New York silver futures up 1.00% intraday at $60.97/oz.

AI training startup Mercor is reportedly discussing a $20 billion valuation.

Zayden al-Kinani, founder of the Arab Perspectives Institute, said the Strait of Hormuz situation will become more complex as Iran seeks to strengthen sovereignty around the strait while the U.S. both seeks to contain that expansion and deepen its influence there. He said both sides are sidelining the strait’s trade and commercial dynamics in favor of military posturing, and that the U.S. intends to ensure any challenge to its presence in the strait is transformed into a direct security threat to Iran—an explicit strategy to prevent disputes remaining confined to the shipping lane and to place Iran itself at direct risk.