The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost ground Friday, but all three major indexes posted gains for the week as traders held out hope that the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. would endure.
TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST
Office landlords have finally accepted the idea that remote work is the new normal and they are culling the dead weight from their portfolios.
SPOTLIGHT: THE IRAN WAR’S ECONOMIC IMPACT
The socioeconomic and geopolitical impact of the Iran War is global.
NYT REPORTS ON HOW NETANYAHU CONVINCED TRUMP TO GO TO WAR WITH IRAN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the stops in February during a meeting at the White House to convince President Donald Trump to go to war with Iran, The New York Times reported.
NOBODY CARES: ISRAELI STRIKES ON LEBANON SEEN AS THE WORST ATTACK SINCE 1982
Israel carried out its most extensive bombing campaign on Lebanon since 1982, which resulted in the deaths of at least 303 people and wounded 1,165 others in what The Guardian called the “deadliest 10 minutes” for Lebanon in decades.
TRUMP WARNS IRAN THAT IT WILL FACE ‘COMPLETE DECIMATION’ IF PEACE TALKS FAIL
President Donald Trump warned Iran that it will face “complete decimation” if it does not agree to the U.S. terms to end the war, which the administration described as its “best and final offer.”
Global Economy
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
This week brought fresh signs of economic strain as an increasing number of businesses – from small local operators to well-known brands –announced closures, restructurings, or bankruptcy filings.
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
Gilead Sciences, a California pharma, is paying $3.15 billion to take over Tubulis, a German developer of drugs that more effectively deliver chemotherapy treatments to cancer tumors.
SPECIAL REPORT: PRIVATE EQUITY WARNING SIGNALS DANGER AHEAD
As we have been detailing and forecasting in The Trends Journal since January, the private credit route is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy: investors panic and yank their money, making other investors reluctant to put money in.
U.S. Economy
USED EV SALES ZOOM IN U.S. AS IRAN WAR CONTINUES
During this year’s first quarter, used EV sales in the U.S. jumped 12 percent, year on year, and 17 percent compared to the previous three months, the Financial Times reported.
INVESTORS FLEE JUNK BONDS
During the 30 days ending 6 April, investors yanked an average of $2.7 billion a week out of the junk bond market, fleeing to defensive positions as the Iran War’s economic fallout makes risky holdings even more so.
SALES OF EXISTING HOMES DROP TO NINE-MONTH LOW
In March, U.S. sales of existing homes fell 3.6 percent, year over year, to 3.98 million, the slowest pace since June 2025, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported.
The Iran War
TRUMP SAYS U.S. WILL BLOCKADE STRAIT OF HORMUZ AFTER ISLAMABAD TALKS WITH IRAN FAIL
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that “effective immediately,” he instructed the U.S. Navy to conduct its own blockade near the Strait of Hormuz after Iranians refused to agree to Washington’s hardline demands during negotiations in Islamabad on Saturday.
TRUMP WAS THE ONE WHO PUSHED PAKISTAN TO GET IRAN TO AGREE TO CEASEFIRE: REPORT
Pete Hegseth, the secretary of War, told reporters a day after the temporary ceasefire between Iran and Washington was announced that it was the Iranians who begged the U.S. to stop the war.
WHICH ONE IS IT? ISRAEL SAYS NO GOAL ACHIEVED IN IRAN; TRUMP SAYS ALL GOALS ACHIEVED
Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader, called out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week for going along with President Donald Trump’s ceasefire announcement with Iran, calling the move a historic “political disaster” for Israel because the war did not achieve any goals.
Hi-Tech Science
ONE INJECTION AND PEOPLE BORN DEAF CAN HEAR
A single injection of a gene essential to hearing was injected into the inner ear of 10 patients and all 10 experienced improved hearing, some as soon as a month after being treated.
CLEAN HYDROGEN MADE FROM JUNK PLASTIC AND WASTE BATTERY ACID
A new solar-powered reactor can convert plastic trash into clean hydrogen using old battery acid as the process’s active ingredient.
“SMART BOMB” DNA PRECISELY TARGETS CANCER CELLS
A family of drugs called antibody-drug conjugates can pinpoint cancer tumors and deliver therapeutic drugs directly to them.