The Iran War Is Roiling Markets and Supply Chains

Originally published at: https://peakprosperity.com/finance-u-the-iran-war-is-roiling-markets-and-supply-chains/

Top of mind for this podcast was the Iran War, now entering its second week. Despite ever-increasing escalations targeting oil, refinery output, LNG and other downstream products like sulfuric acid and helium, US & oil markets have been remarkably calm.

So remarkable that many now suspect stabilization efforts by fiscal and monetary authorities.

It all has that same eerily quiet feel we experienced in 2008 as US equity markets ignored reality right up until they couldn’t. Ditto for February of 2020 when the markets blithely ignored Covid until they couldn’t any longer.

But, as with a beachball held under water, market suppression/tamping activities tend to burst quite suddenly when they slip from their tethers.

The primary effects will be higher gasoline prices at the pumps.

The secondary effects will be profound but impossible to predict in their exact details. Who can predict how thousands of middle managers will decide where to prune and which customers to shaft and which ones to honor?

The recommendations remain unchanged from prior weeks.

  • Be sure you are managing your portfolio risks. Paul notes that losing portfolio value is asymmetric. A 50% decline needs to be matched by a 100% gain in order to get back to even. So, be sure not lose wealth you cannot afford to lose.
  • Have emergency foods on hand.
  • Have cash on hand to meet at least a few weeks of basic expenses.
  • Start thinking carefully about the things you need in your life that may be affected by either the loss of those products from the market due to supply chain shocks (tires come to mind due to their dependency of both sulfuric acid and petrochemical inputs) or possibly trade cessation due to the war’s risks and country reactions.

Events are developing extremely quickly. Stay on top of events, adjust as rapidly as you can, and don’t be afraid to make decisions.


Timestamps

00:00 The Calm Before the Storm
03:26 Market Manipulation and Its Consequences
07:44 The Ripple Effects of Conflict in the Gulf
10:51 Investor Complacency and Market Risks
14:34 Inflation and the Fed’s Dilemma
18:05 The Importance of Market Integrity
22:12 Geopolitical Uncertainty and Market Reactions
26:35 Supply Chain Disruptions and Economic Fallout
32:07 The Ripple Effects of War
35:26 China’s Strategic Moves in Global Trade
39:20 Supply Chain Disruptions and Economic Consequences
44:02 Preparing for Economic Uncertainty
49:06 Resilience in the Face of Crisis
54:25 Navigating Complex Economic Realities


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2 Likes

I have been meaning to ask.
Is there a way that paid subscribers can have ad free content. Have heard these promotions dozens maybe hundred times.
Sure there are new people - force them to listen for a couple weeks but save the rest of us time by eliminating ads.
Thanks for you attention to this matter ( lol isn’t that what trump says)
Rick

These are public videos. The way you can avoid ads is to (a) skip past them or to (b) skip past them.

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Ok for some reason i thought i was special getting to listen LOL HA!

PP suggestion box item: for paid subscribers allow us to listen ad free …i do not know how that would work so chose to ignore me.
A character flaw - my long ago secretary told me “You just want what you want”

Happy to have just purchased an electric vehicle and side step the early wave of oil spikes (high fuel costs). Trying to think through as much pre-purchasing as I can as I’ve already got the base layers covered.

2 Likes

I just can’t come at EV’s. They seem like computers on wheels, and I’m worried about software glitching, or remote shut down.
We were just discussing last night how glad we are we have an older diesel manual, a small petrol manual, and a larger petrol automatic, as well as a 1960’s era motorbike, and our pushbikes.
It’s not our ideal location living in town, but two of us can reach work via push bike ride, one can’t - me. But I can car pool to work with one of the others to save their legs from time to time as we all work in the same direction.
We can walk to the train station, post office, CBD from home. As well as the outer edges of town with farms and forest.
EV’s are seen as ego/status symbols of University Educated ####ers around here. This is coal country, forestry, farming and fishing. The very people destroying those industries and creating local unemployment with claims of climate change and crazy government policy are the people driving the EV’s, so they are not looked upon favourably by the blue collar locals.
I suspect in time the cost of fuel will be the least of most peoples concerns anyway.
Enjoy yours.

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The notion of EVs is alluring, but on my 4th battery “system” for power tools I have to pause. All the discarded battery systems in theory, last forever or can be recycled (but aren’t). It seems that some electronic part always is what manages to cause a failure in anything ‘mechanical’. After last weeks mechanical challenge, I discovered the repair shop I had previously used (staffed by 60 and 70 year olds) had closed, Left. to my own devices I sleuthed a supplier of the necessary capacitor,…from England! I just can’t find the confidence that EVs will remain reliable in 10 years, or be able to kiss and makeup with a stump; even without the big brother monitoring that comes with them or range/recharging issues. I ‘believe’ power limitations for EV charging will become as difficult as petroleum and not much different in price (already a reality in Europe). The potential for being able to repair anything you want to rely on is paramount.

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I think in a similar fashion. I have an old vespa 150 type scooter and was thinking about how old those tires are. I ordered a new carburator for it years back, but need to buy three tires. Vespa tires are easy to change because you only remove the outer portion of the wheel.

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Not Middle East but another refinery on fire … almost feel like we need a thread to keep up with world wide infrastructure/production damage and force majeure.

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Coincidence? Any word on the cause?

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I am sure it is just “an isolated incident”. This is the official cause:

“Firefighters spent hours battling the massive blaze after torrential rainfall caused the Olmeca refinery in Tabasco to flood and spill out highly flammable hydrocarbon residue.”

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Yeah, I don’t understand the fascination with EVs. The same people that rail against CBDCs, seem to have no issue with EVs.

Bro… they’re the same thing.

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It depends on what you are afraid of I guess

I will likely buy a plug in hybrid at some point for the same reason others would buy an electric only EV.

I plan to build a solar carport in the future and charge my phev for local runs and use gas for longer ones. In this way I am less fossile fuel dependent yet have its advantages where needed.

We have an EV car as well as couple gas jeeps. The EV is a computer on wheels. I would never want only an EV. I have an EV motorcycle and it cannot phone home on its own. You are supposed to connect it to your phone so it can update but I never did that. I just bring it to a dealership periodically if there are major updates. Its a 2020. Newer bikes may connect automatically. You would have to research them.

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Jeeeze, haven’t you seen what happens to EVs on the Jurassic Park documentary ?!?!

You can yank the hardware that talks to the manufacturer.
As an example, here’s how you’d do this for a 2017-2023 Tesla Model 3: https://service.tesla.com/docs/Model3/ServiceManual/en-us/GUID-756591B1-FEED-47FA-801B-2AC6BE690D64.html

And yes, it will continue driving as normal, just without any connectivity / remote functionality.

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This time Texas
https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/local/pillar-of-smoke-rising-from-valero-port-arthur/502-2fafa4f2-70c6-4bb3-b3ff-0ab6a599ac56

Hey another one

Translation, we are not selling at the old price.

Has to be coming …