on a re-escalation of the Iran War, with Saudi Arabia opening up military bases for American use left over from the Gulf Wars. The only reason the US would want to do that was if it were planning a ground invasion of Iran. The last time we were there in force was during Desert Storm in 1991, when the US had 500,000 troops in Saudi Arabia. I remember because I was one of them. The US may not actually be planning an invasion of Iran, it may be just trying to scare them into a deal. But today, the oil market thinks otherwise.

thanks to soaring gas prices, the national average is now topping $4.50. It will be higher next week. Executives are worried about US shoppers with tighter budgets amid surging gas prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Rising fuel costs are impacting low-income consumers who are dipping into savings and have less money for discretionary spending like eating out. Americans are putting less away in savings and may change their spending patterns to balance their budgets if gas prices stay high.

Private sector job creation was stronger than expected in April, providing more evidence of a stable labor market and less incentive for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates amid persistently higher inflation, ADP reported Wednesday. The payroll processing firm said companies added 109,000 jobs for the month, a step up from the 61,000 created in March and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 84,000. April's gains were the best for the ADP count since January 2025. The March total was revised down by 1,000. Wages for those staying in their jobs rose 4.4% annually, down 0.1 percentage point.

Citigroup laid out stronger profitability targets for the next two years at its investor ​day on Thursday, as CEO Jane Fraser spearheads a company-wide overhaul to drive growth. Six years into her tenure, Fraser ‌is heading her second investor day to present the results of a massive reorganization that shrank Citi by selling retail businesses worldwide, eliminating management layers, and increasing risk and controls. They also announced a $30 billion share buyback program. Buy (C) on dips.

The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 189,000 to 190,000. The 4-week moving average was 203,250, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 207,500 to 207,750.