Member Briefing March 30, 2026

US Consumer Sentiment Slides To Three-Month Low As War Fans Inflation Fears

U.S. consumer sentiment fell more than expected in March, touching a three-month low, as war in the Middle ​East stoked inflation worries and cast a shadow over the economic outlook. The decline, reported by the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers on Friday, occurred across political ‌party affiliation and age groups, with large decreases among middle- and higher-income consumers as well as those owning stocks. Though the correlation between consumer sentiment and spending is weak, rising gasoline prices and falling share values, combined with a stagnant labor market, could undercut consumption and hamper economic growth. Higher-income households have led consumer spending, underpinned by robust wealth levels.

• The Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to a final reading of 53.3 this month, the lowest ​reading since December, from 55.5 earlier. It was at 56.6 in February and is not too far from a record low touched in June 2022.
• The survey's short-run economic outlook gauge plunged 14%, while a measure of year-ahead expected personal finances sank 10%. Declines in long-run expectations were more subdued, the survey showed.
• The survey's measure of consumers' expectations for inflation over the next year jumped to 3.8% this month from 3.4% earlier in March and ​in February.
• Consumers' expectations for inflation over the next five years slipped to 3.2% from 3.3% last month.

Read more at Reuters

How The Big Oil And Gas CEOs Think The Iran War Supply Disruption Will Play Out

The CEOs of the world’s most influential oil and gas companies delivered a sobering message this week about the impact of the Iran war on energy supplies and the long-term consequences for the global economy. The executives gathered in Houston, Texas, for S&P Global’s annual CERAWeek energy conference to take stock of the war. They warned that the market is not reflecting the scale of the disruption to oil and gas supplies.

• Asia and Europe will face fuel shortages if the war drags on, the executives said. Oil prices are likely to remain high even if the conflict ends as countries restock depleted reserves, they said. “You just can’t take 8 to 10 million barrels a day of oil and 20 or so percent of the [liquefied natural gas] market off the world stage without having some significant repercussions,” ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance told CERAWeek attendees.
• “I hear and I read a lot about talks about prices and the like, all interesting, but it’s physical flows that matter,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan said. “Our customers need the molecules, need the electrons.”
• Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the physical supply of oil is much tighter than prices in the futures market indicate. The market is reacting based on “scant information” and “perception,” the CEO said. “There are very real, physical manifestations of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that are working their way around the world and through the system that I don’t think are fully priced into the futures curves on oil,” Wirth said.
• Cheniere, one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, is doing its best to meet demand from Asian countries that are heavily dependent on natural gas imports from Qatar, CEO Jack Fusco said. But the company is already running at peak production, Fusco said. “We’re going to try to get as many molecules as we can to those countries in Asia that really need it,” the CEO said. “But it’s a 28-day journey from the Gulf Coast to anywhere in Asia, so it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Read more at CNBC

The Nasdaq 100, Dow 30, Entered A Correction On Friday, Down More Than 10% From Peaks.

The Nasdaq 100 officially entered correction territory on Friday as the war in Iran drove the fifth straight week of stock losses. The tech-heavy stock index dropped 2% on Friday to around 23,138, its lowest level in about seven months. The index is down 11% from its all-time high of 26,119 in October, meeting the criteria for a standard stock correction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also entered correctional territory, losing 10% from its peak earlier this year and shedding more than 800 points on Friday. The S&P 500 is also nearing a correction, having tumbled 8% from its February highs.

It's been a tough year for equities broadly, but particularly for tech stocks, which have lost some of their allure amid anxiety about continued capex spending and fears that the technology could ultimately hurt some businesses and the wider economy. A sell-off in memory stocks, which were some of the highest-flying tech shares earlier this year, has further dragged the index. Selling pressure has intensified since the US and Israel began the war with Iran, which sent oil prices soaring. Lawsuits against Social Media companies also contributed to the selloff.

