The wider consequences of war

This Marketplace Morning Report episode examines the ongoing US-Iran war's ripple effects, from military updates and business threats to surging fuel prices and uneven global economic pain. Markets remain cautiously optimistic amid persistent conflict, with fuel costs driving the most immediate consumer impacts.

Presidential Address and War Timeline

President Trump is set to address the nation tonight at 9 PM Eastern on Iran. He indicated yesterday that the war could conclude in two to three weeks, even without a peace deal from Iran's government. Iran's latest escalation includes threats against US businesses in the Gulf region, promising regional attacks within hours. Named targets are Microsoft, Google, Intel, Tesla, and Boeing, with attacks slated for 8 PM local time—about 12:30 PM Eastern. Iran urged employees at these firms to evacuate workplaces. The White House stated the US military stands ready to prevent such attacks. This echoes early war incidents when drones struck three Amazon data centers in the Gulf, exposing tech vulnerabilities: large data centers lack robust protection, and while cloud networks have redundancies, outages can occur if multiple sites fail.