A plume of smoke rises in Tehran, Iran, on March 8, 2026, after overnight strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces targeted multiple oil storage depots. The branding of the U.S. military operation against Iran is a quintessentially Trumpian choice for a leader whose tenure has been marked by anger. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times) By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM The Trump administration has unleashed a multifaceted pressure campaign against news organizations as it increasingly bristles

Options ⁠traders’ fears of a U.S. ⁠stock market crash have pulled back nearly to levels seen ​before the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran that made oil prices soar. The Nations TailDex Index and ‌the Cboe Skew Index, two ‌separate gauges that measure how much traders are paying for crash protection, have ⁠retreated to ⁠near where they stood before the February 28 strikes on Iran. ​The S&P 500 is still down 2% from pre-war levels. “TDEX is signaling that investors are now less wor

President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on March 11, 2026. President Trump had envisioned a growing economy and improving fortunes for American families in 2026. That appears at risk in his war with Iran. (Al Drago/The New York Times) By TONY ROMM and COLBY SMITH To President Donald Trump, the U.S. economy appeared to be moving in his direction at the turn of the year. The stock market was buoyant, prices had started to level out and White House

Bond investors have shifted to a defensive stance since the ⁠Middle ⁠East war injected fresh risk into markets, with many ⁠loading up on short-term U.S. Treasuries ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision. On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee is widely ​expected to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range at the end of a two-day meeting, as policymakers assess how the Iran war may influence their dual mandate of price stabi

A Chevron facility in Pascagoula, Miss., on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. Countries already walloped by a breakdown of the international trading order, war in Ukraine and chaotic U.S. policymaking are facing potentially lasting economic damage. (Micah Green/The New York Times) By PATRICIA COHEN Bombs are exploding in Iran and the Middle East, but the fallout is rattling households and businesses in neighborhoods all over the globe. In Kansas, homebuyers saw 30-year mortgage rates ed

U.S. equity funds ⁠were ⁠under selling pressure for ⁠a second straight week through March 11 as ​Iranian attacks on Middle East energy infrastructure and oil tankers ‌increased the risk of ‌economic stagflation. Investors divested a net $7.77 billion worth of U.S. ⁠equity ⁠funds during the week, adding to approximately $21.91 billion worth ​of net sales in the prior week, data from LSEG Lipper showed. U.S. crude prices soared 9.7% on Thursday, taking month-to-date gains ​to a

OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, delivers remarks during a press conference at The White House in Washington on on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Late last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered an ultimatum to Anthropic, the only company that had provided the Pentagon with artificial intelligence technologies for use on classified systems. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times) By CADE METZ Late last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered an ultimatum to Anthropic

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, ⁠as ⁠Iranian strikes on two oil tankers sent crude prices ⁠surging toward $100 per barrel, further exacerbating inflation fears and sending investors fleeing equity markets. All three major U.S. stock indexes slid ​more than 1.5% in a broad selloff, with everything but energy and some defensive stocks suffering steep percentage losses. The S&P 500 notched its biggest three-day percentage drop in a month. Iran’s Supreme ‌Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba K

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday after evidence of a cooling economy exacerbated worries that the Federal Reserve’s campaign to rein in decades-high inflation may cause a deep downturn. All three major indexes fell as data showed U.S. job openings in February dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years, suggesting that the labor market was cooling, while factory orders fell for a second straight month. Data on Monday had also pointed to weakening U.S. manufacturing act

A new generation of cryptocurrency, pegged to the dollar, is growing rapidly, promising faster payments and potentially lower interest rates. (Ben Voldman/The New York Times) By TALMON JOSEPH SMITH Cryptocurrencies were designed to be a hedge against the U.S. dollar, which crypto creators viewed as an unreliable currency. Yet one of the fastest-growing crypto coins has risen in popularity precisely because it’s pegged to the greenback. Stablecoins, as they are known, are also