Read More at Business Insider

Iran and the Middle East

• Iran Warns US Over Ground Attack As Regional Powers Meet In Pakistan – Reuters
• 3,500 US Marines Arrive In Middle East – France 24
• Trump Weighs Military Operation to Extract Iran’s Uranium - WSJ
• Pentagon Prepares For Weeks Of Ground Operations In Iran – Washington Post
• Iran-Backed Houthis Enter War, Firing Missiles At Israel - CNN
• Israel Reports Second Attack From Yemen As Middle East Conflict Escalates - Reuters
• Ambitious, Authoritarian And Talking To Trump? The Hard-Liners Rising In Iran - NBC
• Trump’s ‘Board Of Peace’ Gaza Envoy Urges Hamas To Disarm ‘Without Delay’ – Straits Times
• Israel To Crack Down On Settler Violence In The West Bank - EuroNews
• Bahrain Aluminum Giant Says Iranian Attack Targeted Its Facility - CNBC
• How Pakistan Wooed Trump and Styled Itself as a Peace Broker in Iran Conflict - WSJ
• Interactive Map – US and Israeli Attack in Iran – ArcGIS Story Maps
• Map – Conflicts in the Middle East – Live Universal Awareness Map

Ukraine

• US Officials Tell Allies Iran War Could Delay Ukraine Weapons Shipments – Politico
• Russia Took Satellite Images Of US Base In Saudi Arabia Before Iran Strike: Zelensky – The Hill
• Ukraine Steps Up Attacks On Russian Oil Industry As Kremlin Reaps Export Windfall - CNN
• Ukraine Deepens Gulf Security Ties As Kyiv Exports Air Defense Expertise - Politico
• At Least 40% Of Russia's Oil Export Capacity Halted, Reuters Calculations Show - NBC
• Pro-Ukraine Lawmakers Call Out Russian Delegation’s Visit To Washington - Politico
• Why Russia Is Stepping Up Its Support for an Embattled Iran - WSJ
• Interactive Map: Assessed Control Of Terrain In Ukraine – Institute For The Study Of War
• Map – Tracking Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine – Live Universal Awareness Map

Other World Headlines

• North Korea Conducts Engine Test For Missile Capable Of Targeting US Mainland - Politico
• NATO Reports Surge In Europe, Canada Defense Spending – The Hill
• Japan To Temporarily Lift Coal Power Plant Curbs Over Hormuz Crisis – Nikkei Asia
• UN Calls For Reparations To Remedy The ‘Historical Wrongs’ Of Trafficking Enslaved Africans - AP
• Waltz Pushes UN Cuts, Mergers And Reform - Devex
• Taiwan's Opposition Leader To Visit China Next Month, Ahead Of Trump - Reuters
• Two New Suspects Arrested Over Foiled Bank Of America Bomb Plot In Paris – France 24
• Hormuz Shock Sparks Defense Concerns And A Push For Green Jet Fuel - Politico
• Mexico Says A Third Of 130,000 Missing People Might Be Alive, Fueling Criticism From Families - Politico
• Inside the Trans-Atlantic Trade in Iranian Weapons for Colombian Coke – WSJ

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Trump Declares Emergency, Signs Order To Pay TSA Employees After Congress Fails To Agree On DHS Funding

President Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees after a bid to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security abruptly fell apart in Congress. Trump signed the action with an eye toward easing long security lines at many of the nation’s top airports. “America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point,” Trump said in the memo authorizing the payments. He added, “I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security.”

Trump said his administration would use “funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations” for the payments. In a statement Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said TSA workers “should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday.” While Trump’s action could help ease the plight of air travelers, it does little to resolve the DHS shutdown that has jammed airports and imposed financial hardship on thousands of federal workers.

Read more at The Hill

Gov. Hochul, Legislative Leaders, On Track To Miss Budget Deadline For Fifth Year

With the April 1 state budget deadline looming next week, Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers appear far from reaching a deal on major proposals, including overhauling auto insurance and changing environmental reviews for construction projects. Since Hochul became governor in 2021, she’s presided over four budget deals. All of them were late. In her fifth budget, she’s proposing a $260 billion financial package. But Hochul and the state legislature are still talking over issues, like pushing back deadlines tied to the 2019 climate law, changing the way New York requires multi-family housing projects to go through environmental review and trying to lower the costs on the state’s expensive car insurance system.

While Mayor Zohran Mamdani is keen on Albany approving tax hikes on the wealthy and big business, a late budget also forces local governments — and the Big Apple — to take a wait and see approach. “The longer we go, the longer cities like New York have to sit and wait to try and parse through that information and also have a sense of what urgency it is around other issues,” said Assemblymember Keith Powers, a Democrat representing parts of Manhattan.

Read more at NY State of Politics

Pentagon Directs Manufacturers to Speed Missile Supplies

The U.S. Dept. of War has reached framework agreements with three top defense manufacturers in a move to speed production of ballistic missile systems, including interceptor systems. Each of the agreements - with Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Honeywell Aerospace - is characterized as part of the Pentagon’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, an initiative announced last fall to shift the Department from process-driven procurement to an accelerated model ("wartime footing") that prioritizes rapid delivery and production capacity.

