WS #8435

The dominant narrative is the US-Iran conflict, which is ESCALATING. Despite ceasefire hopes, the US launched new strikes on Iran on Wednesday, pushing oil prices higher. US inflation surged to a three-year high (PCE 3.8% YoY in April) driven by energy costs, with gasoline up 5.5% monthly. The Fed's Musalem noted bond markets see resilient economy and higher expected inflation, and that the easing bias is no longer consistent. This hawkish tone counters any dovish pivot expectations. Meanwhile, IBM and Red Hat committed $5 billion to secure open-source supply chains, a positive for cybersecurity and open-source software. Toyota halted development of a next-gen Lexus EV, focusing on SUVs amid global EV slump, negative for EV sector sentiment. Build-A-Bear stock rose after EPS beat and raised profit forecast. Corgi raised $106M at $2.6B valuation, tripling in three weeks. US spot Bitcoin ETFs turned negative YTD with $596M outflows as Bitcoin fell below $75,000. WFC echoed BAC saying consumer spend accelerating, credit quality healthy. Dark pool alerts show large institutional orders in VUG, SPYM, and D.