Good morning, you're listening to Markets Desk.
Geopolitical risk is back at the center of the energy trade. The Strait of Hormuz has effectively shut down, Trump is threatening additional strikes on Iran, and U.S. missile stockpiles are reportedly thinning. With no clear endgame in sight, traders are watching every headline, yet Brent crude this morning sits at eighty-five dollars and ninety-two cents per barrel, actually down slightly on the session — a sign markets may be pricing in resolution faster than the facts warrant.
Staying with risk, the S&P five hundred is flashing a valuation warning that's hard to ignore. The Shiller price-to-earnings ratio, which smooths earnings over a ten-year cycle to filter out short-term noise, has reached its most stretched level in twenty-six years. That doesn't mean a crash is imminent, but historically these readings have preceded prolonged periods of muted returns rather than continued acceleration.
And at JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon laid out in unusual detail exactly what he wants in his successor — more than a dozen traits, ranging from intellectual curiosity to what he called heart, soul, and grit. Dimon was careful to note the bank has strong leadership ready to step in, but the specificity of that list tells you succession planning there is anything but casual.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
