The performance of the State's 30-year public bond reached its highest level this week since the financial crisis, while the performance of the State's 10-year reporting bond also touched levels that had not been observed for over a year.
These levels activated Donald Trump's reflexes once more-more you can read Here.– just as with the tariffs in 2025, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating on Thursday that there are «good signs» that an agreement to end the conflict is visible.
But the de-escalation in bond prices was small and even smaller was in oil prices, as it is not the first time a deal seems close. Therefore, a large part of the market remains cautious, despite progress through mediators such as Pakistan and Oman in diplomatic processes.
After all, Rubio warned Thursday that a deal would be «impossible» if Iran seeks measures to permanently control shipping through the Straits of Hormuz, while at the same time according to International Media, Iran has started talks with Oman to establish tolls in the Straits of Ormuz.
One more. «thorn» blocking the peace agreement between the two countries is the issue of nuclear and enriched uranium. Washington demands the surrender of Iran's enriched uranium stock, which Tehran rejects, opposing it itself to degrade within its borders.
But another segment of the market, that of shares, remains optimistic, preferring to focus on the mobility that ships present in Hormuz these days.
The mobility of ships in the Straits of Hormuz- about 26 to 35 ships a day according to reports by Al Arabiya- is for many analysts an indication of intense diplomatic processes, although it still does not guarantee a definitive peace agreement between the US and Iran. You see, it's not done in a free navigation system. It is done under strict control of the Guards of the Revolution and the newly created «Principle of the Persian Gulf Straits».
Even so, the mobility of ships in Hormuz suggests that both sides are at a critical negotiating point, exchanging drafts and testing the strengths and conditions of the truce in the field.
The shares therefore recognize that we are perhaps at the closest point in reaching an agreement framework since the start of the crisis in the Middle East, but the bond and oil market focuses on the fact that success will be judged in the next few days by whether a compromise will be found on the international legitimacy of the Straits and the management of enriched uranium.
At this point we should mention that the bond market on Friday «cut» speed and due to the University of Michigan macroeconomic data.
The consumer climate retreated to a new historic low in May, under pressure from higher oil prices due to the US-Iran war.
More specifically, the consumer climate index was reduced to 44.8 units from the preliminary measurement of 48.2 units. It is also well below the level of 49.8 units observed at the end of April.
The consumer climate declined for a third consecutive month, as supply disturbances in the Strait of Hormuz continue to increase petrol prices and is now just below the previous historical threshold observed in June 2022. Distinguishable is that consumers seem to be worried that inflation will increase and multiply beyond fuel prices, even in the long term.
Indeed, inflation expectations for next year increased to 4.8% from 4.7% last month. This is far above the 3.4% figure observed in February, before the start of the war.
THE long-term inflation is expected to increase by 3,9%, from 3.5% in April.
US government invests in quantum
Quantum shares have risen greatly in the last two days of the week as the US Department of Commerce announced on Thursday, May 21, 2026 the signing of preliminary agreements to provide state grants of $2 billion, in exchange for obtaining minority, non-controlling equity shares in nine top American companies in the quantum computing sector. The funding comes from the resources of the CHIPS and Science Act.
The move aims to ensure the US's global primacy in emerging technologies and to counter competition from China, while Trump says acquisition of equity shares introduces a new strategy where the US public operates as an institutional investor, so that U.S. taxpayers benefit from future industry gains.
The $2 billion package is distributed as follows:
In Anderon, the new subsidiary of IBM, which receives the lion's share of $1 billion to create the first specialized quantum semiconductor manufacturing plant (chips) in New Albany, New York.
GlobalFoundries will receive $375 million to develop hardware production of quantum computers, with the state gaining a share of about 1% in the company.
The known to readers of the D-Wave Quantum column will also receive $100 million for progress in advanced superconducting quantum computing systems, while Rigetti Computing is included in the package.
From 100 million are received by Infleqtion, PsiQuantum – deals with solving technical challenges in photonic quantum computing – Quantinuum – specializes in escalating tolerant to errors of quantum computers trapped in ions – while the list is supplemented with Atom Computing and Photonic. (p.: Print in column caused that in «package» IonQ, the main competitor of the companies on the list that develops one of the most promising quantum architectures for quantum computers of trapped ions at present.
These investments will help the US speed up the pace of the thriving new quantum industry, which is currently estimated to be will create up to 850 billion dollars in economic value by 2040 and will stimulate American economic growth while strengthening national security.
Just a day after the US announcements, on the other side of the Atlantic ο Γάλλος Πρόεδρος Εμανουέλ Μακρόν ανακοίνωσε νέο πακέτο κρατικής χρηματοδότησης ύψους 1 δισεκατομμυρίου ευρώ για την κβαντική υπολογιστική, προειδοποιώντας ρητά ότι η ΕΕ πρέπει να επιταχύνει τις επενδύσεις της για να μην μείνει πίσω από τις ΗΠΑ.
Όπως θα δούμε τη Δευτέρα, η Ευρώπη διαθέτει ένα εξαιρετικά ισχυρό οικοσύστημα κβαντικών εταιρειών, ενώ η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή έχει δρομολογήσει για το δεύτερο τρίμηνο του 2026 την επίσημη παρουσίαση του European Quantum Act, ενός αντίστοιχου προγράμματος του Chips Act, που στοχεύει στη δημιουργία 6 πιλοτικών γραμμών παραγωγής κβαντικών chips στην Ευρώπη και τη χρηματοδότηση υποδομών, ώστε να διασφαλιστεί η τεχνολογική κυριαρχία της ηπείρου.
Αποποίηση Ευθύνης: Το υλικό αυτό παρέχεται για πληροφοριακούς και μόνο σκοπούς. Σε καμιά περίπτωση δεν πρέπει να εκληφθεί ως προσφορά, συμβουλή ή προτροπή για την αγορά ή πώληση των αναφερόμενων προϊόντων. Παρόλο που οι πληροφορίες που περιέχονται βασίζονται σε πηγές που θεωρούνται αξιόπιστες, ουδεμία διασφάλιση δίνεται ότι είναι πλήρεις ή ακριβείς και δε θα πρέπει να εκλαμβάνονται ως τέτοιες.
