NY Fed: Inflation Expectations Dropped To 1 Year Low Ahead Of Iran War Amid Improving Household Finances While the latest NY Fed consumer expectations report shows sentiment from February, and does not account for the surge in oil prices as a result of the Iran war, the trend continues to be supportive which would be good news for the US economy if the current energy price spikes proves to be transitory. In what was the calm before the Persian Gulf storm, ​Americans’ inflation expectations eased further back in February amid mixed views on the state of the ‌job market and current and future finances. Specifically, the expected level of inflation a year from now dropped to 3% from 3.1% in January, and the lowest since the start of 2025 while the projected level of inflation three and five ​years from now held steady at 3%. The New York Fed survey, released Monday, was conducted between February 2-28. ​As such, it does not capture the public’s reaction to surging oil prices that are the ⁠result of the Iran war, which has massively disrupted global energy supplies and sent crude over $100. Huge increases seen thus far in ​energy prices are almost certain to drive up already high levels of overall inflation and stand a good chance of ​pushing the public toward a less benign view on the outlook for price pressures over coming years, assuming the price increase sticks and there is no prompt resolution to the war. That would present a challenging environment for the Fed, which has been contending with high levels of inflation for years, the result of its post-covid policy error which has pushed inflation above the Fed's 2% target for 60 moinths. Officials agree that where price pressures are expected to go exerts a strong influence on where ​they stand now, so if the oil shock creates expectations of higher price pressures, that could complicate efforts to get inflation back to ‌target. Then again, the Fed has traditionally ignored one-time shocks which suggests that the I...

A senior former Mail on Sunday journalist has denied commissioning a “blag” of sensitive medical information about Sadie Frost that the actor had not even told her own mother. At the high court, Katie Nicholl, a former diary editor and royal editor at the paper, was accused of using blagged information from a private investigator to uncover “extraordinarily intrusive” details of Frost’s medical history. Frost is one of a group of seven people, including Prince Harry, alleging that Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), which publishes the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail, used unlawful information gathering such as blagging, hacking and phone tapping to obtain stories over two decades. ANL denies all the accusations of wrongdoing, describing them as lurid and preposterous. Nicholl is a significant figure in the case, as her name appears on many of the stories that Frost, the Duke of Sussex and others have complained about. David Sherborne, the lead barrister for the claimants, spent a lot of time focusing on a passage in Nicholl’s notebook referring to Frost’s ectopic pregnancy. Nicholl prepared the story in autumn 2003 but it was never published. Frost’s legal team said she did not tell her sisters or even her own mother about the pregnancy and subsequent termination. Nicholl wrote in her notebook: “Sadie Frost: Had some note re: Ultrascan. Yes, she is having that kind of treatment. She went for an ultrasound. She is pregnant.” It also identified Frost’s doctor and said “she was recently treated in March Aug. 6 saw psychologist”. Sherborne said there was a reference in the margin to “Susie”, which he said was a reference to Susie Mallis from the private investigation firm ELI. The claimants also point to ELI payment notes days later, labelled “Katie Nicholls Urgent Enq” and “K Nicholl’s Searches”. Sherborne put it to Nicholl that her notes documented “an obvious medical blag” of Frost’s records. But Nicholl said she had never asked anyone to blag medical records and did...

alexsl/iStock via Getty Images The biggest of big companies have been stuck in neutral over the past half-year. The Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF ( XLG ) now trades with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of just 23.74x, according to Invesco as of the end of February. Given losses to kick off March, that earnings multiple is now even lower—perhaps near 23x. It’s getting harder to pass up the "GARP" seen in what has traditionally been a premium-P/E ETF. Today, I’m upgrading XLG to a buy. I had a tactical sell rating on the fund in early 2024 , expecting a February-March dip. That never happened, but it appears we are getting on this go-round. I’ll offer a look at the valuation & holdings, along with an updated view of the technicals. XLG Lags the Most Among Major Equity ETFs since August Stockcharts.com Biggest US Stocks Have Re-Rated vs Large Stocks JPMAM P/E Gap Narrowing Between Megacaps and Large Caps Yardeni According to the issuer , XLG is based on the S&P 500 Top 50 Index, and the fund will invest at least 90% of its total assets in securities that comprise that index. The index houses 50 of the largest companies in the S&P 500. The ETF and the index are rebalanced annually. XLG is a large ETF with $11.2 billion in assets under management as of March 7, 2026. That’s up from just $3.4 billion at the time of my previous analysis in February 2024. You’ll see later that the fund’s volume has increased tremendously, too. The annual expense ratio is somewhat low at 20 basis points, while the trailing 12-month dividend yield is low at only 0.67%--about half a percentage point below that of the S&P 500. Share-price momentum is rated well by Seeking Alpha’s quantitative scoring system, but I’ll demonstrate later that, along with relative weakness to both US and global equities since Q4 2025, its absolute momentum has waned. What’s more, XLG is risky , given its concentrated portfolio and high weighting to the growth-heavy Information Technology sector and other “TMT” areas...

