WS #6270

The dominant themes in this window are: (1) UAE's exit from OPEC, confirmed by multiple sources, which is a major supply-side shock; (2) central bank decisions from the Fed, ECB, and BOE, all holding rates steady but signaling inflation risks from the Iran war; (3) escalating Iran-US tensions with threats of long-range strikes and a naval blockade; (4) mixed tech earnings with Alphabet surging on cloud strength while Meta and Microsoft face pressure over AI spending ROI; (5) Japan FX intervention briefly pushing yen to 155 from 160; (6) a proposed $85 billion Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger; (7) Novo Nordisk jumping 6% on FDA proposal to limit weight-loss drug compounding; (8) US natural gas storage miss (79B vs 83B est.); (9) US jobless claims sinking to a 57-year low; (10) Louisiana postponing House primaries after Supreme Court Voting Rights Act ruling. The UAE OPEC exit is the highest-significance development, with cross-source corroboration from BBC, GDELT, and social media. The Iran war narrative is escalating with new threats. Tech divergence is notable: GOOGL up 6% while META down 9% and MSFT down on capex concerns. The BOE and ECB both warned of prolonged inflation from energy shocks. The Japan intervention is a counter-signal to yen weakness. The UNP-NSC merger would create the first US coast-to-coast freight rail operator.