WS #2135

The data dump reinforces the escalating Strait of Hormuz crisis as the dominant market signal, with new military deployments and attacks intensifying supply fears. The Pentagon is sending three warships and thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East, marking the second deployment in a week, which corroborates earlier reports and heightens near-term conflict risks. Concurrently, Iranian drones attacked Kuwait's Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery early Friday, directly threatening Gulf energy infrastructure and aligning with previous warnings. Analysts warn the war could keep oil prices high for years as the strait remains effectively shut, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) calling this the 'largest supply disruption in history' and recommending demand-side measures like work-from-home and reduced speed limits to ease pressures. Cross-source corroboration is strong, with multiple reports from jetstream.bsky, Guardian, BBC, and WSJ on U.S. troop deployments, Trump's criticism of NATO allies as 'cowards' for not helping reopen the strait, and Iran charging fees for ships passing through a 'safe corridor'. Specific developments include the U.S. considering occupying or blockading Iran's Kharg Island to pressure Tehran, which processes 90% of Iran's crude exports, and Iran's president thanking citizens for defending the government amid tensions. The Strait shutdown now threatens semiconductor and battery supplies for European automakers, compounding strain from AI-driven chip demand, while tech shows resilience with Nvidia confirming a deal to supply Amazon AWS with 1 million GPUs through 2027.