Vertigo3d/E+ via Getty Images Fund performance The Fund returned 4.50% (on a net asset value basis) for the three-month period ending 31 January 2026, underperforming the 4.83% return of its benchmark, the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Index (Net). Sector wise, diversified and office REITs weighed on the Fund's relative performance, while the specialty and self-storage sectors were positive. 1 At the stock level, Kilroy Realty Corporation ( KRC ) detracted from performance. While the company made progress leasing vacant space in the period, concerns about the longer-term impact of AI on office demand led to underperformance of its shares. Not holding Sun Hung Kai Properties ( SUHJY ) was also unfavorable as the company benefitted from a favorable interest-rate environment. Meanwhile, SmartStop Self Storage REIT ( SMA ) was weak due to continued pricing pressures for new move-in rents in the storage sector. Additionally, technical issues in the market, where the lockup for pre-initial-public-offering shareholders in the company created a liquidity event for these long-time investors, affecting its stock. Conversely, National Storage REIT ( NSA ) contributed to performance as the company received a takeover offer at a significant premium to the stock's previous trading price. Non-exposures to Iron Mountain ( IRM ) and VICI Properties ( VICI ) were also favorable as both companies significantly underperformed during the period. Iron Mountain lagged due to questions about the profitability of data-center leases in the long term, despite record levels of demand. Meanwhile, the lower rate of inflation reduced rate increases for several of VICI's largest casino leases. Cumulative and annualized total return as of January 31, 2026 (%) NAV Market Price FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Net Index 10 Years (p.a.) 5.44 8.02 4.04 5 Years (p.a.) 2.53 4.81 3.16 3 Years (p.a.) 5.57 8.50 4.80 1 Year 11.78 12.10 12.77 Year to Date 3.19 3.67 4.00 3 Months 4.50 4.74 4.83 1 month 3.19 3.67 4.00 Click t...

Supatman/iStock via Getty Images Guidewire Software, Inc. ( GWRE ) recently reported the company’s fiscal Q2 results for the November-January period. The P&C insurance software company’s growth momentum remains great, driven by new clients and revenue expansion within the current client base. The quarter leaves a good growth outlook for the rest of FY2026; meanwhile, profitability is expected to show a slight hiccup. I maintained a Sell rating in my previous December 2025 article on the stock, titled “ Guidewire Software: Valuation Remains The Pain Point As Growth Continues. ” The stock has since lost -21% of its value as part of a larger software sector selloff. The S&P 500 ( SP500 ) has lost -2% in the same period. My Rating History on GWRE (Seeking Alpha) Guidewire Q2 Review: Another Good Quarter Guidewire’s fiscal Q2 was another successful quarter for the company. Revenues came in at $359.1 million with 24% year-on-year growth, exceeding the company’s own $339-345 million guidance range and beating Wall Street’s consensus by $16.2 million as a result. Behind the fast growth, Guidewire managed to grow ARR by 22% year-on-year and by 5% sequentially to $1121 million, showing a great increase in the predictable revenue stream. License revenues declined by -7% to $59.5 million. Meanwhile, subscription and support revenues grew by 33% to $237.2 million, and service revenues grew by 30% to $62.4 million. GWRE Q2'FY26 Investor Presentation The company notes three customer wins and a number of customer migrations and expansions during the quarter that drove good growth in ARR. New deals have become larger and come with longer durations, creating higher value for Guidewire. Guidewire managed to sign the first PricingCenter deal during Q2, but the new solution's potential is still mostly hidden in KPIs; shifting onto Guidewire's pricing solution is a major decision for insurance companies, requiring a long deal cycle. Earnings call comments suggest that ongoing talks are g...

