Tuesday, April 14, 2026

The Morning Call---the rapidly changing conflict

 

The Morning Call

 

4/14/26

 

The Market

         

    Technical

 

            Monday in the charts.

                https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/deal-or-no-deal-risk-roller-coasters-deal-hope-trumps-hormuz-dead-end

 

Summary: Another week begins where buying Sunday's opening dip and selling the Monday open was wildly profitable. 34 ships thru SoH and 'talks ongoing' >> End of peace talks + Hormuz blockade with every asset retracing the kneejerk moves overnight. Stocks were the big 'outperformers' as they seem more confident than oil and gold that this ends well. Bond yields and the dollar tumbled all day, bitcoin bid.

 

            Monday in the technical stats.

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/momentum

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/market-performance

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/sectors/rankings

            https://www.barchart.com/stocks/signals/new-recommendations

 

            What is behind the melt up?

            https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/whats-behind-meltup-complete-hedge-fund-institutional-and-retail-flow-and-positiong

 

Summary: Looking ahead, Goldman writes that sentiment remains fragile and outside of the expected mechanical buying from systematic players, hedge covering and very selective re-risking, investors remain frozen in anticipation of the next Iran/Hormuz headlines with quasi-symmetrical risks of reescalation vs deescalation, arguing for choppiness ahead.

 

            The tape says one thing, the headlines another.

            https://talkmarkets.com/article/the-tape-says-one-thing-headlines-say-another-1776100385

           

Tuesday morning setup: US equity futures, and global stocks rise while oil slides on a Reuters report that negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Pakistan later this week to resume negotiations to end the war in the Gulf, days after the first peace talks ended without a breakthrough, with chatter from Pakistani media that Trump is said to be in attendance. As of 8:00am ET,  S&P 500 futures are up 0.2% while Nasdaq 100 contracts add 0.4%, as the cash index braces for a 10th straight day of gains, its longest streak of gains since 2021, with all Mag 7 stocks higher in premarket trading (Alphabet +0.9%, Amazon +0.7%, Apple +0.2%, Nvidia +0.6%, Meta Platforms +1.2%, Microsoft +1.1%, Tesla +1.9%) as tech / semis outperform other sectors; Cyclicals ex-Energy are leading Defensives. The risk-on rally is poised to continue today with the dollar weaker for a 7th day in a row while Treasuries were little changed. Gold rose 0.7% toward $4,800 an ounce. Bitcoin hit a four-week high. Brent fell 0.4% to below $99 a barrel, with the International Energy Agency estimating that the war will wipe out global oil demand growth for the first time since the 2020 pandemic, selling was boosted by Iran de-escalation hopes; Ags remain bid and precious metals continue to move inversely to the Dollar. Today’s macro data focus is on weekly ADP, Small Biz Survey, and PPI. Headline PPI (YoY expected to increase from 3.4% to 4.6%) is expected to see a significant jump with Core PPI (YoY expected to increase from 3.5% to 3.8%) increases more muted. Big banks report Q1 earnings today with consumer health the key macro read-through.

 

    Fundamental

 

 

Headlines

 

              The Economy

 

                        US

 

                          March existing home sales fell 3.6% versus consensus of down 2.0%.

                          https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2026/04/13/existing-home-sales-remained-sluggish-in-march

 

March PPI rose 0.3% versus projections of 1.1%; core PPI was up 0.1% versus +0.5%.

                                                  https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-producer-prices-cooler-expected-march-despite-surge-energy-costs

 

The March small business optimism index came in at 95.8   versus estimates of 98.6.

 

                        International

 

February Japanese industrial production declined 2.0% versus projections of -2.1%; capacity utilization was down 0.1% versus +1.0%.

 

The March Chinese trade balance was $51.1 billion versus forecasts of $112.0 billion.

 

March German CPI rose 2.7% versus expectations of +0.4%.

 

                        Other

 

                          The world’s anti-recession guardrails are weaker than ever.

  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-04-12/imf-world-bank-to-meet-in-dc-this-week-as-iran-shock-looms?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy

 

            Iran

 

              The latest in the rapidly changing conflict.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-mulls-hormuz-shipping-pause-preserve-talks-avoid-trump-blockade-showdown-us

 

              Chinese tanker tests Trump’s blockade.

                          https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-sanctioned-tanker-signaling-chinese-ownerships-tests-trump-blockade-hormuz-crossing

 

              Oil shock is now fully playing out.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/stocks-are-ignoring-it-jpmorgan-warns-oil-shock-now-fully-playing-out

 

Summary: As JPM concludes, today’s much wider gap signals a market struggling to source barrels for delivery now, even if it still assumes supply will normalize later. In that sense, the strength in Dated Brent is the market’s way of signaling that time has become a scarce commodity. 

 

              The danger that the Strait of Hormuz will not soon reopen.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/strait-hormuz-crisis-exposes-fatal-flaw-economic-thinking

 

              An optimist’s view of the current situation.

              https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/how-irans-mosaic-doctrine-fracturing

 

            Monetary Policy

 

              An impossible choice for the Fed.

              An Impossible Choice For the Fed? - Carson Group

 

            Recession

 

              The surge in oil prices could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

              https://bonddad.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-big-picture-overview-of-economy-oil.html

 

            The Financial System

 

              The credit cycle has not been repealed.

              https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2026/04/13/with_private_credit_we_see_the_credit_cycle_hasnt_been_repealed_1175984.html

 

     Investing

 

            Take this simple step as you approach retirement.

            https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/take-this-simple-step-runup-retirement

 

            Ten wide moat stocks trading at discounts to their fair value.

            https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/10-wide-moat-stocks-trading-attractive-discounts-their-fair-values

 

            Bond yields are too low for what is coming.

                        https://wolfstreet.com/2026/04/11/us-government-sold-620-billion-of-treasury-securities-this-week-10-year-yield-ends-at-4-31-30-year-yield-at-4-91/

           

Iran war may raise ten year Treasury’s risk premium.

            https://www.capitalspectator.com/iran-war-may-widen-10-year-yields-market-premium-vs-fair-value/

 

            Q1 earnings season to gain momentum.

            https://talkmarkets.com/article/q1-earnings-season-to-gain-momentum-what-will-it-show-1775891992

 

            New dawn for short sellers?

            https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/9d798d20-a585-427b-8790-68dbca70ba29

 

            What will AI do to discount rates?

            https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions-roll/ai-and-discount-rates

 

    News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

 

 

 

What I am reading today

 

            The ‘annoyance economy’.

            https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/business/annoyance-economy-costs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.alA.v4Tp.YJIp0QgmzIpL&smid=url-share

 

                       

                        Artemis II photos.

            https://www.popsci.com/science/artemis-ii-photos/

 

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