Do you ever question why it’s called crude oil (the subject of today’s explainer, as the growing conflict in the Middle East causes a shock to global crude oil prices)?

I did. It’s called crude because it’s the price of oil in its raw, untreated state right after it’s extracted from the ground. After processing, it’s called refined oil. The word crude comes from the Latin word crūdus, which means raw or bleeding.

Anyway, enough internet rabbit hole for me. I’m off to munch on some Crudités (French appetisers consisting of sliced RAW vegetables!!!).

As the U.S-Iran conflict extends into its second week, growing fears about global oil supply have rattled stock markets.

While last week’s losses were relatively subdued, the Australian stock exchange (ASX) saw its biggest single-day drop in almost a year on Monday.

It comes as the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's key oil transit points, remains closed by Iran, leading to fears of a supply shortage, rising inflation and slowed growth.

About $90 billion was wiped from the Australian sharemarket on Monday, with trade reaching its lowest level since December.

The ASX fell as much as 4% by midday on Monday, the biggest loss since the U.S. introduced sweeping tariffs in April 2025.

The sell-off was driven largely by growing fears over the escalating conflict involving the U.S, Israel, and Iran. However, local markets recovered slightly later in the day, with trading closing down 2.9%.

On Tuesday, the ASX partly rebounded, rising 1.1%.

Meantime, three-year Government bonds (contracts where the government promises to repay investors with interest over a set period) jumped to their highest point since 2011 on Monday. Government bonds are a low-risk investment type, and can be a helpful indicator of where things stand during periods of volatility.

Bonds are often used to predict where interest rates are likely to go. A higher rate indicates investors expect interest rates to rise.

Oil spiked over 25% to around $US120 ($165) per barrel on Monday as Iran continued to blockade the important shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, and to strike regional oil facilities.

It's the first time that oil has broken $US100 per barrel since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Despite U.S. markets opening lower on Monday, stocks recovered in late trading following comments from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking to CBS News, Trump said that he thinks "the war is very complete, pretty much."

Oil prices then shifted from a four-year high to below $US90.

Some neighbouring Asian economies are faring worse than Australia, as they are much more impacted by oil shortages from the Middle East.

Japan and South Korea's share markets both fell around 8% in early trading on Monday, as South Korea’s market triggered a trading suspension to stem the losses.

While the scale of this week’s ASX losses is unusual, a market is not widely considered to have “crashed” until it falls by around 20% or more.

Stock market crashes can be very disruptive, as they can trigger panic selling, which only compounds losses.

Famous market crashes include the 1929 crash, which led to the Great Depression, and the 2008 crash, which led to the Global Financial Crisis.

While many people may not directly invest in shares, the stock market makes up a significant portion of the wealth in most superannuation accounts.

Reporting by Lachlan Keller.

Billionaire Elon Musk took the witness stand last week in a trial alleging he attempted to drive down Twitter’s value while he was buying it in 2022.

While he eventually did buy the company for $US44 billion ($AU63.1 billion), some shareholders say they prematurely sold their shares during the sale process due to Musk’s actions.

Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 at $US54.20 per share in a turbulent sale that included months of back-and-forth and legal challenges.

A prolific user, Musk said he wanted to own it to make changes to the platform to increase free speech.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” he said in 2022.

Musk currently has more than 200 million followers on the platform, far more than any other person.

After initially offering to buy the company in April of that year, Musk then tried to back out of the deal in early July over a dispute about bots, or fake accounts.

Twitter reported during this time around 5% of its accounts were bots, while Musk publicly alleged this figure was closer to 20%.

Company shareholders sued Musk later in July 2022 to force him to follow through with the purchase, which he eventually did in October that year.

Musk later took the company private, renamed it X, and launched an AI arm. He later folded it into his rocket company SpaceX.

Valued at $US1.25 trillion, SpaceX is expected to go public sometime this year, in what could be the most valuable initial public offering (IPO) of all time.

In October 2022, Twitter shareholders brought a class action against Musk alleging he deliberately tried to drive down the company value as he negotiated the deal.

They allege Musk committed securities fraud by deliberately influencing the share price of a company he was attempting to buy.

A security is a product that can be traded, like shares or bonds.

Shareholders are seeking damages because some sold their shares prematurely when the price dropped below $54.20, when it appeared Musk was backing out of the deal.

During jury selection, many potential jurors were dismissed for negative opinions about Musk.

Musk and his lawyers argued that his complaints about Twitter’s user numbers were legitimate. They also argued that his tweets during this time were never designed to hurt the company or its investors.

Asked whether he was aware of the impact his tweets may have on the price, Musk said the “stock market, it’s like a manic depressive.”

“My tweets have sometimes the opposite effect of what one would expect on stock prices,” Musk said, according to CNBC. “Sometimes they have the expected effect.”

The trial is expected to take two to three weeks.

If the jury rules in the shareholders’ favour, Musk could face fines of up to a billion dollars in damages.

This verdict could influence the outcome of other lawsuits regarding Musk’s purchase.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is separately accusing Musk of failing to disclose, within the legal timeframe, that he had acquired a large stake in Twitter.

Reporting by Lachlan Keller.

Job scams are rising, and young Aussies are being targeted

Scams posing as job offers more than doubled in 2025, with new data showing a sharp rise in employment-related scams. And young Aussies are among those being targeted more, often through online ads and messaging platforms.

But what’s behind the spike? How are these scams playing out, and what should you look out for?

Get the full picture at CommBank Newsroom.

In case you missed it, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has been ridiculed online this week after the company posted a video of him trying a new ‘product’, called the “Big Arch” burger.

Essentially, the audience seemed to think he didn’t actually enjoy the burger.

The best comments were from competitors, like Subway, who said: “We have something fresher you can bite into.”

I guess you could say he wasn’t exactly lovin’ it!

(P.S. Ignore the bad formatting on the image above. We are journalists, not graphic designers. 😬)