11AM Hour: Outlook for Oil Prices, Taylor Morrison CEO on Housing Market & Lebron James Signs with Philadelphia 76ers 7/24/26

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The board recommends approving...

**Scott Modell** (0:01)
Regarding that seat on the committee, we're promoting...

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**Carl Quintanilla** (1:06)
Good Friday morning. Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with Leslie Picker here at Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. Sara has the warning off. Tech headwinds, the NASDAQ on pace for another losing week, and Intel reversing course lower after results were joined by one tech strategist who says the market's expressing doubts about whether hyperscalers can continue to generate returns on AI CapEx.

**Leslie Picker** (1:28)
Plus, looking to next week, a key test for investors will be another Fed rate decision and the latest comments from Fed Chairman Kevin Morsch. Double Line's Jeffrey Sherman joins us to explain why he thinks the Fed will stay on hold.

**Carl Quintanilla** (1:41)
And as mortgage rates hit the highest levels in nearly a year, we're going to get a read on the sector with the CEO of Home Builder Taylor Morrison. As for the markets, it's an inside day. Haven't really gotten outside of the range from yesterday. Breath isn't that bad. Almost every sector is at least a little bit green except for information technology.
Yields have pulled back a little bit. Ten year 467, of course, watching the long bond as well. And then look at energy markets today as well. Pulling back after reaching their highest level in nearly two months yesterday, Brent, of course, crossed 101 Tensions in the Middle East once again reescalating with the president mulling a, quote, bigger than ever attack on Iran. Let's bring in Rapidan Energy CEO Scott Modell, who's actually had a number of good calls, Scott, since the early days of the conflict, including whether the Houthis would eventually get involved, which they now have. We'll get to that in a second. I guess the question for the moment is about your model and whether or not you do think a reescalation will be even more material.

**Scott Modell** (2:42)
Hey, Carl. Good morning. Leslie. Good morning. We do think it's going to be more material. I think that Trump has concluded and the White House has broadly concluded that there really isn't anywhere to go because the Iranians are run right now by hardliners that just don't seem willing to bend very much. And I think the memorandum of understanding that was signed, they consider it effectively dead. The Iranians do.
And now we're in this mode of trying to force it open. So we're getting back to the types of escalation we saw at the peak of the first 100 days. And I think President Trump realizes he needs to do something dramatic here to break through. So when you hear him talk about something bigger than ever before, I don't think it's going to be a major ground invasion. But we could be going back to nuclear related strikes. We could be going to limited ground operations on islands in the Gulf. But clearly the direction of travel, Carl, is more escalatory.

**Carl Quintanilla** (3:37)
What's your view right now on Bab el-Mandeb and whether or not this is truly a second choke point?

**Scott Modell** (3:44)
I think it's a choke point because the Houthis themselves have actually come to the conclusion that the Iranians are winning. I think they look back, they look, and they say after 100 days it's still closed.
Transits have trickled down to 15 to 20 percent of what they were pre-conflict. And the Houthis realize the Iranians, they believe the Iranians have a veto over that checkpoint. They believe the same thing exists in the Bab el-Mandeb. And I think while they're going to be incremental and they're not going to go for a full closure of the Red Sea right away, they believe it's important to send a reminder to Riyadh and to the international community that these big workarounds, these redirects you've had since the war began going, Saudis moving oil to the west coastline through Ianbu and other ports, that's going to be at risk too. So I think they take it very seriously, but it is a coordinated approach between Iran and the Houthis, and it is about two vetoes over critical choke points.