WS #12522

The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate with the US launching a 10th consecutive night of strikes and Iran retaliating with missile attacks on US allies (Kuwait, Bahrain) and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Three US troops were killed and nearly 100 injured in recent weeks. This is the dominant market-moving theme, keeping oil prices elevated and pressuring risk assets. Separately, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian goods under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, targeting autos, alcohol, and dairy, effective in 30 days. This escalates trade tensions and could impact USMCA-covered goods. Canada's PM Carney criticized the move. On the corporate front, a judge issued a 14-day TRO halting Paramount's $81B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, citing antitrust concerns from 12 states. Also, a judge halted a pro-Trump billionaire's purchase of CNN. In AI, Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 (2.8T parameters) signals commoditization of the model layer, benefiting compute landlords (NVDA) and distribution kings (AAPL). Alphabet shares rose 3.7% on reports of a new AI server chip 'Frozen v2'. Canada's June CPI cooled to 2.8% (vs 3.2% prior), boosting rate cut expectations. The US-Iran conflict is ESCALATING, while the Canada tariff story is NEW and adds to trade uncertainty.