Episode summary
US Mulls Iran Military Options; Big Tech AI Spending Bonanza | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
· · 22 min
Summary
Oil spiked to four-year highs as the White House kept its naval blockade of Iran’s ports in place and Axios reported that President Trump could get new military-options briefing from US Central Command. The host said the market was reacting to the prospect of limited strikes, special forces action, or even an effort to reopen part of the Strait of Hormuz, while Bloomberg opinion columnist Mark Champion argued the standoff is mainly a test of wills and that both sides are trying to make the other blink first.
The day’s other major theme was how much money Big Tech is throwing into AI, and whether investors are seeing enough payoff. Alphabet’s Google was presented as the clearest winner so far, with cloud growth accelerating on demand for AI software and infrastructure. Amazon also reported better-than-expected sales and profit, with AWS revenue rising 28% and Anthropic-related optimism helping sentiment. By contrast, Meta was hit after lifting full-year capex to $125 billion to $145 billion, and Microsoft fell after forecasting about $190 billion of data-center spending through December.
The episode also covered Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square USA debut, which plunged 18% after raising $5 billion, far short of the $25 billion target. The host also noted Jay Powell’s decision to stay on as a Fed governor after his chair term ends, and the partial government shutdown’s move toward reopening DHS.
Key takeaways
- The host said Brent crude hit $126 a barrel overnight as traders priced in possible new US military options against Iran.
- Mark Champion argued the Iran conflict is a “test of wills” and said neither side wants to be the one to give up first.
- Matt Bloxom said combined 2026 capex for Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft has risen to about $723 billion, up from a prior estimate of $650 billion.
- Bloxom said Alphabet and Amazon look strongest because their cloud businesses and AI demand are producing visible growth.
- Pershing Square USA raised $5 billion but fell 18% on debut, underscoring investor skepticism toward Bill Ackman’s closed-end fund launch.
Notable quotes
“those options had crude oil on the Brent trading as high as $126 a barrel overnight”
“both sides you know are feeling the pain. Um the one thing you can be sure of is that the Iranians won't say we give up”
“Google's businesses are firing on all cylinders. Uh great growth in the kind of core ads business but also really strong growth from their cloud business”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. — And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. — Karen, those levels are at four-year highs for oil as President Trump keeps his naval blockade on Iran's ports and reportedly considers new strikes. The president says a deal has to include Iran giving up its nuclear program.
They've come a long way. The question is whether or not they're going to go far enough. So at this moment, there will never be a deal unless they agree that there will be no nuclear weapons. — President Trump spoke at the White House yesterday. This morning, Axios is reporting that the president will meet later today with the head of US Central Command to discuss potential new military options. We get more from Bloomberg's Jamanna Bureti in Duban.
Those include targeted and limited operations. Uh it could be limited attacks on infrastructure once again. It could be a special forces operation to go and extract highlyenriched uranium.
And that there's also talk about a specific operation that they would conduct to reopen a small part of the street to allow for commercial vessel vessels to pass through. Bloomberg's Jamanna Bureti reports those options had crude oil on the Brent trading as high as $126 a barrel overnight. Right now Brent is up 2.5% at just about $121.
Uh West Texas Intermediates just shy of 108. And the war is really adding to pain at the pump in California. AAA says that state's average gas price topped $6 a gallon for the first time since October of 2023.
Well, Nathan, Defense Secretary Pete Hags have faced questions about the war as he appeared before the House Armed Services Committee to defend the Pentagon's proposed $1.5 trillion budget.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- iran military options
- big tech ai spending
- cloud growth
- meta capex and consumer ai rollout
- pershing square usa ipo
Companies and tickers mentioned
- GOOGL
- GOOG
- META
- AMZN
- MSFT
- PSUS
- Alphabet
- Meta Platforms
- Amazon
- Microsoft
- Pershing Square USA Ltd.
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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