Oil and natural gas prices in Europe rose sharply, while U.S. stock index futures fell in early trading after the weekend due to increased uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, Iran re-blocked the strait to commercial shipping, and the U.S. seized an Iranian-flagged ship for the first time since the blockade.

European gas prices up 10%, Brent up 7% after escalation in the Strait of Hormuz

The US Navy detained an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman by "blowing a hole" in its engine room, US President Donald Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116433000897070863">said</a> on Truth Social media.

US seized Iranian-flagged ship while trying to break blockade - Trump

Iran has not yet agreed to participate in further talks 

Trump announced a new round of talks and demanded Iran make a deal 

Madison Air Solutions

Arxis, Inc. Class A Common Stock

Kailera Therapeutics

Investment guru Bill Ackman has set a late April IPO pricing date for his Pershing Square fund. Madison Air Solutions shares jumped 18% after the largest U.S. industrial IPO in nearly 30 years. The Warsaw exchange is ready to work with competitors in Eastern and Central Europe to keep local companies from floating in the West. The main IPO market events of the week are in our selection.

Record listing since the 20th century and Ekman's roadshow: what's important about IPOs by April 19

The military conflict in the Middle East will leave scars on the global economy that will not heal for a long time. The IMF warns that its economic forecast is "drifting" towards a more unfavorable scenario. Investors are forced to revise their strategies once again.

The outlook for the global economy is deteriorating. Opinions of investors and analysts

Independent Bank Corporation

Hanmi Financial Corporation

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc.

Horizon Bancorp, Inc.

Accel Entertainment, Inc.

Green Dot Corporation

Freedom Broker, at Oninvest's request, analyzed which small-cap stocks from the finance sector turned out to be the most popular among hedge funds at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. The sample included ten companies whose capitalization in the reporting period was less than $6 bln. Their shares cost less than $35.

10 financial small-cap stocks cheaper than $35 - hedge fund picks 

The U.S. military is preparing to begin boarding Iran-linked oil tankers and seizing ships in international waters in the coming days, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-military-prepares-to-board-iran-linked-ships-in-coming-days-officials-say-4dc0a718?mod=hp_lead_pos1">reported</a>, citing U.S. officials.

U.S. prepares to seize Iran-linked ships in international waters - WSJ

In the corporate world, there's a term for corporate bullshit - sonorous but essentially meaningless or vague phrases that a company uses in situations of failed strategies or even trivial uncertainty. In a new <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/19/jargon-watch/">study</a>, psychologist Shane Littrell shows that the tendency to "fall for" such corporate speak is linked to relatively low-quality decisions at work. For an investor, this can be another tool for filtering information and a way of assessing how much to trust the people whose companies you've invested in.

How to recognize corporate bullshit: risk signals for investors

Data

QuidelOrtho Corporation

QuidelOrtho shares <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/QDEL/">tumbled</a>&nbsp;more than 27% on Thursday to their lowest level since April 2011 after the small-cap diagnostics provider <a href="https://ir.quidelortho.com/news/news-release-details/2026/QuidelOrtho-Announces-Preliminary-Revenue-for-the-First-Quarter-2026-and-Provides-Update-on-Full-Year-2026-Guidance/default.aspx">reported</a>&nbsp;preliminary first-quarter results that came in well <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/quidelortho-diagnostics-stock-moderate-flu-season-51c6af1a?mod=RTA">below Wall Street expectations.</a> The move was driven by a weaker flu season in the U.S. and the Middle East conflict, the company said.

Diagnostics stock QuidelOrtho falls to 15-year low on disappointing 1Q26 results

Allbirds, Inc.

Still, Allbirds shares are up 336% versus before the strategy change announcement

'Peak silliness': Allbirds plummets after 700% rise on AI infrastructure pivot

Eli Lilly and Company

Shares of biotech Kailera Therapeutics Inc. are available for trading on the Freedom client trading platform. The company’s lead asset, ribupatide, is part of the multibillion-dollar race for weight-loss drugs, a market expected to exceed $150 billion over the next decade. Later on Friday, the stock will start regular-session trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol <a href="https://tap.freedom24.com/to/quote/HMH.US?utm_source=stocks&amp;utm_medium=HMH.US&amp;utm_campaign=pfu17521958">KLRA</a>.

Kailera Therapeutics IPO: Shares of obesity drugmaker start trading

Lumen Technologies, Inc.

Amazon.com, Inc.

Shares of mid-cap company Lumen Technologies, which builds fiber-optic infrastructure, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/LUMN/">jumped</a>&nbsp;more than 10% on Wednesday after the company <a href="https://ir.lumen.com/news/news-details/2026/AWS-and-Lumen-Redefine-Private-Cloud-Connectivity-by-Bringing-Cloud-and-Network-Together/default.aspx">said</a>&nbsp;it had become the first network provider to work with Amazon Web Services on the AWS Interconnect project.

Shares of fiber network provider Lumen jump on collaboration with AWS

easyJet plc

Shares of UK low-cost carrier EasyJet plunged nearly 9% in early trading in London on Thursday after the company <a href="https://corporate.easyjet.com/investors/regulatory-news/news-details/default.aspx?slug=trading-update-for-the-six-months-ended-31-march-2026">said</a>&nbsp;that, despite strong demand, its financial performance had worsened in the first half of fiscal 2026. The deterioration was driven by the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting rise in fuel prices.

EasyJet shares slide as company warns of 1H loss amid Middle East conflict

Small Caps

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