WS #5963

The dominant narrative remains the Iran-US conflict and its impact on oil markets, with the Strait of Hormuz traffic collapsing 90%+ via a selective Iranian toll system, oil above $110, and LNG spiking 35% in a day. This is corroborated by multiple sources and represents an escalation from the previous blockade thesis. Additionally, an oil tanker was hijacked off Somalia, adding to Red Sea risks. The Pentagon is reportedly considering suspending Spain from NATO over lack of support in the Iran war, which could escalate alliance tensions. On the tech front, Google announced 75% of new code is now AI-generated, signaling a major shift in software development efficiency. The White House accused China of industrial-scale AI technology theft, which could impact US-China trade relations and tech stocks. Pirro dropped the Fed investigation holding up Warsh's confirmation, removing a key obstacle for Fed leadership transition. A small plane crash in Minnesota and a police shooting in Chicago are local incidents with no broad market impact. Most other items are noise (sports, entertainment, local news, routine economic data).