WS #7734

The dominant market theme remains the US-Iran military confrontation, which is now showing signs of DE-ESCALATION. President Trump threatened a 'big hit' if no deal is reached in 'two or three days,' but also revealed he was 'an hour away' from ordering a strike before pulling back, suggesting a potential diplomatic off-ramp. Mediators see little progress in talks, per WSJ. Separately, bond yields surged to their highest since 2007, with the NYT reporting 'Worried about war’s impact, bond investors push rates to highest level since 2007.' This is pressuring growth stocks. Google I/O continues to dominate tech news with the launch of a $100/month AI Ultra plan and SynthID watermarking adoption by OpenAI and Nvidia. Berkshire Hathaway's new stake in Macy's is driving optimism in the retail sector. The Iran escalation narrative is DE-ESCALATING, while the bond yield spike is a bearish signal for equities. A $5.5M whale sweep of AMZN 290 calls suggests bullish positioning in Amazon. Japan's finance chief pledged bold action for weak yen, which could impact USD/JPY and Japanese equities.