Gas topped $4 a gallon in the US this week for the first time since 2022. US stocks rallied on rumors that Trump might end the Iran war. The dollar had its best month since July. Memory chip stocks collapsed. Every number moved in response to a conflict most people cannot locate on a map but are now paying for at the pump. The Iran war has become the market's primary volatility input, which means it has also become the primary emotional input for the roughly 60% of American households that have investment exposure. Geopolitical dread is now a financial product.

The Spectacle of War as Market Signal

The New Yorker's piece on social media images of the Iran war being overtaken by commentary identifies a specific problem: the reality of destruction gets flattened into content before it can register as catastrophe. The same process happens in financial markets. A missile strike becomes a basis point swing. A ceasefire rumor becomes a rally. The Fast Company analysis of Trump's market management tactics during the war frames this as strategy: keep the market narrative moving fast enough that nobody can hold a position on the underlying horror. This is not a new tactic. It is the logic of the news cycle applied to geopolitics applied to equities.

Ordeal Pleasure and Why Volatility Is Addictive

An arXiv paper published this week, 'Why Do We Suffer for Fun? Ordeal Pleasure in Souls-like Games,' argues that sustained challenge produces a specific form of pleasure that is distinct from ordinary enjoyment. The paper's framework applies unsettlingly well to retail investing in a war economy. The volatility is the game. The dopamine hit of a rally after a drawdown is structurally identical to clearing a difficult boss. The dollar's best month since 2022 is the equivalent of a leaderboard screenshot. For founders trying to raise in this environment, the ordeal logic applies too: , which is harder to do when the macro environment is rewarding the people who are treating markets like a Souls game and winning.