After a moderate pullback on war worries yesterday, stocks are rising today. Gold and silver are rebounding as well, while crude oil is giving up ground. The dollar is flat, while Treasury yields continue to flirt with key levels.
Iran launched a series of missile, drone, and boat attacks on shipping and territory of the United Arab Emirates Sunday and Monday. Meanwhile, US counterattacks helped two merchant vessels get through the Strait of Hormuz. The developments pushed crude oil closer to 2026 highs yesterday, but prices are easing back after (relative) calm resumed overnight. WTI was recently trading around $103, while Brent crude was going for $112.
USO, PLTR, COIN, TLT (YTD % Change)
Data by YCharts
Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) delivered beats on adjusted earnings per share (33 cents vs. analyst estimates of 28 cents) and revenue ($1.63 billion vs. $1.53 billion) in Q1. But Palantir stock slipped in early trading anyway as investors apparently wanted more from the AI poster child. Both private companies and US government agencies use Palantir’s analytics and data-processing applications. Its shares were down 17.8% year-to-date heading into the report.
Crypto-leveraged brokerages like Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) and Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) have struggled amid falling prices and reduced trading in digital assets. Today, the latter announced it would lay off 700 employees – or about 14% of its workforce. Total market capitalization across cryptos has fallen about $1.6 trillion since late last year, according to CoinMarketCap.
Finally, keep an eye on long-term interest rates here. Rising energy prices are fueling inflation concerns again – and helping to push the yield on the 30-Year Treasury Bond back up to 5%. That’s essentially the highest since last July, and it comes as rate futures markets are starting to price in a resumption of Federal Reserve rate HIKES rather than a continuation of rate CUTS. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) is down a modest 1%...so far...in 2026.