• With Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon agreement authorizes the manufacturer to accelerate production of the Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The PrSM is a new U.S. Army weapon system able to neutralize targets at a range beyond 400 kilometers. According to Lockheed, the new agreement expands a $4.94-billion U.S. Army contract from 2025, and will result in it quadrupling PrSM production capacity.
• The Pentagon also worked out a joint agreement with Lockheed and BAE Systems to quadruple production of “seekers” for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor. These are advanced, uncooled infrared sensors located in the nose of the missile that detect, track, and lock onto incoming ballistic missiles during their final, terminal phase. They involve high-sensitivity infrared technology that guides missiles to destroy threats by kinetic impact rather than explosives.
• Last, the Pentagon announced a framework agreement with Honeywell Aerospace “to surge production of critical components for America's munitions stockpile,” including navigation systems, Honeywell Assure™ actuators, and electronic warfare control systems. With the agreement in place, Honeywell is cleared to proceed with a $500-million multi-year investment to modernize and expand its manufacturing capacity.

Read more at American Machinist

More Policy and Politics Headlines

• Where the U.S. Is Growing—and Shrinking—in Charts – WSJ
• House Passes Short-Term DHS Funding Bill After Rejecting Senate Version and Trump Signs Order To Pay TSA Workers – Spectrum
• State Lawmakers May Be Open To Delaying Climate Law Deadlines To Avoid Something Worse – City & State
• Feds Flow $889M To Western States For Water Infrastructure – Construction Dive
• Florida Democratic Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick Committed 25 Ethics Violations, House Panel Finds - AP
• Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Limiting Anthropic's Contracts With Federal Government - NBC
• House Discharge Petition On TPS For Haiti Secures Enough Signatures To Force Vote – The Hill
• At CPAC, A Generational Divide Over Republican Support For Israel - Reuters
• Anti-Trump Rallies Pop Up In Thousands Of U.S. Cities For ‘No Kings’ Protest – CNBC

Scientists Find Immune Cell Linked To Long COVID Fatigue And Symptoms

Long COVID remains a frustrating medical mystery, affecting up to 1 in 10 people long after the initial infection fades. Now, scientists have uncovered a crucial clue hidden deep within the immune system. By analyzing individual immune cells, they identified a distinct molecular state in key white blood cells—especially common in patients who initially had mild or moderate COVID. a research team focused on immune cells collected from Long COVID patients, using samples stored in MHH's central biobank. "We examined the cells using a so-called single-cell multiomics approach. This allowed us to record the molecules' status within a cell and gain insights into its cellular relationships," explains Dr. Saumya Kumar, a CiiM scientist and the study's first author.

The researchers explored how immune cells change at the molecular level over time and whether specific markers are tied to symptoms like fatigue or breathing difficulties. Their large-scale data analysis pointed to a distinct molecular state in a type of white blood cell known as CD14+ monocytes, which play a key role in immune defense. The team called this profile called "LC-Mo." The identification of LC-Mo provides an important new lead in understanding Long COVID. While researchers have not yet determined exactly how this immune cell state contributes to the condition, it opens the door to future studies focused on genetic risk factors and personalized treatment approaches.

Read more at Science Daily

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Trade Wars

EU Parliament Approves Key Terms Of US Trade Deal – Supply Chain Dive

WTO Talks Near Deal On Reform Roadmap Amid U.S.-India e-Commerce Deadlock – CNBC

VW, BMW, Mercedes lost $6 billion to U.S. tariffs in 2025 – Automotive News

The Biggest Winners And Losers Of The Tariff War As AI-Related Trade Skyrockets – EuroNews

Apple Expands American Manufacturing Program With Four New Partners

Apple announced a significant expansion of its American Manufacturing Program on Thursday, bringing four new partners — Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK, and Qnity Electronics — into its domestic supply chain. The companies will manufacture essential materials and components in the U.S. for Apple products sold worldwide, with Apple planning to invest $400 million in the new programs through 2030. The expansion accelerates Apple’s American Manufacturing Program, or AMP, which sits at the center of its $600 billion, four-year pledge to U.S. manufacturing and innovation. Among the new partners:

• DK — a supplier Apple has worked with for more than 30 years — will manufacture sensors in the U.S. for the first time. The sensors, including technology used for iPhone camera stabilization, will be shipped in devices sold globally and will increase the volume of chips Apple sources from U.S. silicon supply chains.
• Bosch will produce integrated circuits for sensing hardware at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ’s facility in Camas, Washington — chips essential for features like Crash Detection and activity tracking in Apple products.
• Cirrus Logic will work with GlobalFoundries at its Malta, New York, fab to develop mixed-signal semiconductors, including advanced chips to power Face ID systems. Qnity Electronics and HD MicroSystems will supply materials and technologies for semiconductor manufacturing and high-performance computing.
• TSMC’s facility in Arizona and GlobalFoundries are also involved as foundries producing chips for Apple.

