@frazfinance: THIS IS CRAZY😱 More Info👇 The stock market is red to start the week and there are three big reasons why. After hitting record highs last week the S&P 500 is down 0.4%, the Nasdaq is down 1% and oil is back above $110 a barrel. Here is exactly what is driving it. The first story is Iran. This morning Trump posted on Truth Social warning Iran that the clock is ticking and that they better get moving fast or there will be nothing left of them. These are his strongest words yet and they come after a drone struck near the UAE’s nuclear power plant overnight in what authorities called an unprovoked terrorist attack. Markets immediately priced in the possibility of full military escalation. Oil spiked back above $110 a barrel, inflation fears returned, and investors sold everything from airlines to retail stocks. Every time it looks like a deal is close, something like this happens and markets go back into fear mode. The second story is interest rates and it is arguably the more important one for your portfolio long term. Just one month ago the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike in 2026 was 1%. Today that number has jumped to 45%. That is a massive shift in a very short time and it is happening because oil above $100 is feeding directly into inflation which is already at a three year high. The higher oil goes the higher inflation goes and the less room the Fed has to cut rates. In fact the market is now starting to price in the possibility that rates go UP not down. New Fed chair Kevin Warsh took over from Jerome Powell on Friday and he faces this crisis immediately on day one of the job. Rate hikes are devastating for tech stocks and growth stocks because they make future earnings worth less in today’s money. That is why semiconductors are selling off hard today. The third story is Nvidia which reports earnings on Wednesday. This is the most anticipated earnings report of the year. Nvidia has been the engine of the entire stock market rally since February and if it disappoints on Wednesday the whole market falls with it. If it beats expectations and raises guidance then everything could recover quickly. Walmart also reports Thursday giving us a picture of how ordinary consumers are holding up under these elevated energy prices. This week is essentially a referendum on whether the AI boom is still intact or whether inflation and rate fears are starting to crack the foundation. Markets are at a crossroads right now. Record highs last week, fear and red today, and two enormous catalysts coming Wednesday and Thursday. Follow for daily market breakdowns every weekday so you always know what is happening and why. #stockmarket #investing #donaldtrump #nvidia #ratehike

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Monday 18 May 2026 18:13:11 GMT