WS #13805

The dominant Hormuz/energy narrative remains ESCALATING, with oil prices surging ~5% as Iran keeps the Strait closed until US meets demands, and Houthi attacks on Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery add a new supply-side shock. Brent crude is up 3.6-4% to ~$86.59, WTI up ~3.5% to ~$80.91, with energy stocks (XOM, CVX, XLE) and refiners (MPC, PSX, VLO) rallying while airlines (DAL, UAL, AAL) fall. This is corroborated across multiple sources (Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Guardian, oilprice.com, GDELT). No counter-signal has emerged; the US-Iran talks remain at an impasse, with Iran demanding reparations and asset unfreezing. The Intel $15B stock offering is confirmed as a company-specific drag (INTC -5%), not a sector warning, as AMD, NVDA, and AVGO barely moved. Separately, NVDA plans a $3B investment in Lancium (Stargate AI data center), a bullish signal for AI infrastructure. Meta's open-source AI model release (Muse Glimmer) and Zuckerberg's manifesto are gaining attention, but no direct market impact yet. The Colombia earthquake (7.4 magnitude, 20+ dead) is a tragic event but has limited US market impact. Bitcoin is slipping with stocks, but institutional inflows into spot ETFs ($853M last week) provide a bullish undercurrent. The Fed narrative is shifting dovish after weak July jobs data, with gold up ~7% last week and Treasury yields falling, supporting rate-sensitive tech and gold miners.