WS #11424

The dominant narrative remains the funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and associated geopolitical tensions, but this window contains several new data points. Iran's ambassador to China confirmed that Tehran will charge service fees for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with special treatment for friendly nations, while the initial US-Iran deal only guarantees free passage for 60 days. This escalates the Hormuz risk premium for oil markets. Additionally, Russia's Medvedev described the Strait of Hormuz as a weapon as powerful as nuclear weapons for Iran, and Iran warned the UK and France against joint patrols. The funeral itself saw massive crowds chanting for revenge against the US and Israel. Meanwhile, Ukraine's drone campaign has disabled an estimated 25-43% of Russia's oil refining capacity, with a new attack on St. Petersburg's oil terminal reported. In France, the appeal court verdict on Marine Le Pen's eligibility for the presidential race is imminent, which could significantly impact French political risk. The Supreme Court rejected Trump's bid to toss the $5M E. Jean Carroll verdict, a minor legal development. Most other data is noise: sports results, celebrity news, routine financial filings, and spam.