WS #7162

The dominant narrative remains the escalating Iran/Strait of Hormuz crisis, with the UK deploying new assets including mine-sweeping drones and anti-drone systems to the Strait of Hormuz, corroborated by multiple sources. This reinforces the supply squeeze on oil, with WTI crude passing $102/barrel. Meanwhile, the US-China summit is underway as Trump departs for Beijing, with Xi talks expected May 14-15; a key development is that NVIDIA's Jensen Huang will join Trump's China visit, per Reuters, which is a high-signal MAG7 carve-out. On the macro front, US inflation came in hotter than expected at 3.8% (core 2.8%), raising the odds of a Fed rate hike to ~30%, which is bearish for growth stocks and bullish for financials. A federal appeals court allowed Trump's 10% global tariff to remain in effect, a bullish signal for domestic producers. Samsung shares dropped after labor union talks fell through, adding labor risk. The overall narrative is ESCALATING in the Middle East conflict, with second-order effects on energy, inflation, and defense stocks, while tech faces headwinds from inflation and tariff uncertainty.