Four Fingers News — Tuesday, July 14, 2026
FOUR FINGERS NEWS
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Tuesday, July 14, 2026
FROM THE EDITOR · July 14, 2026
Day 138. Three consecutive nights of US strikes hit Iranian coastal defenses, missile sites, and maritime infrastructure from Bushehr to Bandar Abbas — CENTCOM’s word: “degrade.” Tehran answered into the strait itself: cruise missiles struck two UAE-flagged supertankers in Omani waters, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight. The blockade reinstates at 4 PM ET today. Brent jumped 4.8% to $87. Both sides are hitting things that burn and sink now, and neither is pretending otherwise. Leave the bottle.
— T.
The Dispatch
Updated Tue Jul 14 · 6:16 AM PDT
INFLATION
June Prices Post the Biggest Monthly Drop Since 2020, on an Oil Slide the War Is Already Reversing
The Consumer Price Index fell 0.4% in June, its sharpest monthly decline in more than six years, pulling annual inflation to 3.5% from May’s 4.2% and undershooting forecasts near 3.8%. Core prices held flat, easing the 12-month rate to 2.6%. Nearly all of the relief traces to a roughly 25% drop in crude during June’s ceasefire lull — the same barrels climbing again this week as the strikes resume, which leaves the cooldown reading like a snapshot of a month that has already turned.
HORMUZ
U.S. Restarts the Hormuz Blockade Tuesday After a Third Night of Strikes
Central Command resumes blockading traffic to and from Iranian ports at 4 p.m. Eastern, hours after a third straight night of strikes on coastal defenses and missile sites, with Trump vowing to collect 20% on all cargo through the strait as its self-declared “guardian.” Iran, which says it closed Hormuz over the deal’s collapse, hit two Emirati tankers over the weekend; the UN’s maritime agency called a mandatory toll legally baseless.
OIL
Crude Climbs as the Strait’s Bill Falls Hardest on Asia
WTI rose about 3% to near $81 and Brent to roughly $87, with a 20% toll estimated to add some $16 a barrel and $32 million per tanker — costs borne mostly east of the Gulf, where about 84% of Hormuz oil is bound. India, leaning on Middle East crude more heavily than China, is scrambling for replacement Saudi and Russian barrels as OPEC+ nudges output higher.
MARKETS
Bank Earnings Open the Season as Warsh Heads to the Senate
Stock futures steadied after the soft inflation print, the Nasdaq 100 leading higher while the Dow held near flat, before JPMorgan and its peers begin reporting second-quarter results. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh testifies to the Senate later Tuesday, with markets still pricing a hold at the Jul 28-29 meeting.
SENATE
McMaster Names Graham’s Sister to the Seat, a First Woman Senator for South Carolina
Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham Nordone — Lindsey Graham’s sister and the state’s commissioner for the blind — to serve the term through early January, on Trump’s recommendation. Candidates file Jul 21-28 for an Aug 11 special primary, with the seat on the Nov 3 ballot.
ALL-STAR
Walker Outlasts Schwarber for the Derby Crown; the All-Stars Play in Philly Tonight
Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker edged Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber 12-11 in the Home Run Derby final at Citizens Bank Park, the first Cardinal to take the title, as Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero launched the night’s longest blast at 491 feet. The All-Star Game follows Tuesday night in the same park, with the Mariners idle through the break.
NORTHWEST
Okanogan’s B&O Fire Holds Near 2,900 Acres at Zero Containment
The human-caused B&O Fire a mile southwest of Okanogan sat around 2,914 acres with no containment as 19 engines and three helicopters worked the lines and red flag warnings held over the Columbia Basin. To the south, the Chelan Hills Fire near Orondo reached full containment over the weekend at 9,862 acres.
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