Good morning. Welcome back from the long soggy holiday weekend. At least we return to a New York City that is buzzing after the Knicks completed the sweep of the Cavs and punching their ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. Speaking of, markets are partying like it’s 1999. Last week the S&P 500 extended its weekly winning streak to 8 weeks ending up ~1% amidst hopes for a diplomatic resolution in the Middle East. The equal-weight version of the index and small cap indices outperformed ending the week up ~2.5%, recouping a good portion of the previous week’s losses, helped by a reversal in yields in the back half of the week.

Iran remained the focus over the weekend with the administration continuing to point to progress in deal negotiations. Some of the optimism has been tempered after the US conducted “self-defense” strikes overnight targeting missile launch sites and mine laying boats. S&P futures are up ~0.7% but are about 25pts off of yesterday’s high. Oil prices are trading down ~4% from Friday’s close but have also retraced some of its initial move. After closing at ~$104.25 on Friday, ICE Brent is hovering below its 50d ma ($99.75) after trading down to ~$96 yesterday. Treasury yields are down just under 10bps across the curve (also a couple of bps off the lows).

Brent crude fell to ~$96/barrel on Monday. However, follow-up reports of US strikes in the Strait saw oil bounce off those lows, currently up 3% today to around $99. Despite the move in oil gold was relatively contained, gaining 1% on Monday and falling a similar amount today as it remains rangebound. Bitcoin traded down to ~$74k and its 50d ma at its lows over the past 24hr but bounced to ~$77.5k before pulling back to ~$77k currently. ETH continues to trade rangebound ~$2100k.