Read more at CNBC

Mitsubishi, Rohm, Toshiba To Merge Power Semi Businesses

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between Mitsubishi Electric, Rohm and Toshiba, along with Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) and TBJ Holdings. The eventual goal is to form a new company that would develop and sell power devices and semiconductors in the market. The combined entity would likely sell silicon-based power semiconductors, gallium nitride (GaN) devices and silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. At this stage, no decisions have been made regarding transaction terms or the specific details of the business integration.

Amid fierce competition in the market, Toshiba and Rohm for some time have been looking at new and different ways to collaborate in the power device business. In 2023, the two companies jointly submitted a plan to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, covering a collaborative effort in the power device market. The idea was to ensure a secure and stable supply of power semiconductors and other products in Japan. More recently, Toshiba, JIP, TBJ, Rohm and Mitsubishi Electric have entered into new discussions. Under a proposed plan, Mitsubishi, Rohm and Toshiba would integrate their power device and semiconductor businesses.

Read more at Semiecosystem

Eli Lilly Reaches $2.75 Billion Deal With Insilico To Bring AI-Developed Drugs To The Global Market

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has reached a $2.75 billion deal to bring drugs developed using artificial intelligence by Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine to the global market. The agreement will give Insilico $115 million up front, with the remainder subject to regulatory and commercial milestones, along with royalties on future sales, according to the announcement released Monday. The two companies have worked together since signing an AI-based software licensing agreement in 2023.

Insilico has developed at least 28 drugs using generative AI tools, with nearly half already at a clinical stage, Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO of Insilico, told CNBC. The company went public in Hong Kong in December. Its shares are up more than 50% year-to-date. Insilico develops its AI outside of China, in Canada and the Middle East, but conducts early preclinical drug development in China based on that AI research. In addition to reducing research time, he said AI can synthesize molecules more quickly than those discovered using more traditional methods.

Read more at the WSJ

Lockheed Enhancing USN’s Periscope Imaging

Lockheed Martin will engineer and produce an integrated submarine imaging system for new-construction and in-service submarines under a new U.S. Navy contract valued at $478.36 million. The 10-year contract - through March 2036 - includes options that if fulfilled would bring the total cumulative value of the order to $1.19 billion. The U.S. Navy aims for Lockheed to update periscope systems on its Los Angeles-, Seawolf-, Ohio-, and Virginia-class submarines.

The integrated submarine imaging system (ISIS) will update USN submarine periscopes and replace current optical paths with all-weather, high-resolution digital visual imaging, infrared search, and digital image management. The objective is to improve submarine crews’ situational awareness with greater surveillance capabilities compared to older, manual periscopes, including the ability to share video with combat teams.

Read more at American Machinist

IBM, Academic Partners Use Quantum Computer to Reproduce Key Material Properties, Testing Early Scientific Usefulness

In a new preprint on arXiv, researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Purdue University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Tennessee used a quantum processor to calculate the energy-momentum spectrum of a well-studied magnetic compound, KCuF₃. The results showed strong agreement with measurements obtained through neutron scattering experiments, a widely used technique for probing the internal behavior of materials, according to an IBM blog post. The work addresses connecting the microscopic quantum behavior of atoms and electrons to the macroscopic properties that determine how materials perform, a long-standing challenge in physics and chemistry.

The quantum simulation was run on IBM’s Heron processor, while the experimental data came from neutron sources at the Spallation Neutron Source in Tennessee and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom. According to the researchers, the quantum computer was able to reconstruct the material’s energy-momentum spectrum — a map of how energy varies with motion inside the material — in a way that closely matched the experimental observations. While it might not be a headline finding in the study, the work also shows how quantum computing is being deployed. Rather than replacing classical systems, the researchers combined quantum hardware with conventional high-performance computing resources.

Read more at Quantum Insider

Hyundai Plans To Launch 36 ‘New And Enhanced’ Vehicles In North America Through 2030

Hyundai Motor Co. plans to launch 36 “new or enhanced models” in the North America market between 2026 and 2030, CEO and president José Muñoz announced at the company’s annual general shareholder meeting in Korea, according to a press release. The new models will be a mix of ICE, hybrids, electric vehicles and extended‑range electric powertrains to meet what Hyundai said was “evolving customer demands across the region.”

