Over the weekend, Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical route for Saudi oil shipments. The development could drive the price of oil even higher.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the ocean, has become even more important as Iran continues to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, the Houthis are expanding their control in Yemen and getting a tighter chokehold on the world’s oil supply:

Why do the Houthis want the strait? A stronger Houthi presence could make it easier to steal oil from Saudi tankers traveling through the region. The kingdom’s oil exports just hit their lowest point in 13 years last week.

Oil is already expensive: Oil prices have climbed above $109 per barrel for the first time since May, rising nearly 8% last week as fighting between the US and Iran escalates. The Houthis’ expanding presence could add even more pressure by threatening another critical route for Middle Eastern oil shipments.

🌎 Why is this important? The Houthis’ growing control near a major Red Sea shipping route, combined with the shutdown of a key Saudi oil pipeline, could push oil, gasoline, diesel, and shipping costs even higher.

Those increases can quickly filter into groceries, deliveries, airfare, and other everyday expenses while keeping inflation elevated and potentially delaying relief from high interest rates (more on both of those in a second).

On the Watchlist: US-Iran Conflict · ↗ Escalating

The war has a massive impact on fuel prices as both countries fight for control over the Strait of Hormuz. Clashes between the Houthis and Yemen may give Iran even more leverage in ongoing negotiations with the US.

See the full outlook →

Despite showing signs of cooling down this summer, inflation is heating back up. According to recently released government data, overall prices rose 0.4% last month (four times July’s number) and 3.4% over the past year.

The Labor Department cited three main drivers of inflation:

What’s more concerning… inflation still increased even after stripping out food and energy prices. Core CPI (which excludes the two ever-changing categories) climbed 0.3% last month, higher than economists expected. The Federal Reserve will take that into account as it considers its next move on interest rates today and tomorrow.

The less-than-ideal inflation report strengthens the case for the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time in three years as it attempts to drag inflation back down to its 2% annual target… which hasn’t been reached in five years.

That’s led investors to think a rate increase is all but certain:

That’s an uncomfortable tradeoff for Americans: Raising rates is designed to slow inflation (and increase purchasing power) by making borrowing more costly. However, the immediate consequence is that consumers will see more expensive mortgages, auto loans, credit card debt, business financing, and other types of borrowing.

🌎 Why does this matter? Higher inflation diminishes purchasing power as necessities like gasoline, housing, and transportation consume a larger share of your paycheck, leaving less money for savings and personal spending.

Follow the latest updates on inflation, interest rates, financial stress, and more with our “Money” index.

Your portfolio could be losing more to taxes than you might realize. On September 17, Range's CFPs and CPAs share the portfolio moves that can help you maximize your after-tax returns — join us live, and bring your questions for Q&A.

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^{This webinar is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Range defines "high earners" as households with income over $300k.}

⚡️ Congress is moving to stop AI data centers from raising your electric bill. House Republicans are bringing new legislation up for a vote that would require state utility regulators to make data centers pay for some of the new power generation needed to serve them. The push comes as 70% of Americans say they oppose having a data center built in their area and the massive AI facilities strain local power grids. Track this topic ->

🏥 Your health insurance bills are about to go up. Health insurance is set to get more expensive for millions of Americans in 2027, whether coverage comes through work, Obamacare, or Medicare. Rising hospital prices, prescription drug costs, and expensive treatments like GLP-1s are helping drive the increases as Affordable Care Act insurers are proposing average premium increases of about 15%. Track this topic ->

🚂 The cost of shipping America's food by rail has exploded. Rail fuel surcharges on grain shipments jumped 153% over the past year, reaching 48 cents per mile per railcar and now accounting for 11% of rail transportation costs. If it stays high, the transportation costs could eventually work their way through the food supply chain, putting additional upward pressure on grocery and animal-feed prices.

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August was a really hot month… just not for home sales. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales dropped 2% from July, reaching their lowest level since June 2025.

Sales are now down 1.2% from a year ago, extending an already prolonged housing crisis pushed by high mortgage rates and even higher home prices.

The one and only improvement? Buyers have more homes to choose from. Inventory climbed to 1.62 million homes last month, the highest level since 2019. At the current sales pace, it would take about 4.9 months to sell all the homes on the market, the highest supply level in more than a decade.

That means… most houses have been sitting on the market for a while (for obvious reasons), making sellers in many areas compete harder for buyers. That gives potential homeowners more room to negotiate discounts, closing-cost assistance, repairs, or mortgage-rate buydowns, especially in areas where inventory has risen the most.

🌎 Why should you care? The lingering housing slowdown could force buyers to settle for cheaper homes, bring larger down payments, or postpone buying altogether.

We’re following this topic on our Watchlist. Click below for new developments, live data, related briefings, and more.

This weekend, leaders across the AI industry banded together after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on companies to slow down development of their most advanced models.

On Saturday, Amodei published an essay titled “We Must Pace the Frontier” (read here), arguing that AI development is now moving faster than safety measures and governments can keep up with.

Shortly after, top executives of other AI companies signed on:

What’s with all the concern? Worries over rapid AI advancement have only increased in the past few weeks. An investigation into July’s Hugging Face hack found rogue OpenAI bots coordinated with each other and tried to hide their actions, and Anthropic researchers stood by warnings that future AI systems could “kill us all.”

🌎 How does this affect you? If AI companies stick to their guns, new AI features arrive more slowly, and the tools many use at work, online, and in everyday services could be tested more carefully before release. That should mean more unreliable AI models won’t expose troves of personal or company data or make as many dire mistakes.

Track the latest updates on cybersecurity, AI adoption, digital privacy, and more with our Technology index.

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> Anthropic says it has blocked several instances in which its AI models were used for research that could support biological weapons development, along with six operations involving conventional weapons work in China, Russia, and Yemen.

> For the first time in the show’s 42-year history, Jeopardy! publicly advertised an opening for a clue writer, and more than 1,300 people applied during the eight-day application window.

> A new study found greater light exposure during sleep was linked to a 29% higher risk of heart failure, 24% higher risk of heart attack, and 33% higher risk of stroke over eight to 10 years.

> Mercury is shrinking 30% faster than scientists thought, with new research estimating the planet has lost as much as 14 miles from its diameter as its core slowly cools and contracts.

> While football is still America’s favorite sport to watch by a mile, soccer just hit a record 9%, putting it nearly even with baseball and basketball. Explore America’s viewing habits here (with charts).

> NASA and IBM have teamed up on a new AI model designed to help researchers analyze the moon’s surface, including mapping craters, identifying recent volcanic features, and pinpointing where water ice may be hiding.