WS #10832

The dominant signal in this window is the escalating Iran-US confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz, with IRGC publicly rejecting a US-proposed military hotline, contradicting earlier claims by VP Vance. This directly increases the risk of further disruptions to oil tanker traffic, which remains at partially-open levels (~30% of normal). Separately, a light aircraft struck Beijing's Citic Tower, confirmed by multiple sources as a potential terrorist attack, which could impact Chinese markets and aviation. The Venezuela earthquake death toll nears 1,000 per Bloomberg, adding humanitarian pressure. On the tech side, Alphabet's TPU strategy is highlighted as a key AI infrastructure play, potentially countering the broader tech selloff. SpaceX and Charter Communications held talks for a mobile phone partnership, per Bloomberg, which could disrupt telecom. The narrative arc is ESCALATING for Iran-US conflict, STABLE for tech selloff, and DE-ESCALATING for Ukraine drone strikes (ongoing campaign).