US Mulls Iran Military Options; Big Tech AI Spending Bonanza

Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) Brent oil rallied to a four-year high after Axios reported that US President Trump will receive a briefing on new military options for action in Iran. The US and Iran have maintained their blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with the conflict in the Middle East called the biggest supply shock in history by the International Energy Agency.
2) Alphabet's Google is seeing a clear payoff from its AI spending, with solid growth at its cloud computing unit and a "meaningful acceleration in growth" driven by demand for its AI software and infrastructure. Meta Platforms is lagging behind, with its shares tumbling more than 6% after the company boosted full-year capital expenditures, and its consumer AI app being slower to take off. The four companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, are expected to spend as much as $725 billion in 2026, with a key question being whether that massive spending is providing tangible results.
3) Shares of Bill Ackman's Pershing Square USA Ltd. plunged 18% in its debut after the combined initial public offering raised $5 billion. The $5 billion haul was the bare minimum to keep early investors locked into the deal, and fell short of the $25 billion that Pershing Square sought to bring in. Pershing Square USA deserves to trade at a premium to its net assets over time if the newly listed closed-end fund delivers the same outperformance as the hedge fund firm has in the past, Ackman said.

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