WS #6490

The US-Iran confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz is ESCALATING further. Multiple sources (Fars News, Tasnim, Reuters, Axios, CENTCOM) report that Iran fired a warning shot at a US warship and claimed to have hit it with missiles, though CENTCOM denies any ship was struck. Iran also struck an empty UAE ADNOC oil tanker with drones. The US Navy destroyers are now operating in the Arabian Gulf under 'Project Freedom' to restore commercial shipping, with two US-flagged merchant vessels successfully transiting. However, traffic remains minimal. Oil prices surged over 3% on the news, with Brent above $112 and WTI near $105. The situation is at a critical inflection point with direct confrontation possible. Separately, GameStop's $55.5B bid for eBay at $125/share is a major M&A development, with eBay shares up 7.4% premarket and GameStop down 3.4%. Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile swelled to a record $397.4B in Q1, signaling caution. HSBC downgraded Palantir to Hold with a $151 target (from $205), citing competition from Anthropic. SAP is acquiring Prior Labs and Dremio to boost AI capabilities. The Fed held rates steady at 3.75%. The ECB warned of stagflation risks from the Middle East conflict. The US is withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany, escalating transatlantic tensions. A suspected hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has left 3 dead, with the ship blocked from docking in Cape Verde.