The Institutional Risk Analyst

The renewed fighting between the US and Iran again jeopardizes global oil supplies, after stockpiles were drained earlier in the conflict, Reuters reports. “We’ve burned through all of the buffers we had. Everything,” one trader told the Financial Times. Energy markets had some slack to absorb the first shock, but that cushion is “smaller and shrinking further.” We continue to be concerned about shortages of refined products and particular grades of petroleum in 2H 2026.

In the second quarter of 2026, Morgan Stanley’s margin and other lending balances increased by $3.0 billion (or 9%) sequentially compared to the first quarter. Year-over-year, these loan balances surged by $10.3 billion (or 40%).

But the greater risk to borrowers and investors is the widely held illusion that the valuations for rental properties grow to the sky. Take the example of China, where two decades of home price appreciation has been reversed and home prices have now fallen steadily for the past three years. How did this happen? Because the Chinese foolishly imitated the US methodology for tracking home prices, giving their citizens a false image of the actual conditions in the housing market

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) has already highlighted some of the most egregious instances of Trump, his family, and members of his administration using their positions of power to enrich themselves and do favors for their billionaire buddies at the expense of American taxpayers. Murphy has written a script for a Democratic House to use in impeaching President Trump.