day.

Thirty-five years ago, during the first Iraqi war, we were shown endless footage from Iraq. Back then, smart bombs and cameras were a novelty, but every night we were shown night-time footage. Now we hardly see any videos at all.

Understand this! Supposedly, this is the world's largest military power, with the world's largest air capabilities, and on the fourth day of the U.S. offensive, supposedly and supposedly breaking through Iranian defenses, we don't see any signs of American dominance in the Iranian sky. Where are all the video recordings of our planes flying over Tehran or any other part of Iran, for that matter?

American soldiers can't even dream of setting foot on Iranian soil. And to understand how desperate this war is, on the fourth day you're already hearing the most insane proposals and ideas from the Trump administration. They're proposing sending military escorts for oil tankers leaving the Persian Gulf. What are you even talking about! You want to send American ships into the zone of destruction of thousands of Iranian missiles? NOW no one can get through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranians have been preparing for this for decades. They're flaunting the idea of arming Kurdish militias to invade Iran. What the hell are you talking about? Have you seen a map of Iran!? It seems the Trump administration has never seen a map of Iran! Do you know how vast it is? What does it mean to invade Iran!? Do you think a militia of 10,000 people could invade Iran!? Or even 50,000? Or 100,000? Iran will swallow them up.

The U.S. and Israel have already lost this war. The U.S. and Israel can kill millions of civilians in their homes. They have powerful bombs and can blow up buildings, but they won't win this war. Iran's military infrastructure and weaponry is deep underground all over IRAN. Neither the Americans nor, especially, the Israelis have any chance of reaching any of it. They're in deep shit.

They started something they have no chance of finishing. When this all ends, the U.S. will never return to West Asia. There will be no American presence in the Middle East. I'm telling you this now with certainty."

"Are we understanding that the current phase of the war is Iran toying with Western missile defense systems, and the actual damage and carnage hasn't even begun?

Are we all getting that this is just the prelude to the war? And the West's hold over West Asia ia already slipping?

In a couple more days (in my estimation, no more than a week), interceptor inventory is going to begin to go dry.

Initially, Iran's neighbours will be at its mercy -completely. Could this be when we start to hear calls for US forces to leave the region? I won't rule this out.

American forces will be nowhere in sight within 500 miles from Iranian borders, with bigger concentration of men and equipment held 2000-5000 kilometers away, which is ridiculously useless.

This is while Iran's military capabilities and chain of command are 100% intact, its territorial integrity cannot be breached even in fantasy scenarios, and its oil and munition supplies are full and guaranteed for a long, long time.

This is while Iran has hardly used some of the mightier weapons in its arsenal. While the Hormoz Strait is already closed shut, the Red Sea is blocked for Western traffic (or will become so soon).

This is while the Western coalition of Zionist pedophile whores cannot even dream of commanding the 3 million-soldier military required to challenge Iran, and even if they did, there is no way for them to come near Iran without being torn to shreds by drone swarms, hypersonic missiles and mine fields on land and at sea.

And while Iran's strategic capabilities are buried underground in tens and hundreds of location across a giant country backed by the world's leading industrial power, and another military superpower, both just around the corner.

While Iran has intelligence gathering capabilities that are equal or better than what the West has.

While Iran has a land army, including reservists and volunteers, that number in the millions.

And if that's no enough, they are Shia Muslims.

Do you understand how utterly ridiculous Western threats and aspirations are? Iran has cost them in 6 days what the Iraq war cost in 6 years. And Iran is not swinging wildly in desperation. It is closely following the instructions in a manual. - The pedophile whores will mass murder innocent Iranian men, women and children. Tragically, nothing can prevent this. The Iranian people will pay the price for removing the Western sickness from the human body.

The one thing that could really change the course of this war, and make Iran's triumph much swifter and less painful, is China taking over Taiwan.

Once this is also done, the US empire will be officially over. And it's only a matter of time now. A year, two years, maybe three or four, but that's it.

The decaying, incestuous, rotting Western elites are dying, and this time they is no way they can access enough native children's blood to sustain themselves. It is game over.

We are watching some of the greatest days in all of history."