格隆汇3月10日｜美国军方在“史诗愤怒”行动中又损失了两架MQ-9收割者无人机，使总损失达到11架。这11架无人机的总价值超过3.3亿美元。

Britain is likely to be hit by rising inflation because of the US war with Iran, the UK chancellor has said, as she suggested that a “rapid de-escalation” would be the best protection against a jump in energy prices. Both Rachel Reeves and the prime minister, Keir Starmer, suggested the government would be prepared to intervene to protect UK households against major cost-of-living shocks as oil prices surged past $100 (£75) a barrel for the first time since 2022. Starmer said a long-term US-Iran war would affect the “lives and households of everybody” but said the government would seek to “get ahead” if the conflict were prolonged. Ministers are understood to be looking at ways to potentially mitigate the rising costs on energy bills – and are likely to come under pressure to cancel a planned 5p rise in fuel duty this autumn. Reeves, who spoke to G7 finance ministers earlier on Monday, said the Treasury was ready to support a coordinated release of collective International Energy Agency oil reserves. “I will take the necessary decisions to help families with the cost of living and protect the public finances,” Reeves told MPs. “I am clear-eyed about my response to the current situation. My economic approach will both be responsive to a changing world and responsible in the national interest.” The chancellor said discussions would also be held on mitigations for families reliant on heating oil who did not have protection via the energy price cap. Petrol forecourt bosses have also been called into the Treasury and warned about price gouging. Edmund King, the president of the AA, said drivers should not change their refuelling habits but could “consider cutting out some non-essential journeys and changing their driving style to conserve fuel”. Simon Williams, the RAC’s head of policy, said pump prices had “rocketed” in the last week. “Petrol is up 5p to 137.5p and diesel up 9p to 151p a litre since the current crisis began,” he said. “Unleaded is almost certainly going...

Guido Mieth/DigitalVision via Getty Images Around the middle of December of last year, I decided to upgrade shares of Peoples Financial Services ( PFIS ) from a "Hold" to a "B uy." This decision was not made lightly. It was based specifically on improved valuation and strong financial performance that the company had exhibited leading up to that point. Certain credit quality metrics were looking positive, and asset quality was strong. My decision to upgrade the stock has played out nicely. While the S&P 500 is up 0.2% since then, shares of this bank have risen 7.9%. And honestly, I could see the picture getting even better. Admittedly, not every metric is as great as I would like it to be. But on the whole, this is a cheap way to play the banking sector without sacrificing too much when it comes to quality. Therefore, I think that maintaining it as a soft "Buy" is the right choice here. The Picture is Still Solid The newest data that investors have right now when it comes to Peoples Financial Services covers through the final quarter of the company's 2025 fiscal year . According to management, deposits came in for the year at $4.43 billion. That is up ever so slightly from the $4.41 billion that the company had in 2024. At first glance, this might not seem impressive. However, the institution has actually been growing organic deposits at a pretty nice rate. We can see this when we strip out brokered deposits. At the end of 2024, for instance, the company had brokered deposits of $256.4 million. But that number subsequently dropped to $152.2 million at the end of last year. This decline is positive in and of itself since brokered deposits are high-cost deposits relative to what organic deposits typically cost. This move lower was deliberate by management. They specifically said in their quarterly release that they reduced brokered deposits intentionally. Author - SEC EDGAR Data This does not mean that I like everything that I see when it comes to the deposit situatio...

伊朗局勢｜德黑蘭稱預備長期作戰 特朗普：戰事很快結束 To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 【有線新聞】美國總統特朗普聲稱攻擊伊朗的行動可能大致完成，相信很快結束。 首都德黑蘭凌晨再有建築遇襲冒出火光，特朗普指已攻擊逾5,000個目標，51艘伊朗船艦被炸毀或受損，認為美軍進度超出預期，從多方面取得勝利，但稱仍未足夠，會繼續行動直至徹底擊敗伊朗，又聲稱若美國和以色列不發動襲擊，伊朗將接管中東地區。伊朗革命衛隊發射導彈還擊，最高領袖外交政策顧問哈拉齊接受美國有線新聞網絡（CNN）訪問時聲稱現時沒有空間透過外交化解衝突，已預備好長期作戰。

There are no important events for this country at this time. Select "All" to see top events in other countries or view all events.

