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Hyunsoo Rim

US stock futures sink, oil spikes, and European markets open lower after Israeli strikes on Iran fuels war fears

Israel launched air strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military sites early Friday in an operation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said could last “as many days as it takes.” The strikes, reflecting Israel’s long-standing view of Iran’s nuclear program as an “existential threat,” reportedly killed six nuclear scientists and several of the country’s top military leaders. Iran retaliated by launching more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US wasn’t involved in the strikes. President Trump had recently urged Netanyahu to hold off from taking military action. In a post on Truth Social, Trump again urged Iran to make a nuclear deal, saying, “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”

The market reaction has been aggressively risk-off in early trading on Friday:

  • Oil prices are up over 7%, pulling back somewhat after briefly spiking as much as 13% — the largest intraday gain since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

  • Energy stocks were up, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund up more than 3% in premarket trading.

  • Safe haven assets have caught a bid, with gold up 1.2%, nearing April’s record high of $3,500 an ounce, as the US dollar also strengthened modestly. Treasury yields ticked higher this morning, but are broadly unchanged in the last 24 hours.

  • Equity indexes were in the red, with futures on the SPDR S&P 500 Trust down more than 1%. European markets were lower too, with the STOXX 600 down ~1%.

  • Defense stocks were also rising, with Lockheed Martin up more than 5% and L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman both up ~4%.

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Tom Jones

The most watched soccer match in US history got less than a third of the views the Super Bowl did

Between a top-spot finish in the group stage, a sweeping performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, and the president’s controversial intervention, Monday evening’s USMNT game against Belgium had, to put it lightly, shaped up into a box-office clash.

And though the US players’ performance on the pitch might not have lived up to the high drama off it, American soccer fans certainly showed up. According to early estimates, the 4-1 defeat against Belgium was the most watched soccer telecast in US history, hauling some 40 million viewers on average across the coverage on Fox and Telemundo.

That may be a record tally in the US for the sport that much of the world calls some variant of “football” — besting the 36.2 million who tuned in to watch the team’s previous knock-out match — but it’s still peanuts in comparison to the sport that shares the same name in the States.

World cup viewers chart
Sherwood News
Tom Jones
burning question
6/24/26
Over 50% of Americans say climate change is a serious threat; only 10% think their compatriots feel the same

That perception gap on the issue is among the highest in the world, per a new Gallup poll.

Youth Climate Strikes Break Out Across The U.S.
Reddit alien stock exchange

Reddit’s advertising business is getting bigger. It’s already booming.

The platform will plow more money into its ad offerings as it cements itself as a “trove of human intelligence.”

Tom Jones6/22/26
Tom Jones
plane pain
6/22/26
45% of Americans say they’re not taking a summer vacation this year, mostly due to costs

Flight comparison site Skyscanner is recommending some cheaper alternatives closer to home.

Bored annoyed man looking funny and angry during his summer staycations
Tom Jones
6/17/26
Despite slight declines, Japanese tourism figures are still hovering around record highs

Tourism: Still big in Japan.

Aerial view of Tokyo cityscape with Fuji mountain in Japan.

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