Iran Strikes Two UAE Oil Tankers in Hormuz | Horizons Middle East & Africa 8/14/2026

Economic Offensive Against Iran [0:00]

• The U.S. Treasury is planning new economic measures against Iran, including a continued blockade of ports.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Besson emphasized that the administration is preparing to roll out these unprecedented steps next week.

  The U.S. plans to announce economic measures against Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says the plan includes the continued blockade of Iran ports.

AI Market Momentum [0:46]

• OpenAI is on track to generate over $40 billion in annualized revenue, driven by coding tools and advertising.
• Sandisk shares surged 12% following earnings, boosting sentiment for peer chipmakers like Micron and Western Digital.

  Growth in coding tools subscriptions and advertising is helping drive the surge in sales.

U.S. Treasury Bond Yields [1:38]

• The U.S. government sold $25 billion in 30-year bonds at a yield of 5.216%, the highest rate since 2001.
• Strategists describe the rising yields as a structural issue driven by fiscal deficits and long-term inflationary pressures.

  The U.S. government has sold 30 year bonds at the highest interest rate in a quarter of a century.

Japan and the Yen [2:57]

• The Japanese yen is hovering near 160 per dollar, keeping markets on alert for potential government intervention.
• Analysts suggest a sustained recovery for the yen requires a shift in the Bank of Japan's normalization posture.

  I think as we've talked about certainly for a sustained gain for the yen to see a real turn in terms of in terms of seeing persistent strength. You do need to see I think a change in terms of the posture from the Bank of Japan.

Fed Policy and Labor Markets [3:50]

• The narrative for a September Fed rate hike has cooled following recent inflation data and weaker-than-expected labor reports.
• Policymakers are balancing the battle against inflation with concerns about slowing employment growth.

  The Fed spent the last few years fighting inflation. Now it has to make sure it doesn't basically win the battle at the expense of the expense of employment.

Geopolitical Trade Disruptions [5:25]

• The Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea remain impaired, creating simultaneous energy supply and shipping insurance crises.
• Market optimism regarding equities may be overlooking the long-term duration of these regional disruptions.

  Hormuz is primarily an energy supply problem while the the Red Sea is also shipping an insurance in addition to transportation cost problems.

Sanctions and Shadow Banking [6:35]

• Experts note that Iran is already heavily sanctioned, making it difficult to predict the efficacy of new U.S. measures.
• Potential targets for future sanctions include shadow banking and cryptocurrency channels used by Iran.

  You know they've had four plus decades of sanctioning thousands of individuals, more or less shopping off all trades.

Regional Supply Chain Adaptation [7:35]

• Countries in the region are rerouting supplies and utilizing alternative supply chains to mitigate the impact of the tanker crisis.
• These measures are described as an extension of logistics lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Taking a lot of the lessons they learned from Covid in terms of alternative supply chains and then basically putting on steroids.

Saudi PIF Strategic Shift [13:17]

• Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion Public Investment Fund is shifting toward greater privatization and asset sales.
• The fund aims to encourage portfolio companies to become more competitive and tap private capital markets.

  It's all about value creation as they put it. So that entails a few things including potential consolidation of more of its portfolio companies.

Turkey Inflation Revision [14:45]

• Turkey's central bank raised its year-end inflation forecast to 28% from 26% due to energy price volatility.
• Governor Fatih Karahan acknowledged that previous efforts to curb inflation were a partial failure.

  Governor Fatih Karahan conceded that the bank's past forecast missed the mark and described recent efforts to curb inflation as quote a partial failure.

Standard Bank Performance [16:40]

• Standard Bank reported record first-half profits, with headline earnings per share up 10%.
• The bank is serving as a lead arranger for the Dangote refinery IPO, which it describes as a game-changer for Nigeria.

  This is one of the single most important manufacturing and business events on the African continent. It's a game changer for Nigeria.

Ebola Outbreak in DRC [18:25]

• The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to a sixth province.
• Official data indicates over 4,400 confirmed cases and 2,000 deaths through August 10th.

  Africa's top public health agencies says the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to a sixth province and is on track to be the worst in history.