Nvidia’s (NVDA) Memory Shortage Could Cause Google (GOOGL) Billions TipRanks

格隆汇3月10日｜市场消息：伊朗从贾斯克出口码头（Jask）装载了200万桶原油，这是自美伊冲突升级以来首次绕过霍尔木兹海峡的原油运输。

“Blank Check” For Xbox? Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Dips as Rumor Control Sets In TipRanks

格隆汇3月10日｜乌克兰总统泽连斯基当地时间9日在其官方社交平台发文称，目前乌伙伴国家的优先事项以及全部注意力都集中在中东局势上，因此原本应美国方面提议计划在本周举行的会晤被推迟。泽连斯基表示，当天他与乌克兰谈判团队举行了会议，已指示谈判团队与美国谈判代表沟通：首先再次确认乌方愿意为安全问题开展战略性合作，特别是在防御无人机方面；其次再次确认乌方愿意为结束俄乌冲突开展实质性工作。

格隆汇3月10日｜土耳其总统埃尔多安：以色列试图通过利用国际社会对加沙关注转向其他问题的时机，彻底破坏通往两国解决方案的道路。自10月10日签署的声明以来，内塔尼亚胡政府通过其不法和扩张主义政策，再次表明它不想要和平，也不支持解决方案。

hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Charles Schwab ( SCHW ) said on Monday that the Schwab Trading Activity Index, or STAX, increased to 57.32 in February from 49.96 in January. STAX analyzes retail investor stock positions and trading activity from Schwab's client accounts to illuminate what investors were actually doing and how they were positioned in the markets each month. The February score represents the biggest month-over-month percentage gain since late 2020. "The trading behavior we saw among our retail clients tells a clear story: the AI-driven panic that rattled the markets in February was likely overblown and, more than anything, may have represented an opportune time to pick up some names that had taken a perhaps unfair beating," said Joe Mazzola, head trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab. Last month, more affluent and older investors led the buying activity among Schwab clients. Popular names bought include Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), NVIDIA ( NVDA ), Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ), and Netflix ( NFLX ). Names net sold included Meta Platforms ( META ), Apple ( AAPL ), Verizon Communications ( VZ ), Costco Wholesale ( COST ), and AT&T ( T ). More on Charles Schwab Buy Shares Where You Invest: Charles Schwab Charles Schwab: Why We Trimmed Modestly Charles Schwab: Expect Higher Capital Returns In 2026 SA Asks: Which financial stocks could be hit hard by AI? Charles Schwab records 18% Y/Y rise in January-end client assets

格隆汇3月10日｜美国总统特朗普：我认为他们选择穆杰塔巴·哈梅内伊担任伊朗新领导人是一个大错误。

格隆汇3月10日｜以色列估计，自战争爆发以来，已有7000名伊朗安全部队成员丧生。

Algorithmic traders, the speculators known for riding trends and accelerating price momentum, have maxed out on bullish US oil bets for the first time in more than four years — a move that’s likely to add more volatility to a market being rocked by the war in Iran. The money managers known as commodity trading advisers, or CTAs, have driven up their bullish tilt and were sitting at 100% long in West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude futures as of Monday morning, according to data from Kpler. That compares with 82% on Friday, data from the analytics firm show. It’s the first time the trading cohort has reached a maximum long holding in US crude since September 2021, when the position persisted for 26 trading sessions. In Brent, it’s the first time since April 2024. CTAs have emerged as a dominant market force in recent years, making up an outsize portion of trading volumes and intensifying periods of heightened volatility. On Monday, the WTI market saw wild moves. Prices surged as much as 31% to reach $119.48 a barrel during the Asian trading session. The rally was driven by concerns that a standstill of tanker traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz will choke off supplies to the rest of the world. But by midday US hours, futures pared most of the massive gains as the world’s largest economies consider a co-ordinated release of emergency oil stockpiles. WTI was 4.8% higher at $95.30 as of 1:15 p.m. in New York. While supply-and-demand fundamentals are currently the primary driver behind price moves amid the Iran war, the strong positioning by algo traders can exacerbate momentum. Meanwhile, the max long position also means that the market could be vulnerable to a massive unwind of the trade if there’s evidence of easing supply risks that sparks a leg lower. Money managed by CTAs can sometimes be slower to respond to shifts in fundamentals. Some trading strategies adjust positioning based on weekly, rather than daily, price signals, helping to explain why algo tr...

