Trump Wants to Claim Hormuz, the Market Just Shrugs
Trump just said that once Iran is finished being defeated, he’ll declare the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. It’s the kind of line that would normally move oil markets. Today it barely registered.
The report treats this as familiar noise, the same pattern behind Trump’s past claims on Canada as a 51st state, Greenland, and Venezuela. Legally, territorial claims apply to land, not international waterways, which fall under UN jurisdiction, even if the UN dares not say a word. The statement is also self-contradictory, Trump calls Iran already badly defeated, yet says he’ll wait to finish the job, and oil stayed well under $100 regardless.
While that headline fades, real money keeps building elsewhere. Harvard’s endowment disclosed a $2.2 billion SPCX stake on Friday, its single largest US stock holding, with the University of California, North Carolina, and Washington University in St. Louis all holding positions too. The report reads this as confirmation that the institutional treasure hunt in blue chips, TSLA, TSM, AMZN, GOOG, META, and SPCX, is still just getting started.
Underneath the calm sits real fading support elsewhere, leveraged funds have cut yen short positions by more than half since the joint US-Japan intervention, but the yen still slipped about 1% this week, erasing much of that intervention’s gains, a reminder that propped-up calm doesn’t always hold.
Markets ignored a president threatening to annex a shipping lane, but Harvard betting $2.2 billion on SPCX is the number actually worth watching today.
Full report available via the download button below. Read previous US Stock Express editions here.
US Stock Express 20260817 PLTR TEM MSFT TSLA SPCX GOOG META
About the Author
Daniel Yue has been an active investor since 1980, with experience spanning stocks, currencies, futures, metals, and bonds. A scholar of the Chicago School of Economics, he holds a Certificate with Distinction from Cambridge University and a degree in International Trading from National Taiwan University. He served as Chief Analyst for over 30 years and Chief Mentor at Sincere Finance. In 2017, he received an award from the University of Arizona for financial internship leadership.
The analysis and opinions expressed in this article are for educational purposes only and do not constitute financial advice. Investing involves risk. Please consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.
About the Author
Daniel Yue has been an active investor since 1980, with experience spanning stocks, currencies, futures, metals, and bonds. A scholar of the Chicago School of Economics, he holds a Certificate with Distinction from Cambridge University and a degree in International Trading from National Taiwan University. He served as Chief Analyst for over 30 years and Chief Mentor at Sincere Finance. In 2017, he received an award from the University of Arizona for financial internship leadership.
The analysis and opinions expressed in this article are for educational purposes only and do not constitute financial advice. Investing involves risk. Please consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.