Just yesterday, three major events happened in succession, each directly impacting your wallet:

The Federal Reserve's shocking 8-to-4 split.
Oil prices surged past $120.
Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta all reported earnings simultaneously.
1. Federal Reserve 8:4 Split: High interest rates will last longer
But the market doesn't care about sentiment, only the voting results: 8 votes in favor, 4 votes against, maintaining interest rates unchanged.
The last time there were 4 votes against was in 1992, 34 years ago. Previously, 1 vote against was considered "intense controversy," but this time, 4 votes mean the Fed is thoroughly divided internally.
On one side, soaring oil prices push inflation higher; on the other, Middle East conflicts drag down the economy, leaving a dilemma.
Conclusion: The high interest rate cycle is far from over. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield jumped to 4.41%, putting risk assets under pressure, including Bitcoin.
2. Oil prices break $120: a new wave of inflation is coming
The Wall Street Journal reports: The Trump administration has imposed an indefinite maritime blockade on Iranian ports, refusing negotiations.
Immediate consequences:
• Brent crude oil surged intraday to $120.27 per barrel, a new high since June 2022.
• Supply tightening: The Strait of Hormuz has been blocked for over 9 weeks, U.S. crude exports hit a record high (6 million barrels/day), but the gap continues to widen.
• Institutional warning: Oil prices may reach $140 next.
3. The four tech giants' earnings: revenue up, costs even crazier
Yesterday, the four tech giants released their Q1 2026 reports on the same day, with all results exceeding expectations, but market reactions were tepid:
• Google: Revenue up 20%, cloud business up 63% (all-time high).
• Amazon: EPS beat expectations by 70%, AWS growth at 28% (fastest in three years).
• Meta: Advertising revenue up 33%.
• Microsoft: Azure growth at 40%.
Seemingly prosperous, but hidden concerns lie in capital expenditure (Capex):
• Meta: Full-year Capex raised to $125–145 billion.
• Microsoft: Full-year Capex around $190 billion, up 61% year-over-year, with $25 billion spent just on chips and memory price hikes.
• Amazon: Free cash flow plummeted 95% to $1.2 billion, due to $20 billion invested in infrastructure.
Market attitude is straightforward: Meta fell 6% after hours, Microsoft dipped slightly.
In one sentence: "Champagne in the trenches, with shell costs tripling." Giants see revenue and profit growth, AI demand exploding, but oil prices, chip, and data center costs soaring—these companies are the world's biggest "cost absorbers," struggling to withstand inflation backlash.