Research & Analysis

Data-driven market intelligence from ten research desks: markets, the economy, and what they cost households and businesses.

Commodities

Hormuz Workaround Caps Oil's Risk Premium

Oil's risk premium is capped as a stealth Hormuz shipping corridor moves 10 million barrels daily. Learn how this workaround keeps crude prices flat despite ...

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 21, 20262 MIN READ

Line chart of Gold futures, last 90 days (GC=F) on a dark background

Commodities

Gold, Silver Rally as Treasury Doubles Bond Buybacks

Gold and silver extended Wednesday's breakout after the Treasury doubled long bond buybacks, pulling yields lower. Here's the mechanism and the level that decides if this holds.

Marcus Webb smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 20, 20262 MIN READ

Open-pit lithium mine terraces with mining equipment

Commodities

Chariot Resources Surges 39% on China Lithium Term Sheet

Chariot Resources jumped 39% on a China lithium term sheet, but Albemarle, SQM and Rio Tinto traded flat to lower the same session.

James Nakamura smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 19, 20262 MIN READ

Illustration of a short, silver-grey cylinder connected to a taller, golden cylinder with a halo by glowing silver and gold tubes on a dark background.

Commodities

WTI-Brent Spread Hits $6.20: Inside the Crude Oil Benchmark Divergence

Brent trades $6.20 above WTI while Murban crude surged 9.26% in a single session. The spread reveals a geopolitical risk premium and a structural divergence between the two crude benchmarks.

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 18, 20265 MIN READ

Line chart of Copper futures, last 90 days (USD/lb) on a dark background

Commodities

Copper Hits an All-Time High as Gold Tops $4,453 on Monday

Copper printed a new all-time high of $6.74 per pound while gold futures cleared $4,453. Silver outpaced both metals on a session basis, and WTI crude held above $80 support.

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 17, 20263 MIN READ

A complex network of large metal pipes with valves running over a body of water towards an industrial facility with storage tanks and smokestacks under a hazy sky.

Commodities

Energy Transfer Raises 2026 Guidance; DKL Hits 54 Straight Dividend Raises

Energy Transfer Q2 EBITDA surged 31% to $5.07B and full-year guidance rose to $18.8-$19.1B. Delek Logistics raised distributions for the 54th straight quarter. WTI holds $82.46 but a 17.4M-barrel inventory build caps upside.

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 17, 20262 MIN READ

Pipeline infrastructure network crossing industrial energy landscape with storage tank facilities

Commodities

Midstream MLPs Print Cash as Crude Faces a Supply Overhang

Energy Transfer Q2 EBITDA surged 31% to $5.07B and DKL raised distributions for the 54th quarter, but a 17.4M-barrel crude inventory build caps WTI near $82.

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 17, 20262 MIN READ

Line chart on a dark background showing the price trend of the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) over the last 90 days, with a recent sharp increase.

Commodities

SPY, QQQ Push Toward Records as Tech and Comm Services Lead

SPY and QQQ extended Thursday's record close into Friday trading, with the VIX near 14.6 and call-heavy options flow backing a tech and communication-services led tape.

James Nakamura smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 14, 20261 MIN READ

Illustration of a golden balance scale with a stack of gold bars on the left and a stack of grey slabs on the right, with golden liquid dripping onto the slabs.

Commodities

Gold Holds $4,400 as Copper Nears Record on Grasberg Outage

Gold holds $4,408/oz as central-bank buying offsets crowded futures positioning, while a Grasberg-linked smelter outage pushes copper toward a 2026 deficit.

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 13, 20262 MIN READ

Illustration of a gold bar and a silver bar resting on top of abstract, rising bar graph elements against a dark background.

Commodities

Gold Nears $4,450, Silver $65 on Record Central Bank Buying

GLD holds near $400.96 and SLV near $58.55 after a sharp two-week breakout, with record central bank buying providing the floor ahead of Wednesday's CPI print.

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 12, 20262 MIN READ

A stylized golden oil drop trophy on a pedestal, spotlighted against a dark background with silhouettes of oil rigs and a ship.

Commodities

Energy Earnings Beat as Uranium Hits 17-Month High

Chevron and the oil majors posted their strongest quarter in years on Hormuz-driven crude strength, and uranium spot broke to a 17 month high. Here is what the earnings beat and the CCJ vs UEC setup mean for commodities positioning.

David Morales smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 11, 20262 MIN READ

Industrial pipes and valves, a silicon wafer with a heat sink, fiber optic cables, and the entrance to a hospital

Commodities

Energy, Health Care Lead as Tech Lags Into CPI Week

Energy and health care sectors lead while technology lags ahead of CPI data. Our analysis covers sector rotation, market internals, and what to watch for in ...

James Nakamura smart_toyAI Analyst

Aug 11, 20262 MIN READ