Axios reports that U.S. allies Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are pushing to secure a 45-day ceasefire in the Iran conflict to head off U.S. strikes on Iranian bridges and powerplants and consequent retaliation by the Islamic Republic against Gulf countries. After President Trump issued an expletive-laden Sunday threat to blow up “everything over there” (while issuing a Tuesday 8 pm deadline extension for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz), Iran rejected Trump’s latest ultimatum (saying it would only reopen the Strait when “war damages are compensated”) and launched additional attacks on Israel, Kuwait and UAE overnight into Monday morning.
Over the weekend, Iran began to grant more safe passage agreements to ships through the Strait of Hormuz allowing 21 ships to transit the Strait over the weekend (down from 135 daily prior to war). While terms of passage remain opaque, ships from Iraq, India and Japan have joined the ranks of Iranian and Chinese vessels which have been granted safe passage in recent days.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon raised eyebrows in declaring the U.S. needs to “get stronger” to maintain its military and economic might. After announcing its “Security and Resiliency Initiative” this past October (to direct $1.5T into industries that bolster U.S. economic security and resiliency over the next decade), JPMorgan unveiled last week its $1.0T “American Dream Initiative” aimed at expanding economic opportunities in local U.S. communities. Dimon stated, “We have a responsibility to help shape the right policies, not just for our company but for the country and the world. Many companies will only thrive if their countries thrive.”
In his fiscal ‘27 budget proposal, President Trump requested a $500B increase in defense spending (to $1.5T), to be paid for by a 10% across-the-board cut in non-defense spending.
In Friday’s U.S. employment report, nonfarm payrolls totaled +178k (vs. +65k est.), unemployment rate registered 4.3% (vs. 4.4% est.) and participation rate was 61.9% (vs. 62.0% est.).
European markets are closed for Easter Monday.
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