What just happened to Iran's Kharg Island?
President Trump just said the US has carried out the "most powerful bombing raids in Middle East history" on Kharg island.
This is a MAJOR escalation for oil markets. Here's why:
Kharg Island has been described as the "crown jewel" of Iran's oil industry. It is a vital, tiny island in the northern Persian Gulf that manages ~90% of Iran's crude oil exports.
Kharg Island alone handles ~2% of global oil supply.
In the lead up to the war, Iran was exporting as much as 3 MILLION barrels of oil per day from Kharg Island. Trump said that the US military has "chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island" for now.
However, President Trump also said he will reconsider this decision should Iran "do anything to interfere with the free and safe passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz," which Iran is clearly doing right now.
In other words, President Trump appears to be paving the path for the destruction of oil infrastructure on one of the world's most crucial oil ports and islands.
It's no coincidence this came just 2 hours after markets closed for the weekend.
Buckle up for a busy weekend ahead.
Israel's bombing of an oil depot in Tehran "may be the largest release of petrochemical toxins over a civilian population since the Iran-Iraq War." Nine million people’s lungs should not be "an acceptable externality of war.” https://trib.al/wuDSPd5
Jaw dropping comments on the Iran war by the Trump administration’s AI czar David Sacks earlier today on the All In podcast. Warns a faction is trying to get Trump to escalate in Iran, says it could render the Gulf uninhabitable and Israeli nuclear use. Calls for a negotiated settlement. Some quotes below. Link in next post.
“we should try to find the off-ramp.”
“This is a good time to declare victory and get out,”
“You are seeing, however, a faction of people, I'd say largely but not exclusively in the Republican Party, who want to escalate the war.”
“So if the Iranians get hit, if their oil and gas infrastructure gets hit, they've already said they're going to engage in tit-for-tat retaliation against the Gulf States. And we saw there was recently, the Iranians blew up this giant oil depot in Oman.”
“Furthermore, there's an even worse, I think, scenario from there, which is the region is very dependent on desalination plants. I think something like 70% of Riyadh gets their water from desalination.”
“I think it's something like 100 million people on the Arabian Peninsula that get their water from desal. I mean, it's basically a desert, right? And those desal plants are soft targets.”
“If you see that type of destruction continue, you could literally render the Gulf almost uninhabitable.”
“If this war continues for weeks or months, then Israel could just be destroyed”
“Then you have to worry about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon, which would truly be catastrophic.”
“if escalation doesn't lead anywhere good, then you have to think about, well, how do you de-escalate? De-escalation, I think, involves reaching some sort of ceasefire agreement or some sort of negotiated settlement with Iran.”
BREAKING: President Trump has rejected an offer from Russia's President Putin to move Iran's enriched uranium to Russia in a deal to end the war, per Axios.
Details include:
1. In a phone call with Trump, Putin proposed moving Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the war
2. Securing Iran's 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium remains a top priority for the US
3. Trump has acknowledged for the first time that Russia is aiding Iran in the war
4. The US position is we need to see the uranium secured," a US official said
An was mich das am meisten erinnert, ist März 2020
US sends THAAD battery from South Korea to Middle East after reports Iran hit key US radar systems in the region. - N12.
Viele Bitcoin-Mining-Unternehmen haben sich durch den KI-Boom ein zweites Geschäftsmodell erschlossen. Der Börsenwecker mit @PhilippMattheis stellt heute ein paar von ihnen vor.
https://www.tichyseinblick.de/podcast/tichys-boersenwecker-am-13-maerz-2026/
BREAKING: The US has burned through "years" worth of munitions since start of the Iran war, just 13 days ago, per FT.
Details include:
1. Concerns are reportedly mounting around rising costs and the US’ ability to replenish stockpiles
2. The rapid depletion of weaponry includes advanced long-range Tomahawk missiles, sources say
3. The Pentagon is set to request $50 billion in additional spending for the military
4. Pentagon officials told Senators that the war had cost more than $11 billion in the first 6 days of strikes
Costs of the Iran war are rapidly mounting.
They are preparing for recession.