Faraz Parvez follows:

Alon Mizrahi raises an important strategic question: what happens when a superpower enters a conflict assuming rapid dominance but encounters a prepared regional power that has spent decades planning for exactly such a confrontation. The core of the issue is not a single strike or a few damaged installations; it is the broader strategic architecture of the region.

For years Iran has invested heavily in asymmetric deterrence—underground missile complexes, dispersed command networks, hardened infrastructure, and mobile launch platforms. This model was specifically designed to neutralize the traditional advantage of technologically superior air forces. Destroying surface installations does not necessarily eliminate the deeper military capability beneath them.

Another strategic factor is geography. Iran is not a small state that can be rapidly subdued through aerial bombardment. It is a vast country with complex terrain, large population centers, and extensive internal logistics. Any prolonged confrontation inevitably stretches supply lines and operational planning for external forces.

Equally important is the regional environment. Military facilities across West Asia were built to project power outward, but they also become fixed targets in the event of a major regional conflict. Modern missile technology has significantly changed the vulnerability of static bases, radars, and infrastructure that once seemed untouchable.

History repeatedly shows that wars are rarely decided by early claims of victory or defeat. Strategic outcomes depend on endurance, logistics, political cohesion, and the ability of societies to sustain pressure over time. What observers like Mizrahi are highlighting is the possibility that the conflict may be revealing limits to assumptions about overwhelming military superiority.

Whether one agrees fully with his conclusions or not, the broader point remains: modern warfare in West Asia is increasingly shaped by resilience, geography, and asymmetric strategy, not only by technological advantage.

By Faraz Parvez Professor Dr. (Retired) Arshad Afzal Former Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA themindscope.net

---

Jane Street is a fascinating and somewhat secretive firm. Here's what's publicly known:

Jane Street is a global proprietary trading firm and market maker, headquartered in New York City, with offices in London, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam. They trade a enormous range of financial products — equities, bonds, currencies, commodities, and especially ETFs and options.

They are one of the largest ETF market makers in the world, responsible for a significant portion of global ETF liquidity They are famously quantitative and technology-driven — essentially a hybrid of a trading firm and a technology company They are known for their heavy use of functional programming, particularly the language OCaml, which is unusual in finance They are privately held and extremely secretive about their strategies and financials

Scale

Jane Street came into the public eye more dramatically in 2023 when it was reported they generated approximately $21 billion in trading revenue in the first half of 2023 alone — an extraordinary figure that stunned even Wall Street insiders.

Culture

Known for hiring heavily from top math and computer science programs Emphasizes probabilistic thinking and careful reasoning Has a reputation for being intellectually rigorous and somewhat unconventional

Controversy

They were drawn into the news in 2024 over a lawsuit against former employees who allegedly took proprietary trading strategies to a competitor.

Founders Jane Street was co-founded in 1999 by Tim Reynolds, Robert Granieri, Marc Gerstein, and Michael Jenkins. Reynolds, Granieri, and Jenkins were former traders at Susquehanna International Group, while Gerstein was a developer at IBM. Granieri is the only founder still at the company as of 2026. NPR

Notable Names Connected to the Firm Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, founders of the collapsed FTX exchange, are both Jane Street alumni. Other notable former employees include Brett Harrison, now CEO of trading technology firm Architect Financial Technologies, and Zvi Mowshowitz, a writer covering artificial intelligence. NPR A Jane Street employee named Bryce Pratt has recently been named in a lawsuit (more below).

Leadership Structure The company has historically not maintained a CEO and is informally led by a group of 30 or 40 senior executives. All employees are paid based on the firm's collective profits, not personal trading gains. NPR

Financial Performance Jane Street's total revenue for the first three quarters of 2025 reached $24 billion, exceeding its total revenue for the entire year of 2024. For context, Citadel Securities had approximately $9.7 billion in trading revenue for all of 2024. Federal News Network

The India Scandal (SEBI) On July 4, 2025, Jane Street was suspended from all trading in India by SEBI, with bank accounts frozen. Jane Street deposited approximately $560 million into an escrow account and was allowed to resume trading on July 21 — under the condition that it remain subject to investigation. The case was still pending as of February 2026. Federal News Network The alleged strategy involved using one entity to drive up India's Bank Nifty index at market open while a separate entity simultaneously held derivatives positions.

