Doug Brignole's Iron Man Archive

Another Greek Tanker Sneaks Through Strait Of Hormuz Another Greek-controlled oil tanker has crossed the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran's declaration that only "friendly" vessels will be allowed to make the transit, marking the fourth such voyage since hostilities in the Middle East began. The suezmax Pola, which switched off its tracking system in the Persian Gulf on March 10, was detected again on Monday by the Automatic Identification System: it was located several thousand miles away.  The ship was sailing in the eastern Indian Ocean near the maritime corridor off the...

Crude Stocks Rise 3.5 Million, Highest Since May 2025 With oil flows passing through the Straits of Hormuz blocked indefinitely, markets were paying especially close attention to today's weekly DOE report on oil stocks, to see how much capacity the US has in case of a prolonged lockout. The result was satisfactory.  The DOE reported the following weekly changes: Crude +3.475MM, more than the expected +3.00MM, and the highest since May 2025 Gasoline -1.704MM, down to the lowest since Jan 9, 2026 Distillates +429K, biggest increase since Jan 2026 Cushing +1.6MM, rising to the highest...

US Pending Home Sales Barely Bounce Off Record Lows Despite Tumbling Rates In Feb After reaching a record low last month - with the decline blamed on weather - pending home sales bounced modestly in February (up 1.8% MoM vs -0.6% MoM exp and -10.% MoM prior). Year-over-year home sales continue to decline (down 0.6% YoY)... Source: Bloomberg ...just barely off of all-time-record lows... Source: Bloomberg Pending home sales in the South, the biggest home-selling region in the country, increased 2.7%. They rose 4.6% in the Midwest and edged up in the West. Contract signings dropped in...