WS #13855

The dominant US-Iran/Hormuz oil crisis narrative is showing early signs of DE-ESCALATION, with multiple sources (Bloomberg, Pakistan statement) indicating Washington and Tehran are close to a peace arrangement, causing oil to erase gains and US stock futures to rise. This is a counter-signal to the prevailing bullish oil thesis, potentially dampening energy and inflation fears. However, the supply-side disruptions remain: Libya's Zawiya refinery blaze and Ukraine's deep strike on Russia's Taneco refinery (killing 13) continue to support oil prices, though the peace optimism is the freshest development. In corporate news, IBM and Together AI announced a $240M multi-year deal to deploy an Nvidia HGX B300 inference cluster on IBM Cloud (Q1 2027), corroborated by multiple sources (investing.com, PRNewswire, Bluesky) — bullish for IBM, NVDA, and AI infrastructure. Riot Platforms surged ~14-19% premarket on an Anthropic data center deal (20-year lease, potentially >$1B annual rent), with Cantor raising PT to $30 — bullish for RIOT and AI compute demand. Mereo BioPharma jumped ~22% premarket on a licensing deal with Zydus for alvelestat (up to $40M upfront, $435M milestones) — bullish for MREO. Apple confirmed its 20th anniversary iPhone remains on track for 2027 (design changes), corroborating the earlier Bloomberg refutation of the cancelled all-glass iPhone — counters bearish AAPL narrative. Macro data: ADP weekly employment change slowed to 8.25K (sixth straight week of slowing), reinforcing a softening labor market ahead of Wednesday's CPI. CME Group will expand 24/7 trading to 100-ounce silver futures from Sept 11, following gold's strong debut — bullish for silver/precious metals. Joby Aviation fell ~5% on its $500M defense acquisition of Resonant Sciences (financed with $450M cash, $50M equity) — bearish for JOBY near-term due to cash burn. The Colombia earthquake (7.4 magnitude, 132+ dead) is a humanitarian event with limited direct US market impact. Bitcoin remains below $64K, with Polymarket showing heavy trading on Hormuz-related outcomes.