Looking beyond the oil shock

A few weeks ago, there was genuine reason for optimism. The Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran had taken some of the heat out of energy markets, inflation was finally moving in the right direction, and investors had begun to focus on what actually matters, company earnings, rather than the latest geopolitical flare-up, but that didn't last. Renewed military action involving the US, Israel and Iran has brought the Strait of Hormuz back into sharp focus. Brent crude climbed above $90 a barrel and briefly touched $100, a reminder that energy markets can reprice v...