WS #7439

The dominant signal in this window is the escalating Iran conflict, with multiple sources reporting that the U.S. and Israel plan increased military action against Iran, and the Trump administration considering special operations targeting Iran's nuclear program. This is corroborated by reports of Iranian hackers accessing U.S. gas station tank monitoring systems, and the Strait of Hormuz blockade continuing to choke fertilizer supply (diesel up 51%, fertilizer up 50%+). The conflict narrative is ESCALATING. A counter-signal emerges: Polymarket shows bets on a U.S.-Iran diplomatic meeting by May 31 and a permanent peace deal by June 30, suggesting some market participants see de-escalation potential. However, the dominant direction remains bearish for broad markets and bullish for energy. Separately, several prominent hedge fund 13F filings were released: Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne initiated a stake in AVGO and dumped GOOGL; Coatue added ASML, exited Chagee, boosted NU, and reduced NVDA; ValueAct took new stakes in KKR, SPOT, and WIX; Starboard exited CRM and added KMX and LW; Corvex added CSGP and LIONS and exited ORCL. These are high-signal for the specific tickers mentioned. Meta received $3.3B in tax breaks for a $10B Louisiana data center, a positive for META. Amazon was sued for illegal tariff charges. Precious metals plunged on U.S. inflation fears and rising Treasury yields, a bearish signal for gold/silver miners. The BOJ tapering plans face scrutiny, which could impact Japanese bond yields and the yen. Finally, a large dark pool order of 2.12M shares of NVDA at $225.32 ($477.9M total) was detected, indicating institutional accumulation.