Top Stories; Jim Cramer says potential stock market bottom is tied to interest rates, not war headlines
Top Stories — Tuesday, April 7, 2026
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- Jim Cramer says potential stock market bottom is tied to interest rates, not war headlines — CNBC
- Trump Says Iran Cease-Fire Proposal Is ‘Not Good Enough’ as Deadline Approaches — nyt News
- Iran’s 10-Point Proposal Demands an End to Attacks and Sanctions — nyt News
Jim Cramer says potential stock market bottom is tied to interest rates, not war headlines
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/7/2026, 3:55:46 AM
CNBC's Jim Cramer said investors shouldn't get comfortable calling a market bottom just yet, because the real driver of this market isn't geopolitics – its interest rates.
On Monday, Cramer noted that the S&P 500 may have bottomed last Monday, March 30, but emphasized that the turning point wasn't "anything related to stocks themselves," during "Mad Money." Instead, he noted, it was caused by interest rates. Bond yields pulled back sharply after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled last week, in at talk at Harvard University, that the central bank would hold off on raising interest rates despite higher oil prices.
"That's how important Powell's comments were," Cramer said, noting their impact to bonds, oil and most importantly for stocks.
The shift in expectations helped stabilize stocks, even as tensions in the Middle East escalated. Cramer stressed that headlines surrounding Iran, oil prices or even potential disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz didn't dictate last week's rally – rates did.
"If rates were set to go up," he warned, "we would have begun a bear market of pretty substantial proportions," pointing to the vulnerability of rate-sensitive sectors like housing, banks and utilities.
To be sure, Cramer said the market still faces meaningful risks. Inflation pressures remain elevated, geopolitical tensions persist, and companies may soon begin issuing weaker outlooks as earnings season ramps up.
The real test, he said, will come when more companies report results in the coming weeks. While this week is relatively light, earnings could reveal the true economic impact of higher energy costs and ongoing uncertainty.
The bottom line: "The bond market is in charge of the stock market, even in a time of war," Cramer said,
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Trump Says Iran Cease-Fire Proposal Is ‘Not Good Enough’ as Deadline Approaches
Source: nyt News • Published: 4/7/2026, 3:52:00 AM
President Trump said on Monday that a cease-fire proposal put forth by meditators between the United States and Iran was a “significant step,” but he warned that it was “not good enough” as his deadline of Tuesday evening for a deal loomed.
Iran, for its part, rejected any proposal for a cease-fire, mandating that any peace plan included a complete end of hostilities. Diplomatic talks coordinated by Pakistan and other regional countries were continuing, officials said, even as there appeared to be little agreement on what any cessation of hostilities would look like.
If Iran does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump has threatened to launch a massive attack targeting bridges, power plants and other civilian facilities that would, in his words, send Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” But the president has also extended self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks, and diplomats around the world were asking whether Mr. Trump would find an off-ramp again or if he would follow through this time with what could be a gigantic conflagration.
“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday afternoon. “I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock.”
The White House has refused to answer questions about the specifics of the proposals, saying only that Mr. Trump was weighing his options.
The president brushed off a question about the possibility that U.S. attacks on Iran’s civilian infrastructure could amount to war crimes. Iran said it would retaliate forcefully if Mr. Trump carried out his threatened attacks.
“If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the subsequent phases of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be carried out much more crushingly and extensively,” Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesman, said on Monday.
The president said the United States did not want to go down that route and would consider helping to rebuild Iran if they can strike a deal. He said the United States was working with an “active, willing participant on the other side.”
“They have till tomorrow,” he said. “Now we’ll see what happens. I can tell you they’re negotiating we think in good faith. We’re going to find out.”
Mr. Trump said Vice President JD Vance; Steve Witkoff, his special envoy; and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, were all involved in the negotiations. Mr. Vance, who is expected to participate in any face-to-face talks if they occur, is scheduled to be in Hungary on Tuesday to show support for Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Officials have said he may adjust his trip for negotiations if Iranian officials agreed to meet.
But officials said there was very limited direct contact between the two sides, with Pakistan serving as the key meditator. Mr. Trump lamented that one of the main challenges in the negotiations was Iran’s lack of communication.
Pakistan and other regional allies have put forth a proposal for a 45-day cease-fire, but Iran rejected any temporary pause in fighting and White House officials said Mr. Trump has not signed off on the proposal.
