Markets This Week: The Calm After The Storm

The markets moved swiftly on the Israel/Iran attacks. Here is how I am playing the latest geopolitical events

This week saw market volatility, which, for the first time in 2025, was not driven by US policies. The attacks on Iran from Israel took markets by surprise; Markets were swift to move.

Israel has struck at Iran previously, but we tend to quickly forget these events:

• 2024:

  • An Israeli airstrike on an Iranian embassy building in Damascus killed several Iranian commanders.

  • An assassination of Hamas's political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, which Israel later confirmed its role in.

  • A "pager attack" targeting Hezbollah members in Lebanon, confirmed by Israel.

  • The killing of Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in airstrikes in Lebanon.

  • Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting air defense systems.

Whereas most of the above-listed attacks were indirect attacks, this week’s attacks were directly on Iranian soil.

Neither country can sustain lasting campaigns on its own, and I really don’t believe we will see any escalation. All else equal, there should be a calming effect for the markets if the tit-for-tat stops.

Notwithstanding the geopolitical upheaval, here is my take on the markets going into this week with important economic data.