WS #13875

The dominant theme in this window is the US-Iran/Hormuz standoff, which is showing signs of potential de-escalation despite continued hardline rhetoric. Pakistan's Defense Minister stated the US and Iran are 'close to some sort of arrangement' on Hormuz, and Qatar indicated talks are at an advanced stage, while Iran's security council insists the strait remains closed until US conditions are met. This mixed messaging caused Brent crude to spike above $90 intraday before falling back to ~$87-89, with oil prices swinging on every headline. The market is also bracing for Wednesday's CPI print, with a solid 3-year Treasury auction stopping through and JPMorgan raising its S&P 500 year-end target to 8,000. In AI infrastructure, Nvidia's $500B financing partnership with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR is being widely covered, with asset managers like Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR surging 4-6% on the news. Riot Platforms' $9.1B Anthropic deal is confirmed, with the stock initially soaring 20% before giving back gains, and analysts see up to 71% upside. IBM's $240M Together AI deal for NVIDIA HGX B300 systems is a positive for IBM and NVDA. OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap's departure adds to executive churn ahead of a potential IPO. Counter-signals include the potential Hormuz deal dampening oil prices and the strong Treasury auction easing inflation fears.