Iran Ramps Up Tanker Attacks; SpaceX in Talks to Buy Nvidia Chips

0:02 Bloomberg Audio Studios.

0:04 Podcasts. Radio.

0:06 News.

0:10 Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager.

0:11 And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin with the latest from the Middle East.

0:17 Iran has been stepping up attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, just as oil shipments are getting back to near pre-war levels. The UK's Maritime Trade Operations has reported nine attacks in the Strait so far this month. That's half the total for all of September in the Strait and the Persian Gulf combined. Stuart Livingston-Wallace is Bloomberg's head of Middle East coverage.

0:37 Our exact estimates for what's getting attacked and how often it's getting attacked.

0:40 Is somewhat patchy.

0:42 Because we know that not every attack is being reported and the level of damage that's being caused is very variable. However, based on the official reporting going through the UK Navy, which is sort of our benchmark for what's going on, yes, there absolutely has been much more in the way of report attacks over the last several weeks.

0:58 Bloomberg's Stuart Livingston-Wallace says it's not clear whether the latest escalation will mean shipments through Hormuz start to fall.

1:05 Vice President J.D. Vance told Reuters the U.S.

1:07 Is in talks with Iran's president and foreign minister, but it's unclear who's making the country's decisions.

1:13 Well, Nathan, as tensions ramp up in the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia is in a conflict with the Iran-backed Houthis around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Sources tell Bloomberg News the Trump administration is reluctant to get more involved in that fight and is trying to pull the Saudis back from sparking a major new war in Yemen. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saudi Arabia has a right to defend itself.

1:36 The Saudis and the Yemeni forces clearly are not in favor of the Houthis controlling that territory close to the strait there. And it's territory that was gained as a result of a Houthi offensive, and this is the counter to it. We expected that would happen, and that's what's happening.

1:50 And that was Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking to reporters on Monday.

1:53 The U.S.

1:54 Is providing limited defensive and logistical support, but sources say the U.S. has told the Saudis not to send their own troops into Yemen while the war with Iran continues and Hormuz shipping remains disrupted.

2:05 Well, Karen, gasoline prices are up 46% since the war began, and now President Trump says he's weighing a potential suspension of the federal gas tax. as his administration looks for ways to ease high energy costs ahead of next month's midterm elections.

2:19 The president was asked about it at the White House.

2:21 After yesterday's diesel announcement, should the federal gas tax be suspended?

2:25 What were they thinking about that?

2:27 And analysts say gas tax suspension would result in billions of dollars in lost revenue each month for the government and would likely lower prices between 10 and 16 cents per gallon.

2:36 Well, let's get to domestic politics now, Nathan. And we're less than four weeks away from the midterm election. And in Maine, Republican Senator Susan Collins had her first debate last night with Democratic former State Senate President Troy Jackson. Bloomberg Boston Bureau Chief Brooke Sutherland says the number one issue for voters in the Pine Street state is the cost of living.

2:58 Obviously, this is a national issue that is dominating the midterms, but prices are particularly acute in Maine. And it is not just energy costs. I mean, that is a big deal in Maine, which relies on heating oil more than most places in the country. We've seen prices there skyrocket. But you are also seeing an acute housing crisis in Maine, which has had a huge influx of people over the past couple of years seeking that more laid-back lifestyle, that coastal living environment in Maine. It has been a significant per capita increase in Maine, one of the biggest in the entire country, and that is playing out in the housing markets.

3:32 Bloomberg's Brooke Sutherland reports Mainers are split on who's the better candidate on cost of living issues. Both Collins and Jackson got 47% support on that question in a New York Times-Siena College poll. The same survey gave Collins a three-point edge over Jackson among likely voters.

3:49 Well, as for the broader race for control of the Senate, Karen, the map may be widening in Democrats' favor. That's according to a new analysis from the Cook Political Report. The nonpartisan tracking group now rates the Senate race in Kansas a toss-up. Democrats haven't won there in 94 years, but a recent New York Times poll has Democratic megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton tied with Republican incumbent Roger Marshall. Cook now estimates Democrats will pick up two to six Senate seats in November.

4:15 They need four to win a majority.