EIL: SPD will Steuerfreiheit nach 1 Jahr Haltezeit für Bitcoin & Kryptos ab 2027 kippen mit der geplanten Steuerreform. Dann fielen 25% Steuern an auf Gewinne wie bei Wertpapieren und automatische Überweisung ans Finanzamt bei dt. Kryptobörsen (Soli wird gestrichen). Freibetrag wird vllt auf 3.000€ / Jahr erhöht. Die CDU ist noch unentschlossen. Sie versucht derzeit, eine „Großvater-Regelung“ (Bestandsschutz) durchzusetzen als Kompromiss, sodass alle vor 2027 gekauften $BTC / Kryptos das Steuerprivileg beibehalten. Es ist noch nicht beschlossen.
Pinned: Die Situation am Persischen Golf hat das Potenzial eine Weltwirtschaftskrise auszulösen. Was tun als Bitcoin-Investor? Für zahlende Abonnenten https://blingbling.substack.com/p/boom-oder-doom
#Iran #Ölpreis #Inflation #Bitcoin
BREAKING: The US announces it will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Oil prices are still pushing higher after the news.
If the war in Iran doesn't end soon, food prices are about to skyrocket. Spot Urea +30% since the war began because 50% of urea moves through the Straits.
DUBAI STABLECOIN DEMAND IS GOING PARABOLIC
I’m in Dubai.
What I’m seeing this week is insane.
OTC desks are flooded with people asking for $USDC.
Bank wires are getting slower, tighter, and harder above six figures.
So money is moving on-chain instead.
USDC supply just jumped +$3B in 10 days.
This is the BIGGEST underpriced catalyst in crypto right now.
Most people STILL have not understood what this means.
🚨🚨🚨BREAKING:
IEA member nations agree to release 400 million barrels from their strategic oil stockpiles.
(It's the largest ever IEA release since its foundation more than 50 years ago after the firsts oil crisis)
Full @IEA statement below. Pending key details of timing.
BREAKING: Iran says that they are switching from "reciprocal hits" to "continuous strikes" and warns that they will drive oil prices to $200/barrel, per Reuters.
Details include:
1. Iran says the US will not be able to control oil prices
2. "We won't allow even one liter of oil to reach the US, Israel, and its partners" an Iranian military spokesperson said
3. "Any vessel or tanker bound to them will be a legitimate target," he adds
4. Iran appears to be shifting their military strategy as oil prices have declined
US oil prices are now nearing $90/barrel again.
My sources advise me that UAE has put an unofficial limit of $100K to avoid capital flight. Banks will not let you send more than that amount outbound.
This shows how serious the situation Iran has created in GCC countries housing US bases.
Iran is giving its neighbours a choice. Do not rebuild US bases and understand the new reality, which is that accommodation with Iran is necessary for your economies to function.
This war even when it ends will have a long tail.
BREAKING: Iran announces that facilities associated with major US technology companies could become targets next.
They specifically note that Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, IBM, Oracle, and Palantir are all potential targets across Israel, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
China und die USA: The Great Bargain? Anfang April besucht US-Präsident Trump die Volksrepublik China. Ein "Great Bargain", eine große Einigung, zwischen den beiden größten Volkswirtschaften der Welt, wäre ein Fest für die Börse. @PhilippMattheis
https://www.tichyseinblick.de/podcast/tichys-boersenwecker-am-11-maerz-2026/
Dubai: no one is going back. 🇦🇪
Chinese investors are buying Hong Kong stocks at a record pace:
Investors from mainland China purchased a record +$4.8 billion of Hong Kong stocks on Monday.
This surpasses the previous record of +$4.6 billion, set in August 2024.
The surge comes just days after a record daily sale of -$3.6 billion last week, marking one of the sharpest reversals in history.
As a result, total purchases are up to +$24.1 billion year-to-date, +60% higher than for the same period in 2025.
Risk appetite for Hong Kong stocks is through the roof.
BREAKING: The IEA has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in history, exceeding the 182 million barrel record set in 2022, per WSJ.
