Oil is closing in on $100 a barrel after strikes on Saudi energy sites, and the pain is spreading to gas, food, and a widening US-Canada trade war — bad news for almost everyone except the countries quietly gaining ground.

• Fighting around the Strait of Hormuz keeps escalating, with attacks on ships from both sides and a Houthi strike wounding dozens in southern Saudi Arabia.
• Canada's retaliatory tariffs are now live, hitting billions in American goods at rates up to 50%, and Trump has moved to block Bombardier from selling planes in the US.
• Copper, wheat, corn, and diesel are all tight or expensive, so inflation looks sticky heading into the Fed, ECB, and Bank of Japan meetings.
• Americans just paid the highest Labor Day gas prices ever, groceries run over $10,000 a year for the average family, and food recalls are piling up as inspectors get cut.
• Washington is quietly discussing a smaller Middle East footprint and leaning on allies like Korea to step in, while Korea and Taiwan ride the AI export boom past Japan.

Outlook: Iran says a deal to reopen the strait is days away, but even then the waterway will not go back to how it worked before the war — expect high energy and food prices to stick.