Monday 9 March 2026
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: Oil reaches $90 a barrel – up by 35% in a week
Business and markets: Swiss vote to protect cash in the constitution
Foreign Affairs: US launches “Shield of the Americas” regional coalition
Security and intelligence: Russia warns Finland over nuclear weapons
Domestic politics: Foreign Secretary responds to US criticism of the UK
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 10,284.75 (down 1.24%)
S&P 500 = 6,740.02 (down 1.33%)
Nasdaq = 22,387.68 (down 1.59%)
Stoxx 600 = 598.69 (down 1.02%)
£1 = $1.34 / €1.15
Lab / Con / Reform = 21 / 16 / 29 per cent (Opinium, 4-6 March)
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Iran update: The conflict continues in the Middle East, with Iran’s President Pezeshkian saying yesterday that Iran “will not bow” to pressure from the US and Israel. Separately, US intelligence officials have said that Russia may be providing Iran with information to help strike US targets.
The Mighty Detail
Economics: The price of WTI crude oil has reached over $90 a barrel. It has increased 35 per cent in the last week – the largest increase since the oil futures contract began trading in March 1983. The UAE, Kuwait and Iraq have all reduced oil production, with storage facilities on land reaching capacity.
Business and markets: Swiss voters have chosen to protect the availability of cash by enshrining it in the constitution. Although Swiss cash payments have declined from 70 per cent 10 years ago to 30 per cent two years ago, the vote shows the difference between voter sentiment and consumer behaviour.
Foreign Affairs: President Trump launched a new regional coalition on Saturday. The new “Shield of the Americas” is billed as a military partnership designed to disrupt drug cartels and drug trafficking.
Not all Latin American countries are involved. Argentina and Bolivia are involved, for example, but Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, are not.
Security and intelligence: Russia has threatened Finland after Finland said it would remove its ban on hosting nuclear weapons. Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said that the policy change would ensure it could participate in NATO nuclear planning.
The Kremlin said, however, that the move indicated that Finland was “beginning to threaten us” and that “if Finland threatens us, we take appropriate measures”.
Domestic politics: The UK Foreign Secretary has said that the UK must “decide what’s in the UK national interest”, after President Trump again criticised the UK for not providing full and immediate military support in Iran.
An official readout of a telephone conversation between President Trump and Prime Minister Starmer, which took place yesterday afternoon, is available here.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
King Charles and Queen Camilla attend Commonwealth Day Service, Westminster Abbey
High Court hears civil cases against Gerry Adams led by IRA victims
President Trump expected to address gathering of House Republicans in Miami
Former US President Joe Biden expected to speak at Washington DC health conference
Japan GDP data (Q4 2025) – set to increase from 0.1% to 0.3%
Lookahead to tomorrow
UN Security Council discusses sanctions on Iran
Queen Camilla hosts Women of the World reception, St James’s Palace
Treasury Questions in UK House of Commons
China trade data (February)
Company results from: Saudi Aramco, BioNtech, Oracle
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
A chance of light rain in the west of England. Largely dry in the east. High of 15C and low of 8C in London. Light rain also possible in Belfast and Edinburgh.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“The more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased. That's because – for sure – what you focus on expands. When you focus on the goodness in life, you create more of it.” – Oprah Winfrey
Mighty takeaway: Focus on the good things you do have. Don’t focus on what you don’t have.
And finally, we thought we would share some uplifting news with you. A baby monkey named “Punch”, who was hand-reared after being neglected by his mother, is now integrating with other monkeys. A video of Punch went viral on the internet after he was seen sleeping with a stuffed orangutan fluffy toy.
That’s it for this Monday morning. See you on Wednesday!
Adios!
The Mighty Memo team
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