The Iran war has been a brutal education in what happens when a geopolitical risk that everyone acknowledged but nobody fully priced suddenly materialises. Global GDP growth forecasts for 2026 have already been revised down by 0.7 percentage points, while Brent crude has surged past $100 a barrel—its highest in decades. Inflation expectations are rising
The cost to repair and restore damaged energy infrastructure in the Middle East could climb to at least $25 billion, according to initial estimates from Rystad Energy, which expects the figure to rise further based on its assessment of impacted facilities. “Spending is likely to be driven primarily by engineering and construction, followed by equipment
US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping are all set to meet in May this year. The high-profile meeting is enough to move markets, reset expectations and revive the idea that the world’s two biggest economies were still trying to find a stable bargain. But in 2026, that assumption looks far harder to
European markets ended higher after a volatile session on Tuesday, as investors navigated geopolitical tensions, shifting rate expectations, and a flurry of corporate developments across sectors. While equities showed resilience, weak economic data and rising uncertainty continued to cloud the broader outlook. European stocks edge higher amid geopolitical volatility European shares settled higher after a
On Tuesday, Bitcoin saw a pullback while crypto-related stocks saw a decline. Arm announced a move to in-house AI chip production while Jamie Dimon warned about AI-driven job losses in the US. Bitcoin slips amid risk-off sentiment Bitcoin drifted lower on Tuesday, slipping back toward the $69,000 level as broader weakness in equities spilled over
Most coverage of the Iran war focuses on missiles, military targets, and body counts. Yet the more relevant question—one that few are asking properly—is this: how does a country with 48% inflation, a currency that has lost 99% of its value in a decade, and daily rolling blackouts still manage to keep a war running?
Three weeks of relentless US and Israeli airstrikes have gutted Iran’s military. Its supreme leader is dead, its air force crippled, and its navy largely destroyed. Yet Tehran’s defiance shows no sign of fading. Over the weekend, Iranian forces fired a volley of missiles toward Israel, striking near a nuclear research site and threatening to
It’s only March, and investors have already absorbed a hot war in the Middle East, a credit system showing cracks, a brutal tech repricing, and two of the world’s most trusted safe-haven assets selling off in the middle of a crisis. The market feels chaotic because it genuinely is, and what makes this moment unusual
For 60 years, the US-Israel alliance was treated as a sacred pillar of American foreign policy, but that consensus may be cracking. What was once framed as a strategic partnership now looks increasingly like a costly state-backed arrangement: one that has delivered Israel more than $300 billion in US assistance. The US has provided $3.8
A growing share of Gen-Z (defined as those born between 1997 and 2012) is stepping away from work and education at the same time that debt burdens are rising and wages are struggling to keep up with living costs. Across major economies, millions of young people are now classified as NEETs, meaning they are not in