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CNBC

March 2026

Trump says U.S. will destroy Iran’s oil wells, Kharg Island without deal to 'immediately' reopen Hormuz Strait

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned Iran to immediately reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz or risk attacks on its oil wells and power plants

Donald Trumppresident
The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran,

Russia welcomes arrival of oil tanker in Cuba after Trump softens approach to U.S. blockade

Donald Trumppresident
If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem, whether it’s Russia … and if other countries want to do it,
I prefer letting it in, whether it's Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need,
Donald Trumppresident
Cuba is finished, they have a bad regime and they have very bad and corrupt leadership and whether or not they get a boat of oil it's not going to matter,

Mistral secures $830 million in debt financing to fund AI data center

The company has increasingly looked to invest in the infrastructure needed to power AI, and in February it announced a 1.2-billion-euro plan to build data centers and compute capacity in Sweden

Arthur Menschchief Executive
Scaling our infrastructure in Europe is critical to empower our customers and to ensure AI innovation and autonomy remain at the heart of Europe,

Asia-Pacific markets fall as Middle East war enters fifth week

The benchmark Kospi plunged over 5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 3.97% lower

Oil soars with Brent heading for record monthly surge as Trump reportedly eyes Iran energy control

The speed and magnitude of the move underscore how quickly energy markets are repricing geopolitical risk, challenging earlier efforts to keep both oil and bond markets anchored, and reinforcing the risk of sustained disruption in the Strait,

Trump reportedly warns to 'take the oil in Iran' as Tehran targets water, power plants in Kuwait

Smoke could be seen rising from the direction of a major UAE energy installation on March 14, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting the Gulf's petroleum facilities hours after the US struck Iran's Kharg Island

Stock futures slide ahead of a holiday-shortened trading week: Live updates

U.S. equity futures fell on Sunday evening as investors kick off a holiday-shortened week of trading

Cameron Dawsonassociation football player (born 1995)
If you look at the degree of the downside and how correlated all those stocks have been, it's likely that we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater,

The problem for investors: We don't know how Trump wants the Iran war to end

Oh, and the 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields are marching higher — with some, if not all, those gains related to concerns that disruptions to the impossibly complex supply chain beginning in the Gulf will rekindle inflation

France detains two more suspects over foiled Paris Bank of America attack

Laurent Nunezinterior Minister
One individual was trying to light an improvised explosive device made with a container likely containing hydrocarbons ​and a crude ignition system, while another was ‌filming,
Two ​further individuals were taken into ​police custody last night ​as part of the investigation launched on March 28, 2026, into the offences committed against Bank of America,

Meta's court losses spell potential trouble for AI research, consumer safety

But as Meta's court losses this week illustrate, the researchers' work can become a liability

Brian Boland (tennis)former tennis coach
There was a period of time when there were teams that were created internally who could start to look at things and, for a brief window, you had some absolutely outstanding researchers who were looking at what was happening on these products with a little bit more free rein than I understand they have today,

Eli Lilly reaches $2.75 billion deal with Insilico to bring AI-developed drugs to the global market

Alex Zhavoronkovscientist
In many ways, Lilly is better than us in some areas of AI,
This collaboration allows us to explore novel mechanisms and accelerate the identification of promising therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas,

Global week ahead: Why emergency G7 meetings are not working

It marks the fourth time since the start of the war in Iran that the G7 has convened at a ministerial level

Anti-Trump rallies in thousands of U.S. cities for 'No Kings' protest

Leah Greenbergindivisible co-director
The defining story of this Saturday's ⁠mobilization is not just how many people are protesting, but where they are protesting,
Maureen O'Toolespokesperson
These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone,
Voters ​who decide elections, the people who do the door knocking and the voter registration and all of the work of turning protests into ‌power, ⁠they are taking to the streets right now, and they are furious,
What's happening in this country is unsustainable,

How the big oil and gas CEOs think the Iran war supply disruption will play out

The executives gathered in Houston, Texas, for S&P Global's annual CERAWeek energy conference to take stock of the war

Wael Sawanshell CEO
I hear and I read a lot about talks about prices and the like, all interesting, but it's physical flows that matter,
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahsheikh
The costs of this war don't stay within geographical lines in this region,
We're in a de-facto situation where the Iranians are controlling the Strait,
Ryan LanceconocoPhillips CEO
You just can't take 8 to 10 million barrels a day of oil and 20 or so percent of the [liquefied natural gas] market off the world stage without having some significant repercussions,
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabahsheikh
This is an attack not only against the Gulf, but it is an attack that is holding the world's economy hostage,
We've had to evacuate a number of our staff, our non-essential staff,
This is the worst I've seen,

New fees, fewer flights: Higher fuel prices pinch consumer budgets beyond the gas pump

Companies and other organizations are increasingly preparing for an environment in which the conflict — and subsequent jolt to crude prices — evolves from an unexpected shock into a long-term challenge

If the price of oil stays elevated, we're going to have to take action like we had to do last year and be responsive on pricing,
War worsens consumers' feelings about the economy. This isn't a shocking revelation,
I think fares will continue to go up in line with oil prices,
This temporary price adjustment will provide needed flexibility for the Postal Service by helping to ensure that the actual costs of doing business are covered, as required by Congress,
Drivers are feeling the cost of rising gas prices, which ultimately impacts their earnings,

Here are 3 themes that drove another super challenging week for stocks

The Dow is down 10% from its most recent record high close, while the Nasdaq is off roughly 13%

It's a bit like dentists trying to do brain surgery,
Did Meta lose some lawsuits involving some painful addictions to their product? Yes. But is this hidden asbestos? I believe that Meta has the law and the facts on their side and will defend it vigorously."

Worried about Strait of Hormuz inflation to come? The world economy has one word for you: Plastics

The cauldron of petrochemicals sounds like a high school chemistry class study guide: benzene, butadiene, ammonia, styrene, naphtha and many other oil-based byproducts

So much of the world is packaged and transported in various forms of plastic,
We're currently working with dozens of clients on Advent calendar production, many of whom are at the sampling or early production stage. Due to recent developments, we've had to recalculate costs for many of these projects specifically because of the increase in plastic prices, which directly impacts the cost of these inserts,
Our plastic suppliers in China have raised prices by roughly 15% recently, and they've pointed to higher raw material costs and general market uncertainty as the reason,
However, all new orders placed over the past couple of weeks are already being quoted at higher prices,
The uses of petrochemicals are wide-ranging and, essentially, impact everything we use and consume. It would be hard to identify something that didn't have an oil or natural gas-based component unless it was constructed entirely of wood,
Packaging needs to be produced, shipped to the manufacturer, filled with product, and only then distributed to retail. So any price changes typically become visible on shelves with some lag rather than instantly,
There are so many of these everyday goods that will be impacted,
The amount of plastic used in auto and truck manufacturing alone is huge,