WS #12324

The US-Iran conflict continues to escalate sharply, with the seventh consecutive night of US strikes on Iran confirmed by CENTCOM and Al Jazeera. IRGC claims two oil tankers exploded after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, effectively closing the waterway to oil and gas shipments. This is corroborated by multiple sources including Al Jazeera, BBC, and OSINT accounts. Oil prices surged (WTI +4.5% to $82.49, Brent +4.6% to $88.10) on supply disruption fears. In a potential counter-signal, Iraq signed deals with Western oil firms to revive the Syria pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, with Chevron involved and initial capacity of 2 million bpd. However, pipelines take years to build, so the immediate oil supply crisis remains. Separately, tech stocks sold off sharply: Nasdaq -1.4%, with AI chip stocks under pressure from Chinese competition (Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 model) and Alphabet's Gemini 3.5 Pro delays. Apple briefly surpassed Nvidia as most valuable company but Nvidia regained lead at close. Netflix fell 7.3% on Q3 revenue growth slowdown guidance. The White House is taking more control over AI model releases, shifting power from tech giants. Databricks hit $188B valuation. Insider selling at BlackRock (CEO and GC sold shares) and Datadog (CEO sold $10.8M) may signal caution. Gold reclaimed $4000 but fell for the week as rate hike bets rose. The macro narrative is one of escalating geopolitical risk driving oil higher, while tech faces headwinds from AI spending concerns, regulatory shifts, and competition.