Wall Street Angst Mounts as Oil Shock, Fed Freeze Roil Markets

Since Operation Epic Fury began nearly three weeks ago, markets have broadly clung to a comforting bet: that the disruption to oil supply would be brief, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen, and the Federal Reserve’s monetary-easing cycle would resume. On Friday, that bet broke.

Stocks and bonds sold off together. Gold headed for its worst week since 1983. At one point, traders priced in a coin-flip chance the Fed’s next move is a hike, not a cut. The S&P 500 extended its longest weekly losing streak in a year.