Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
Best Of RIBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of RIBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd


The week's question
In March 2025, in the thread "Re: OT, out", Umm asked the members: "Do you think it is because America is made up of magical soil that makes businesses based in America magically profitable?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Personal Finance / Retirement Investing
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (64) |
Author: wzambon ✶❂🐝 HONORARY
SHREWD
  😊 😞

Number: of 1356 
Subject: Re: About Iran’s Navy “At the Bottom of the Sea”
Date: 04/28/26 6:44 PM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 10
-It's a race, isn't it? How long can Iran hold out? According to all of you the answer is "indefinitely". I don't believe that's realistic.

Reminds me of the two men being chased by a bear. First man says to the other: “This is no use. You can’t outrun a bear.”

Second man responds: “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you.”

Which reframes your question from:
“How long can Iran hold out?”

to

“Which of us can hold out the longest?”

Here's a counter question for you: Why isn't oil at $200 a barrel and rising? Why, despite the strait being closed for ~6 weeks or whatever it is, has the price of oil largely stabilized in the mid $90s?

Many reasons, none of which will be improved by time:

In the first month- arrival at destinations by tankers that left the gulf before hostilities

Drawdown of strategic reserves

Draw down of above ground storage

Some contraction of demand

Trump’s jawboning of markets and promises of an imminent deal

Oil markets DID seem to stabilize in initial weeks, but now are starting to rise again.

WTI for immediate delivery today- 100 dollars

Brent Crude is at 110.

What really surprised me initially was the differential between front months contracts and forward month contracts in the COMEX futures.

Right after Trump started this war, all months jumped in price, but the near term immediately rose much further than the months further out.

Interpretation: traders expected a short war, with prices returning to normal in a few months.

But now, reality intrudes, and a contract six months out is much closer in price to the front month.

Interpretation: traders now expect the war to continue longer than they did a few weeks ago. They’re no longer willing to put their money on the happy talk emanating from the White House. (Why they did to begin with, I’ll never know)

The price crunch is coming, dope.


Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to wzambon here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 86,214 posts about US Policy. The article-length ones it recommended most:
It's going to get worse · 33 recs · 2025
G’day Donny · 30 recs · 2026
Old Related Story · 28 recs · 2026
HCR is a national treasure · 27 recs · 2025
Fascism in America · 27 recs · 2025
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (64) |


Announcements
Retirement Investing FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Best Of RI | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community