Stocks soared and oil prices plunged on the heels of Iran claiming that the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” on April 17th. However, the situation remains fluid and could reverse quickly. Iran’s declaration is linked to the continuation of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and contingent on removal of the U.S. naval blockade, which President Trump has said will remain “in full force” until a formal peace agreement is reached. THE MONEY ILLUSION AND OIL PRICES In this comme

“History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes” – Mark Twain Today’s energy shock echoes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 when energy equities were clear beneficiaries. In 2022, the Energy Sector returned +65.7% (as measured by the S&P 500 Energy Index) vs. -18.1% for the S&P 500. Over the 3 years to follow the Energy Sector underperformed While it still posted respectable annual returns of 12.9% (with dividends reinvested), this still fell well short of the S&P 500’s st

ENERGY STOCKS DOMINATING IN 2026 Energy is the top performing sector year-to-date with a price return of 22.0% vs. 0.9% for the overall market as of 2/20/26. So, what is driving the outperformance? Let’s distinguish the signal from the noise: REVERSION TO THE MEAN . After several years of underperformance, energy is the top performing S&P 500 sector by a wide margin after being near the bottom last year— Source: Bloomberg. Performance figures as of 2/20/26 —and yet the