Hello there.
It is Monday, and it’s time to get ready, armchair economists. We’re being drafted for a new age of economic warfare.
🛢️ Iran's Getting Squeezed (And So Are You)
⚡️ Pointing 40 Fingers to the Wind
👻 The SEC Ghosted Crypto. Again.
₿ Turns Out, JPMorgan Dumped Polymarket a While Ago
🏛 Political Portfolio Spotlight: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
By the way, in case you haven’t been keeping up: Economic warfare now looks like aggressively tweet at your opponent until their country spontaneously collapses. More on that mission briefing below. 👇
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🛢️ It’s Like Blockading Fish in a Barrel
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just promised economic measures "like have never been seen" against Iran next week. Big words considering we've been sanctioning them for decades, but okay, let's see what you've got.
The play is pretty simple: keep the naval blockade going in the Strait of Hormuz and choke Iran's money supply until they tap out. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Navy can run this blockade "indefinitely" by rotating ships in and out. Iran keeps saying the strait is theirs and just attacked two UAE oil tankers this week to prove the point.
Regardless of who the sheriff is, the strait is basically a ghost town with single-digit ships passing through daily instead of the 130+ we should be seeing. Brent crude hit almost $89 a barrel this week, gas is averaging $4.07 nationwide, and there's no deal in sight. Iran wants sanctions lifted. The US wants the strait open (you know, like it was before all this started). Neither side is blinking. So yeah, cheap gas isn't coming back anytime soon, and the ripple effect will keep making waves.
⚡️ The Policy Pulse
The White House accused more than 40 countries of helping China dodge tariffs through "The Great Transshipment Scam".
Brazil opened consultations into retaliatory measures against the US after Trump hit Brazilian sugar, clothing, paper, and steel with 25% tariffs.
ICE plans to outfit officers with electric shock gloves that deliver bee-sting-like pain on contact, spending up to $20 million on the devices.
Flock Safety's CEO apologized for 46 cases where police officers allegedly misused the company's license plate camera network to stalk women.
The CFTC warned prediction markets that their incentive programs are often "procedurally or substantively deficient," flagging concerns about market manipulation.
👻 Crypto’s Living Life in Limbo
The SEC was supposed to drop actual crypto rules this Friday. Then they just... didn't. The agency cancelled the whole meeting last minute, blaming an "unforeseen scheduling issue." Classic.
This was going to be "Regulation Crypto," a framework that would let startups issue tokens without the SEC haunting them forever. It was also supposed to be the backup plan while Congress kept fumbling the CLARITY Act, which has been stuck in Senate purgatory for months. Now both paths are blocked and crypto stocks slipped on the news because uncertainty is never fun.
The SEC hasn't said when they'll reschedule. Congress probably won't touch the CLARITY Act until after recess. So the crypto Wild West continues, and everyone's just waiting to see which branch of government gets its act together first. Place your bets accordingly.
₿ The Coin Toss
JPMorgan ended its direct banking relationship with Polymarket, telling the prediction market platform to find a new lender as regulatory pressure mounted.
Zerohash failed to secure a national trust bank charter after the OCC returned its application citing material deficiencies.
Strategy pushed back against MSCI's proposed rules that could boot the Bitcoin treasury company from global equity indexes.
The SEC delayed its decision on tokenized asset innovation exemptions again, putting another speed bump in crypto's push toward Wall Street.
Bitcoin holders Strategy and Metaplanet face exclusion from stock indexes under MSCI's new "non-operating company" methodology.
🤡 Meme of the Day
🏛 Political Portfolio Spotlight
Elected officials have had a tremendous amount of success in the market recently.
Trading data provided by our partners at AltIndex.
We want to keep you updated on what they’re trading and when so you can leverage that intel as you plan out your own portfolio.
Remember to always DYOR.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
💲 Top Trades This Week:
🔍 Analysis:
Gottheimer’s latest disclosure was heavily tilted toward technology, with new purchases in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and Alphabet.
The standout buy was SailPoint, which has significantly outperformed since the purchase. On the selling side, Fabrinet and IBM were the largest exits, suggesting a move away from some existing technology positions while reallocating capital across the sector.
The key takeaway is selective tech exposure. Rather than making a broad market bet, these trades point toward cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and large-cap technology as areas of focus.
That’s all for today. Write us and let us know your thoughts on the market, the newsletter, or the weather—we’d just love to hear from you.
Till next time,
— Brandon and Blake with Invested Inc.
The information provided in Finance Wrapped is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice, investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Finance Wrapped is not a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or licensed financial planner. Always do your own research and consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. We may hold positions in or receive compensation from the companies or products mentioned. Disclosures will be made where applicable.
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