WS #12467
The US-Iran conflict is escalating, with the US completing its ninth straight night of strikes and the death toll rising to 17. Houthis have announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia, threatening ~4.5 million b/d of crude exports through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is a significant escalation. Oil prices rose about 3% Sunday, and Brent crude broke past $90/barrel. US gasoline prices have climbed back above $4/gallon. However, there are counter-signals: Iran's Foreign Ministry indicated Tehran could pursue negotiations, and mediators proposed reverting to positions held before July 9. The US is preparing for a broader war but lacks sufficient air defenses and long-range munitions. In corporate news, IREN shares are trading higher after raising its year-end AI Cloud ARR target to over $4B, following $2.8B in AI cloud contracts with Microsoft and NVIDIA. Tempus AI announced a $1.5B acquisition of Personalis, expanding into MRD testing. Domino's Pizza shares are up 7% premarket after Q2 revenue beat. Hut 8 entered a 15-year, $9.8B capacity lease for its Beacon Point campus. Short bets against US equities hit a record as AI risks mount. Bitcoin is down 27% and gold down 7% in 2026, marking the first calendar year both safe-haven assets simultaneously underperformed all other major asset classes.
Topics
Key developments
- Houthis announce maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia, threatening 4.5M b/d of crude exports through Bab al-Mandab
- US completes ninth straight night of strikes on Iran; death toll rises to 17
- IREN raises year-end AI Cloud ARR target to over $4B after $2.8B contracts with Microsoft and NVIDIA
- Short bets against US equities hit record as AI risks mount
- Tempus AI to acquire Personalis for $1.5B, expanding into MRD testing
- Hut 8 enters 15-year, $9.8B capacity lease for Beacon Point campus
- Domino's Pizza Q2 revenue beats estimates at $1.19B, shares up 7% premarket
- Bitcoin down 27% and gold down 7% in 2026, both underperforming all other major asset classes