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  He should have made at the outset. But it was still essential for Americans to hear it.  The most important message we heard is that he’s not ending the war until the job is done, and Iran’s leaders would be wise to act accordingly. The strongest argument for bombing Iran is to deny the radical regime a nuclear weapon, and Mr. Trump made the case with vigor.  You can nitpick that he exaggerated the immediacy of when Iran would have a bomb or have missiles capable of hitting America. But only a naif would believe the ayatollahs weren’t set on both.  Someone had to stop them, and Mr. Trump acted when other Presidents and world leaders would not. We were glad the President didn’t repeat his threat to withdraw from NATO. But he did send a pointed message to Europe and our Asian allies that depend on Persian Gulf oil that they have a stake in helping the U.S. open the Strait of Hormuz.  WSJ Editorial 1 April 2026 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-speech-iran...

  The US stock market has settled into a pattern where it starts the week strong, drifts sideways, and then collapses on Thursdays and Fridays. Experts say the rationale for this pattern is that investors prefer to trim their stock holdings late in the week due to the uncertainty of what can happen in the war over the weekend. Natalia Kniazhevich Bloomberg April 1, 2026 Updated on April 2 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-01/stocks-enter-danger-zone-late-week-trading-has-crushed-s-p-500 Torsdag 2 april Stockholmsbörsen stänger nedåt. Gruvbolag och verkstad backade på bred front i takt med att oljepriset lyfter. De amerikanska terminerna pekar mot en röd öppning på Wall Street.  https://www.di.se/live/stockholmsborsen-stanger-nedat-gruvbolag-tyngde / Fredagar - se även Dagen innan 27 mars https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/03/stockholm-och-new-york-27-mars-hormuz.html 20 mars https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2026/03/uppatstuds-fredag-20-mars.html Fredagen den...

USA:s president Donald Trump skriver på sin plattform Truth Social  ”Irans nya regimpresident, betydligt mindre radikaliserad och mycket mer intelligent än sina föregångare, har nyss bett Amerikas Förenta Stater om ett eldupphör! Vi kommer att överväga det när Hormuzsundet är öppet, fritt och klart. Till dess bombar vi Iran till oigenkännlighet eller, som det sägs, tillbaka till stenåldern!” DI 1 april 2026, 15:41 https://www.di.se/live/trump-irans-nya-ledare-har-bett-usa-om-vapenvila/ Although I expected the war on Iran to be a disaster, I didn’t expect the Trump administration to be implicitly conceding defeat after barely a month. Yet that’s where we are: Paul Krugman Apr 1 USA-börserna stänger på grönt https://www.di.se/live/usa-borserna-stanger-pa-gront-halvledarbolaget-rusade/ Trump threatened to stop weapons for Ukraine unless Europe joined Hormuz coalition Nato’s top official urged key alliance members to offer help to US to reopen key waterway FT 1 April 2026 20.00 https:/...

  Irans president uppges vara beredd att avsluta kriget i utbyte mot säkerhetsgarantier.  Krigsoron är som bortblåst på USA-börserna – som går mot sin bästa handelsdag sedan attacken mot Iran.  Detta efter att Irans president uppges vara beredd att avsluta kriget i utbyte mot säkerhetsgarantier.  https://www.di.se/live/iran-uppges-vara-redo-att-avsluta-kriget-kraftigt-lyft-pa-usa-borserna/ Nasdaq Leads Rally Built on Hope the Iran War May End Soon https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-03-31-2026 Se mer nedan Fly me to the moon American astronauts last set foot on the moon in 1972. More than half a century later, NASA is preparing to take a big step toward returning. Bloomberg 30 March 2026 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-03-30/nasa-artemis-ii-moon-mission-launches-billions-to-boeing-lockheed Asienbörser lyser rött  ”Det kortsiktiga perspektivet är att ett slut på kriget vore en välkommen utveckling”, säger Tim Waterer...

  USA-börserna surnade till – Nasdaq vände till rött https://www.di.se/live/usa-borserna-surnade-till-nasdaq-vande-till-rott/ Trump skakade liv i Stockholmsbörsen Efter att Donald Trump uppgett att USA förhandlar med Iran om ett slut på Irankriget har humöret varit gott på Stockholmbörsen. https://www.di.se/live/trump-skakade-liv-i-stockholmsborsen-banktrio-bland-vinnarna/ Wall Street öppnar på grönt – Iranutspel lyfter Uppgifterna från Donald Trump om att förhandlingar pågår med Irans nya ledning skapar muntra miner på Wall Street.  Irans attacker mot aluminiumfabriker får Alcoa att lyfta kraftigt. Lucas De Vivo DI 30 mars 2026, 15:39 https://www.di.se/live/wall-street-oppnar-pa-gront-iranutspel-lyfter/   Trump threatens to 'obliterate' Iran's energy facilities if deal not reached 'shortly' https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c8jke9v9xv9t Iran’s oil exports are almost completely dependent on a small outpost in the Persian Gulf: Kharg Island. Taking control of Kharg’s oil...

