IonQ ships Superion 256 to Korea in first APAC hardware deal

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[1] IonQ and SDT Announce the First Strategic Partnership to Bring Both Advanced Quantum Computing and Quantum Networking to the Asia-Pacific Region (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/202609 ...)

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Sep 22 2026, 00:17

US diesel hits record $6.51 as GOP pushes export ban

The average price of diesel at US pumps reached $6.51 a gallon on Monday, an all-time high and a gain of more than 70 percent since the Iran war broke out in February, and Republican lawmakers from farm states are now demanding the White House halt exports of the fuel — a step the administration says it will not take. "The government is not currently considering an export ban or export restrictions," a White House official said, citing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's position that a ban would be worth weighing only if it actually lowered prices, "and the facts say it would not." The pressure is coming from the party's own agricultural base. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa urged President Donald Trump on X to suspend diesel exports, writing in capital letters that "high diesel prices are killing farm income." Several Iowa representatives followed the same day, asking the White House to stop the bleeding through export bans, fuel-tax relief and financial support for affected businesses. Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett has gone further, filing two bills: one banning diesel exports immediately through January 2027, and a second that would trigger an automatic ban whenever the national average tops $5 a gallon, holding it until prices fall below $4.50. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last week he is open to "exploring" the idea. "If we have adequate supply at home and we're exporting it, that might be one way to address the problem," he said. The oil industry is fighting back on supply-chain grounds. American Petroleum Institute chief executive Mike Sommers warned that restricting exports "would only make the problem worse — for consumers, for farmers and for the U.S. economy." US diesel production is concentrated on the Gulf Coast, where refining capacity exceeds local demand, while infrastructure constraints leave other regions dependent on imports. Sommers wrote on social media that the US supplies about 1.5 million barrels a day, roughly 20 percent of the 8 million bpd global seaborne diesel trade. "Remove nearly 20 percent of supply and global prices could rise, hitting US regions that rely on imported diesel," he wrote. Burchett countered that the industry is profiteering by "choosing to sell diesel to Europe at higher prices," and that shipping US diesel abroad directly squeezes domestic supply. ## A 35% chance, and a president who can change his mind Rapidan Energy puts the probability of an export ban at 35 percent. Bob McNally, the consultancy's founder and a former adviser in the George W. Bush administration, said the administration's stated refusal is not a guarantee. "The government has consistently rejected export bans, but there is concern the president could change his mind at any moment," McNally said. "I have seen it in the White House myself — when you are besieged on all sides, principles get thrown aside and people become desperate." The precedent is thin and old. The last time Washington imposed export controls on petroleum products was during the energy crisis of the 1970s. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, President Joe Biden asked the Energy Department to examine limiting refined-product exports, but never acted. The price backdrop explains the urgency. Nationwide diesel averaged $6.505 as of Saturday, according to AAA, gaining more than 87 cents in September alone and surpassing the 2022 peak. Gasoline has climbed to $4.48 a gallon from $4.10 a month earlier. Global supplies of the workhorse fuel remain squeezed by the US-Iran war, with shipments through the Strait of Hormuz still curtailed and crude cargoes from the region below pre-war levels, limiting refinery output elsewhere. Russia has banned most fuel exports and may extend the curb through October as Ukrainian drone strikes keep hitting its processors; the Moscow Oil Refinery was struck over the weekend in the largest overnight barrage this year. Brent crude held near $100 a barrel. Diesel is not what most American drivers pump, but it moves trucks, tractors, generators, boats, trains and home-heating systems, so the increase feeds through freight, food and utility costs. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week for the first time since 2023, with Chair Kevin Warsh saying "the plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long." ## Iowa and Maine are the states to watch With midterm elections approaching, record diesel prices threaten Republican support in agricultural states such as Iowa and in home-heating-dependent states such as Maine. That political arithmetic is what keeps the ban on the table even after the White House ruled it out. A ban would pull roughly 1.5 million bpd from world markets, lift global diesel and refined-product prices, widen refining cracks for Gulf Coast refiners and raise fuel costs in the import-dependent Northeast — the opposite of what farm-state lawmakers say they want. The Institute for Progress notes that on an inflation-adjusted basis, prices remain below their 2022 highs, a distinction unlikely to register with voters filling tanks this fall. The next markers are the October EIA weekly distillate inventory reports and any movement on Burchett's bills in committee. If diesel holds above $5 a gallon into November, the $5 trigger in his second bill becomes a live political instrument rather than a talking point, and the White House's refusal gets tested against an election calendar it cannot move. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Sep 21 2026, 23:26

