Trump’s ceasefire gives Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz—and Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly alive |
Trump’s ceasefire gives Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz—and Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly alive
Good morning. On Fortune’s radar today:
Markets: Oh happy day.
Trump’s ceasefire gives Iran control of Hormuz.
Supermicro launches probe into cofounder’s Nvidia chip-smuggling arrest.
Project Glasswing: Anthropic’s new anti-hacker initiative.
Luxury spending trends up.
Global governments ranked by biggest sighs of relief.
Oil’s well that ends well
Oil fell to $94 per barrel this morning, following the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. S&P 500 futures popped 2.57% before the open in New York, after the index closed up marginally yesterday, reversing midsession losses. Stocks in Asia and Europe went through the roof. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 6.87% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 5.39%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 rose 3.55% in early trading; the U.K.’s FTSE 100 jumped 2.32% before lunch. Chart via TradingEconomics.com:
Supermicro launches probe into cofounder’s Nvidia chip-smuggling arrest
Supermicro’s board started an internal investigation following a federal indictment alleging one of the company’s cofounders orchestrated the routing of $2.5 billion in servers packed with Nvidia’s GPUs to China, in violation of export controls. Fortune’s Amanda Gerut reports the company is worried the reputational risk could strain its relationship with $4 trillion chipmaker Nvidia, which supplies Supermicro with chips. The board hired law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson to advise its independent directors. AlixPartners will consult on forensic accounting. The two firms will work with Supermicro’s auditor, BDO.
Ceasefire puts Hormuz under control of Tehran
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire, averting President Donald Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran did not come to terms. Oil fell below $100 per barrel on the news, as the agreement hinges on a 10-point plan from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Reaction: Governments around the world expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of hostilities being over. Markets jumped on the news.
But the devil is in the details: The 10-point plan contains some proposals that are surprising, to say the least. Among them:
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz “in........