Details include:
1. The proposal was circulated at an "emergency meeting" today
2. Countries are expected to decide on the proposal Wednesday
3. The proposal will be adopted if none objects, but even one country's protests could delay the plan, officials said
4. IEA members currently hold 1.2 billion barrels in crude oil reserves
Oil prices are still up +60% since December.
I support Anthropic. The retaliation against their firm is outrageous.
Joe Rogan: Trump supporters ‘feel betrayed’ by ‘insane’ Iran war
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5777560-rogan-trump-iran-war/
There is a war raging at our doorstep.
Hungary has a government that:
1️⃣ Will not send soldiers to Ukraine
2️⃣ Will not send weapons to Ukraine
3️⃣ Will not fund the conflict
The stakes of the next election are clear.
Hungary must stay out of this war! 🇭🇺
The war is going so well for Israel that this has happened.
Part of the media war - perhaps the most important part - is against their own population.
Via @france24 & discussed on tonight’s show.
That community note is something else
BREAKING: The US has asked Israel to stop its strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, particularly oil assets, per Axios.
Details include:
1. President Trump aims to “cooperate” with Iran's oil sector after the war
2. The request marks the first time the Trump Administration has restricted Israel since the war began
3. Fears are growing that strikes could trigger “massive Iranian retaliatory attacks” on energy infrastructure across Gulf states
4. US is concerned that continued strikes would send oil prices higher again
We are seeing unprecedented volatility in oil markets right now.
🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷🛢️Scoop: The Trump administration asked Israel on Monday not to carry out further strikes on energy facilities in Iran, particularly oil infrastructure, according to three sources familiar with the matter. My story on @axios
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/10/iran-oil-israel-strikes-trump
Habe die SZ mal SEHR geliebt. Aber dies ist eine passende Zusammenstellung d vergangenen Jahre, die noch LANGE nicht vollständig ist.
Decoupling-Versuch gescheitert:
Nexperia China produziert dieselben Chips jetzt selbst. Auf 12-Zoll-Wafern, die Nexperia in Europa nicht hat.
Wir wollten derisken. Stattdessen: ungewollter Kapazitätsaufbau in China 🇨🇳 der deren Vorsprung weiter vergrößert.
🇮🇷🚢🛢IRAN’S AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: PASSAGE THROUGH THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ WILL BE CONTROLLED, BUT THE STRAIT WILL NOT BE CLOSED (https://mktnews.com/flashDetail.html?id=019cd5df-df48-7001-80dc-07e797d8fa3a)
BREAKING: Bitcoin reclaims $70,000 as markets price-in a potential Iran peace deal.
The Business Model of Forever War
This is a 2011 Julian Assange clip from a Berlin press conference in which he argues that the Afghanistan war was never really built to end cleanly, but to keep money moving through endless conflict and back into private security networks, contractors, and political interests. That is why the clip is resonating again in 2026. It fits a broader view that war can become self perpetuating once the financial incentives behind it become large enough. In that framing, the roughly $2 trillion spent on Afghanistan did not just represent national sacrifice. It represented a massive transfer of taxpayer money through a system that rewarded duration, opacity, waste, and fraud far more than resolution.
If that view is right, then a U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran would be structurally unlikely to end as quickly as Trump claims. A short war would cut off the very incentives that sustain it, ongoing demand for missiles, air defenses, logistics, intelligence, reconstruction, and security contracts for firms like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Iran’s size, terrain, and asymmetric network of proxies would make mission creep highly likely, expanding the objective from initial strikes into a much broader campaign against Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other regional actors, much like Afghanistan evolved from a limited military response into a two decade quagmire. In that framework, taxpayer money moves through Pentagon appropriations and contractor pipelines into a self reinforcing cycle in which every escalation generates new threats, new spending, and new justifications for staying longer. The public is then managed through familiar narratives, imminent danger, humanitarian stabilization, fears of regional collapse or Russian and Chinese gains, patriotic appeals, and economic warnings around oil and security. In that sense, the promise of a swift end is less a forecast than the opening pitch for a conflict whose incentives favor duration, expansion, and permanent extraction.