WS #5988

A shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner has dominated the news window, with President Trump evacuated and a Secret Service agent wounded. The suspect, Cole Thomas Allen, is described as a 'lone wolf' by Trump, but the FBI is investigating. The incident is likely to trigger risk-off sentiment, safe-haven flows, and volatility in US indices (SPY, QQQ) and defense stocks (LMT, NOC). Separately, Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries (Yaroslavl, Tuapse) are corroborated by multiple sources, adding to supply-side pressure on oil markets, which is bullish for energy (XOM, CVX) and bearish for airlines (DAL, UAL). The US-Iran situation remains in a 'no war, no peace' limbo, with a US naval blockade of Iranian ports shifting the conflict to an economic standoff, keeping oil prices elevated. Meta's announcement of an 8,000-person layoff (10% of workforce) as it pours billions into AI is a significant corporate signal, indicating cost-cutting and AI investment prioritization, which could pressure META shares near-term but be bullish for AI-related names (NVDA).