WS #11616

The Strait of Hormuz crisis is escalating sharply, with multiple sources (pro-wire, Axios, Reuters, Al-Monitor, GDELT, Bluesky) confirming the U.S. Treasury revoked Iran-related General License X and issued General License X1, effectively ending authorization for Iranian oil sales. This follows Iranian attacks on at least three vessels, including a Qatari LNG tanker, in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's foreign ministry has issued statements accusing Qatar of 'perplexing' accusations and warning vessels using uncoordinated routes face risks. Oil prices surged over 3% and European gas futures rose roughly 7%. The U.S. has warned of consequences, and the Trump administration is also considering removing Turkey from sanctions lists. No counter-signals such as diplomatic de-escalation or strategic reserve releases are evident in this window. The crisis is clearly escalating. Separately, there are notable MAG7-specific signals. Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson is advising clients to rotate out of chip stocks into hyperscalers (MSFT, AMZN, META), a bearish signal for NVDA and semis. Intel (INTC) is trading above its 200-day moving average by the largest margin in history, a bullish technical signal. A large dark pool trade of 1M INTC shares at $111.89 was detected, and a $1.2M bullish whale bet on NVDA calls was also noted. These contradict the broader macro narrative of a tech selloff driven by Samsung's disappointing earnings and the chip rout. The semiconductor sector is experiencing a pullback, with the SOXS (bear 3x) ETF surging 13.93%. The AI infrastructure theme remains intact, with a $1.5T CapEx wave noted, but near-term pressure on chip stocks is evident.