He Said, She Said

The “Iranian attack” on two oil tankers is looking sketchier by the minute. Overnight, the president of the company which owns one of the tankers cast more doubt on the official narrative that the tankers were damaged by Iranian mines:

…in remarks to Japanese media, the president of the company that owns the ship said the vessel wasn’t damaged by a mine. “A mine doesn’t damage a ship above sea level,” said Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo, the owner and operator of the vessel. “We aren’t sure exactly what hit, but it was something flying towards the ship,” he said.

WTI never broke out yesterday, and it continues to tread water this morning — leaving equities to fend for themselves.

Speaking of treading water, futures have yet to show their hand even as we approach what our model shows to be an important downturn. It’s not unusual for markets to go sideways or pile on a little extra cushion in the days leading up to an FOMC meeting. But, this is getting a bit tiresome.