WS #11715

The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate, with the US launching a second day of strikes on Iran and Trump declaring the ceasefire 'over'. Three IRGC members were killed in US strikes. Qatar has paused its LNG expansion plans after the Hormuz tanker attack, a significant supply-side signal for global LNG markets. Separately, Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure have hardened Putin's position, with Reuters reporting he has rejected ceasefire proposals. Russia has banned diesel exports until July 31, exacerbating fuel shortages. On the corporate front, Meta plans to put its 'Iris' AI chip into production in September, doubling computing capacity and reducing reliance on Nvidia. Micron announced up to $3B in US supply chain investments, including a $500M financing for GlobalWafers and a 10-year wafer deal. PepsiCo reported mixed Q2 results with North America food revenue declining 2%, but international strength drove an earnings beat. KeyBanc and Bernstein downgraded Salesforce (CRM) citing slow Agentforce adoption. US initial jobless claims came in at 215K vs 218K expected, a slight positive for labor market. The narrative arc for the US-Iran conflict is ESCALATING, while the Ukraine-Russia energy war is also ESCALATING. The Qatar LNG pause is a new bearish development for global energy supply. Meta's AI chip production is a bullish signal for custom ASIC supply chains and a bearish signal for NVDA dependency.