The Terraform/FTX Lawsuit On February 23, 2026, the liquidator of Terraform Labs filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against Jane Street. At the heart of the case is a private chat group called "Bryce's Secret," created by Bryce Pratt, a Jane Street employee who had previously interned at Terraform. The lawsuit alleges the group became an information conduit connecting Terraform's internal operations with Jane Street, potentially allowing the firm to trade ahead of Terraform's moves during the 2022 UST/Luna collapse. Federal News Network

It's a firm that operates in the shadows but keeps finding itself in the headlines. Quite a story.

Founders & History

Wikipedia – Jane Street Capital Wikipedia – Robert Granieri FA Magazine – The Mysterious Billionaire Boss at Jane Street (Oct 2025 — excellent profile of Granieri)

India/SEBI Scandal

MarketsWiki – Jane Street BW Businessworld – Shadow of Jane Street

Terraform/FTX Lawsuit & Bryce Pratt

PANews – Who Exactly is Jane Street? (Feb 2026 — covers the Terraform lawsuit in detail)

The FA Magazine piece on Granieri is particularly worth reading — it's the most detailed profile of the firm's culture and leadership that's publicly available.

---

Stocks

U.S. indices took it on the chin during the first week of the war with Iran.

For the Week:
Dow: -1476.37 (-3.01%)
NASDAQ: -280.53 (-1.24%)
S&P 500: -138.86 (-2.02%)
NYSE Composite: -976.37 (-4.16%)
Dow Transports: -1227.87 (-6.24%)

That is not a good look, nor does it offer any indication that the equity markets are heading back towards all-time highs any time soon. Rather, there's a solid chance that, generally speaking, stocks aren't going to be a great investment going forward. Recent jobs reports, and, especially, the latest, February's NFP showing a loss of 92,000 jobs, augers for recessionary forces taking hold of the U.S. economy. GDP projection for 2026 1Q from the Atlanta Fed's GDPnow fell from 3.21% on March 4, to 2.12% on March 6, based on slowing retail growth and the February jobs report.

If the war with Iran lasts longer than a month, the effects of the U.S. government shouldering resources into a military money pit will spill into the second quarter. While that may be the least of the U.S. worries, for investors, it could be significant. Despite what President Trump, Treasury secretary Bessent or any of the administration's mouthpieces and the mainstream media may lead one to believe, the U.S. wasn't on very strong footing going into this quagmire and isnt going to get any better during it.

Stocks may have already topped. Year-to-date, the Dow is down 1.17%; the S&P, -1.54%; NASDAQ, -3.68%. From all-time highs, the Dow (50,188.14, 2/8/26) is down 5.35%, the S&P (6,978.60, 1/27/26) has lost 3.42%, and the NASDAQ (23,958.47, 10/29/25) is down 6.56%. While those numbers may not seem to be substantial, consideration must be afforded the current climate. Making up ground in a market that's already struggling, with the country at war, and with no strong catalysts (earnings season is over) for another three to five weeks, there doesn't seem to be any appetite for upside other than the usual plays and ploys by the insider crowd, which, apparently has kept U.S. equities from collapse for the better part of a month already.

Data will be slim this week, with a focus on inflation. On Tuesday, February Existing Home Sales; Wednesday, February CPI; Thursday, U.S. Trade Deficit, unemployment claims; Friday: Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index.

Earnings season continues ot slow, with Oracle, Kohl's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Dollar General the companies in focus this week.

Monday: (before open) Korn Ferry (KFY), ZIM (ZIM), FuelCell Energy (FCEL); (after close) Zevra Therapeutics (ZVRA), Casey's (CASY), Kronos (KRO), Vail Resorts (MTN), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Tuesday: (before open) Kohl's (KSS), ABM (ABM), Biontech (BNTX); (after close) Oracle (ORCL), Avino (ASM)

Wednesday: (before open) Smith Douglas Homes (SDHC), Campbell's (CPB); (after close) Petco (WOOF), Stitch Fix (SFIX)

Thursday: (before open) Dollar General (DG), Sleep Number (SNBR), Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS); (after close) ULTA Beauty (ULTA), Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM), Inovio (INO), Adobe (ADBE)

Friday: (before open) Century Casinos (CNTY)

