Iran ceasefire deadline Wednesday sent Brent crude surging toward $100 (S&P 500 -0.63%). Apple dropped a bombshell — Tim Cook stepping down, John Ternus in as CEO September 1 (AAPL -2.52%). Amazon’s $25B Anthropic deal is the largest AI infrastructure bet yet (AMZN +2.2%). Retail sales surged 1.7% but record gas station receipts flattered the number, crushing rate-cut hopes. UNH beat big (+6.96%); GE Aerospace sold off despite a 25% EPS beat (GE -5.56%).
MIB: Iran Deadline, Apple CEO Transition, and Record Retail Sales Crush Rate-Cut Hopes
MIB: FOMC Day One, Oil Resumes Rally, Amazon’s $600B AI Bet, and a Brutal LLY Downgrade
Oil resumed its climb — WTI $96, Brent $103+ — as FOMC Day 1 began and Monday’s de-escalation optimism faded. Amazon CEO Jassy doubled AWS 10-year target to $600B on AI demand (AMZN +1%). HSBC issued a rare Sell on LLY (-5.3%) citing GLP-1 market TAM saturation and imminent price wars. February retail sales beat (+0.6%) showed the consumer holding firm. Delta (DAL +6%) and American (AAL +4%) lifted Q1 guidance — travel demand crushing oil cost headwinds.
MIB: Oil Crosses $100, Record G7 SPR Release, FOMC Blackout Begins & February CPI Due Tomorrow
WTI crude breached $100/bbl intraday (peak $119) — biggest oil supply disruption in history. G7+IEA authorized a record 300-400M barrel SPR release. Trump told CBS “war is very complete” — Dow swung from -900 to +239 in hours (S&P +0.83%, Nasdaq +1.38%). NOC +6%, LMT hit all-time high as defense broke out. CCL -6%, RCL -4% as cruise lines bled. Oracle reports tonight; February CPI drops tomorrow.
