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\n\tMeanwhile, Germany warns Washington not to sink into another Middle East quagmire: File Image\/Pixabay<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/p>\n \n\tEven with more expensive fuel bills, most big U.S. companies have nevertheless been reporting profit growth<\/p>\n Bloomberg<\/p>\n
\n\tThe new trading week began with U.S. president Donald Trump yet again influencing investors, this time by halting U.S. envoys to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran on the grounds it would be pointless – which prompted<\/a>\u00a0a 2.8 percent rise in Brent, to $108.23 per barrel.<\/p>\n
\n\tWest Texas Intermediate rose by 2 percent to $96.30.<\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, 19 commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, compared to a the normal daily average of 129 transits, according<\/a>\u00a0to the United Nations; and Tehran, seeking a way out of the diplomatic impasse imposed by Trump, consulted on Monday with Russian president Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
\n\tFor the record, the impasse was stoked by Iran offering to reopen the strait if the U.S. ended its blockade and agreed to discussing nuclear issues at a later stage.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut despite the geopolitical tensions and escalating oil prices, Bloomberg noted<\/a>\u00a0 that \u201cEven with more expensive fuel bills, most big U.S. companies have nevertheless been reporting profit growth for the start of 2026 that\u2019s even stronger than analysts expected\u2026that in turn has helped the S&P 500 jump 13 percent since hitting a low in late March.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a similar vein, the Iran war caused BP shares to rise 20 percent, making it the lead of the five energy super majors; Oilprice.com pointed <\/a>out that previously, BP\u2019s share price severely underperformed those of its peers and the surge in oil prices in 2022-2023, and that conversely Exxon\u2019s shares have dropped about 2 percent since the war began, because \u201cpart of its oil and gas production in the Middle East and all LNG volumes in which it has stakes in Qatar are trapped at the Strait of Hormuz and are unable to leave the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAlso in the oil-related news on Monday was German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who warned<\/a>\u00a0Washington that Iran had proven \u201cclearly stronger than one thought\u201d and the U.S. was being \u201chumiliated\u201d by Tehran\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile Merz’s analysis was questionable and culminated in a plea for Washington to avoid sinking deeper into another Middle East quagmire, it was more importantly perceived as another decline in allied cohesion as the U.S. continues to sustain economic pressure on the Islamic republic.<\/p>\n