The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday evening, not long after President Trump had warned Iran that “a civilisation will die tonight”. Perhaps this belligerent rhetoric was effective, or perhaps not. In any event, the bombing stopped – or at least most of it – on Tuesday evening as a fragile two-week ceasefire was agreed and started. US and Iranian delegations are in Islamabad this weekend negotiating what will hopefully be a permanent solution to this c

Investors got hammered again this week with few places to hide. Having said this, it could be worse. The Trump Administration continues to release conflicting information about the status of the war, but it is clear that the Iranians are not about to capitulate. This is causing all sorts of problems with the oil market, and this in turn is splattering both global stocks and bonds.