Economy · From the edition of Jul 20, 2026
✳ Dated SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2026 ✳
63%certain · Polymarket
CRUDE ROARS TO $85 AS GULF NERVES SNAP
Hormuz jitters and Gulf tension drive oil's fastest one-week jump of the year
NEW YORK, August 1 — WTI crude tore to $85 a barrel in July, capping a violent one-week surge that traders had priced at 63 per cent. The world got its alarm bell.
The climb was brutal and fast — up nearly $16 in seven days, per Polymarket's tracking, as ships hesitated at the Strait of Hormuz. Every barrel now carries a war premium.
Traders are already eyeing $90, a mark the wires give one-in-three odds. Drivers feel it at the pump; central banks feel it in their sleep. Nobody is calling the top.
Source: Polymarket · 63% probability — View market ↗