1. Saudi Pipeline Hit as Aramco Talks $200 Oil
We’re learning that Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline was hit again.
As this happened, we also heard an interesting comment from Aramco’s CEO, who said Brent would be at $200 if the East-West Pipeline didn’t exist.
Interestingly, this comes as President Trump has been talking about a decision he has to make on Iran. There is escalation in the region. Tankers are getting shot, and now we’re hearing about a major pipeline getting hit again.
This will obviously have implications for oil prices. If things don’t calm down, and we already know diesel is becoming a problem, things could get a lot worse.
But you never know. By the time you’re reading this, there might be a post about a peace deal.
2. France’s Bond Yields Deserve Your Attention
It’s important to pay attention to what’s happening with bond yields in France, given that France is the second-biggest economy in the Eurozone.
The move has been significant, especially over the past few weeks.
If there is some sort of debt-related issue in the Eurozone, it could directly impact the financial system. Keep in mind, everything is interconnected. If something happens in Europe, it becomes a North American problem very quickly.
The bond market has the potential to break something, and remember, it’s much bigger than the stock market.
3. Fed Minutes and a Shaky Canadian Jobs Report
On the economic data front, we get the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes on Wednesday.
It will be interesting to see how the Fed is thinking. U.S. bond yields keep rising, and investors are obviously pricing in inflation and fiscal problems. Are we going to get another hike before the end of the year?
Mind you: the bond market has already hiked interest rates. Doesn’t matter what the Fed does.
Then, on Friday, we get Canadian employment figures.
That number will be worth watching because Canada lost close to 42,000 jobs in August. Right now, expectations are that Canada added 9,000 jobs in September.
Let’s see how it goes. Statistics Canada has a history of wild swings in its numbers. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 6.5% from 6.4% in August. The Canadian economy has issues in the short term, and trade problems will continue to create uncertainty in the near term.
4. Earnings Season: Watch the Banks and the Borrowers
We’ve now entered the last quarter of 2026, and earnings season is coming soon.
This time, what’s worth watching is what happens to highly leveraged companies and banks. More specifically what’s happening with fixed-income trading at banks.
In the second quarter, banks and everybody else started hedging against interest rates. There is a massive number of derivatives in the background that could create problems. Nobody was expecting interest rates, or bond yields, to go this high.
Derivatives are generally boring/nerdy stuff…until they are not.
5. Gold Defends $4,100
Rising dollar and yields continue to pressure gold prices, but the selling hasn’t been as severe as one would expect. Still, the chart overall looks bearish at the moment.
Right now, gold is defending $4,100. If that breaks, $4,000 is the big support level below. In case $4,000 breaks, gold could become painful trade. However, we believe the lower gold goes, the better the opportunity becomes.
Bitcoin is itching to go higher. A move above $86,000 could bring in buyers.
U.S. mortgage rates have been increasing, which puts a lot of pressure on the housing market. Interestingly enough, home prices haven’t come down. Mortgage rates have gone up, and the market seems frozen.
The Japanese yen is testing its 200-day moving average against the U.S. dollar. 160 is the level we’re paying close attention to, because that’s where we’ve seen interventions come in.