WS #11005

The dominant signal in this window is a series of Supreme Court rulings that delivered multiple losses to the Trump administration, including upholding mail-in ballot counting, rejecting an appeal to overturn the E. Jean Carroll verdict, and a landmark 6-3 decision allowing the firing of FTC commissioners, ending agency independence. These rulings have immediate political and regulatory implications, potentially increasing uncertainty for sectors like big tech and financials. Separately, Rocket Lab announced an $8 billion acquisition of Iridium Communications, a transformative deal in the space industry. On the macro front, Brent crude has fallen over 20% in the past month to ~$72, with the Strait of Hormuz crisis de-escalating as Trump claims Iran agreed to talks in Doha. Corn prices dropped on expectations of the biggest US supply since 1988. Verizon fell 7% and AT&T hit a 52-week low as SpaceX and cable rivals converge. The Mag7 narrative shows divergence: Elon Musk announced Grok 4.5 private beta and monthly new model releases, while a Hacker News post highlights Mag7 starting to underperform. A large dark pool order for NVDA ($310.93M) and a bearish SPX put option ($169.05M) suggest institutional positioning for downside.