Önder Özar Diplomasi Sevgisi: Bloomberg Evening Briefing presented by GE VERNOVA

A handful of oil tankers appeared to pause their journeys as they approached Yemeni waters heading toward the Red Sea on Tuesday, while other ships laden with Saudi Arabian oil turned around and sailed north toward the Suez Canal. A day after Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen warned shipowners against calling at Saudi Arabia’s ports, it appears many were listening.

Threatening a new front in the US-Israel war with Iran, the Houthis added another layer of complication to Trump administration efforts to force an end to the conflict without further empowering Tehran. Oil flows from the Red Sea took on greater significance after Saudi Arabia rerouted some of its output following Iran’s shuttering of the Strait of Hormuz. Cross-desert pipelines, among other factors, helped avoid the worst predictions about global oil prices tied to the nearly five-month war.

WATCH *How the Iran War Is Rewiring the Oil Market*

But now that could change. Along with the Houthi threat, what little shipping there is through the Strait of Hormuz has come under intense pressure after a series of attacks that appear to be targeting “dark” tanker transits, which accounted for a growing share of Persian Gulf exports.

A day after issuing new threats against Iran, Donald Trump issued new threats against the Houthis, but with few specifics. Meanwhile, Washington’s Gulf Arab allies are growing increasingly frustrated with how the war is jeopardizing their national security and economies.

As for the American economy, the Trump administration contends the widely unpopular war has cost taxpayers $37.5 billion, though other estimates incorporating extended expenditures tied to the conlict range from $42 billion to as high as $100 billion. —Jordan Parker Erb

What You Need to Know Today

Novo Nordisk sued Eli Lilly, accusing the rival weight-loss drug maker of misleading advertising. Novo said Lilly’s campaigns rely on outdated weight-loss comparisons with lower doses of Novo’s shot (Wegovy) than what’s currently available.

Though Lilly’s shot (Zepbound) beat Wegovy in a head-to-head trial last year, Novo subsequently got approval for a higher dose of its drug than that used in the study. The two companies are grappling for a bigger slice of a global obesity market, which is on track to reach $120 billion a year by 2030, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Moonshot AI is preparing to begin discussions in August on a final round of fundraising before listing in Hong Kong, capitalizing on the excitement around its latest model in a bid to raise capital at a valuation of as much as $50 billion.

The Chinese AI lab should, in the coming days, close a financing round that began this summer at a valuation of $31.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The speed with which Moonshot is tapping capital markets underscores investor interest in a startup that’s upended perceptions of how far Chinese AI technology supposedly lags that of Silicon Valley.

Apple is planning to launch Apple Upgrade, a leasing program that will mark one of the biggest-ever changes to how the company sells devices. The new service, expected to launch July 28, is said to support most iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple Watch models. Apple is partnering with Klarna as the financial backer for the program.

Apple Upgrade will work like a subscription, and users can pay off the device early during their term, upgrade early to a new model or keep it at the end of the leasing period. Like a car lease, it can also be returned at the end of the term.

Bloomberg Opinion

Private Credit and Data Center Wraps Are 2008 Redux

It’s easy to dismiss comparisons between finance today and the buildup to the financial crisis as exaggerated or overwrought. But right now, it’s hard to ignore evidence that we’ve entered a fresh golden age of financial engineering.

The Panama Canal Authority will temporarily suspend part of the booking system for ships seeking to use the waterway, according to shipping agent Norton Lilly. Among the reasons is that a weather-altering El Niño may hit, curbing vital water flows, it said. The disruption adds another hurdle to global trade, which has already faced months-long snarls thanks to the Iran war.

Tourists watch as tug boats guide an Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) container ship into the Agua Clara locks of the Panama Canal near Colon, Panama, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. The US military is reviving its jungle training school in Panama after a 25-year hiatus. Photographer: Luis Antonio Rojas/Bloomberg — Tourists watch as tug boats guide a container ship into the Agua Clara locks of the Panama Canal in February.

Bloomberg Opinion

The Most Important Stock Decision You’ll Make This Year

Everything else pales by comparison.

Trump 2.0

Trump Extends Pardons to Companies, Echoing a 17th Century King

The Republican is the first president in modern US history to issue clemency to businesses — with nine so far in his second term.

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