Sabri Beneshour

This weekend, millions of Americans will tune in for the March Madness Final Four.

And many of them are placing bets on which college basketball team will come out on top.

And with the rise of prediction markets, you can do that very easily.

And not just for sports, also elections, cultural events, natural disasters.

Rima Kreis over at Marketplace's podcast, This is Uncomfortable, took a look at what happens to our brains and our wallets when you can place a wager on practically anything.

We are here at Marketplace to help you stay informed about the economy, and you can put that knowledge to the test.

Every Friday, we publish a news quiz.

You can find it at marketplace.org slash quiz.

In New York, I'm Sabri Beneshour with the Marketplace Morning Report.

From APM American Public Media.

When the president made the case for the Iran war, markets were not impressed.

From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Beneshour, in for David Brancaccio.

After President Trump's address to the nation last night, the price of oil went up and stocks went down.

This was a total reversal of what markets were doing going into the speech when stocks rallied and oil prices fell.

Investors had been hoping for more information from the president about when the war with Iran might be over.

Instead, we heard that military strikes are going to be intense over the next two to three weeks and that the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz

is not the United States' problem.

Marketplace's Nova Safo is here with more.

Hi, Nova.

Good morning.