Free Republic

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that he “misled” the United States into starting the war with Iran, rejecting a reporter’s assertion that he has any power over the American president. “I misled no one, and I didn’t have to convince President Trump about the need to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program, putting it underground and being able to launch nuclear tip missiles at the United States,” Netanyahu said during a press conference on the conflict Thursday. “He understood that — he explained it to me, I didn’t explain it to him.”

According to Moody’s Analytics, the likelihood of a recession within the next 12 months was already sitting at 49% before the escalation of the Iran conflict. With oil prices now surging and economic data weakening, that probability is expected to move above 50%. For investors, that shift matters. Once recession odds cross that threshold, markets tend to reprice risk quickly and often aggressively.A Fragile Economy Meets an Energy ShockMoody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi pointed to a combination of weakening economic data and rising energy costs as the main drivers behind the rising recession risk.“Behind the recent jump are primarily...