4:17 In other news this morning, Nathan, international concern is growing over the unexplained death of a worker at a Russian anti-plague laboratory in Siberia. China says it's cooperating closely with Moscow on infectious disease prevention, including plague. However, Russian authorities say no case of the plague has been detected and describe the workers' severe pneumonia as being of unknown origin.

4:40 Dr.

4:40 Ashish Jha, the former COVID-19 response coordinator, says it's suspicious that quarantine and contact tracing is occurring.

4:48 If it was a simple, a vial broke, somebody got infected, it would be unlikely that it would lead to a quarantining and monitoring of 200 people. So that makes me concerned that there might be something else happening. Obviously, we all hope that it isn't. It's just simply a case of pneumonic plague.

5:03 And Dr.

5:04 Ashish Jha there, President Trump has a call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a suspected plague case.

5:10 Starting to markets now, Karen. Stocks begin this day in record territory. Both the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at all-time highs yesterday.

5:18 Eric Wiener covers the markets for Bloomberg.

5:20 When there are problems overseas, so you start seeing like France and bonds showing up on the front pages of newspapers, people just gravitate right back to U.S.

5:32 Equities because that's where things are.

5:35 Bloomberg's Eric Wiener says despite the record's market breadth remains a concern, the percentage of stocks trading above their 10-, 50-, and 200-day moving averages dropped to levels last seen in March.

5:45 In company news, Nathan, Elon Musk's SpaceX is in talks with banks and investors to raise $ 40 billion to buy chips from NVIDIA. And we get the details with Bloomberg's Courtney Dunahoe.

5:55 The fundraising is for SpaceX's artificial intelligence build-out and would be among the biggest ever debt financings for AI development. Sources say PIMCO is one of the investment managers looking at the deal. The Financial Times is reporting Apollo Global Management is leading the financing. Tech companies and AI model developers are investing and borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars to build and lease giant data centers full of chips to power AI systems. The worldwide expansion of computing capacity has sent the cost of everything from land to chips and power generation equipment soaring, touching off a series of massive financing deals.

6:33 Courtney Donahoe, Bloomberg Radio.

6:35 Courtney, thanks.

6:36 Apple is making a big push into smart home devices. It's teaming with LG Electronics on a doorbell, thermostat, and other accessories. Sources say the products will be part of an ecosystem of devices that work with Apple's new.

6:48 Smart home hub.

6:49 Other products include a smart deadbolt lock, indoor and outdoor security cameras, and a floodlight camera.

6:55 Well, Nathan, the debate on AI regulation and safety continues. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says artificial intelligence creates value for society, but tells Bloomberg he's concerned about AI cyber risks.

7:09 The downside is obviously what you read about with the agents and mythos and all these things that can cause trouble.

7:16 And that's a legitimate concern. It's a real thing.

7:19 I'm not going to get hysterical over is it existential or not. What we're doing is rolling up our sleeves and going to work to fix it.

7:25 And despite the security concerns, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told Bloomberg that the firm has deepened financial ties to Anthropic and the AI boom. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's John Tucker. John, good morning.

7:42 Good morning, Karen. Her lawyer says Tennessee death row inmate Krista Pike is awake and speaking at a hospital. Six days after a botched attempt to execute her by lethal injection, Pike's attorneys are sent to go to court today as they seek to learn more about what happened. Cornell University has tapped former Deputy Attorney General to lead an independent review of how the university prevents and responds to claims of sexual assault. Here's Bloomberg's Matt Piper.

8:09 Former U.S.

8:09 Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates has been selected by the university's board of trustees amid growing scrutiny over how Cornell handled sexual assault allegations stemming from a 2024 incident at a fraternity house. The university says Yates and her team will conduct a detailed review of the university's response to the allegations. No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

8:30 Yates served as deputy AG under President Barack Obama. In New York, Matt Piper, Bloomberg Radio.

8:36 The U.S. Gulf Coast will likely be hit by the first Atlantic hurricane of the year in the coming days by a tropical storm now gathering strength off Mexico. It may drop as much as six inches of rain. Bloomberg Meteorologist Craig Allen says it could head to the northeast. Any effects from Washington to New York City to Boston would not be felt until the upcoming weekend. If the forecast holds, winds will peak at 100 miles per hour.