Treasury Yield Curve Rates

Date	1 Mo	1.5 mo	2 Mo	3 Mo	4 Mo	6 Mo	1 Yr
01/30/2026	3.72	3.73	3.75	3.67	3.69	3.61	3.48
02/06/2026	3.72	3.72	3.74	3.68	3.70	3.59	3.45
02/13/2026	3.72	3.71	3.73	3.68	3.70	3.59	3.42
02/20/2026	3.72	3.73	3.74	3.69	3.71	3.61	3.51
02/27/2026	3.74	3.73	3.73	3.67	3.67	3.60	3.48
03/06/2026	3.75	3.74	3.72	3.69	3.67	3.66	3.55

Date	2 Yr	3 Yr	5 Yr	7 Yr	10 Yr	20 Yr	30 Yr
01/30/2026	3.52	3.60	3.79	4.01	4.26	4.82	4.87
02/06/2026	3.50	3.57	3.76	3.98	4.22	4.80	4.85
02/13/2026	3.40	3.43	3.61	3.81	4.04	4.64	4.69
02/20/2026	3.48	3.50	3.65	3.85	4.08	4.66	4.72
02/27/2026	3.38	3.39	3.51	3.72	3.97	4.57	4.64
03/06/2026	3.56	3.59	3.72	3.93	4.15	4.74	4.77

Yields rose like Michael Jordan taking flight for a dunk. War has a way of doing that. Call it a buyer's strike, but bond holders seem unwilling to accept lower rates on treasuries while the country is engaged in outright military conflict on the other side of the world.

Five-year and seven-year yields led the way, up 21 basis points equally, but yields on the other popular notes were not far behind: 2s, +18 bp; 3s, +20; 10s, +18. 30-year bond yields gained 13 basis points, the general trend seeking higher yields on longer-dated maturities.

Spreads remained near recent highs, with 2s-10s at +59, and full spectrum at +102, though the trend was an overall flattening of the yield curve, not a particularly encouraging sign.

The Fed's next FOMC meeting is March 17-18, so there isn't likely to be a need for an emergency rate cut. If one does occur before then, it would be an immediate distress signal indicating something very much wrong with the global economic plumbing.

CME's Fedwatch tool shows a 96% probability of no change at the meeting in 10 days. (Money Daily will take the under on that, -0.25%. War, ya know.)

Spreads:

2s-10s
2025
1/3: +32
1/10: +37
1/17: +34
1/24: +36
1/31: +36
2/7: +20
2/14: +21
2/21: +23
2/28: +25
3/7: +33
3/14: +29
3/21: +31
3/28: +38
4/4: +33
4/11: +52
4/17: +53
4/25: +55
5/2: +50
5/9: +49
5/16: +45
5/23: +51
5/30: +52
6/6: +48
6/13: +45
6/20: +48
6/27: +56
7/3: +47
7/11: +53
7/18: +56
7/25: +49
8/1: +54
8/8: +51
8/15: +58
8/22: +58
8/29: +64
9/5: +59
9/12: +50
9/19: +57
9/26: +57
10/3: +45
10/10: +53
10/17: +56
10/24: +54
10/31: +51
11/7: +56
11/14: +52
11/21: +55
11/28: +55
12/5: +58
12/12: +67
12/19: +68
12/26: +68
2026
1/2: +72
1/9: +64
1/16: +65
1/23: +64
1/30: +74
2/6: +72
2/13: +64
2/20: +60
2/27: +59
3/6: +59

Full Spectrum (30-days - 30-years)
2025
1/3: +38
1/10: +54
1/17: +41
1/24: +40
1/31: +36
2/7: +32
2/14: +32
2/21: +31
2/28: +13
3/7: +24
3/14: +25
3/21: +23
3/28: +26
4/4: +5
4/11: +38
4/17: +44
4/25: +40
5/2: +41
5/9: +46
5/16: +52
5/23: +68
5/30: +59
6/6: +69
6/13: +67
6/20: +69
6/27: +66
7/3: +51
7/11: +59
7/18: +65
7/25: +55
8/1: +32
8/8: +37
8/15: +44
8/22: +41
8/29: +51
9/5: +49
9/12: +40
9/19: +54
9/26: +55
10/3: +47
10/10: +43
10/17: +42
10/24: +48
10/31: +61
11/7: +69
11/14: +70
11/21: +68
11/28: +62
12/5: +97
12/12: +109
12/19: +111
12/26: +111
2026
1/2: +114
1/9: +112
1/16: +108
1/23: +104
1/30: +115
2/6: +113
2/13: +97
2/20: +100
2/27: +90
3/6: =102

