WS #7197

The dominant macro narrative remains the Iran war-driven oil supply crisis, which is ESCALATING. Multiple sources corroborate that Iran has regained access to ~90% of its underground missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, with missile stocks at ~70% of pre-war levels, directly contradicting US claims that Iran's military was 'decimated.' This raises the risk of further Hormuz blockade disruptions. The EIA reported a larger-than-expected 4.3M barrel crude inventory draw (vs. 2.1M forecast), with Cushing stocks falling 1.7M barrels, signaling accelerating tightness. Oil futures climbed on the data. Separately, Trump has arrived in China for a high-stakes summit with Xi, with reports of tariff reduction negotiations on $30B in imports. This could act as a counter-signal to the bearish trade war narrative. On the corporate front, Nvidia hit a new all-time high of $226, pushing market cap above $5.5 trillion, as CEO Jensen Huang joined Trump on his China trip, thrusting AI into the spotlight. Nebius Group surged past $200 to a fresh 52-week high after strong Q1 results, with AI cloud revenue up 841% YoY. BofA nearly doubled Micron's price target to $950 and raised other AI chip stocks. Alibaba reported a miss on revenue and EPS due to heavy AI/cloud investments, but saw a 'buy the miss' reaction. Rocket Lab stock surged on Needham price target hike and SpaceX IPO speculation. Russia launched a mass drone attack on Ukraine targeting critical infrastructure, with 800 drones fired, killing six. The Alex Murdaugh conviction overturn is a non-market story.