New York Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog
Following reports of major airstrikes exchanged between Israel and Iran over the weekend and into this week, oil prices and investments tied to the oil and gas sector have impacted investors by spiking on the theory that the conflict will escalate or impact oil exports from the wider Middle East region. Similarly, since President Trump’s tariffs have gone into and out of (and then back into) effect over the first two quarters of 2025, other investment sectors have experienced wild pricing swings that have also impacted the portfolios of retail investors. Given these seemingly random fluctuations in their portfolios, many investors are left asking, “why are events thousands and thousands of miles away impacting my investment portfolio?” We will help explain.
Now, more than ever, we live in a truly global economy. American companies are deeply intertwined with foreign entities and markets in the same way that foreign entities and markets are inevitably reliant on the United States economy. For example, in the oil and gas sector, although Exxon Mobil produces a considerable amount of crude oil in the United States, the company must still import significant amounts of crude oil from other countries, like Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, to meet the needs of their operations. If crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia are impacted by the Israel/Iran conflict, one would expect a detrimental impact to Exxon Mobil’s bottom line and stock price due to increased costs from finding new suppliers not impacted by the conflict. If your portfolio has suffered losses due to the recent price swings in crude oil, you should speak with an experienced investment loss attorney, like the ones at Malecki Law in NYC, to determine if your losses are recoverable.
In the context of tariffs, many American companies sell consumer products in the United States but manufacture such products, in whole or in part, in other countries have seen fluctuations in their share prices as the market prices in higher expected future costs due to tariffs. For example, Walmart imports a large portion of consumer goods from foreign countries that it sells domestically in the United States. If tariffs were implemented on the countries from which Walmart imports its goods, Walmart’s financial performance and stock price would be expected to suffer from increased costs. If your portfolio value has decreased on the heels of the recent tariff announcements, your portfolio might be overconcentrated and you should speak with a seasoned securities lawyer, like the ones at Malecki Law in New York.