The aggressive vehicle launch plans are part of Hyundai’s $26 billion investment commitment in the U.S. from 2025 to 2028 announced last August, which was $5 billion more than its previous investment of $21 billion announced earlier last year. The investment is expected to create 25,000 direct job opportunities. The automaker said the investments will go towards boosting vehicle production capacity, expanding its U.S. supply chain, funding construction of a steel plant in Louisiana and building a new robotics innovation hub in partnership with Boston Dynamics, a company it owns a 80% controlling stake in.

Read more at Ward’s Auto

Hyundai to spend $452.5 million on trailer manufacturing in Illinois

Hyundai Translead and the governor’s office of Illinois jointly announced March 16 that the Hyundai Motor Co. subsidiary would establish a new trailer manufacturing location in Will County, Illinois. The trailer manufacturer, which produces dry and refrigerated van trailers, flatbeds, truck bodies and dollies, said it would spend $452.5 million and create 2,475 jobs as it expands its manufacturing footprint. The state of Illinois extended incentives to Hyundai Translead to secure the project. According to the governor’s office, the company will receive an Economic Development for a Growing Economy grant in exchange for meeting stated investment and employment targets.

“Our expansion to Illinois represents years of planning and a shared vision for long-term growth,” said Sean Kenney, Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Translead. “This investment reflects our confidence and commitment to building products, workforce development, and partnerships that endure. We’re proud to work alongside state and local leaders to create meaningful economic opportunities while expanding our manufacturing footprint that serves our customers and communities.”

Read more at Plant Services

An inside look at this Week’s New York International Auto Show

The New York International Auto Show runs April 3–12, 2026 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and organizers have beefed up the EV & Hybrid Test Track on Level 1 to showcase dozens of battery-powered models. As outlined by the New York Auto Show, the lineup ranges from Cadillac's Escalade IQ to entries from Lucid, Polestar and Chevrolet, with support from partners including GNYADA, Charge NY and EVolve NY to spotlight charging options and EV tech. New York International Auto Show.

• Filmmaker and car enthusiast Sung Kang, best known as Han in the Fast & Furious franchise, will roll in with a sneak peek of his drifting drama DRIFTER, with actual cars from the film on display and daily Q&As, according to the film's official site.  
• Camp Jeep is setting up a full-scale off-road course anchored by a 28-foot "Jeep Mountain" that sends riders up steep climbs and tilted descents under guided supervision.
• Inside on Level 4, younger visitors ages 3–7 can get behind the wheel at the Kids EV Driving Academy, a 900-plus square foot track filled with branded ride-ons, and the Auto Show's site lists full operating hours and details.
• Of course, everybody will be there to see the cars. There will be debuts from Genesis, Kia, Nissan, Chrysler, Dodge, Subaru and Volkswagen. And there might be a surprise or two.

Read more at Hoodline

Micron's $24 Billion Singapore Fab Could Need 500 Transformers, More Than Double The Output Of Any Single Manufacturer

Micron’s planned $24 billion NAND flash expansion in Singapore will require 400 to 500 power transformers, which is more than double the 100 to 150 units a standard wafer fab typically needs, according to industry sources as reported by DigiTimes. The scale exceeds the annual output capacity of any single Taiwanese transformer manufacturer, turning heavy electrical equipment into a bottleneck for AI-driven semiconductor buildouts.

This level of demand from Micron reflects the power intensity of modern memory fabs tied to AI. HBM production for AI servers has driven every major memory maker into simultaneous expansion, and the electrical infrastructure required to support those fabs is now outpacing the supply chain built to serve it. Major heavy electrical equipment suppliers Fortune Electric and Allis Electric both have implemented price increases of 20% to 30%, driven by the surge in orders and rising costs of copper and other raw materials. Meanwhile, some transformer manufacturers have declined to quote on large-scale semiconductor projects entirely, citing an inability to meet the tight timelines and volume requirements. Industry sources say no single maker can absorb the scale of orders now flowing from the AI and semiconductor sectors.

Read more at Tom’s Hardware

Daily Market Update March 27, 2026

The Apr ’26 natural gas contract is trading up $0.08 at $3.08. The May ‘26 crude oil contract is up $2.52 at $97.00. 

Read more at NRG

Learn more about the Council of Industry Energy Buying Group

Quote of the Day

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”

Vincent van Gogh - Dutch Painter who was born on this day in 1853.

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