Oil/Gas

Well, this was expected. Once Iran closed off the Strait of Hormuz, the price of oil was bound to head higher, and this week it did with WTI crude ending the week at $91.27, from $67.29 a week ago. China, Europe, and the U.S. will suffer from supply imbalances, the winner is obviously Russia, despite sanctions. Moscow holds a distinct advantage as oil is needed at what may become any price. The U.S. even lifted sanctions on Russia for sales of oil to India. What a gaslighting fluffer the U.S. Treasury Secretary is.

It is more likely that the conflict over Iran will last longer than U.S. and Israel desire, putting pressure on the U.S. and Israel to either step up their assault in hopes that Iran will capitulate sooner, rather than later, if at all. Trump and Netanyahu have taken a dangerous gambit, throwing the world iinto a state of severe instability.

Expect WTI crude to pop over $100/barrel this week, with a target of $150, some saying $250.

This Sunday morning (March 8), gas prices were already showing significant price hikes at the pump, with the U.S. national average rising to $3.46, from $2.97 last week, according to gasbuddy.com. Might as well call it up 50 cents in one week.

California tops the list, at $5.13 per gallon, the highest in the nation and up exactly cents just this week and 82 cents over the past six. Washington was up 24 cents ($4.60) and is likely to remain a charter member of the $4+ club for the duration of Mideast hostilities. Oregon ($4.15), is up 26 cents this week and 54 cents in just the past three weeks. Nevada checks in at $4.15 and Arizona is heading for $4 quickly. Last week it was $3.34. This week, $3.88. The lowest prices remain in the Southeast, with Oklahoma, despite an 52 cent rise, still below any other state though the gap has narrowed considerably, at $2.93. Kansas showed up at $2.89, though that's likely the cause of sparse reporting. The only other states below $3.00 in the region are Arkansas ($2.95), Tennessee ($2.97) and Mississippi ($2.99). Guess all of that Venezuela oil isn't helping out much. The remaining Southeast states, from North Carolina ($2.74) west to New Mexico ($3.28, up 56 cents), are all at (Louisiana, $3.00) or above $3.00, including Florida ($3.45, up 58 cents).

In the Northeast, prices remained jumped well beyond recent lower prices. Most were around $3.00 or lawer last week. This week, Massachusetts is the lowest ($3.29) with Pennsylvania the highest ($3.58).

In the midwest region, Illinois gapped 43 cents to $3.48, outdone by Michigan, which rose 60 cents, to $3.58, highest in the region. Kansas was the lowest ($2.89). No other state was below $3.00

Sub-$3.00 gas was recorded in just FIVE STATES, after being the norm for 40 of the lower 48 states last week. With only Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee under $3.00 and all except Kansas above $2.90, it's highly probable that there will be no $3.00 gas just two weeks since President Trump boasted about $1.99 gas in Iowa at the State of the Union. Well done, indeed.

Bitcoin

This week: $67,310.05
Last week: $66,515.72
2 weeks ago: $67,651.35
6 months ago: $111,718.20
One year ago: $86,143.01
Five years ago: $61,190.87

Excuse the French, but phuque crypto. If bitcoin is such a panacea and a great investment, how come it is only up nine percent over the past five years. It hasn't even kept pace with inflation. Screw Michael Saylor and the rest of the snake oil salesmen. Crypto is DEAD MONEY.

