Greetings,

US fuel prices have are surging, with gas up 19% and diesel up 28% amid the Middle East conflict, and official forecasts suggest prices won't return to prewar levels until mid-2027. Industries are feeling the pain, especially those reliant on transportation and logistics like trucking, farming, airlines, utilities and retailers. Check out the coverage below.

Also in this edition:

• US corporate bond issuance breaks new single-day record
• CEO confidence rises despite global uncertainty
• Finance teams juggle advanced modeling, legacy systems
• Small-business owners skeptical about tariff refunds

Fuel prices in the US are not expected to return to pre-conflict levels until at least 2027, according to the Energy Information Administration. The increase is raising costs for industries such as trucking, farming, and airlines and is pushing inflation higher.

US investment-grade issuers raised more than $65 billion on Tuesday, setting a new one-day record as companies rushed to tap steadier markets. Activity spanned nearly a dozen large borrowers across sectors, reflecting a broader financing push driven by AI-related spending needs and opportunistic timing amid geopolitical uncertainty.

Corporate finance teams use sophisticated tools for investment decisions, including real-time data and financial modeling, but many are still working to modernize operational systems for financial reporting and compliance, according to reports from the Association for Financial Professionals and Basware. The reports highlight a technological gap within finance functions, with strategic finance advancing rapidly while operational finance lags behind in modernization.

Small-business owners are expressing skepticism about receiving refunds after the US Supreme Court invalidated tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump. The process for claiming refunds, estimated to total $175 billion, is expected to be lengthy and complex, with many businesses doubtful about successful reimbursement.

B2B companies are leveraging artificial intelligence to transform payment data into growth signals, moving beyond traditional uses as a ledger of past performance. By integrating transactional and behavioral data, businesses can now predict revenue opportunities and customer behavior more accurately.

US CEOs are showing increased confidence in the economy, with the Business Roundtable's Economic Outlook Index rising nine points to 89 in the first quarter, the highest in more than a year. The survey of 169 CEOs was conducted after the Supreme Court's decision on former President Donald Trump's tariffs and during US and Israeli attacks on Iran. The CEOs cited last year's tax reforms and deregulation as factors in their improved outlook, but about a third still plan to reduce hiring.