Good Intentions Paved The Road To The 2008 Financial Crisis

Open Sesame Submitted By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities This week’s market behavior had a mythical, almost magical tone to it. In Arabian Nights, Ali Baba was able to open a cave of riches by uttering the phrase “Open Sesame.” Markets responded to any and every sort of connotation of “The Strait is Open” by rewarding participants with riches. We started this week bright and early, kicking off Bloomberg TV, and then moving on to Bloomberg Radio, and Tom Keene’s Best Ideas. At the time we were all trying to understand what “Blockade” meant....

Kuwait Declares Force Majeure As US Seizure Of Iranian Ship Escalates Tensions By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com Kuwait has declared force majeure on shipments of crude oil and refined products after disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz prevented some vessels from entering the Persian Gulf. The move comes as tensions in the Strait escalated again following the U.S. seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel in the waterway. According to Reuters, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has notified customers that it is invoking contractual clauses allowing it to withhold certain scheduled deliveries after the blockade hindered...

US Pending Home Sales Plunge Back Near Record Lows In July Following another disappointment in existing home sales in July, weak homebuilder sentiment, and plunging housing starts, pending home sales tumbled for the second month in a row in July (-2.3% MoM vs 0.0% exp - below thew worst forecast), dragging sales down 2.5% YoY - the biggest annual drop since April 2025... This decline matches the second-worst reading in data back to 2001... “The highest mortgage rates of the year hit right in the middle of summer, and that’s pulling back contract...