Market Beats | Tesla Sales Miss Estimates in Weak Quarter; Blue Owl Faces $5.4bn in Redemption Requests; Paris Police Tighten Security at US Banks Amid Iran War Threats; Trump’s Aggressive Iran Stance Rattles Global Markets; Attorney General Pam Bondi Resigns, Todd Blanche Named Acting AG; Microsoft Aims to Launch Frontier AI Models by 2027 to Rival OpenAI; Dated Brent Surges Past $140

—— Tesla Sales Miss Estimates in Weak Quarter; Blue Owl Faces $5.4bn in Redemption Requests; Paris Police Tighten Security at US Banks Amid Iran War Threats; Trump’s Aggressive Iran Stance Rattles Global Markets; Attorney General Pam Bondi Resigns, Todd Blanche Named Acting AG; Microsoft Aims to Launch Frontier AI Models by 2027 to Rival OpenAI; Dated Brent Surges Past $140

1. Tesla Sales Miss Estimates in Weak Quarter

Tesla Inc. posted one of its worst sales quarters in years, delivering 358,023 vehicles worldwide in the first quarter—well below the 372,160 average analyst estimate. This marks the second consecutive quarter that the company has fallen short of Wall Street projections, despite a 6.3% year-over-year increase in deliveries. Shares fell 4% in pre-market trading, extending a year-to-date decline of 15% as the company struggles to navigate a cooling electric-vehicle market.

While Elon Musk has shifted Tesla’s narrative toward artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and robotics, the traditional car business remains the firm’s primary cash generator. The delivery miss highlights the difficulty of maintaining growth amid waning US EV demand and past production pauses for the Model Y.

Investors, who had previously overlooked sales trends in favor of Tesla’s tech potential, are now showing increased concern as the stock remains 22% below its December record high.

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2. Blue Owl Faces $5.4bn in Redemption Requests

Private credit firm Blue Owl Capital faced a massive surge in redemption requests during the first quarter of 2026, as investors sought to withdraw approximately $5.4bn from two flagship funds. The company disclosed Thursday that withdrawal requests for its $3bn tech-lending fund (OTIC) hit 40.7% of its value, while its $20bn marquee direct-lending fund (OCIC) saw requests climb to 21.9%.

The surge in outflows underscores the liquidity risks for individual investors who moved into non-traded private credit over the last three years, trading immediate access to cash for higher yields. Blue Owl has enforced a 5% redemption cap at both vehicles, a standard industry threshold that allows managers to limit exits during periods of stress. At the end of 2025, these two leveraged vehicles managed portfolios totaling over $42bn.

The scale of the attempted exodus significantly outpaced that of major peers, intensifying concerns regarding the stability of the private credit asset class and Blue Owl’s position within it.

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3. Paris Police Tighten Security at US Banks Amid Iran War Threats

Paris police are heightening security at US banks following a series of threats potentially linked to the ongoing conflict with Iran. Goldman Sachs’ Paris headquarters were placed under police surveillance Wednesday night after US authorities warned of potential explosive attacks from an Iranian group, according to Le Parisien. This follows a thwarted bombing attempt near a Bank of America office in Paris last Saturday. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez noted that the attempted attack could be related to the Iran conflict, with four individuals, including three teenagers, already charged with terrorism-related offenses.

As a precaution, Goldman Sachs permitted its Paris staff to work from home on Thursday, while Citigroup implemented remote work for its employees in both Paris and Frankfurt through Friday. Although Paris prosecutors stated Thursday that no suspicious items were found at the Goldman Sachs office, general protection measures have been reinforced across the region at religious, diplomatic, and economic sites.

French President Emmanuel Macron, currently in Seoul, affirmed that authorities remain vigilant to reassure and protect those targeted by such “international context” threats.

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4. Trump’s Aggressive Iran Stance Rattles Global Markets

US President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the coming weeks during a primetime speech, dashing investor hopes for a swift resolution to the ongoing conflict. Trump asserted that Washington would achieve its war aims “very shortly,” signaling military escalation rather than peace. In his 19-minute address, the president warned that the US would strike Iran so severely over the next two to three weeks that it would “bring them back to the Stone Ages.” Following the remarks, Brent crude jumped 5% to $106 a barrel in early Asia trading, while S&P 500 futures fell 1% and Japan’s Topix index dropped 1.2%.

The president maintained an aggressive tone, renewing threats to strike Iran’s power stations and oil facilities simultaneously if a deal is not reached by his April 6 deadline. While Trump has not ruled out the deployment of ground forces, he did not reference specific plans for a land invasion during Wednesday’s address. He also called on American allies to “take the lead” in reopening the Strait of Hormuz for energy shipments.

Analysts noted that the market sell-off was a direct reaction to the lack of clarity regarding a diplomatic closure to the five-week-old war.

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5. Attorney General Pam Bondi Resigns, Todd Blanche Named Acting AG

US Attorney General Pam Bondi is resigning from the Justice Department, ending a turbulent tenure marked by challenges in implementing President Donald Trump’s agenda. Trump announced on Truth Social that Bondi would transition to a private-sector role, while Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—a prominent former defense lawyer for the president—will serve as Acting Attorney General. Blanche previously represented Trump in high-profile criminal cases involving the 2020 election, classified documents, and hush-money payments.

Under federal law, Blanche can serve in the acting role for 210 days while the Senate considers a permanent nominee. Following the announcement, Blanche praised Bondi’s leadership and pledged to focus on law enforcement and public safety. Sources familiar with the matter indicate that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is being discussed as a potential permanent successor.

The elevation of Blanche further solidifies the presence of Trump’s personal legal team within the highest levels of the nation’s law enforcement infrastructure.

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6. Microsoft Aims to Launch Frontier AI Models by 2027 to Rival OpenAI

Microsoft Corp. is accelerating the development of its own large-scale, cutting-edge artificial intelligence models, aiming to create in-house alternatives to the powerful tools offered by OpenAI and Anthropic. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, stated in an interview that the objective is to achieve “state-of-the-art” status by 2027 across models capable of generating and processing text, images, and audio. On Thursday, his unit debuted a new speech transcription model that Microsoft claims outperforms rivals in accuracy across 11 of the world’s 25 most spoken languages.

Microsoft’s push into frontier-scale AI follows a renegotiated deal with OpenAI last year that removed previous restrictions on Microsoft developing its own broadly capable models. To support this effort, the company began deploying clusters of Nvidia GB200 chips in October and plans to significantly ramp up its computing power over the next 12 to 18 months.

Alongside these technical advancements, a recent internal reorganization has narrowed Suleyman’s focus to model development, while oversight of the Copilot assistant shifted to former Snap executive Jacob Andreou—a move seen as an effort to strengthen Microsoft’s consumer AI presence and internal capabilities.

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7. Dated Brent Surges Past $140

The price of Dated Brent, the world’s most critical benchmark for physical oil trading, surged above $140 on Thursday, marking its highest level since 2008. According to S&P Global, North Sea physical cargoes reached $141.37, surpassing the peaks seen during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This spike highlights a growing disconnect between physical markets and futures contracts, driven by an acute scarcity of actual oil supplies.

The Strait of Hormuz has now been closed for over a month, a situation the International Energy Agency (IEA) describes as the largest supply disruption in history. With the waterway typically handling about 20% of global crude flows, refiners are scrambling to secure any available barrels amid the ongoing conflict in Iran. While physical prices have hit 18-year highs, Brent futures traded on the Intercontinental Exchange hovered near $107 on Thursday, remaining below 2022 levels.

This gap underscores the intense premium being paid for immediate delivery as traders bid for North Sea cargoes at record highs.

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