CF Industries should surge as the Middle East crisis cuts fertilizer supply just as planting demand peaks. Roughly a third of the world's fertilizer moves through the Strait of Hormuz, winter planting is starting, and farmers cannot delay, so they must pay whatever the price is. Surging gas prices also raise production costs. The stock pulled back as the market priced in the strait reopening, which has not happened, and could reach $150 short term. Oil is the obvious, mostly priced trade. x.com  … Show more

Mosaic is a catch-up play to the rest of fertilizers, since energy, fertilizers, grains and chemicals should all skyrocket while the Strait of Hormuz stays closed. April 2025 was likely a 4-5 year cycle low, and the stock has made a weekly breakout and retest, with multi-x upside possible over the next few years. More basing in mid-2026, possibly undercutting $20, could still come; daily strength and a close above the 50-day average would confirm. x.com 

CF Industries, Nutrien, Mosaic and ICL Group are poor long-term holdings despite surging 10-30% on the Hormuz-driven urea spike. Fertilizer shares Maersk's flaws of cyclicality, weak capital allocation and no economic moat, and amplifies them. Demand follows farmer budgets: when crop prices are high farmers splurge on inputs, and when crops fall they cut back. Urea's 80% jump to $730 a ton reflects a supply shock as Gulf exports are cut off, not a durable advantage. x.com 

Crude oil's safety buffer is draining at a record pace, so the next supply shock will hit a market with far less protection. The Iran war and near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz have removed over 1 billion barrels of supply, and Morgan Stanley estimates stockpiles fell about 4.8 million barrels a day from March 1 to April 25, a record. A record 400 million barrels of emergency reserves have been pledged, and inventories are near 2018 lows. Even if Hormuz reopens, restocking will add demand. … Show more

Crude oil deserves far more long interest because the war is not stopping anytime soon; Iran reportedly hit another tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. x.com 

Mosaic is being crushed by the very fertilizer crisis that lifts fertilizer prices, because the Strait of Hormuz blockade is blowing up its input costs. Phosphate fertilizers need lots of sulfuric acid, and 44% of the world's seaborne sulfur exports pass through Hormuz. With the strait shut, sulfur prices have spiked even harder than fertilizer prices, presumably worldwide. Bank analysts have lowered Mosaic's 2026 EBITDA estimates, and the stock fell 20% in a week to near six-year lows. x.com  … Show more

Crude oil was never headed to $200 because Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent will do whatever it takes to contain it, though their main tool is running low. Markets rank AI and the Fed above the Iran conflict, which would only hurt them through sustained oil above $100-$110 or new highs. Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases have engineered calm, but the SPR is getting dangerously low and the buffer shrinks each week the Strait of Hormuz stays closed. x.com  x.com 

Crude oil should stay elevated until there is a firm deal on the Strait of Hormuz, because a war, unlike tariffs, cannot be undone with a single social-media post. A deal may come soon but could take a while. Meanwhile bond markets are pricing higher inflation and no Fed cuts for much of 2026; only a peace deal with Iran and the strait's reopening would change that backdrop. x.com  x.com 

All three routes for Middle East oil out of the war zone shut within 72 hours, and the Fed cannot fix that. Strait of Hormuz traffic fell from over 130 ships a day before the war to 31, then zero. Iraqi drones hit pump stations on the Saudi East-West pipeline, leaving Riyadh five to seven days of crude stored at its end. In the Red Sea, a militia seized Mokha, Perim and the Hanish Islands and bars Saudi ships. Iran only needs to wait: America votes in 49 days, Iran not until 2028. x.com  x.com  … Show more

US large-cap equities face only bad and catastrophic outcomes, because the effectively closed Strait of Hormuz has created a physical oil shortage that headlines can't fix. Even if Trump ceded control to Iran, months of disruption would follow, as insurers need sovereign guarantees to underwrite an Iranian toll system. Structural inflation from the war should keep central banks paused and weaken businesses and consumers; a 2022-style path lower with relief rallies looks likely. x.com  x.com