Oil prices continued to climb on Tuesday, building on the previous session’s gains as hopes of ending the U.S.-Iran war faded, while the Strait of Hormuz remained largely shut, restricting energy supplies from the key Middle East producing region to global markets.

Expectations of renewed diplomatic progress weakened over the weekend after Trump cancelled a planned Islamabad visit by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. This happened even as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Pakistan.

Crude oil price on April 28

Brent crude futures for June gained 45 cents, or 0.4%, to $108.68 a barrel after climbing 2.8% in the previous session to their highest close since April 7. The contract has now advanced for seven straight sessions. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June rose 58 cents, or 0.6%, to $96.96, following a 2.1% gain in the previous session.Trump’s rejection of the Iranian proposal has left the conflict at a standstill, with Iran restricting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. continuing its blockade of Iranian ports. The waterway normally carries supplies equal to about 20% of global oil and gas consumption.

Iran has continued to insist that vessels obtain its approval before passing through the Strait of Hormuz, while Trump said the U.S. has “total control” over the route. At the same time, the U.S. Navy has maintained its blockade targeting Iranian ports and vessels.

What’s next?

Goldman Sachs raised its fourth-quarter oil price forecasts to $90 a barrel for Brent crude and $83 for WTI, citing reduced Middle East output.“The economic risks are larger than our crude base case alone suggests because of the net upside risks to oil prices, unusually high refined product prices, products shortages risks, and the unprecedented scale of the shock,” Reuters reported, citing Goldman Sachs analysts.

According to a Haitong Futures note cited by Reuters, the current ceasefire phase increasingly appears to be preparation for further conflict. It added that if U.S.-Iran talks fail to make meaningful progress by the end of April and hostilities resume, oil prices could rise to fresh highs for the year.

Macquarie estimates crude prices may remain supported in the $85 to $90 range in the near term, with a gradual move toward $110 as supply conditions improve. It also warned that prolonged disruptions through April could push Brent as high as $150 per barrel.

Nuvama Institutional Equities said an extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles around 20 million barrels per day, could lift crude prices into the $110 to $150 range.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

This article was written by

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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Dear Partners,

The Canadian Smaller Companies Fund declined 1.5% in the first quarter of 2026, compared to a 7.3% increase for the benchmark.

Langdon Canadian Smaller Companies Portfolio

Over the past several quarters, we have discussed how the Canadian market has been driven largely by gold-related equities, with that narrative continuing to influence returns. We have also outlined why the core tenets of Langdon’s approach lead us away from businesses where revenues are primarily dependent on inputs outside of management’s control.

What we have not emphasized and what is worth highlighting is the common thread between what gold investors seek and what we seek at Langdon: scarcity.

For gold investors, scarcity is straightforward. It is rooted in the finite supply of the underlying asset.

At Langdon, we think about scarcity differently.

We look for businesses where scarcity is reflected in a combination of characteristics that are difficult to replicate:

• Resilient and compounding free cash flow
• Strong balance sheets
• Talented and aligned management teams
• Attractive valuations relative to intrinsic value

Individually, these attributes are not rare. In combination, they are.

In our view, it is this combination that allows businesses to adapt, evolve, and compound value over time.

Portfolio Attribution

Performance during the quarter was driven by the following key contributors and detractors across the portfolio.

Leading contributors included:

• PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. — a royalty business generating revenue from oil and gas production without direct operating exposure
• Logan Energy Corp. — a growing platform focused on Western Canadian oil and gas development
• EQB Inc. — a challenger bank continuing to scale deposits and lending through its digital platform

Detractors included:

• TerraVest Industries Inc. — a diversified industrial business serving energy and infrastructure markets
• Definity Financial Corporation — a P&C insurer focused on disciplined underwriting and long-term book value growth

In the case of the detractors, short-term share price movements diverged to varying degrees from underlying business performance. Our focus remains on the latter.

Company Commentary – Prairesky Royalty LTD.

PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. embodies the core tenets of scarcity that we believe underpin successful long-term investing. Our history with this company (slightly) predates its 2014 IPO. We wanted to get more time with the very talented CEO before the 100+ meeting roadshow, so we arranged to meet for coffee at the Starbucks on Yonge and King just before the day started at 7 am. Sometimes, very unique leadership teams and assets require very unique access.

The company owns one of the largest portfolios of fee simple mineral title in Canada. Unlike traditional energy companies, PrairieSky does not operate wells or spend money drilling, completing or tying in wells. Instead, it collects royalties on production from third-party operators across its land base.

This model results in a business with high margins and resilient free cash flow. Because PrairieSky does not bear the capital costs of drilling and is not exposed to operational execution risk, its economics are structurally different from those of traditional producers.

The strength of the business is rooted in its low capital intensity. With no requirement to fund development activity, PrairieSky maintains flexibility through cycles while preserving the ability to allocate capital toward acquiring additional royalty interests.

Management’s role is not to operate assets, but to allocate capital and manage the asset base with discipline. Over time, outcomes are driven by decisions around royalty structures, acquisitions, and the stewardship of a finite resource.

The asset base itself is difficult to replicate. PrairieSky’s land position has been assembled over decades and represents a finite resource with perpetual ownership, providing long duration exposure to production without requiring ongoing capital investment.

Importantly, the business benefits from industry activity without requiring capital, a combination that is difficult to replicate. We have already earned a handsome return on our investment with this company, but we felt that coming into 2025, the liquids growth and corresponding cash flows were not being appreciated by the market, so we decided to add to our investment, and it’s now the largest holding in the fund.

In our view, PrairieSky reflects the type of business we seek to own: one where resilient cash flows, capital efficiency, and disciplined capital allocation support long-term compounding of free cash flow per share.

Looking Ahead

Periods like the past quarter are frustrating. They are also part of the price of investing with discipline.

We do not build the portfolio around forecasts of commodity prices, interest rates, or macroeconomic outcomes. Our returns do not depend on getting those calls right.

Instead, we focus on owning a concentrated group of businesses that can compound free cash flow per share over long periods, with strong balance sheets and management teams we trust to allocate capital well.

That will sometimes lead to periods of divergence, particularly when markets reward a narrow set of exposures. We are comfortable with that. It is a feature of a differentiated approach, not a flaw. At quarter-end, amid all the volatility and narratives, we sit right around our targeted return since inception of 15% and are very comfortable with the risk we have taken to deliver it.

Our process remains unchanged. We continue to do what we have always done: concentrate capital behind high-quality businesses and let time work in our favour.

Greg Dean, Founder and Lead Investor

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References

1. Performance as at December 31, 2025. Returns greater than one year are annualized. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Please see the important information in the endnote below.
2. Since inception date of August 26, 2022.
3. LEP110 (Class F) – performance is net of fees.

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Original Post

Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.

Asian stocks held near their highest level since late February as traders awaited developments in the Middle East, alongside a slew of central bank decisions and earnings from major technology companies. Crude oil edged lower.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed on Tuesday, staying close to the level when the US-Israel war on Iran started in late February. That came after global crude benchmark Brent slipped 0.3% to trade just under $108 a barrel.

The yen held steady at 159.34 against the dollar before the Bank of Japan’s policy announcement later Tuesday.

With little progress on the geopolitical front, investors are turning their focus to earnings from a cohort of tech giants with a combined market value of nearly $16 trillion. Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. are due to report Wednesday, followed by Apple Inc. a day later, with the results likely to set the tone for global equities and test whether the recent rally in megacap tech can be sustained.

“Markets have recovered to new all-time highs while seemingly ignoring continued geopolitical risks that abound, and this has been done largely on the back of positive earnings revisions and expectations,” said Walter Todd, president and chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates. “Any cracks that emerge in this outlook as the largest companies report in coming weeks pose a significant risk to market momentum.”

