Trump Reportedly Says Oil Prices Won’t Tumble Until After Midterms, While Iran Signals More Intense War — USO, UCO Rise

• Trump said the seven-month war with Iran will end “immediately after the election,” reported CNBC.
• Iran said it has no intention of backing down despite the U.S. naval blockade and attacks on its oil tankers, reported Bloomberg.
• Brent crude climbed above $102 a barrel, while WTI futures surpassed $96 on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump reportedly said on Wednesday that energy prices elevated by the Iran war are unlikely to come down until after the midterm elections, which are nearly two months away. He also said oil prices will tumble “right after the election” and predicted gasoline prices would eventually fall below $2 a gallon, according to a report in CNBC.

On Wednesday, Brent crude futures climbed above $102 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures surpassed $96.

Trump Says Oil Relief Could Come After Midterms

“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before heading to Texas for the Republican Party’s midterm convention, according to CNBC.

Trump had been asked how he plans to explain to Americans why oil prices have soared to highs not seen since the early weeks of the war. “I think it’s very easy to explain to America,” Trump said. “All you have to do is say, ‘Will you let Iran have a nuclear weapon?’ And the answer is no.”

Trump also insisted that the war against Iran, now in its seventh month with no clear resolution in sight, will end “immediately after the election.”

Iran Signals Readiness For More Intense War

Iran is ready for a more intense war and will escalate counterstrikes if the U.S. continues attacking its territory and infrastructure, reported Bloomberg, citing a senior official from the Islamic Republic.

Tehran has no intention of backing down in the face of an American naval blockade and attacks on its oil tankers, the official told Bloomberg.

Economic pain may be increasing, the official said, but Iran’s leaders see the war with the U.S. as posing an existential threat that leaves them little choice but to keep fighting.

Overnight, Washington said one of its warships had to evade an Iranian attack and that it destroyed five of the Islamic Republic’s energy tankers in response.

Tehran then fired around 20 missiles at a Jordanian airbase used by the U.S. and attacked more American Navy ships, as well as several commercial vessels.

What Is Stocktwits Retail Saying?

At the time of writing on Wednesday after-hours, U.S. equities were mixed. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) had edged up 0.04%, while SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) had gained 0.11%. Meanwhile, Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) was down 0.07%.

Stocktwits retail sentiment for SPY and QQQ was ‘neutral,’ while for DIA it was ‘bearish.’

The United States Oil Fund (USO), which tracks the price of West Texas Intermediate, was up 0.6% after-hours at the time of writing on Wednesday, while retail sentiment was ‘bearish.’

ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (UCO) was up 0.75% after-hours, while retail sentiment was ‘bullish.’

Crude Oil Brent futures (QA_F) and WTI Crude Oil futures (WS_F) were higher by 1% and 3.2%, respectively.

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