WS #7096

The UK political crisis is escalating sharply, with UK gilt yields surging to multi-decade highs as PM Starmer faces mounting pressure to resign. This is corroborated by multiple sources: Al Jazeera reports Starmer will face a split cabinet with demands for his resignation mounting, a junior minister has resigned, and Bloomberg reports UK bonds slid to send long-term yields to the highest in nearly three decades. The narrative is ESCALATING. Separately, the Iran crisis remains in deadlock with Trump stating the ceasefire is on 'life support', but a new development: unverified reports of a UAE airstrike on Iran. The Strait of Hormuz closure continues to impact supply chains, with Japan's Calbee switching to black-and-white packaging due to ink shortages from naphtha supply disruption. In corporate news, Bayer posted better-than-expected Q1 profit, and Bristol Myers Squibb announced a landmark $15.2B collaboration with Hengrui Pharma. The memory super cycle thesis for MU is reinforced by Coatue commentary calling memory the new bottleneck.