9:01 Starting today, U.S. forces in Japan paused operations for 48 hours. They'll impose a month-long curfew on military personnel. This comes after a U.S. Marine was arrested on suspicion of murdering a Japanese woman on Okinawa. A New York City so-called pieter tax is back on. The city can go ahead with a rollout of the tax. an appeals court considers a legal challenge. The tax on second homes, a signature policy of Mayor Zoran Bumdani. Global News, 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now.

9:31 I'm John Tucker. This is Bloomberg, Karen.

9:34 Thanks, John.

9:35 Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in John Staschauer.

9:40 Thanks, Karen.

9:40 The San Diego Padres stayed alive in the baseball playoffs. They beat Milwaukee 4-3, still trailed the series 2-1. The Dodgers hit two home runs off Chris Sale in the fourth inning, won 3-1 in Atlanta.

9:51 L.A.

9:51 Leads that series 2-1. Philadelphia Eagles tackle Lane Johnson announced his retirement in midseason, played 14 years in Philly, went to 6%.

10:00 Bowls.

10:00 The Eagles may have to play Sunday without star running back Saquon Barkley. He's got a hamstring injury. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update.

10:08 Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.

10:15 Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio. Nationwide on Sirius XM. And around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak.

10:25 Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager.

10:27 The low boil of tensions between the U.S. and Iran may be bubbling up again. Tehran's been stepping up attacks near the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, just as oil shipments through that vital waterway are getting back near to where they were before the war began. Joining us this morning from Dubai for more on this is Bloomberg News Middle East Breaking News team leader, Dana Kray. It's good to speak with you this morning, Dana. What more do we know about these attacks? How significant is what's happening in the straight right now?

10:53 Good morning.

10:54 Good morning. Yes.

10:55 So we saw, like you were saying, an uptick in attacks in hormones and they've increased. And we're seeing more and more reports of these on vessels and oil tankers. And that, of course, adds to fear and uncertainty. And the UK Maritime Trade Operations, which is technically our benchmark to report on these attacks or hits, said or has at least reported nine attacks in the waterway so far this month. And that's already double what it was in September last.

11:23 Alone.

11:25 And, you know, before that, the flow.

11:27 Of oil has gradually picked up, right, since the start of the summer. And last week, we even saw some Wall Street banks saying that shipments were approaching pre-war levels.

11:37 And that probably didn't sit well with Iran.

11:39 And yesterday, of course, Oman's defense ministry said that it rescued 10 crew members from a commercial vessels on peace, that's what it's called, which caught fire after being attacked. The attack's will sustain these oil prices above $ 100 or even push them further, not to mention increase in shipping rates.

11:59 Iran wants oil prices to bite.

12:01 This is its only and maybe most effective tool at the moment to get the U.S., to concede if it wants it to concede or even to the negotiators bringing back to this MOU, you know, the famous MOU that we've had earlier this year.

12:15 But what we're hearing from the U.S.

12:17 Side is that, yeah, diesel prices are up and, you know, we'll go down when the issue with Iran is resolved. And we've heard a lot about how it will end, whether, you know, after the midterms by either an escalation or a deal.

12:28 But, you know, the question is whether.

12:30 Iran's ramping up of these attacks would impact the flow out of Hormuz remains to be seen because up until this moment, It hasn't.

12:38 But we are seeing, as you say, oil prices right around $ 100 a barrel, a little bit above that in the session this morning as well. What impact could this have, if any, on the discussions that we hear Vice President Vance says are happening between the U.S. and Iran right now as we do get closer to the midterm election?

12:58 Are we just sort of in sort of wait-and-see mode until November 3rd?

13:01 I would say, yeah.

13:02 So oil prices will likely or maybe continue to rise, and that's because of the war risk premium that still exists, especially in Hormuz.

13:10 And I think the messaging from the.

13:12 U.S., they want to downplay reaching this deadline of the midterm elections. They don't want this to be like we're going to reach a deal before midterm or not. What we're hearing from the U.S. side is that here is Iran losing control over Hormuz, and we are in control. It's because, you know, some of these– ships that are going out either with LNG or with oil are going through the Omani route that is U.S.

13:35 Approved and with the help of the U.S.

13:38 Navy. So the messaging here isn't that we're going to get something before the midterm. They are pushing it even after midterm so that Iran also doesn't play this midterm card.

13:48 And they are.

13:48 And like we say, they want oil prices to bite and they will continue these attacks and might even wrap them up further.

13:57 This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond.

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