Charts Show Middle East Shockwave Rippling Through Energy, Air Travel, And Freight Networks

Europe's Diesel Shortage Is A Problem Created By Political Design Authored by Daniel Lacalle via dlacalle.com, The diesel agreement between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will not solve the diesel shortage, considering the magnitude of the problem created by years of misguided, wrongly called "environmental policies." Complaining about diesel prices and the US-Russia deal while eliminating domestic refining capacity and bombing refineries is just another example of bureaucratic hypocrisy. Renewables are important, but they cannot substitute diesel, just as they have been unable to offset the importance of natural gas. Diesel is...

EU Prepares For 'Potential' Talks With Putin As US Slowly Reduces Troops On Continent A recent report in Financial Times indicates the European Union is preparing for "potential" future talks with Russia and President Vladimir Putin at a moment of extreme doubts over both US military commitments and Russia's intentions in Ukraine. Putin himself during his V-Day speech Saturday hinted for the first time that the conflict may be 'coming to an end': "I ⁠⁠think that the matter is coming to an end," Putin told reporters of the Russia-Ukraine war, Europe’s deadliest...

Conference Board Confidence Unexpectedly Jumps To Highest In 2026 Despite war (and rising gas prices) now fully embedded in respondents' minds, it is perhaps surprising that The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence rose considerably more than expected to 92.8 in April (89.0 exp) from an upwardly revised 92.2. Present Situation dipped very modestly from 124.1 to 123.8 (120.1 exp) while Expectations rose from 71.0 to 72.2 (69.2 exp) Source: Bloomberg That is the highest headline print in 2026. “Consumer appraisals of current and expected business conditions declined moderately compared to last month," said Dana M Peterson,...