Average U.S. gasoline prices climbed above $3 per gallon on Monday for the first time since November, as escalating conflict with Iran rippled through global energy markets and pushed crude and fuel prices sharply higher. According to Reuters, retail gasoline crossed the $3 threshold as Brent crude surged more than 5% to nearly $77 per barrel, with prices briefly topping $80 in early trading. Tehran’s retaliation following U.S. and Israeli strikes has disrupted oil and fuel shipments across the Middle East, particularly through the Strait…

When it comes to the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) and now artificial superintelligence (ASI) (sometimes called artificial general intelligence), I feel as if we've been transported onto the set of the 1983 film "WarGames." In the film teenage hacker David Lightman stumbles onto the military's most sensitive war scenario planning computer while believing he has simply found a soon-to-be-released game called "Global Thermonuclear War" on the server of a computer game company.  Lightman activates the game which ultimately makes personnel…

Sábado, 28 de febrero de 2026.- Protesta de los trabajadores frente a la sede principal del Ministerio del Trabajo. Aumento salarial y respeto a sus derechos laborales reclamaron los trabajadores el jueves 26, en la mañana, frente al Ministerio del Trabajo, en Caracas. ...

The Strait of Hormuz is back in the headlines. Again. Roughly a fifth of globally traded oil passes through that narrow maritime corridor between Oman and Iran. And once more, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have turned this chokepoint into a pressure valve for the entire global economy. Insurance premiums spike. Tankers hesitate. Traders hold their breath. Politicians rush to microphones. And Europe wonders why its energy bills are rising. There is something profoundly frustrating about this moment, not because it is surprising, but because…

Chevron has declared force majeure at Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field after the government ordered a temporary suspension of production on security grounds, marking the second time in less than a year that hostilities with Iran have disrupted Eastern Mediterranean gas flows. Israel’s energy ministry directed operator Chevron to shut in Leviathan following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliatory action across the region. Partner NewMed Energy said the suspension followed guidance from security authorities,…

Chevron has declared force majeure at Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field after the government ordered a temporary suspension of production on security grounds, marking the second time in less than a year that hostilities with Iran have disrupted Eastern Mediterranean gas flows. Israel’s energy ministry directed operator Chevron to shut in Leviathan following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliatory action across the region. Partner NewMed Energy said the suspension followed guidance from security authorities,…

REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) and a small number of other North American companies are doing what the rest of the Western world failed to do for three decades: They are breaking China’s "kill switch" on the U.S. defense supply chain. While the U.S. defense sector has long been reliant on international processing for these materials, REalloys has established itself as the only North American facility currently producing the specialized alloys essential for high-performance magnets used in advanced defense systems.China’s dominance isn't in…

What has been happening in the Middle East when it comes to markets won’t affect only headlines but could reshape the structure of the oil market from the physical barrel to the far end of the derivatives curve. As tensions escalate, physical traders are going to have to rethink their physical routes, and will have to recalibrate the forward curve - opposite to equity markets, oil markets use the forward curve to hedge, not spot. Because of that, you will also see a repricing of volatility, adjusting skew, and deployment of option structures…

China’s power sector is undergoing a visible transformation. Electricity demand rose by 5% between 2024 and 2025, reaching 10,368 TWh, yet coal-fired generation declined by 113 TWh to 6,294 TWh in a year, reducing its share in the power mix. The entire increment in electricity demand was absorbed by nuclear and renewable sources, whose combined output rose by 617 TWh. On paper, this reflects a decisive shift away from coal and toward low-carbon energy. In practice, however, coal is not disappearing from China’s industry – it is…