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Pre-Market Futures Are Lower Again on News from Iran
WTI and Brent Crude Oil Prices Spike Above $100/bbl
Q4 Earnings from Oracle & CPI, PCE Reports Expected This Week
Monday, March 9th, 2026
“May you live in interesting times,” goes the ancient curse. We start a new week of stock market challenges sinking again in the pre-market. The ongoing war in Iran is now in its second week with no signs of a peace deal; if anything, it threatens to expand and intensify — with oil prices the initial (non-human) victim.
Both WTI and Brent crude spot oil prices have spiked to over $100 per barrel (/bbl), up from around $55/bbl back in December of last year. WTI oil is currently +13% to $103/bbl, Brent is +12.8%, $104.50/bbl. Oil prices are now up +78% since the start of the year.
The stock market has also been victimized: the Dow is falling another -553 points at this hour, -1.16%. The S&P 500 is -71 points, -1.05%, while the Nasdaq is -281 points, -1.14%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 is down -44 points, -1.77%. Over the past month, major indexes have already fallen between -3.6% (Nasdaq) and -7.6% (Russell 2000).
Good News This Morning: HIMS & Novo Make a Deal
What a difference a month makes! This time, we mean it in a good way: on February 9, weight-loss drug giant Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) brought a lawsuit against health platform Hims & Hers (HIMS - Free Report) for selling knockoff versions of its Ozempic and Wegovy weight-loss drugs. This morning, not only is Novo dropping the lawsuit, but it is partnering with Hims & Hers to sell legitimate versions of these drugs on their platform.
The result is a big +54% jump in HIMS shares (NVO is up +1%), swinging the platform’s stock into positive territory after a dismal -51% start to the trading year. Considering the headwinds we are seeing in the pre-market thus far this morning, this is a most impressive performance.
What to Expect from This Week’s Stock Market
Aside from parsing the destruction in the Middle East, we get two major economic reports on inflation this week: Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) — delayed, from January — on Friday morning. CPI last reported a +2.4% Inflation Rate last time (among the coolest inflation metrics we’ve seen lately) and +2.5% on core (subtracting volatile food and energy prices). PCE last reported +2.9% year-over-year inflation, +3.0% on core.
Also, even though we’re through Q4 earnings season for all practical purposes, there are several meaningful earnings results expected this week. Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) reports fiscal Q3 results Tuesday and Adobe (ADBE - Free Report) and Dollar General (DG - Free Report) putting out quarterly earnings on Thursday. Both Oracle and Adobe are expected to bring +15% earnings growth, while Dollar General is projected to come in -4% on earnings, but has outperformed on earnings and average of +23% over the past four quarters.
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Image: Bigstock
Pre-Markets Down as Middle East Tensions Remain
Key Takeaways
Monday, March 9th, 2026
“May you live in interesting times,” goes the ancient curse. We start a new week of stock market challenges sinking again in the pre-market. The ongoing war in Iran is now in its second week with no signs of a peace deal; if anything, it threatens to expand and intensify — with oil prices the initial (non-human) victim.
Both WTI and Brent crude spot oil prices have spiked to over $100 per barrel (/bbl), up from around $55/bbl back in December of last year. WTI oil is currently +13% to $103/bbl, Brent is +12.8%, $104.50/bbl. Oil prices are now up +78% since the start of the year.
The stock market has also been victimized: the Dow is falling another -553 points at this hour, -1.16%. The S&P 500 is -71 points, -1.05%, while the Nasdaq is -281 points, -1.14%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 is down -44 points, -1.77%. Over the past month, major indexes have already fallen between -3.6% (Nasdaq) and -7.6% (Russell 2000).
Good News This Morning: HIMS & Novo Make a Deal
What a difference a month makes! This time, we mean it in a good way: on February 9, weight-loss drug giant Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) brought a lawsuit against health platform Hims & Hers (HIMS - Free Report) for selling knockoff versions of its Ozempic and Wegovy weight-loss drugs. This morning, not only is Novo dropping the lawsuit, but it is partnering with Hims & Hers to sell legitimate versions of these drugs on their platform.
The result is a big +54% jump in HIMS shares (NVO is up +1%), swinging the platform’s stock into positive territory after a dismal -51% start to the trading year. Considering the headwinds we are seeing in the pre-market thus far this morning, this is a most impressive performance.
What to Expect from This Week’s Stock Market
Aside from parsing the destruction in the Middle East, we get two major economic reports on inflation this week: Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) — delayed, from January — on Friday morning. CPI last reported a +2.4% Inflation Rate last time (among the coolest inflation metrics we’ve seen lately) and +2.5% on core (subtracting volatile food and energy prices). PCE last reported +2.9% year-over-year inflation, +3.0% on core.
Also, even though we’re through Q4 earnings season for all practical purposes, there are several meaningful earnings results expected this week. Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) reports fiscal Q3 results Tuesday and Adobe (ADBE - Free Report) and Dollar General (DG - Free Report) putting out quarterly earnings on Thursday. Both Oracle and Adobe are expected to bring +15% earnings growth, while Dollar General is projected to come in -4% on earnings, but has outperformed on earnings and average of +23% over the past four quarters.
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