WS #13540

The dominant theme remains the Strait of Hormuz situation, which is ESCALATING with new specifics: Iran's parliament is drafting a bill to ban US, Israeli, and 'hostile' vessels from the strait, with fines up to 20% of cargo value, and reports of an Iran-Oman joint control plan where Iran takes sole entry control and charges transit fees (5-7% of cargo value per one source, Oman seeking 3%). This is corroborated across multiple sources (Reuters/Fars, Bluesky posts, GDELT). However, an Iranian lawmaker clarified the measures remain at expert review stage, suggesting the bill is not finalized. Oil prices are volatile: Brent rose ~4.27% to $82.83, WTI up ~2.4% to $77, while European gas jumped 6.3% to €55.7/MWh. Gold hit a 7-week high near $4,300 on weak ADP payrolls and Hormuz risk premium. The US-Iran war narrative continues with reports of Trump-Hegseth clash over depleted munitions, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 50% of Americans expect Middle East chaos. Counter-signal: Iran-Oman agreement hopes and Hormuz deal optimism are supporting equities (European markets closed higher, FTSE MIB record). In corporate news, SpaceX lockup expiry (900M+ shares, ~$101B) is a major overhang; Direxion launched a 2X bear ETF. Nvidia is weighing reducing HBM memory in Rubin Ultra GPU due to shortage (The Information), which could pressure NVDA but benefit memory-constrained supply narrative. Alphabet's $25B bond sale drew $115B demand, signaling strong credit appetite. Earnings movers: Figma -16%, Klaviyo -15%, Datadog -16%, Celsius -18%, Chime +26%, Aeva +34%, Semtech +9.4%, Beyond Meat -11.6%, Shift4 -17.7%, UWMC -35%, GRAIL -12.2%. UK cleared Paramount-Warner Bros. $110B merger. Moderna's mRNA flu shot got FDA approval. Stripe in talks to buy OpenRouter for ~$10B. SpaceX/Tesla confirmed $16.8B initial Terafab chip plant in Texas.