At Holdings Channel, we have reviewed the latest batch of the 29 most recent 13F filings for the 03/31/2025 reporting period, and noticed that Microsoft Corporation (Symbol: MSFT) was held by 23 of these funds. When hedge fund managers appear to be thinking alike, we find it is a good idea to take a closer look. Before we proceed, it is important to point out that 13F filings do not tell the whole story, because these funds are only required to disclose their long positions with the SEC, but are not required to disclose their short positions. A fund making a bearish bet against a stock by shorting calls, for example, might also be long some amount of stock as they trade around their overall bearish position. This long component could show up in a 13F filing and everyone might assume the fund is bullish, but this tells only part of the story because the bearish/short side of the position is not seen. Having given that caveat, we believe that looking at groups of 13F filings can be revealing, especially when comparing one holding period to another. Below, let's take a look at the change in MSFT positions, for this latest batch of 13F filers: In terms of shares owned, we count 10 of the above funds having increased existing MSFT positions from 12/31/2024 to 03/31/2025, with 13 having decreased their positions. Worth noting is that Wealthquest Corp, included in this recent batch of 13F filers, exited MSFT common stock as of 03/31/2025. Looking beyond these particular funds in this one batch of most recent filers, we tallied up the MSFT share count in the aggregate among all of the funds which held MSFT at the 03/31/2025 reporting period (out of the 1,655 we looked at in total). We then compared that number to the sum total of MSFT shares those same funds held back at the 12/31/2024 period, to see how the aggregate share count held by hedge funds has moved for MSFT. We found that between these two periods, funds reduced their holdings by 1,835,187 shares in the aggregate...

财联社3月10日讯（编辑 牛占林） 人工智能初创公司Anthropic周一对正式对特朗普政府提起诉讼，此前该公司被列入黑名单，并被贴上对美国国家安全构成威胁的标签。 Anthropic在提交至加州联邦地区法院的起诉书中表示，这些行动"史无前例且违法"，正在"对Anthropic造成不可挽回的损害"。 起诉书称：“Anthropic与联邦政府的合同已经被取消。当前及未来与私营机构的合同也陷入不确定之中，短期内可能危及数亿美元的收入。 除了这些直接的经济损失之外，Anthropic的声誉以及其核心的第一修正案权利也正在遭受攻击。如果法院不提供司法救济，这些损害将在未来数周和数月进一步扩大。 此次诉讼是Anthropic与特朗普政府之间持续两周激烈冲突的最新进展。双方的争议主要围绕该公司AI模型在战场及其他场景中的使用方式。 在这场争议于上月底公开之前，Anthropic一直是美国政府的重要早期合作伙伴。 Anthropic的AI模型Claude在过去一年中已被深度整合进国防部。直到最近，Claude也是唯一被批准用于机密系统的AI模型。据报道，国防部在其军事行动中广泛使用了该技术，包括决定在对伊朗战争中导弹打击的目标。 上周四，Anthropic证实，公司已被正式认定为“供应链风险”。这一极为罕见的措施，历史上通常只针对外国对手企业。 根据这一认定，美国国防承包商和供应商在与五角大楼合作时，必须证明其系统未使用Anthropic的AI模型。 特朗普上个月还在社交媒体发文，要求联邦机构“立即停止”使用Anthropic技术。“我们将决定这个国家的命运，而不是某些失控的激进左翼AI公司。那些人根本不了解真实世界是什么样的。” Anthropic已请求法院撤销供应链风险认定，并在法律诉讼进行期间给予该公司暂缓执行该行动的临时禁令。 2025年7月，Anthropic曾与美国国防部签署一份价值2亿美元的合同，并成为首家将AI技术部署至国防部机密网络的AI实验室。 不过，双方随后在合同续签谈判中陷入僵局，主要分歧在于AI模型的使用范围。 美国国防部认为，军方必须能够在 “所有合法用途”中使用相关技术，而不会接受供应商对关键能力设置限制。如果供应商试图通过限制合法用途来影响军方的指挥体系，就可能危及作战人员安全。 因此国防部希望Anthropic授予该机构对其AI模型在所有合法用途...

Jim Cramer on Astera Labs: "This Is Such a Red-Hot Stock, It's Incredible" Finviz

“I earn $100, 000 and I’m currently shouldering the mortgage, maintenance — specific to a co-op — and normal kid expenses.”

