WS #8767

The dominant narrative remains the Iran Strait of Hormuz escalation, with the closure effectively reducing tanker transits to less than 5% of pre-war volume. Oil prices have surged, with USO up 83% and WTI crude above $92. The US strategic petroleum reserve decreased by 8 million barrels last week. However, a significant counter-signal emerged: Trump is dropping his $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund amid bipartisan backlash, confirmed by multiple sources including Al Jazeera, NBC, and Axios. This could signal de-escalation in domestic political tensions but does not directly address the Iran crisis. The narrative arc is STABLE on the Iran front (ESCALATING) with a potential DE-ESCALATION signal on the domestic front. In corporate news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported a massive earnings beat (adj. EPS $0.79 vs $0.53 est., revenue $10.678B vs $9.791B est.) with strong AI-driven guidance, sending shares up 30%+ in after-hours trading. Credo Technology Group (CRDO) also beat estimates but shares traded lower after the release. Microchip Technology (MCHP) provided data center revenue details, expecting 65% growth in 2026 to ~$500M. Alphabet filed a mixed shelf offering, and O'Reilly Automotive added $2B to its buyback plan. The MAG7 narrative is mixed: NVDA saw a large dark pool trade ($437.5M), while GOOGL had a massive dark pool trade ($959.86M). Microsoft is preparing coding-related announcements at Build this week.