Oil Hits $75 as US Strikes Iran — Who Wins and Who Gets Crushed

The Strait of Hormuz is literally on fire and markets are doing what markets do: panicking in some places, partying in others. WTI crude surged past $72 and Brent crossed $75 — both up more than 5% in a single session — after US military strikes on Iran followed tanker attacks on commercial shipping. The dollar hit a week-high. Gold is catching safe-haven bids. The vibes are, to put it mildly, not chill.

The sector rotation story is the real trade here. Chip stocks got absolutely torched — the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped over 4.5% — while defense names are quietly ripping on the back of a $50 billion NATO spending commitment in Ankara. Bloomberg's Daybreak podcast flagged that SK Hynix is pricing a $28 billion ADR this week that's multiple times oversubscribed, which tells you institutional appetite is still alive even as retail sentiment curdles. Energy majors, defense contractors, and gold are the clear beneficiaries. Semis, consumer discretionary, and anything levered to cheap oil are getting dragged.

When tankers burn in the world's most critical oil chokepoint and NATO leaders are meeting in Turkey to debate F-35 deliveries, "risk-off" isn't a mood — it's a memo. Trade accordingly.