WS #12315

The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate with a seventh consecutive night of US airstrikes on Iran, hitting bridges in Hormozgan province and a tower in Chabahar port, killing at least 38 people. Iran's IRGC claims to have destroyed Bahrain's main AI center with ballistic missiles and drones, and attacked a US UAV depot in Bahrain. Erbil International Airport in Iraq suspended flights due to Iranian attacks. Hedge funds piled into bullish Brent oil bets at the fastest pace in almost a decade, signaling sustained oil price elevation. US markets closed lower: SPY -1.0%, QQQ -1.5%, NVDA -2.2%, TSLA -2.6%. The VIX surged 12.19%. This escalation is likely to keep oil prices elevated and risk assets under pressure. Separately, a surprise breakthrough from Chinese startup Moonshot AI (Kimi K3 model) rippled through global markets, sending AI and semiconductor stocks sharply lower, reviving memories of last year's DeepSeek moment. The new model challenged US AI supremacy, causing a selloff in NVDA and other chip stocks. Apple regained the title of world's most valuable company, surpassing Nvidia, as its stock rose ~22% YTD while NVDA gained only ~7%. Apple's AI strategy and capital expenditure model are being rewarded by investors. The AI upheaval crushed retail traders crowding into leveraged funds, according to Bloomberg. Additionally, Trump threatened Canada with tariffs over wildfire smoke, and the Cleveland Guardians postponed a game due to air quality concerns. Citi warned that Canadian wildfire smoke is creating a short-term drag on theme park attendance for FUN and PRKS. The Paramount Skydance merger lawsuit judge will rule by July 22. Xencor surged 17% on ESMO 2026 oral presentation news. DBV Technologies filed an ATM prospectus for up to $150M. IBM disclosed multiple critical vulnerabilities in Langflow OSS (CVSS 9.9).