WS #9862

The dominant narrative remains the US-Iran peace deal implementation, which is now escalating with new details emerging. A senior US official confirmed the US has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran, with details to be released within 24-48 hours. The deal includes release of frozen funds, sanctions relief tied to performance, and reduction of military forces upon final agreement. Technical discussions are set to launch later this week. Iran's foreign ministry stated that ending the war in Lebanon and releasing frozen assets are key parts of the deal. This has driven a sharp drop in crude oil (down over 5% to ~$80/barrel), boosting US equities (Nasdaq +2.6%, S&P 500 +1.7%, Dow +1.3% to all-time intraday high). Energy stocks fell 3.5% while tech shares jumped 2.8%. The macro narrative is that lower oil prices could cool inflation and reduce Fed rate hike fears ahead of new Chair Kevin Warsh's first meeting. Separately, TD Cowen raised Micron Technology's price target from $660 to $1500, maintaining Buy, citing strong demand. Datadog received a bullish upgrade from Truist to Buy with a $300 target on enterprise AI demand. Google announced a $1.5B investment to expand a data center in Alabama. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) acquired 1,587 BTC for $100 million, now holding 846,842 BTC. A class action lawsuit was filed against Zillow alleging antitrust violations related to its Redfin agreement. The UK announced a social media ban for under-16s, affecting Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.