Precious Metals

Gold:Silver Ratio: 61.00; last week: 56.26;

Futures, per COMEX continuous contracts:

Gold price 2/6: $4,988.60
Gold price 2/13: $5,063.80
Gold price 2/20: $5,108.34
Gold price 2/27: $5,296.40
Gold price 3/6: $5,181.30

Silver price 2/6: $77.53
Silver price 2/13: $77.27
Silver price 2/20: $84.57
Silver price 2/27: $94.39
Silver price 3/6: $84.69

SPOT:
(stockcharts.com)
Gold 2/6: $4,964.07
Gold 2/13: $5,041.72
Gold 2/20: $5,130.00
Gold 2/27: $5,278.05
Gold 3/6: $5,144.28

Silver 2/6: $77.98
Silver 2/13: $77.19
Silver 2/20: $84.57
Silver 2/27: $93.82
Silver 3/6: $84.33

Gold and silver prices normally increase during wartime. Leave it to insiders to ruin the party. The drops over the course of the first week of the war with Iran aren't likely to be long-holding, unless the world economy is about to crash. At that point, all assets go down, except the price of oil, which will spike, but then adjust to reduced demand and a stalled global system. In such a situation, gold will be the first asset to recover. Silver would most likely lag, but still retain value. It's still too early to tell how long this conflict will last, but it sure appears to be on track for at least another three to four weeks. The U.S. might actually throw up the white flag first. That's not a joke. The Yanks are getting their collective asses handed to them and Iran hasn't even begun using their best weapons. If the U.S. sends in ground troops, it's literally World War III and the body bags business will boom.

The weekly survey of prices on eBay moderated this week, with the usual situation of bars outpacing coins in silver and the opposite in gold. Premia is coming down.

Here are the most recent prices for common one ounce gold and silver items sold on eBay (free shipping included, numismatics excluded):

Item/Price	Low	High	Average	Median
1 oz silver coin:	86.00	115.00	99.51	97.50
1 oz silver bar:	94.85	106.16	102.11	102.23
1 oz gold coin:	5,200.00	5,591.25	5,444.76	5,454.40
1 oz gold bar:	5,367.35	5,489.46	5,406.08	5,395.00

The Single Ounce Silver Market Price Benchmark (SOSMPB) came back in through Sunday, to $100.34, a loss of $6.11 from the March 1 price of $106.45 per troy ounce.

WEEKEND WRAP

Personal note: Though I hate to admit it, I am an elderly American, and I've seen my country engage in more than its fair share of needless military confrontations, wars, and escapades, but this one takes the cake, the bronze ring, and the blue ribbon. Never has any country in my living memory made such a stupid, unnecessary action. Iran was about as big a threat to the U.S. as France, and France has nukes (unfortunately we can't liberate Paris again). From an investment perspective, I'm extremely conservative, holding only hard assets (things you can actually touch: gold, silver, land, machinery, business assets), and cash, in reserve to invest somewhere down the road. While I am opposed to war in general and there are no winners long term, the best result, from my perspective, would be for the U.S. to vacate the Middle East permanently. We have no business being there. -- Fearless Rick

At the Close, Friday, March 6, 2026:
Dow: 47,501.55, -453.19 (-0.95%)
NASDAQ: 22,387.68, -361.31 (-1.59%)
S&P 500: 6,740.02, -90.69 (-1.33%)
NYSE Composite: 22,518.07, -271.48 (-1.19%)

For the Week:
Dow: -1476.37 (-3.01%)
NASDAQ: -280.53 (-1.24%)
S&P 500: -138.86 (-2.02%)
NYSE Composite: -976.37 (-4.16%)
Dow Transports: -1227.87 (-6.24%)

Disclaimer: Information disseminated on this site should not be construed as investment advice. Downtown Magazine Inc., Money Daily and it's owners, affiliates and/or employees are not investment advisors and do not offer specific investment advice. All investments have risk. You should consult a professional investment advisor or stock broker or use your individual judgement when making investment decisions. By viewing this site, you hold harmless Downtown Magazine Inc., Money Daily, its owners, affiliates and employees against any and all liability. Copyright 2026, Downtown Magazine Inc., all rights reserved.

BLS Non-Farm Payrolls: U.S. Shed 92,000 Jobs in February; Retail Sales Down 0.2% in January; Oil Spikes to $87/Barrel; Middle East in Flames

Well, this has been an interesting week.

The United States and Israel have engaged in a military conflict with the nation of Iran, but, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, House Speaker Mike Johnson and majorities of both houses of congress, it's not a war, even though Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth and President Trump call it a war.

Sure looks like a war. The US keeps updating the public through daily briefings on how many targets have been hit, now many people have died, and other statistics and random mentions of destruction.

