Mideast Malaise & AI Angst Batter Big-Tech & Bitcoin; Bonds Bid On Bad Data, Shrug Off Oil's Gains

Tl;dr: The same themes continue to play out with the impasse at the Strait escalating (and de-esclating?) and the AI ecosystem's circle-jerk narrative dominating desk discussions. Bonds (bid on weak home sales) shrugged off higher oil prices with stocks giving up modest overnight gains (Mega-Cap tech weak, small caps bid) amid another notably low intraday range. Gold and bitcoin were lower with the greenback flat.

Oil