Iran has conveyed to Pakistan its own proposal to end the war consisting of 10 points, according to Iranian state media. The state news agency IRNA indicated the proposal was made after “the developments over Saturday and Sunday in western and central Iran,” which it described as the “catastrophic failure” of a U.S. operation. An Air Force officer whose fighter jet had been shot down by Iran was rescued by U.S. Special Operations forces in a risky mission on Saturday.
Iranian state media has not detailed the entirety of the proposal, but it has noted some conditions or topics that were included. Among them, it said, was a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. It also outlined Iranian demands for lifting sanctions and for reconstruction.
One regional Arab security official involved in the diplomatic exchanges with Iran confirmed that the country was demanding a complete end to hostilities that offered guarantees the war would not be restarted, a complete lifting of sanctions with guarantees ensuring they could not be reinstated and compensation for destruction caused in the war.
Amir Mousawi, a former Iranian diplomat based between Baghdad and Tehran, said Iran also proposed running the Strait of Hormuz “under joint Iranian-Omani administration.”
The Omani Foreign Ministry has confirmed talks with Iran about reopening the strait.
Mr. Mousawi, who was briefed on the plan, added that it called for formally ending the war through an act approved by Congress, and that it called on the United States to offer war compensation that “must be approved by the U.S. Congress and the United Nations.”
“These conditions would have to be approved by Congress, and ensuring their implementation must be guaranteed under an international-American umbrella, because they do not trust Trump and his administration,” he said.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting from Washington, Farnaz Fassihi from New York and Adam Rasgon from Tel Aviv.
Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
Read the full story at nyt News.
Iran’s 10-Point Proposal Demands an End to Attacks and Sanctions
Source: nyt News • Published: 4/7/2026, 3:49:52 AM
Iran on Monday delivered a 10-point proposal to end the war with the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media. The plan was conveyed by Pakistan, which has been acting as a primary intermediary in the conflict, but appeared unlikely to resolve major questions ahead of President Trump’s Tuesday evening deadline for new attacks on Iran.
Two senior Iranian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations, said the proposal included a guarantee that Iran would not be attacked again, an end to Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the lifting of all sanctions.
In return, Iran would lift its de facto blockade of the key shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran would also impose a fee of roughly $2 million per ship that it would split with Oman, which sits across the strait. Iran would use its share of the proceeds to reconstruct infrastructure destroyed by American and Israeli attacks, rather than demand direct compensation, according to the plan.
Asked on Monday about the latest proposal involving Iran, Mr. Trump said: “It’s a significant proposal. It’s a significant step.” He added: “It’s not good enough. But it’s a very significant step.”
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has been threatening to bomb critical civilian infrastructure like bridges and power plants if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for oil and natural gas, by Tuesday night. Such an onslaught would affect the daily lives of millions of Iranians, and many legal experts say that striking civilian infrastructure would be considered a war crime under international law.
At a news conference on Monday at the White House, Mr. Trump reiterated his threat that if his own conditions were not met by his deadline of 8 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, he would order devastating new airstrikes across Iran to cripple the country. “It will take them 100 years to rebuild,” he said.
Iranian state media said that the text of the Iranian proposal “rejected a cease-fire” and “emphasized the necessity of a permanent end to the war in line with Iran’s considerations.”
In a reflection of how Iran sees its own position in the negotiation process, its state media said that the country had “demonstrated its upper hand in the war.” Iranian leaders are said to feel emboldened after shutting down most shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and successfully shooting down an American F-15E fighter jet — even though the United States rescued both of the downed airmen.
While the state media did not publish the entirety of the proposal, it said it included a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. It also outlined Iranian demands for sanctions to be lifted, reconstruction of damaged infrastructure and an end to regional hostilities.
On March 24, the United States sent its own 15-point proposal to end the war with Iran to Pakistan for delivery to Tehran. Iran rejected it and sent a list of counterproposals, some of which were reiterated in its proposal on Monday.
A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said on Monday at a news conference that the earlier American proposal conveyed through intermediaries was “extremely excessive, unusual and illogical.”
Mr. Trump, for his part, said during a question-and-answer session at Monday’s news conference that he believed that the United States and Israel had achieved “regime change” in Iran by killing many of the country’s leaders.
“We’re dealing with different people now,” he said. “They’re smarter. They’re sharper, I think less radical.”
Max Bearak is a reporter for The Times based in Bogotá, Colombia.
Farnaz Fassihi is the United Nations bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the organization. She also covers Iran and has written about conflict in the Middle East for 15 years.
Read the full story at nyt News.
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