IIR's July 28 Market Scorecard Brings You Breaking Geopolitical News

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Stay current with the latest geopolitical events, and more importantly, instantly connect to how these events may impact you and your business strategies.

Event	MarCon*	IIR Comment	Outlet	IIR News
Trump says Hamas 'didn't want deal' as US and Israel leave Gaza talks		US President Donald Trump has said Hamas "didn't really want to make a deal" on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, after the US and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams from Qatar. There was no immediate Hamas response to Trump's comments, but the group earlier expressed surprise about what it called Witkoff's "negative" remarks, and an official said the group had been told Israeli negotiators would return to Doha next week.	BBC	Beacon Offshore Energy, U.S. Rig Count: Your Daily Energy News
Trump says he's going to give Putin just under two weeks to end war in Ukraine - reducing 50-day deadline		President Trump said Monday he's looking to reduce the 50-day deadline he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine to just "10 to 12 days" from now. The three Ukraine-Russia delegation meetings held in Turkey in the past few months have not successfully established a cease-fire, but have led to prisoner swaps. The last meeting, held on July 23, lasted for less than an hour. The two sides didn't come close to a cease-fire, despite Trump's 50-day warning for Russia.	New York Post	U.S. Shipyards Bring Billions in Projects, Many Aimed at Military
Oil rises on US-EU deal and shorter US deadline for Russia		Oil prices rose on Monday after a trade deal between the United States and the European Union and U.S. President Donald Trump's comments saying he would shorten a deadline he had set for Russia to end its war in Ukraine or face severe tariffs. The trade deal between the U.S. and European Union and a possible extension of the U.S.-China tariff pause are supporting global financial markets and oil prices, IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.	Reuters	Baker Hughes Upbeat on Gas, Down on Oil
Trump's Tariffs Are Already Stunting World Growth While Markets Shrug		Despite financial markets appearing calm, the escalating U.S. protectionism under President Trump's "America First" policy is inflicting growing damage on the global economy, with an overall U.S. tariff level now the highest since the 1930s. Preliminary agreements with the EU and Japan have led to increased tariff rates, and higher duties are anticipated for non-compliant countries by August 1st, fundamentally reshaping global trade and investment patterns. This trade war is projected to cost the world economy $2 trillion by 2027, as companies freeze capital spending, reroute complex supply chains, and absorb rising costs, leading to a visible slowdown in global business investment and a profit squeeze for major companies worldwide.	Bloomberg	Europe's Rescue Package for the Chemicals Sector Plastic & Rubber Products Sector Leads to $12.7 Billion in Current U.S. Construction
Natural Gas News: Cooling Weather and High Inventory Keep Bulls on Sidelines		The near-term outlook remains bearish. With production strong, demand muted by cooling weather, and LNG export flows soft, there is little fundamental support above current levels. If weather models fail to add heat or if LNG doesn't pick up, sellers may regain control. The technical picture is narrowing. Monday's intraday low at $3.047 is now the line in the sand for sellers, with $2.885 marking the next major support. Conversely, bulls may look for a short-covering move toward the short-term pivot at $3.338, though resistance is expected.	FX Empire	GE Vernova Q2: Gas Turbine Reservations and Order Backlog Tops 55 GW
U.S. and China to resume tariff talks on Monday in effort to extend truce		Senior U.S. and Chinese negotiators meet in Stockholm on Monday to tackle long standing economic disputes at the center of the countries' trade war, aiming to extend a truce keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an Aug. 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached a preliminary deal in June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from duties exceeding 100%. (SCMP): Beijing and Washington are expected to extend their tariff truce by another three months citing people familiar with the matter.	CNBC	USGS Finds Critical Minerals Left in Legacy Mining Operations
Are Small Modular Reactors Worthy of the Hype?		The International Energy Agency (IEA) has identified SMRs as one of the key catalysts for what is shaping up to be "a new era for nuclear energy." A recent IEA report says that SMRs are increasingly becoming private sector darlings as they are quicker to build and offer many more opportunities for cutting costs than traditional reactors, which could provide a pathway to lower financing costs. The report contends that "with the right support, SMR installations could reach 80 GW by 2040, accounting for 10% of overall nuclear capacity globally." Experts say that one of the primary hangups is simple economics. Costs are still too high to be genuinely competitive with other clean alternatives like large-scale hydropower and offshore wind projects. "A key argument from SMR proponents is that the new reactors will be economically competitive," says David Schlissel, IEEFA director of resource planning analysis. "But the on-the-ground experience with the initial SMRs that have been built or that are currently under construction shows that this simply is not true."	OilPrice	Closed Palisades Nuclear Plant Moves One Step Closer to Reopening
Week 07/21/25 - 07/28/25		Deals, Deals, Deals will be the flavor of this week as the U.S.' imposed tariff deadline of August 1 draws nigh. Already, the U.S. and EU "struck a deal" over the weekend. And the U.S. and China are in "tariff talks," with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reporting a "deal for another 3 month tariff truce" is likely. Speaking of "deals," will there be one between Israel and Hamas? Highly unlikely for it seems ceasefire talks broke down yet again late last week. What about a "deal" between Ukraine and Russia as the U.S. works to exert yet more pressure through sanctions and other means on Putin? For the moment, the Economic and Energy markets are breathing sighs of relief with all these "deals" being struck; though, longer-term world economic growth could be severely stunted--and supply chains snarled-- meaning more "deals" could be on the proverbial table...
*MarCon (Market Condition 1-5, with 5 being the highest impact) indicates directional bias or price effect for the relevant commodity (Oil, Natural Gas, Chemicals, etc.) and is graded by our team of experts here at IIR.

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