Elsewhere, contracts for the S&P 500 Index edged up 0.2% after the underlying gauge stayed on track for its strongest monthly performance since 2020 as the artificial intelligence trade returns and stocks give up war-related losses. A key semiconductor index pulled back following a historic rally.
Meantime, the White House said US officials are discussing Iran’s latest proposal, but maintained red lines on any deal to end the eight-week war, including preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump had convened a meeting of national security officials to discuss an Iranian proposal. The comments followed reports that Tehran proposed an interim deal whereby it reopens Hormuz in exchange for Washington ending its blockade of ports.

Iran’s proposal is better than what the US had thought, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. Still, the US has questions on the person who submitted the Iran offer, he said.

“The market appears to be reducing its reaction to US/Iran headlines with the outcome trending to a short-term deal followed by more detailed negotiations,” JPMorgan head of global market intelligence Andrew Tyler wrote in a note to clients.

US Treasury yields were steady in Asian trading after rising two to three basis points on Monday, staying on pace for their tightest monthly range since late 2020.

United Airlines on Monday announced that it’s ending its pursuit of a potential merger with American Airlines after its rival rebuffed an initial approach to discuss a deal.

United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement published on Monday that he approached American Airlines about a potential merger because he “thought we could do something incredible for our customers together.”

“I was confident that this combination, which would have been about adding and not subtracting, creating a truly great airline that customers love, could get regulatory approval,” he said. 

“I was hoping to pitch that story to American, but they declined to engage and instead responded by publicly closing the door. And without a willing partner, something this big simply can’t get done,” Kirby said.

AMERICAN AIRLINES CEO SAYS MERGER WITH UNITED WOULD BE ‘BAD FOR CUSTOMERS’

American CEO Robert Isom on Thursday said the airline wasn’t interested in a potential merger with United, saying it would be bad for all parties involved.

“The idea of the two largest airlines in the world getting together, that is something that we’ve viewed as being anti-competitive and obviously everybody that has weighed in suggests the same thing,” Isom said. “Bad for customers, bad for the industry and ultimately, that would be bad for American Airlines.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
UAL	UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC.	91.90	-1.10	-1.18%

Kirby acknowledged that “American’s public comments make it clear that a merger like this is off the table for the foreseeable future,” but said that his vision for a merger between United and American involved using the scale of the combined airline to compete and lead around the globe.

BIPARTISAN SENATORS PRESS UNITED AND AMERICAN CEOS ON REPORTED MERGER OF LEADING AIRLINES

He wrote that the combined airline would have had opportunities to grow internationally and with expanded service to smaller communities, noting that both of those goals “are mathematically enabled by having a larger network.”

Kirby said that he thought a merger between United and American would have increased the total number of economy seats in the marketplace to give cost-conscious consumers more affordable options and choice, while the scale would boost competitiveness for international flights.

He also thought the combined company would’ve “created tens of thousands of new high-paying, unionized jobs with great benefits which would have led to even more career growth opportunities for the 250,000 employees already at United and American,” and also supporting domestic aircraft manufacturing.

UNITED AIRLINES MERGER TALK PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON AMERICAN CEO’S FUTURE, EXPERTS SAY

Kirby said he understood the scale of the merger would attract skepticism because “previous mergers have been about saving struggling airlines, previous legal and regulatory reviews have focused on subtraction and what’s being lost,” whereas he thought this merger proposal would be viewed as a “different proposition altogether.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AAL	AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC.	11.68	-0.42	-3.47%

“While our pursuit of talks with American have ended, our mission to build the greatest airline in the history of aviation at United is well underway. We have a winning strategy, a culture of innovation and 115,000 of the best aviation professionals in the world working together to deliver for our customers,” Kirby wrote. 

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“While the airline industry has always been dynamic and unpredictable (it’s one of the reasons that I love this business), United’s future is brighter than it’s ever been,” he added.