‘Peak war panic’ will likely hit financial markets in 1-3 weeks, strategist predicts, as Trump says he doesn’t want to make a deal with Iran yet

The S&P 500 is only down 3% so far this year and 5% off its all-time high, still far from reaching bear market territory or even a correction, suggesting investors aren’t panicking yet about the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. But that could change soon.

To be sure, oil prices have soared more than 40% since the war began two weeks ago and are up nearly 70% year to date. But they remain below the peak seen after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, despite one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies being bottled up by Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The end is not in sight,” Dan Alamariu, chief geopolitical strategist at Alpine Macro, said in a note Thursday. “The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, and markets are starting to price in a prolonged, uncertain endgame.”

On Saturday, Reuters reported that U.S. and Iranian officials have rejected efforts by other Mideast countries to get both sides to start ceasefire negotiations. President Donald Trump then Read Entire Article