Pentagon Drafts Iran Strike Plans as Brent Passes $105

The White House has directed the Pentagon to draw up military strike options targeting Iranian sites before the upcoming midterm elections, according to reporting tracked by Reuters and qz.com. The emergence of direct operational planning in the Persian Gulf sent crude markets surging immediately on heightened risks to shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Energy benchmarks reflected that risk premium instantly. Brent crude futures jumped over 5% to touch an intraday high of $105.48 per barrel before settling near $103.50 on our tape, while West Texas Intermediate gained 2.88% to trade at $90.82. The sudden spike reintroduces supply-shock mechanics directly into front-month inflation gauges at a time when sovereign bond yields are already testing multi-decade peaks. That macro pressure lands squarely on equity dealer books that are already positioned to amplify volatility rather than absorb it. On our equity desk, SPY is trading at 774.34, sitting beneath its 775 gamma flip in short gamma territory with a put wall parked at 767. QQQ trades at 748.07, nearly seven points under its 754.92 flip line, holding short gamma with its own put wall down at 742. When benchmarks drop below their gamma flips, dealer hedging switches direction. Instead of buying intraday dips and dampening moves, desks are forced to sell underlying shares into declines to keep deltas flat. With index skew elevated at 2.3 on QQQ and crude ripping higher, dealer positioning acts as an accelerant to downside moves until spot can reclaim positive gamma terrain.