In today’s pre-mkt summary: Stocks struggled for direction and Brent crude rose as confusion reigned over the status of settlement talks amid ongoing Iran missile/drone attacks on Israeli cities and US bases, with Saudi Arabia and UAE reportedly considering joining the offensive and the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed. 10-year TYs rose, and gold and bitcoin slipped. $NVIDIA(NVDA.US) and $Tesla(TSLA.US) both fell back pre-mkt after nice increases yesterday. $Estee Lauder(EL.US) fell yesterday after announcing talks to buy Puig Brands SA which rose sharply in Europe. We believe three conditions are needed for the war to end: 1/ Removal of Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader; 2/ Permanent re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz; and 3/ Verified commitment by Tehran to abandon all nuclear weapons production. We continue to see equities reclaiming new highs once the Middle East conflict ends, oil prices retreat and employment growth slows, increasing odds of quicker Fed rate cuts. Analysts are forecasting 2026 S&P 500 earnings of $310 vs 2025 of $276 implying an S&P 500 2026 P/E of 21.2x equal to a 4.7% earnings yield and a ~40bp premium to 10-year treasury yields, in line with historic spreads in non-recessionary periods. We remain cautious on $Tesla(TSLA.US) as earnings estimates continue to decline, as investors realize that several manufacturers will solve for unsupervised autonomy over the next 12-18 months, and TSLA’s valuation remains stretched (2026 P/E ~200x vs +40% LT growth, 5x PEG).