Pakistan promotes army chief Asim Munir to field marshal “This is not an individual honour but an honour for the armed forces of Pakistan and the entire nation,” he said. A field marshal is the highest rank in armies – like Pakistan’s and India’s – that follow the British Army’s traditions. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/21/pakistan-promotes-army-chief-asim-munir-to-field-marshal-why-it-matters Pakistan, a country once isolated by Washington for harboring Osama bin Laden, is assuming a surprisingly prominent position in the multination effort to push the U.S. and Iran toward the negotiating table. The country’s officials helped deliver America’s 15-point peace plan to Iran, according to Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East.  https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/pakistan-trump-iran-war-84b8248e

Houthi missile attack signals ‘serious’ escalation in Iran war Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began 12 years ago, when the Houthis seized control of the country's north-west from the internationally recognised government and a Saudi-led coalition supported by the US intervened in an effort to restore its rule. Crucially, they control the Yemen's Red Sea coastline. BBC 28 March 2026 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd6l5n8jv4yo Thanks Wayne https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/houthi-arsenal Rebels’ participation puts vital maritime routes at greater risk The Houthis, who control most of Yemen’s populous north,  survived intense US and Israeli bombing campaigns that targeted its military infrastructure and leadership. FT 28 March 2026 https://www.ft.com/content/e77d9ac6-d9dd-415e-a4a7-f54d3060239a?syn-25a6b1a6=1 US Stealth Bombers Strike Houthi Weapons Sites in Yemen  oktober 2024 Med länk till Flygande Vingen Northrop YB-35 25 June 1946 https://englundmacro.blo...

  Simona Mohamsson (L) och Sverigedemokraternas partiledare Jimmie Åkesson (SD)  Till Kvartals partiledarintervju, som har konceptet ”plus en”, tog Sverigedemokraternas partiledare med sig sin nya bästis, utbildningsministern.  Efteråt gick de på fotboll. Pressträffsbilderna från Sverigelöftet får nu sällskap av odd couple-bilder på Jimmie i gubbkeps och Simona i samtida slipover/stickad ringbrynja när de patriotiskt jublar över Sveriges blågula kross av ett krigsdrabbat Ukraina. Henrik Torehammar SvD 28 mars 2026 https://www.svd.se/a/zOOVor/akesson-och-mohamsson-pressar-c-mot-v Winston Churchill's famous quote that democracy is the worst form of government except for all others Here is what he actually said (in a speech to the House of Commons in 1947): [I]t has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, and that pu...

What Banks Stand to Lose From the Private-Credit Mess There has been a surge in recent years of bank lending to nonbanks, or so-called non-depository financial institutions, or NDFIs. Besides private lenders, this also includes loans to mortgage lenders, consumer lenders and private-equity funds.  Bank lending to nonbank financial institutions has grown to about $1.9 trillion from about $1.1 trillion three years ago.  This now represents about 14% of all bank loans, according to Federal Reserve data. Telis Demos WSJ April 1, 2026 https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/what-banks-stand-to-lose-from-the-private-credit-mess-194a5338 The past few weeks has seen one firm after another frustrate requests from individual investors to get their money back.  These clients are worried about recent fund losses and other potential problems such as heavy lending to AI-threatened software companies.  But firms are mostly sticking to the letter of quarterly redemption limits in the fa...

  Wall Street avslutar veckans handel på minus Nasdaq  tappade 2,2 procent. Oljepriset klättrar till 114 dollar https://www.di.se/live/wall-street-avslutar-veckans-handel-pa-minus/ Stockholmsbörsen på minus  trots Donald Trumps förlängda paus mot Iran.  Oljepriset fortsätter uppåt och   försvarssektorn  backade på bred front. https://www.di.se/live/forsvarsbolag-backade-pa-rod-bors/ The blackest of black swans The longer Trump’s war drags on, the worse the coming global food crisis. The war in the Gulf has hit the epicentre of global fertiliser /gödningsmedel/  production. The crunch is happening just as the big farming belts of the northern hemisphere near the spring planting season and just as Australia approaches winter planting. It is the blackest of black swans. https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-black-swan-impact-of-highly.html Abdolreza Abbassian, the former head of commodities at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Org...