The VIX Crashes As Oil Spikes Above $100 and S&P 500 Roars Back

3 weeks ago 9

Michael Williams

Mon, March 16, 2026 astatine 9:51 AM CDT 4 min read

  • Nvidia (NVDA) gained 2.6% up of CEO Jensen Huang’s GTC 2026 keynote Monday, portion the U.S. Commerce Department withdrew a planned regularisation connected AI spot exports, removing regulatory unit connected the stock. Meta Platforms (META) roseate 3% premarket aft signing a $27B AI infrastructure woody with Nebius. Micron Technology (MU) added 5.7%, extending a 49% year-to-date rally up of net aboriginal this week.

  • Easing geopolitical tensions astir Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz sent lipid prices little and calmed marketplace volatility, with Goldman Sachs noting the proviso daze appears narrowly contained to vigor alternatively than triggering wide ostentation that would unit the Federal Reserve to tighten policy.

  • A caller survey identified 1 azygous wont that doubled Americans’ status savings and moved status from dream, to reality. Read much here.

U.S. equity markets opened sharply higher Monday arsenic diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz gained traction, easing fears of a prolonged vigor proviso shock. The CBOE Volatility Index fell 7.4% to 25.17, reflecting a meaningful driblet successful near-term fear. All 3 large indices surged, with the S&P 500 climbing 63 points to 6,695 and the Nasdaq adding 265 points to 22,370, suggesting the alleviation was broad-based alternatively than confined to a azygous sector.

Brent crude hovered astir $102 a tube Monday greeting aft concisely topping $105 earlier successful the session. WTI crude surged from $71 connected March 2 to $94.65 by March 9, putting crude astatine the 99.6th percentile of its trailing 12-month range. The catalyst was Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which choked disconnected a captious artery for planetary lipid exports.

The alleviation rally came arsenic President Trump threatened to reconsider sparing Iranian lipid facilities unless the strait reopened, and his medication moved toward announcing a conjugation to escort ships done the waterway. Iraq besides began efforts to reconstruct the Kirkuk-Turkey pipeline. Goldman Sachs analysts noted that "the proviso daze contiguous appears narrowly concentrated successful the vigor sector,", distinguishing this occurrence from the wide ostentation surge that followed Covid. That framing matters due to the fact that it signals cardinal banks whitethorn not request to respond arsenic aggressively, giving equities country to recover.

Read: Data Shows One Habit Doubles American’s Savings And Boosts Retirement

Most Americans drastically underestimate however overmuch they request to discontinue and overestimate however prepared they are. But information shows that people with 1 habit person much than treble the savings of those who don’t.

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