WAR

The objective is fairly simple, no boots on the ground, pound the ground level, take them as far back as the 1950s. Not that I condone any intervention, but this as close of an opportunity as we will ever get. If the second-order effects trickle down, we may reduce the supply of weapons to Russia, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen. If so, then perhaps we'll see a major stability shift in the region in our favor. Here's the rub, if this works, then perhaps Russia will fold faster, and if this happens before the mid-terms, the Dems are in trouble.

The good news, the markets have 2-3 days to digest this before we open, I happen the think we are well positioned for a +2% day on Monday. I did take a small entry on Friday's close, and will exit on a pop.

In an Iran Conflict Scenario, Most common short-term pattern:​

  • Oil ↑
  • Defense stocks ↑
  • Gold ↑
  • Broader stock market ↓
  • Airlines & travel ↓
Does war tend to have a predictable effect on I fund?
 
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Does war tend to have a predictable effect on I fund?
Yes...

But, it is too late to worry about it. It will affect all equity funds anyway.

What we should be looking for is the rate of Iranian missile/terrorist attacks. Is it growing, normalizing, or declining.
 
Interview with VDH before the strikes on Iran...


My guess is that this is already largely over. Iran is a pariah state with very few allies - all of which are turds. They cannot defend themselves either. If you are going to be an international pariah you had best have a very, very good military. The reality of it is that we and Israel can just stop and restart as desired. We don't have to waste a bunch of political capital on the issue.
 
I exited all my short-term positions last night, with the State Of Union address now behind us, I figure this increases the odds of an IRAN-Escalation over the weekend. Remember, the Donald loves to sucker punch people, so perhaps we'll get some movement soon.

Does war tend to have a predictable effect on I fund?

Well, if we believe about 80% of petrodollar is tied to USD, a spike in Oil should correlate to a spike in USD, thus this goes against the I-Fund. But this implies a rush into USD as a safe asset where in this case it's the US directly causing the spike in Oil.

We have to consider Europe is more depended on ME oil than we are, if their 1/3rd consumption of ME export is true, then they take the brunt of the hit here. But I'm not sure TSP is fast enough to escape the drop.
 
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The Guardian

US strikes on Iran triggered by Israel’s plan to launch attack, Rubio says​

Chris Stein in Washington
Mon, March 2, 2026 at 9:50 PM EST


So instead of talking Israel down we just went along with it.

Well, (not that I trust anything this administration says), but saying Iran is going to attack us is like saying it's going to rain in Seattle. You know that kind of rain that your old truck doesn't have a slow-enough wiper setting to justify turning it on to clear the windshield of 2 drops.

But I would like to point out

Grok: Since 1979 how many American Deaths are linked to Iran?
Answer: Conservative tallies from major attacks and Iraq exceed 900–1,000 (e.g., ~500–600 from Beirut + ~600 from Iraq + dozens from others). Broader claims (including indirect links or Afghanistan) reach "well over a thousand" or "more than 1,000." These figures exclude non-fatal injuries/maimings (thousands) and focus on deaths directly or proximately linked via U.S. government assessments.

Chat GPT:

Major incidents with documented or widely cited U.S. deaths​

  • 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks bombing — Iran-backed group killed 241 U.S. service members.
  • 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut — killed 17 Americans.
  • 1996 Khobar Towers bombing (Saudi Arabia)19 U.S. Air Force personnel killed (linked to Hezbollah/Iran).
  • Iraq War (2003–2011) — U.S. military analysts estimate hundreds of U.S. troops were killed by Iranian-supplied weapons (explosively formed penetrators and militia attacks). Figures from Pentagon and analysts range from about 196 to ~600+; some commentators count even more when including broader militia attacks.
 
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