Of the three participants, only the United States has not been struck by missiles, bombs, or ordnance of any kind. The conflict is mostly between Israel and Iran. So, why doesn't the United States just back off and let those two "go at it?" Because Israel is an ally and we supply them with weapons, money, intelligence and the ability to wage war in their neighborhood. Without U.S. involvement, it wouldn't be a fair fight, so there you have it.

In the U.S., markets are operating normally, if what you call normal are wild daily and intraday swings up and down. For the week, through Thursday's closing bell, the Dow is down 1,023 points (-2.09%). NASDAQ is up 80 points, while the S&P is down 48 (-0.70%). Equity markets have yet to consider longer term effects of what's occurring half a world away, though oil futures seem to have caught onto what's happening. WTI futures, since February 27, are up a whopping $22, from $65 to $87/barrel, making sense of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the shuttering of the world's largest LNG hub in Oman. The price of gas at the pump has already been affected. On Sunday, March 1, gasbuddy.com had the national average for a gallon of fuel at $2.97. As of Friday morning, it's $3.31. California leads the way at $4.83, which is 52 cents higher than it was just five weeks ago, and it's almost certain to rise even more the longer the turmoil in the Middle East lasts, which, by the way, could be a long time.

President Trump and other "experts" had the conflict with Iran lasting four days to two weeks originally. Once things got underway, the timeline shift to four to six weeks, then four to eight weeks and finally to 100 days or possibly into September. These so-called military and/or financial experts are right about one thing: being wrong.

U.S. January retail sales were off 0.2%, according to the latest report from the Census Bureau, but the bigger news was February's Non-farm Payrolls, broadcast by the BLS Friday morning.

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 92,000 in February, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in health care decreased, reflecting strike activity. Employment in information and federal government continued to trend down.

That news sent U.S. stock futures tumbling. Just before 9:00 am ET, Dow futures were down 651 points, NASDAQ futures were lower by 409, and S&P futures were off a whopping 91.50.

A few months ago, a monthly decline of 92,000 jobs owuld have had the rate cut crowd drooling over the prospects of a federal funds rate of 2.50% or lower in months ahead. Something has changed in their tune. Possibly - and this is purely speculative - wars or non-wars, oil prices spiking and slowing retail sales might not be so appealing, despite whatever actions the Federal Reserve's FOMC might deem necessary.

Inflation and recession together usually equal stagflation, the worst of both worlds, at the same time.

What will they think of next?

At the Close, Thursday, March 5, 2026:
Dow: 47,954.74, -784.67 (-1.61%)
NASDAQ: 22,748.99, -58.50 (-0.26%)
S&P 500: 6,830.71, -38.79 (-0.56%)
NYSE Composite: 22,789.55, -296.73 (-1.29%)

Congress Diddles Over War, Sex Crimes While the World Burns; Hegseth is Wishful; Iran Slamming American Interests in the Gulf

While the U.S. and Israeli militaries spread havoc across the Middle East in a war against Iran that serves no useful purpose, American citizens are blinded to the kind of perfidy that has become routine in the nation's capital.

On Wednesday, Senate Republicans blocked a war powers resolution designed to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran, as the Trump administration accelerates its military campaign in a conflict that has killed hundreds, including at least six American service members (almost assuredly many more).

The motion failed in a vote of 47-53. Thus, the Senate has failed to withhold its constitutional duty as the proper branch of government tasked with the authority to declare war. The vote itself was a complete sham, as it should have taken place well before Israel and the United State attacked Iran without a clearly stated purpose.

The House of (non)Representatives Wednesday batted down an effort from Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to publicly release all reports on file with the House Ethics Committee on investigations into members of Congress regarding allegations of sexual harassment of staff or of a sexual relationship with a member of their staff.

In a 357-65-1 vote, the chamber moved to refer the matter to the House Ethics Committee — essentially killing the effort. Thirty-eight Republicans and 27 Democrats voted against referring the resolution to the panel.

The legislation is H.Res.1072 - Directing the Committee on Ethics to preserve and publicly release records of the Committee's review of violations or alleged violations of clause 9 (as it pertains to acts of sexual harassment) and clause 18 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives.

Text of the Bill.