Phillips 66 slides 4.17% as S&P 500 gains 1.49%

Phillips 66 fell 4.17% to $261.75, a single-session drop that ran against a broad advance in U.S. equities and left the refiner as one of the session's clearest laggards. The S&P 500 added 1.49% the same day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.71%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.26%, according to the session's closing data. The divergence is the story. A stock that drops more than four percent while every major index closes higher is not being repriced by the market — it is being repriced by something specific to the company or its corner of the energy complex. No company-specific filing or disclosure accompanied the move in the available session data, which leaves the decline to be read against Phillips 66's own recent run rather than against any confirmed news event. That run has been substantial. Over the past month, Phillips 66 shares gained 12.46%, outpacing the Oils-Energy sector's 0.51% advance and the S&P 500's 0.1% gain by wide margins. A stock that has outrun its sector by roughly 12 percentage points in four weeks carries a larger population of short-term holders, and those holders are quicker to sell into strength. Traders pointed to that outperformance gap as the most plausible explanation for the pullback, alongside the absence of any sector-wide catalyst — the Oils-Energy group was not the source of the weakness, since the broad market's advance was led elsewhere. The refining backdrop itself remains firm. The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 11, placing it in the top 5% of more than 250 industries tracked. Industry rank is calculated from the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks in the group, and the top half of ranked industries has historically outperformed the bottom half by a factor of two to one. Valuation gives the selloff a second reading. Phillips 66 trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, above the industry average of 8.92 — a premium to peers that leaves less room for disappointment. The stock carries a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), and the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has risen 18.55% over the last 30 days, a revision trend that typically precedes positive near-term price action. A 4.17% single-day decline against that backdrop reads more like a valuation reset than a change in the earnings outlook. The earnings outlook is where the divergence gets resolved. Phillips 66 is scheduled to report on October 28, 2026, with consensus projecting earnings of $10.21 per share — growth of 305.16% from the year-ago quarter — on revenue of $36.91 billion, up 5.53%. For the full year, the consensus anticipates $28.28 per share and $160.47 billion in revenue, shifts of 339.13% and 17.51% respectively. Those estimates are the reason the stock's one-month gain outran its sector, and they are the reason a single down session is unlikely to settle the question on its own. For investors, the practical takeaway is that the drop did not come with a named cause, and the sector did not follow it lower. If the weakness were a read on refining margins or crude economics, peers would have moved with it. They did not. That points to position-squaring in a stock that had run hard, with the October 28 report as the next hard data point that can confirm or refute the bull case embedded in those estimates. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Sep 21 2026, 22:59

Exxon Mobil slides 3.2% to $158.30 as S&P 500 gains 1.49%

Exxon Mobil Holdings fell 3.2% to $158.30, the sharpest single-session decline among the largest U.S. integrated oil majors, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.49% and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.26%. The divergence left the energy bellwether trading against a tape that rewarded almost everything else. "The move looks stock-specific rather than macro," said Sarah Lin, an equity analyst covering U.S. energy at a New York research firm. "When the index is up 1.5% and a mega-cap integrated is down more than 3%, the selling is coming from something inside the name, not from the market." The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.71% on the same session, and the S&P 500's advance came with broad participation across growth and technology names. Exxon's decline ran counter to that grain. Over the past month the stock has lost 0.95%, trailing the Oils-Energy sector's 0.51% gain and the S&P 500's 0.1% advance — a gap that has widened rather than closed. ## A valuation premium that leaves little room for error Exxon trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, against an industry average of 8.7 for Oil and Gas - Integrated - International. On a PEG basis the gap is starker: 1.0 for Exxon versus 0.64 for the peer group. That premium means the shares carry more downside sensitivity to any disappointment than the integrated majors that trade closer to book. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has moved 0.59% higher over the past month, and Exxon carries a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). For the quarter ahead, analysts project earnings of $3.78 per share, a 101.06% increase from the year-earlier quarter, on revenue of $104.88 billion, up 22.96%. Full-year consensus stands at $11.93 per share and $409.73 billion in revenue, changes of 70.67% and 23.32% respectively. Those are large numbers, and they set a high bar. A stock priced at a premium to its group has to clear that bar to hold its multiple. ## What the divergence means for the energy sector Exxon is the largest U.S. integrated oil major by market capitalization, which makes its weakness a drag on the S&P 500 energy sector and on index-level performance even on a day when the headline index rises. Weakness in a bellwether of that size can spill over to peer integrated majors and to energy-focused exchange-traded funds that hold it as a top weighting. Traders pointed to three candidate explanations for the session's selling, none confirmed by the company: a de-rating of the stock's premium multiple relative to integrated peers, position trimming ahead of the coming earnings report, and sector-level rotation out of energy as capital moved toward the technology names that led the tape. The move coincided with a session in which the Nasdaq's 2.26% gain pulled flows toward growth. The next test is the earnings report, where the $3.78 per-share consensus and the $104.88 billion revenue estimate will either support the premium or force another round of repricing. Until then, the stock's one-month underperformance against both its sector and the S&P 500 leaves Exxon as the clearest single-name laggard in a market that is otherwise moving higher. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.