Timing of Trump-Xi meeting and strategic aims

Former U.S. National Security official Michael Allen joins the RenMac Off-Script team to discuss escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and why reestablishing control is critical to global energy markets and U.S. strategic credibility. The team breaks down how geopolitical decisions are increasingly driving market outcomes, why oil shocks constrain the Fed’s ability to ease, and how inflation dynamics are taking precedence over growth. They also explore cracks forming in credit and private markets, resilience in U.S. assets versus global stress, and how positioning, sentiment, and gamma dynamics could amplify volatility as markets navigate a fragile late-cycle environment.