“The American people are held to one standard and Congress is held wholly to another,” Mace told reporters before the vote. “And you’re going to watch men in Congress, Republicans and Democrats, this afternoon, hide behind the veil of ‘let the process play out,’ and it’s going to get referred to committee.”

“It will not see the light of day,” she predicted, “because the process is broken.”

Representative Brad Knott (R, NC), who sits on the Ethics Committee, was the sole rep. to vote "present." 27 Democrats and 38 Republicans votes against the measure. Five Democrats and four Republicans did not vote on the measure.

How each Representative voted. Download as CSV

Just as in the case of the Epstein Files, wrongdoings by members of congress will go unpunished, all the while paid for by American citizens through their taxes and higher prices because of the government's unwillingness to balance the budget. This year's deficit is likely to surpass $2 trillion and te cumulative national debt is $38.8 trillion and will surpass $39 trillion before the month is out. Interest on the debt has ballooned to over $1 trillion a year, a single expense category exceeded only by Social Security, Medicare, and the Department of War.

The American public, and most of the Western nations have been led astray by their elected officials in a myriad of ways. Voting - when it is not already rigged - is always between two equally corrupt candidates who, when elected, will not represent the interests of their constituency, but rather those of their donors, usually, wealthy corporations and their lobbyists who write bills designed to benefit their interests above and beyond those of the American public.

The United States engages in perpetual war around the world, illegal and undeclared. The general public shielded from the harsh realties by an entrenched press corp obedient to the government's dictates of what gets published and what doesn't.

Americans pay extremely high taxes for a government that does not represent their best interests. That is plain to see, yet they do nothing about it for fear of reprisal from that same useless government.

By any reasonable measure, the United States and Israel are losing the war against Iran.

While pig-headed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth brags about sinking the Iranian Navy, proposing to have complete control of Iran's airspace within days, while bombing mostly civilian targets, especially Iran's capital, Tehran, he fails to mention that Iran has destroyed or severely disabled American bases throughout the region, including American anti-missile defenses in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Iran has closed to Strait of Hormuz and there's nothing the U.S. or Israel can do to reopen it to commercial shipping, the USS Abraham Lincoln has departed from the theater of war, retreating far away into the Indian Ocean, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other Israeli cities are virtually defenseless as the "Iron Dome" has failed and Iranian missile and drones have devastated much of the urban areas and continue to do so, the U.S. and Israel are running out of anti-aircraft and anti-missile defenses, and the air force has many fewer places in the region from which to launch and land, as the two aircraft carriers in the region are far away and the bases from which they usually are deployed have been rendered unusable by Iranian missile and drone assaults.

America is very likely to lose this war, as it has lost wars and military conflicts against the Houthis in Yemen, had to abruptly negotiate an end to the 12-day war in June, 2025 as Irael was being decimated, spent 20 years losing in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has lost wars in Vietnam and elsewhere.

The U.S. government has squandered its nation's treasure on needless, senseless wars that it cannot win. Ukraine and Iran are just the latest in the series of failures and abrogation of duty by America's corrupt leadership.

Money Daily and publisher Rick Gagliano stand fully opposed to the War in Iran and any support or funding for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Wall Street and the riggers of markets continued Wednesday to promote the "winning" narrative by sending stocks higher for no apparent reason other than they have fiat money - fast becoming completely worthless - to burn. Gold and silver - the actual real forms of money - continue to be suppressed in spot markets and on the COMEX. The same pattern of short-selling the metals down to ridiculous levels continues day after day after day.

As the opening bell approaches for yet another journey into Fantasyland, Asian stocks recovered overnight, European stocks are marginally lower and U.S. stock futres are falling. Dow futures are off 300 points, NASDAQ futures are down 108, and S7P futures are lower by 28. WTI crude oil is trading just above $77/barrel.

Current events and engagements are likely to have a happy ending, but not for U.S. interests and certainly not for Israel.

At the Close, Wednesday, March 4, 2026:
Dow: 48,739.41, +238.14 (+0.49%)
NASDAQ: 22,807.48, +290.79 (+1.29%)
S&P 500: 6,869.50, +52.87 (+0.78%)
NYSE Composite: 23,086.28, +88.04 (+0.38%)