WS #11741

The US-Iran conflict remains the dominant macro theme, with fresh strikes and retaliatory attacks continuing. However, oil prices are falling (Brent -0.1% to $77.91, WTI -0.5% to $73.14) as traders bet on a short-lived conflict, a counter-signal to the bullish oil thesis. The White House is promoting $3.47 gas at 25 private stations to offset pump anxiety. Gold surged 1.32% to $4,136.40/oz and silver jumped 3.69% to $60.48/oz. The AI/semiconductor sector continues to rally strongly: OpenAI unveiled GPT-5.6 family, Meta plans to double in-house compute capacity to 14GW, and Micron's $250B US investment plan is supportive. Apple announced a $30B+ chip supply agreement with Broadcom through 2031. A $184.61M dark pool SOXX order and a $203.11M MU dark pool order were detected. The dominant theme is ESCALATING US-Iran conflict, with counter-signals from oil price pullback and White House gas price intervention. The narrative arc is STABLE relative to previous window, with no new escalation beyond continued strikes.