Iran strikes send oil toward $97 — ride the energy rally with oil stocks and ETFs
The U.S. just struck Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz for the second time this week, pushing oil prices sharply higher. At the same time, inflation data came in at a three-year high, which makes energy prices even more of a focal point.
Idea
The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of the world's oil shipments, and each new U.S. strike on Iranian targets makes a supply disruption more plausible. Brent crude is already heading toward $97 a barrel — a level that would have seemed unlikely just weeks ago. Energy companies tend to see their profit margins expand quickly when oil rallies, since their production costs stay relatively fixed while the price they can charge goes up. With inflation already sitting at a three-year high, there's also a narrative tailwind: energy stocks are one of the few sectors that actually benefit from rising prices rather than being hurt by them.