Jim Cramer Warns of ‘Unholy Developments’ Crushing Rate-Cut Hopes as Brent Tops $92 After Strait of Hormuz Attacks

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday said a combination of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish stance, escalating geopolitical tensions and rising oil prices could make near-term rate cuts increasingly unlikely.

Warsh ‘Means Business’ Amid Macro Pressures

Delivering a hawkish speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium, Fed Chair Warsh crushed rate-cut optimism, whom Cramer described as a “serious practitioner.”

"I don’t see how rates can go down now that we see Warsh as a serious practitioner, the president unable to stop the war, the allies in the region depending almost entirely on us, and oil stocks headed back up quickly," Cramer wrote on X, calling the developments "unholy."

"Rates are getting very hard to overcome. Warsh means business… Bessent not so much," he added, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

‘Unholy Developments’ in the Strait of Hormuz

Cramer’s warning coincided with geopolitical escalation reported by Reuters. Brent crude prices surged past $92 per barrel following attacks on oil tankers in the Middle East. Late Monday, two supertankers carrying Saudi oil were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Arabian-flagged Sidr and the Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity each loaded 2 million barrels of Saudi crude at the Juaymah terminal last week. Both vessels were hit approximately 17 nautical miles off the coast of Khasab, Oman.

Shipping intelligence firm Marisks noted that the near-simultaneous strikes represent “a further escalation in the threat environment” within the Omani corridor.

Markets Rattle as Brent Crude Surges

The attacks immediately jolted energy and equity markets. Brent oil futures for December 2026 spiked 4.11%, trading at $92.00 a barrel. The ETF tracking it, United States Brent Oil Fund, LP (NYSE:BNO) was 1.79% higher in premarket on Tuesday. Meanwhile, WTI Crude Oil Futures rose 2.30% to $87.70 per barrel, with United States Oil Fund, LP (NYSE:USO) rising 2.11%.

While oil stocks are “headed back up quickly,” as Cramer noted, the broader stock market is feeling the heat.

In premarket trading on Tuesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, respectively, were trading lower. The SPY was down 0.54% to $762.94, while the QQQ declined by 0.99% to $709.64. Meanwhile, the Dow tracker, State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA), was 0.48% lower at $529.03.

Here’s how some oil stocks were performing in premarket on Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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