Traders are watching a key support level for the S & P 500 where it could see some buying — without which, there could be trouble ahead. The broad market index is fast approaching its 200-day moving average, which is at 6,582. The technical indicator, which averages the closing price over the last 200 days, shows whether the underlying long-term trend in an asset or index is positive or negative. That support level is now just 2% below where the S & P 500 closed Friday, at 6,740.02. On Monday, the benchmark was last down 0.5%, but it fell as much as 1.5% at its session low. "We should see buyers step in again at those levels," Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told CNBC. "If it gets worse, then we're talking 10% correction." The S & P 500 has held above its 200-day moving average for the better part of a year, with traders stepping in to buy whenever there was a pullback on hopes that fiscal stimulus, easier monetary policy and productivity gains from artificial intelligence will keep the bull case for equities intact. Even the more recent concerns around AI disruption , mounting pressure in private credit and higher inflation have done little to knock the broader index from its holding pattern, which it's been in since late last year. But with the S & P 500 selling into the weekend in the midst of the U.S.-Iran war, and opening lower on Monday as oil spikes above $100 a barrel , traders now worry the technical support will finally give way. If traders don't step in this time, that suggests the index could drop even further. A 10% correction would place the S & P 500 back at 6,066.018, where it was last June. "We'll cross that road when we get to it," Woods said. "But right now, watch the 200-day moving average." — CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.

Microsoft (MSFT) Defends AI Position with Anthropic Tie-Up, Enterprise Software Bundle TipRanks

Ondas ( ONDS ) reported preliminary Q4 2025 revenue of $29.1M–$30.1M, exceeding analyst expectation of $27.5M. Full-year 2025 revenue is projected at $49.7M–$50.7M, above Wall Street estimate of $48.1M. The company expects Q4 2025 net loss of $20.4M–$20.9M and adjusted EBITDA loss of $10.9M–$11.4M. Full-year 2025 net loss is expected at $52.8M–$53.3M, with adjusted EBITDA loss of $32.4M–$32.9M. The company will release final Q4 and full-year 2025 results on March 25, 2026. Ondas reiterated its 2026 revenue guidance of $170M–$180M, excluding any new acquisitions announced in 2026. ONDS shares down over 3%. More on Ondas Holdings Ondas: From Penny Stock To Defense Contender Ondas: Expensive, Dilutive, Unprofitable - And Still A Buy Ondas: The Industrial Bridge To Autonomous Dominance Europe turns to Ukraine’s drone expertise as joint factories ramp up production Drone manufacturers rally amid Middle East tensions; AVAV, KTOS, and DPRO lead gains

格隆汇3月10日｜美国总统特朗普表示，美国不排除从伊朗获取石油的可能性。与此同时，美国官员称 ，这场战争“旨在剥夺伊朗的核武器，并削弱其威慑力，使其不再对美国或中东邻国构成威胁”。特朗普表示，他不想讨论是否希望美国夺取伊朗石油，但他补充说：“当然，人们已经讨论过这个问题了。”他提到了委内瑞拉，美国于今年1月发动突袭，抓获了该国领导人马杜罗。此后，特朗普政府采取措施，获得并开发委内瑞拉的石油储备。在上个月的国情咨文中，特朗普表示，美国已经从委内瑞拉获得了超过8000万桶石油。“看看委内瑞拉，”特朗普称，“人们一直在考虑这个问题，但现在谈论这个问题还为时过早。”

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin urged nation’s oil and gas producers to take advantage of sky-rocketing commodities prices to reduce their debt, because the spike will be temporary. With the Strait of Hormuz being “effectively closed” amid the Middle East conflict, oil production relying on the route “risks stopping completely” within a month, Putin said at a meeting with government officials and energy executives. It will take “weeks, if not a month” to restore liquefied natural gas capacity in the region and it’s “impossible to quickly compensate for the lost volumes,” he added. Russia “must understand that the current high commodity prices are certainly temporary” and must proceed from that, Putin said. “Changes in the balance of supply and demand for hydrocarbons will, of course, lead to a new stable price reality. That will inevitably happen, so it’s important for Russian energy companies to take advantage of the current moment, including by using additional export revenue to reduce their debt burden” to Russian banks. Putin asked the government and the central bank to monitor this process. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak , who oversees nation’s energy sector, and Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina were among the participants in the meeting, alongside with Rosneft PJSC and Gazprom PJSC Chief Executive Officers Igor Sechin and Alexey Miller , respectively. Russia will continue to supply oil and gas to reliable partners not only in the Asian-Pacific region, but also in eastern Europe, in particular to Hungary and Slovakia, Putin said. At the same time, the government in Moscow is considering ending most sales of natural gas to the European Union right now, and not wait until the region gradually bans imports both of pipeline and liquefied gas from Russia by late 2027. READ: Putin’s Suggestion to Divert LNG From EU Right Now Faces Hurdles Still, Russia is ready to work with the bloc and supply oil and gas “if European companies, European buyers sudd...