WS #12637

The dominant narrative remains the US-Iran conflict, which is ESCALATING. President Trump reiterated threats to bomb Iranian infrastructure for each attack on shipping, and CENTCOM reported redirecting 9 commercial vessels and disabling 1. Oil prices continue to rise (Brent near $95, WTI up >4%). The Pentagon has spent $37.5B on the war and seeks additional funds. A new development is the Trump administration advancing a nuclear pact allowing Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium without key safeguards, which could further destabilize the region. Separately, the Senate released an updated Clarity Act banning presidents from issuing/sponsoring crypto, a negative for crypto sentiment. On the corporate front, Reddit (RDDT) is plummeting on reports it is cutting off Google's access for AI training, wiping $3.2B in market cap. OpenAI's massive $750B cloud spending plan is boosting AI cloud services stocks. Morgan Stanley downgraded Adobe (ADBE) to Underweight. The macro backdrop remains bearish for equities due to geopolitical risk and rising oil, but energy stocks (XOM, CVX) and gold miners are bullish. The US-Iran narrative is ESCALATING with no de-escalation signals in this window.