Photographer Julia Gunther and writer-filmmaker Nick Schönfeld chronicle the rhythms of daily life on Tristan da Cunha, the world's most remote inhabited island. (Image credit: Nick Schönfeld for NPR)
Photographer Julia Gunther and writer-filmmaker Nick Schönfeld chronicle the rhythms of daily life on Tristan da Cunha, the world's most remote inhabited island. (Image credit: Nick Schönfeld for NPR)
Tast Nawarat/iStock via Getty Images Transcript Eric Winograd - It’s still very early days in assessing the impact of the war in Iran on the global economy and on financial markets. There’s a lot more that we don’t know than there is that we do know. But it is far enough along for us to say that there will be an impact. The transmission mechanism between that conflict and the global economy is lik...
Tast Nawarat/iStock via Getty Images Transcript Eric Winograd - It’s still very early days in assessing the impact of the war in Iran on the global economy and on financial markets. There’s a lot more that we don’t know than there is that we do know. But it is far enough along for us to say that there will be an impact. The transmission mechanism between that conflict and the global economy is likely to be through oil prices. While the move in oil prices has been large this time, it isn’t unprecedented. Certainly, we have seen bigger moves in energy prices as recently as the initial stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A good rule of thumb is that for every 10% increase in the price of oil in the US, that feeds through to headline inflation to the tune of about 0.2 percentage points. That’s meaningful, for sure, but it isn’t a paradigm shift. It’s important to remember in that context, though, that it isn’t only inflation that is subject to change as a result of energy prices. Rising gasoline prices are essentially a tax on households and a tax on businesses, and the net result usually is slower growth. You have businesses and households having to spend more on fuel and less on more productive goods and services, and that slows the economy. That combination of higher prices and lower growth is why we often talk about energy price shocks as being stagflationary. It’s not clear what the policy response to a stagflationary shock is supposed to be. To the extent that central banks respond to higher prices, they would respond with tighter policy. This is the history in Europe, for example, where the European Central Bank has a single mandate to fight inflation and tends to raise rates in the face of supply shocks like this one. Certainly, the markets are pricing a significant probability that the ECB does raise rates over the next few months. But the Fed has a dual mandate where they are required to focus not only on inflation but also on growth and on the labor ma...
Iran has demanded explanations from two Gulf states equipped with Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones after one was reportedly shot down in the war with the United States and Israel. Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are known to have the reconnaissance and precision strike drones in their arsenals. The drone was shot down over the city of Shiraz on Thursday, according to Esmail Baqaei,...
Iran has demanded explanations from two Gulf states equipped with Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones after one was reportedly shot down in the war with the United States and Israel. Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are known to have the reconnaissance and precision strike drones in their arsenals. The drone was shot down over the city of Shiraz on Thursday, according to Esmail Baqaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry. Baqaei posted photos of drone wreckage on social...
India is buying crude from Iran among other countries in order to navigate the current energy crisis, the country’s oil ministry said, denying payment hurdles were impeding those purchases. The statement is a rare public recognition of energy ties that India largely abandoned as a result of US sanctions, but has begun to rekindle thanks to the current conflict and a subsequent Washington waiver al...
India is buying crude from Iran among other countries in order to navigate the current energy crisis, the country’s oil ministry said, denying payment hurdles were impeding those purchases. The statement is a rare public recognition of energy ties that India largely abandoned as a result of US sanctions, but has begun to rekindle thanks to the current conflict and a subsequent Washington waiver allowing purchases of seaborne Iranian crude. The refining industry has been grappling with trading, shipping and banking arrangements, as Tehran remains under restrictive sanctions. “Amid Middle East supply disruptions, Indian refiners have secured their crude oil requirements, including from Iran,” the ministry said in a statement on X. There was “no payment hurdle for Iranian crude imports, contrary to the rumours being circulated.” The ministry also denied reports that an Iranian crude vessel was diverted from Vadinar, India, to China because of payment troubles, adding vessel destinations are often indicative. It confirmed, however, the arrival of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas, with an LPG vessel carrying around 44,000 tons currently discharging in Mangalore, according to the statement. India has been severely impacted by the month-long war in the Persian Gulf and particularly by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Until recently, the world’s third-largest oil importer relied on the Middle East for roughly half of its crude oil and the majority of its LPG, used for cooking. India became a major buyer of seaborne Russian crude after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but its refiners have typically stayed away from blacklisted oil from Venezuela or Iran, wary of getting tangled in US sanctions. Since the start of the conflict, India has negotiated with Iran to allow the safe passage of vessels previously stuck in the Persian Gulf.
syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Index performance is not illustrative of fund performance. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Yield alone should not be the basis for an investment decision. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The views expressed are solely those of the author, are for illustrative purposes only, and are not investment advice. Taxable equival...
syahrir maulana/iStock via Getty Images Index performance is not illustrative of fund performance. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Yield alone should not be the basis for an investment decision. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The views expressed are solely those of the author, are for illustrative purposes only, and are not investment advice. Taxable equivalent yield assumes a 35% federal tax rate and does not account for state or local taxes. The Setup Advisors Should Be Paying Attention To We don't often get a moment where the rate environment, the yield curve, and credit quality all line up at the same time. Right now, with long municipal bonds, that's exactly what's happening. While the rate path remains uncertain with a new Fed leadership transition underway, the broader direction of the cycle and market expectations for eventual easing continue to favor long-duration fixed income. Additionally, muni supply is running hot. Cities and states issued a record near $600 billion in bonds last year, and 2026 is on pace to top that, driven by aging infrastructure needs and a surge in power sector demand tied to AI buildout. More supply means upward pressure on muni yields, even as the broader rate environment shifts. That combination is rare, and it's creating real value in the long end of the curve. Muni Issuance Hits Record High in 2025 Source: SIFMA, March 19, 2026. The Numbers Are Hard to Ignore At roughly 4.5% nominal, 30-year AAA munis are translating to approximately 6.9–7.0% taxable equivalent yield for investors in the 35% bracket. That puts them about 140–150 basis points above comparable long corporates, and nearly 200 basis points over Treasuries. That kind of spread is the type of excess income you typically only see during periods of market stress. The difference here is that this isn't a credit dislocation story. It's being driven by rates, which may present a more favorable risk/reward profile relative to histori...
When OpenAI commercially released ChatGPT in late 2022, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) was primarily seen as a graphics chip designer marketing its products toward computer gaming and secondarily as a chip provider for cryptocurrency mining operations. What most investors didn't realize was that the company's hardware was even more versatile than people had given it credit for. From 2023 to 2025, its chips...
When OpenAI commercially released ChatGPT in late 2022, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) was primarily seen as a graphics chip designer marketing its products toward computer gaming and secondarily as a chip provider for cryptocurrency mining operations. What most investors didn't realize was that the company's hardware was even more versatile than people had given it credit for. From 2023 to 2025, its chipsets became the backbone of generative artificial intelligence (AI), and the incredible demand for its products and software helped Nvidia become the most valuable company in the world . Big tech has somewhat fallen out of favor with growth investors throughout 2026. As of this writing (April 2), Nvidia's stock was trading down 5.2% on the year. But not all AI chip stocks have been perceived negatively in recent months. Shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) are up 27% so far this year and nearly 309% over the last 12 months. Let's look into the tailwinds fueling the rise in Micron stock right now. Could it be on its way to becoming the new Nvidia? Continue reading