WS #12263

The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate with a sixth straight night of US strikes on Iran, killing 38 and wounding over 400, including strikes on bridges in Hormozgan province bordering the Strait of Hormuz. Strait of Hormuz throughput has collapsed to 1.27% of pre-conflict levels, with war risk insurance up 33-fold, and Pakistan is seeking spot LNG cargoes due to disrupted shipments from Qatar. This is corroborated by multiple sources including Al Jazeera, a Bluesky post, and GDELT reports of oil price rises and gas price increases. The narrative arc is ESCALATING. Separately, the global tech selloff is deepening: Japanese stocks plunged with Nikkei entering correction (down >10% from peak), Kioxia down 16%, and Nasdaq futures dropping 2.08% as chip stocks extend global rout. This is corroborated by Seeking Alpha, Nikkei Asia, and CoinDesk noting ether falls twice as hard as bitcoin. The narrative arc for tech is ESCALATING. A counter-signal emerges: BP and ConocoPhillips are set to announce billions in new investments in Iraq at the US-Iraq Business Summit, aiming to reduce reliance on Hormuz routes, which could dampen some energy supply fears. Also, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen says 'We're coming for eBay one way or another' after a rejected $56B bid, which could move GME and EBAY. Meta's Muse Image pulled after 72 hours on consent failures, posing regulatory risk for META. KeyBanc downgraded Apple to underweight with a $250 target, citing iPhone growth risks. Bitcoin ETFs continue to see inflows ($79.2M on Thursday, $368M over three days).