Gold Jumps, Dollar Dumps As AMD & Imminent Iran Deal Lift Stocks & Bonds, Sink Oil
US crude oil futures rose by approximately $1 in early Thursday trading as investors weighed the prospects of a potential peace deal in the US-Israel war on Iran.
German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is costing it about $60m per week in fuel and insurance costs, as it remains too risky to send its vessels through the strategic waterway, AFP reports.
Iran Oil Official In Surprise Admission: ‘Fate Of Our Refineries Now At Risk’ As US Blockade Begins To Bite
Meanwhile US Navy jet fires on Iranian ship trying to reach Iranian port…
World Starts To “Build” Around Hormuz; Japan Buying UAE Oil Bypassing Strait As ADNOC To Spend $55 Billion On Pipelines
“Iran’s mistake is that once Hormuz becomes structurally unreliable, the world builds around it…“
Long after the Iran war is just a bookmark in the history books, one distinct consequence will persist: much of the world, at least the part that does not fall under the Chinese sphere of influence, will do everything it can to avoid the Strait of Hormuz and failing that, have a Plan B. Just like when the Biden admin weaponized the US Dollar in 2022 by booting Russia from SWIFT after the Ukraine war, and in the process started the biggest gold and bitcoin rally in history as the rest of the world parked its savings in non-USD assets, so the world’s most important oil choke point will never again be viewed again in the same way after Iran launched dozens of rockets at the ships transiting it.
This shift in perception is what James Thorne, chief market strategist of WellingtonAltus, called “Iran’s Historic Mistake“; he explains it as follows:
By weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz, Iran committed a strategic blunder of historic proportions. Tehran meant to punish America. Instead, it exposed every power built on imported energy, vulnerable sea lanes, and the delusion that globalization repealed geography. China is exposed. Europe is exposed. Britain is exposed. Iran has created a world where hard resource power decides outcomes.
And the punchline:
Iran’s mistake is that once Hormuz becomes structurally unreliable, the world builds around it. That means bypass corridors, revived pipeline politics, and urgent planning for routes linking Aqaba to Mediterranean outlets near Gaza and the long-stalled Basra-to-Aqaba pipeline. The old energy order is cracking. The UAE’s OPEC exit signals cartel discipline giving way to national advantage under pressure.
