WS #6735

The dominant market theme remains the Strait of Hormuz situation, which is ESCALATING. Multiple cross-source signals confirm Iran has created a new agency to control shipping in the Strait (AP News, Al Jazeera), while Iran's president seeks to quash divided leadership narrative. The US has sanctioned Iraq's Deputy Oil Minister for helping Iran (Al Jazeera, Bloomberg), adding pressure on oil supply channels. However, a key counter-signal has emerged: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have reopened access to US military bases and airspace (multiple Bluesky sources), and the US is set to resume 'Project Freedom' to escort ships through the Persian Gulf. This directly counters the earlier narrative of regional isolation and is bullish for oil supply normalization. Separately, Cheniere Energy slumped on a surprise $3.5 billion loss on derivatives, impacting LNG sector sentiment. In corporate news, SoftBank-Nvidia are in talks to build Japanese AI servers, reinforcing AI infrastructure demand. MSTR plunged 4% after JPMorgan flagged aggressive Bitcoin buying pace. ARM dropped 30 points despite strong earnings, suggesting profit-taking after a strong run. The macro narrative is stable with no major new developments, but the oil-related signals carry the highest near-term market impact.