WS #6101

The dominant market theme remains the Iran-US conflict, which is ESCALATING. The White House confirmed Trump met with national security advisors to discuss Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Secretary Rubio signaled the offer is insufficient, as it would leave Iran with leverage. This has kept oil prices elevated (Brent near $108, US gas at $4.04 national average). German Chancellor Merz publicly criticized US strategy, saying the US is being 'humiliated' by Iran, adding to transatlantic friction. Separately, China blocked Meta's $2B acquisition of AI startup Manus, citing national security, which could impact tech sector sentiment. The White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect has been charged with attempted assassination of President Trump, but this is a security/political story with limited direct market impact beyond potential volatility in defense and security-related names. DeepSeek launched V4 models with 1M token context, intensifying AI competition and potentially pressuring US AI stocks. Nutrien was upgraded to Buy at Barclays on continued nitrogen strength from the Iran war, benefiting fertilizer stocks. Bill Ackman's Pershing Square is expected to raise $5B in IPO, a notable capital markets event. The EU is pushing Google to open Android to rival AI services, which could impact Google's competitive position. Microsoft and OpenAI amended their deal, giving OpenAI more flexibility to work with rivals, which could affect cloud competition dynamics.