Now that the United States and Iran have agreed to a memorandum of understanding, Doug and Greg break down what that means moving forward when it comes to the markets, oil prices, Fed moves, and defense. Key Takeaways [00:17] - The US-Iran MOU [04:06] - Defense tech and what we’ve learned from the Iran War [10:43] - What’s driving the market next? [15:15] - The midterm effect View Transcript Connect with our hosts Doug Stokes Greg Stokes Stokes Family Office Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify lagniappe.stokesfamilyoffice.com Disclosure The information in this podcast is educational and general in nature and does not take into consideration the listener&#x27;s personal circumstances. Therefore, it is not intended to be a substitute for specific, individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate, qualified professional prior to making a final decision. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk. Therefore, it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including the investments and/or investment strategies referenced in our blogs/podcasts) or any other investment and/or non-investment-related content or services will be profitable, equal any historical performance level(s), be suitable or appropriate for a reader/listener’s individual situation, or prove successful. Moreover, no portion of the blog/podcast content should be construed as a substitute for individual advice or services from the financial professional(s) of a reader/listener’s choosing, including Stokes Family, LLC, a registered investment adviser with the SEC, with which the blogger/podcasters are affiliated.

US-Iran MOU: Where Do the Markets Go Now?

Lagniappe

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Lagniappe

## Transcript

You're listening to Lagniappe, a weekly digest of news, personal finance, brotherly banter, and whatever else is on our minds. From Stokes Family Office.

Hello, this is Greg Stokes with Stokes Family Office's Lagniappe podcast. Today is June 18th, 2026. I'm with my brother, Doug. Doug, the markets are flying today on the news that the Trump administration agreed to and consummated the memorandum of understanding what the

Iranians. Yesterday, the markets were off relative to Kevin Warsh, who's the new Fed chairman, indicating that the Fed was likely going to have one rate hike this year. A lot of news, a lot of mixed bag in terms of yesterday being down significantly, today being up. Tell me what the state of affairs is. I think it's basically been that for all of June. You have sell-offs followed by recovery, followed by sell-off, and it's been just a lot of volatility and really no movement.

In the underlying index. And so I think we're at one of these periods where the market doesn't really know which direction it's going to end up going. You have all of this momentum from economic growth. You have the data center and AI build out. You have earnings that are coming in better than expected.

We have strong economic growth, falling oil prices from the seemingly resolution in Iran. So you have those tailwinds. And then you have CPI that came in north of 4% and potential issues with interest rates going higher later, which would be a big damper on financing rates for construction.

For a lot of these data centers or for homeowners getting mortgages. And so you have those two really competing issues. And then on the other side, you've got a 60-day ceasefire window in which a memorandum of understanding doesn't mean a deal. And so what's going to happen within the 60-day window to potentially cause some volatility in the Middle East.

And so it's really one of those holding pattern periods in which you can see it in the markets where you have one day we're down 1% like yesterday because of potentially higher interest rates. And you have another day like today in which we're up close to a percent because you have lower oil and lower volatility in the Middle East. So really difficult time to get any sense of direction.

So two sides of the coin here. Oil prices spiked in the aftermath of the conflict between the United States and Iran and the United States, Israel and Iran. And I guess really the whole Gulf region because everybody was basically involved because the Iranians were shooting everybody. But at that point in time, I think oil was in the 60s at the beginning and then it peaked, I think, around 120 or so. That's right. Now it's back down to $74 a barrel.

So it's sort of like this was all basically a nothing burger at the end of the day according to the oil markets. That's been a big driver.

I mean, wanting to sell because we're about to invade Carg Island. And now we're at a point...

US-Iran MOU: Where Do the Markets Go Now?

Transcript

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US-Iran MOU: Where Do the Markets Go Now?

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.