Explosions disable two tankers in Hormuz

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Before The Bell

Change over the last 24 hours · as of Nov 12, 2026, 6:09 AM ET

Explosions disable two oil tankers in Strait of Hormuz LINK

• Iran's Revolutionary Guards say two oil supertankers were disabled by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday night after the vessels used what they called an "unauthorised route" in the critical shipping channel.
• Iranian state media said the two tankers "exploded after hitting naval mines," releasing what it described as video of the incidents, in the latest in a series of strikes during the US-Israeli war with Iran that began in February.
• The pattern marks a shift from earlier in the conflict, when the IRGC Navy said it struck tankers directly; in several cases, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency has reported vessels in the strait hit by unidentified projectiles.

Nvidia board prepares to oust CEO Huang LINK

• Nvidia's board is preparing to oust founder and CEO Jensen Huang as soon as yesterday evening, with some directors favoring finance chief Colette Kress as interim leader while an outside firm searches for a permanent successor.
• The move follows reports of a second extramarital affair and a board-ordered probe, led by law firm Wachtell Lipton, into whether Huang leaked corporate secrets or endangered US national security, including an alleged affair with a suspected Chinese spy.
• Shares of the $4 trillion company fell more than 8% in after-hours trading to a 52-week low; Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji is among those being considered for the top job, and two Democratic senators have asked Trump Cabinet officials to preserve chip-export documents.

🇺🇸 US moves to block China from renting Nvidia chips LINK

• The US is finalizing Commerce Department rules to shut a loophole that lets Chinese firms rent access to top-tier Nvidia chips abroad, requiring buyers in seven countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, to seek approval first.
• Importers of Nvidia's Blackwell-class AI processors in Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand would need a license and must prove where the chips go, with no remote-access compute reaching China or Russia.
• The push gained urgency from the scandal around CEO Jensen Huang's ties to Megaspeed, accused of illegally shipping up to $2 billion in Nvidia chips to China; the rules Nvidia had lobbied against are now advancing as shares fell about 7% over the week.

Anthropic's IPO is many times oversubscribed LINK

• Anthropic's IPO has drawn orders many times the shares on offer, according to people familiar with the matter, setting up what could be the largest first-time share sale ever as investor appetite builds.
• The Claude maker and its co-founders are seeking to raise up to $90.4 billion through the IPO and a private placement, targeting a fully diluted valuation near $1.4 trillion that came in below some investors' expectations.
• A filing on Tuesday showed revenue reaching an annualized run rate of $81 billion as of October 31, up $10 billion in a month, helping AI stocks recover from last week's rout as Wall Street's fear gauge eased.

RWE and KKR to invest $16B in UK offshore wind LINK

• RWE and KKR have reached financial close on a $16 billion (£12 billion) plan to build two North Sea offshore wind farms, in what the UK government calls the largest renewable energy investment in Britain's history.
• The Vanguard West and Vanguard East projects, including their transmission links, will add about 2.8 gigawatts of capacity when fully commissioned in 2030, enough to power roughly three million UK homes.
• The government says the build will support more than 2,400 jobs, and RWE frames it as boosting domestic energy security and keeping prices affordable; Britain is targeting more than 43 GW of installed offshore wind by 2030.

Macro News

• UK economy grew 0.7% in the third quarter, driven by stronger services. LINK
• Dollar neared a one-month high as yen approached 160 per dollar. LINK
• Oil fell as diplomacy eased concerns over Iran and Ukraine supply risks. LINK
• Gold fell below $4,000 as rate-hike bets and dollar strength pressured prices. LINK
• Turkey has the heaviest stablecoin appetite, but regulators urge dedicated rules. LINK
• US retail sales rose 0.2% in October, slowest in nearly a year. LINK
• Japan wholesale prices rose 7.1%, bolstering bets on another rate hike. LINK
• US firms shun Russian diesel despite a waiver, citing legal and reputational risks. LINK

Corporate News

• Deutsche Bank began holding bitcoin, ether and stablecoins for corporate clients. LINK
• Kraken parent launched tokenized UK and European shares, expanding beyond the US. LINK
• OKX-ICE tokenized stock venue launches November 23 after Big Tech declined participation. LINK
• Meta infrastructure chief exits; former AWS executive takes data center oversight. LINK
• Agile Robots raised $500 million at an $8.5 billion valuation, led by SoftBank. LINK
• Fractile raised $720 million as the UK backs domestic AI chip development. LINK
• Ukrainian defense-tech firm UFORCE raised $700 million at a $6 billion valuation. LINK
• Alphabet drew $5 billion in orders for Hong Kong- and Singapore-dollar bonds. LINK
• Foxconn profit jumped 34% as strong AI hardware demand beat expectations. LINK
• Samsung's Asan packaging plant will draw 40 trillion won in equipment spending. LINK
• TSMC approved up to $1 billion in investments in Anthropic and OpenAI. LINK
• Polymarket cut staff and contractors as it restructures amid competition from Kalshi. LINK

Stocks

▲ Biggest winners

CoreWeave rose 25% after Q3 revenue topped estimates and full-year forecast was raised. LINK

Nebius Group rose 15% after CoreWeave raised 2026 revenue guidance to $13.0–$13.3 billion. LINK

Sandisk rose 14% after Evercore ISI reiterated its Outperform rating and $2,500 price target. LINK

▼ Biggest losers

Summit Therapeutics fell 7% after Fierce Pharma reported its chief commercial officer departed and commercial leadership was cut ahead of the November 14 FDA decision on ivonescimab. LINK

Revolution Medicines fell 6% after investors digested its November 4 quarterly update showing a $407.5 million net loss and lack of fresh upside catalyst at a November investor conference. LINK

NetEase fell 5% after investors grew cautious ahead of November 19 earnings. LINK

Research & Reports

• Goldman sees AI hardware and intellectual-property spending reaching $1.4 trillion by 2027. LINK
• US humanoid robot production may reach 400,000 units by 2030, JPMorgan says. LINK
• Executives expect greater use of cheaper open-weight AI models as costs surge. LINK
• Sovereign wealth fund assets may climb nearly 50% to $22.4 trillion by 2030. LINK
• Fed economists say oil spikes now drive underlying inflation more persistently. LINK
• Base leads stablecoins in transfer value but trails USDT in merchant payments. LINK

Market Calendar

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