Vladimir Putin called Donald Trump about Iran. The Kremlin confirmed it. This happened right after the U.S. agreed to buy Russian diesel because fuel prices went up.
Two world leaders discussed military conflict while simultaneously closing an energy deal. That's not geopolitical tension. That's a sales call with extra steps.
Retail traders saw the headline and immediately checked their defense ETFs. They refreshed their portfolios. They calculated potential upside on oil futures. They convinced themselves this was the edge they needed.
None of them stopped to consider that the guy selling you diesel might have opinions about where you bomb next. That's not a conflict of interest. That's just interest.
The U.S. bought Russian fuel to cover a price surge, then took a phone call about Iranian war strategy from the guy who sold them the fuel. If your broker pitched you a stock and then offered to explain why you'd need it next month, you'd hang up. But these are countries, so we call it diplomacy.
Trump and Putin talked. The Kremlin released a statement. Fuel prices stayed high. Somewhere a day trader saw the words "war proposal" and "diesel deal" in the same headline and started googling which tanker stocks to YOLO into.
He'll lose money on Monday. Not because of Putin. Not because of Trump. Not because of Iran. He'll lose money because he thinks headlines about war proposals are buy signals instead of what they actually are: reminders that the people running the chessboard also own the board factory.
Photo by sina drakhshani on Unsplash
Leave a Comment